Overview of Zheng He's voyages to the West

From the third year of Yongle (1405) to the eighth year of Xuanzong Xuande (1433), Zheng He made seven voyages to the West. The Western Ocean refers to the Indian Ocean west of the South China Sea in the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng He's route reached the southeast coast of Africa as far as possible. There are always more than 60 to 100 ocean-going ships each time, which can accommodate more than 1000 people and a lot of materials. Equipped with a compass and nautical charts, the ship was the largest and most advanced ocean-going ship in the world at that time. The length of time, the number of times, the scale and the voyage are unprecedented feats in China's ancient navigation history and even in the world. Zheng He's voyages to the West promoted the economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and promoted the exchanges between China and Asian and African countries. After Zheng He's voyage to the West, countries in Southeast Asia, West Asia and East Africa sent envoys to pay tribute, which promoted overseas trade and promoted the development of commodity economy and handicraft production in China. Due to frequent navigation, the waterway from China to West Asia and East Africa is smooth and stable, which is greatly conducive to the spread of China culture to the West and the introduction of Western culture to the East. Some residents of China have moved to Nanyang. Since Zheng He's voyage to the West, the status of overseas Chinese has improved, so more and more people immigrated to Southeast Asian countries, especially Fujian and Guangdong provinces. Overseas migration of overseas Chinese contributed a lot to the development of Southeast Asian countries at that time.