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WHO’SZHENGHETHEVOYAGESTOTHEWESTERNSEASEarlyinthe15thcentury,ahugefleetofshipssetsailfromNanjing.Itwasthefirstofaseriesofvoyagesthatwould,forabriefperiod,establishChinaastheleadingpoweroftheage.ThevoyagewasledbyZhengHe,themostimportantChineseadventurerofalltimeandoneofthegreatestsailorstheworldhaseverknown.Infact,somepeoplethinkhewastheoriginalmodelforthelegendarySinbadtheSailor.Zheng'sfleethadmorethan300shipsand30,000sailors.Thelargestvessels,133-meter-longtreasureships,haduptoninemastsandcouldcarryathousandpeople.AlongwithaHanandMuslimcrew,ZhengopeneduptraderoutesinAfrica,India,andSoutheastAsia.ThevoyageshelpedexpandforeigninterestinChinesegoodssuchassilkandporcelain.Inaddition,ZhengHebroughtexoticforeignitemsbacktoChina,includingthefirstgiraffeeverseenthere.Atthesametime,thefleet'sobviousstrengthmeantthattheEmperorofChinacommandedrespectandinspiredfearalloverAsia.ThoughZhengHediedin1433andwasprobablyburiedatsea,but,agraveandsmallmonumenttohimstillexistsinJiangsuProvince.ThreeyearsafterZhengHe'sdeath,anewemperorbannedtheconstructionofoceangoingships,andChina'sbrieferaofnavalexpansionwasover.Chinesepolicyturnedinward,leavingtheseasclearfortherisingnationsofEurope.Afterzhenghe,opinionsvaryonwhythishappened.Whateverthereason,conservativeforcesgainedtheupperhand,andChina'spotentialforworlddominationwasnotrealized.RecordsofZhengHe'sincrediblevoyageswereburned.Notuntiltheearly20thcenturydidanotherfleetofcomparablesizetaketotheseas.