Ming treasure voyages
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The Ming treasure voyages were maritime expeditions undertaken by Ming China's treasure fleet between 1405 and 1433. The Yongle Emperor ordered the construction of the fleet in 1403. The grand project
Painting of the Yongle Emperor, dated to the Ming dynasty (National Palace Museum)
Wax statue of Admiral Zheng He (Quanzhou Maritime Museum)
The Chinese treasure fleet as painted by Vladimir Kosov, dated 2018
A gold ingot excavated from the tomb of Prince Zhuang of Liang, a son of the Hongxi Emperor, with an inscription stating that the ingot was made from gold purchased at the Western Ocean in the 17th year of the Yongle reign (1419), indicating that the gold was purchased in the fifth voyage (Hubei Provincial Museum)
Ma Huan
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Ma Huan, courtesy name Zongdao, pen name Mountain-woodcutter, was a Chinese explorer, translator, and travel writer who accompanied Admiral Zheng He on three of his seven expeditions to the Western Oc
First page of the Yingya Shenglan (1451) by Ma Huan, as collected in the Jilu Huibian (1617)