Zheng He

Zheng He was the Ming dynasty admiral and eunuch who commanded seven great maritime expeditions from 1405 to 1433, leading fleets of hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of men across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean to Arabia and the east coast of Africa. The treasure fleets carried trade goods and projected Ming prestige, returning with tribute and exotic animals such as a giraffe. The voyages ended when the court turned inward and banned ocean-going shipbuilding, leaving a lasting question of what Chinese sea power might have become.