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Zheng He, whose real name is Ma, was given the name Zheng by Zhu Di, the Ming emperor, and was called "eunuch" (also known as "eunuch"). He was born in Kunyang House, Yunnan Province (now Kunyang Street, Jinning District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province). Eunuch, navigator and diplomat in Ming Dynasty.
When Zheng He was young, he served Judy, the prince of Yan. He is clever and resourceful, knows soldiers and learns to fight. Later, he made meritorious service in the battle of Jingnan and was promoted to be the eunuch in charge of the internal officer. From 1405 (the third year of Yongle) to 1424 (the twenty-second year of Yongle), Zheng He served as a eunuch six times.
1425 (the first year of Hongxi), Zheng He was appointed as the garrison eunuch in Nanjing, and 1430 (the fifth year of Xuande) was ordered to go to the West for the seventh time. On the way to 1433 (the eighth year of Xuande), he died in Guri, and is now buried in Zheng He's tomb at the southern foot of Niushou Mountain in Nanjing.
Zheng He's voyage to the West was an unprecedented feat in the history of world navigation at the beginning of the15th century, which played a positive role in economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Zheng He himself showed his diplomatic ability, military strategy and spiritual quality in this historical event, and won the respect and commemoration of the world. Since the late Qing Dynasty, Zheng He's research has developed rapidly, but many important topics are still inconclusive.
Personal work
Zheng He wrote many Buddhist scriptures and published them, but only a few of them have been handed down so far, including the Buddhist scriptures engraved on Morita by the National Library and the Buddhist scriptures of Wuhua Temple printed by Yunnan Library.
In 2002, the clay sculpture Buddhist Sutra engraved with Zheng He's name (collected in Pinghu Museum, Zhejiang Province) unearthed in Zhejiang Province was interpreted as a signature by some scholars. However, according to the postscript, the sutra was copied spontaneously by Yuan Yun for praising Zheng He's ritual Buddha, rather than entrusted by Zheng He, so it was unsigned. This sutra can't be called "Zheng He wrote the sutra", let alone Zheng He's own ink.
Writing Jin Zijing's Self-Mind, auctioned on 20 15, was written by Zheng He with an oath, which can be regarded as "Zheng He's Holy Book". Reported as Zheng He's calligraphy works, it is speculated that at least the memorial tablet (that is, the inscription) is Zheng He's handwriting. However, there are also views that this work can only be regarded as a "sworn work" without finding other reliable calligraphy works for comparison, and it is not necessarily handwritten.