Malacca pt 2 Zheng He, one of my favorite figures and stories from Chinese history has a nice plaque and museum dedicated to him in this historical city of Malaysia. On the historic river, I found the spot (I first saw in 2019) where Zheng He first landed and made an alliance with the Sultan of Malacca in 1405, making this a trading hub power, and the beginning of the over 600 years of Chinese migration and connection with Malaysia.
I go to the museum dedicated to Zheng He. Also I go to the Chinese graveyard, the largest outside of China, where the first Chinese community in Malaysia was and an old 1700s temple and 1400s well also. And I go to the oldest Chinese temple in Malaysia from the 1600s in the city. Around 25% of Malaysia, around 9-10 million people, have ethnic Chinese roots. People from mainland China and more come visit this city because of this history.
Long voyages and exploring in history before modern conveniences and globalization always fascinate me and this story is one of the best there is. The Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty in China decided to organize a massive 300 plus boat and 28,000-person strong naval flotilla of treasure ships out into the seas to spread China's influence and alliances in the early 1400s. Nothing the world has ever seen and 80 years before any European explorations. Leading the total of 7 voyages from 1405-1433 was the eunuch turned Naval Admiral, a Muslim, Zheng He. In a total of 7 voyages, they traveled throughout SE Asia, the Indonesian Islands, India, Sri Lanka, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, Mecca, and East Africa. One of the strongest alliances they made was here with the Sultan of Malacca because of the city's location on the Malacca Straits making it an important shipping route from East to West, even to this day.
Malacca boomed as a multicultural trading hub with Ming China's protection and it was an obligatory stop for Zheng He's voyages and he came here at least 7 times. Where the Chinese graveyard is in the video was a base for the Chinese, where some people settled permanently, and the treasure fleet stopped. One time, Zheng He, brought the Sultan back to Beijing to meet the Emperor. Three Emperor's reigned during Zheng He's life of explorations. It was a bountiful connection. One of the later Ming Emperors even married his daughter to a Malacca Sultan in the later 1400s, accompanying her were 500 Chinese servants, artisans, and more, and they moved to where the Chinese cemetery later was built.
Zheng He died where I was earlier this year in Calicut India. And the Ming Dynasty decided to close off China and end the explorations or any contact with the outside world. Which ended up opening the door for the European colonists who were coming into the late 1400s and early 1500s. The Poruguese filled the void first and were the first to conquer Malacca. That story will be next. They destroyed the Chinese community and Sultans area on Bukit Cina (Chinese Hill) but later during the Duth period a influential Chinese local bought the land and that is when it started to be used a cemetery.
16 окт 2024
