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Remembering the navigator who ruled the waves
Visitors entering the Nation Museum of China in downtown Beijing
tomorrow will be greeted by the sight of a four-metre long, nine-mast, wooden
model ship perched serenely on a blue platform in the middle of the first
section of the museum's No 6 Exhibition Hall.
Behind the ship is a large photo of a small island in the Indian Ocean, hung
next to a map with flashing lights marking seafaring routes the longest linking
East China and Kenya.
The sound of breaking waves fills the hall as a recent TV documentary about
Ming
Dynasty admiral Zheng
He (1371-1435) and his grand naval fleets plays in a loop.
This is how a historical voyage begins, covering more than 2,000 square
metres of exhibition space.
Running until October 7, the grand exhibition marks the 600th anniversary of
Zheng He's first expedition among seven believed to have been made between 1405
and 1433.
The exhibition displays 80 sets of artefacts and 190 photos. Exhibits include
an 11-metre long wooden model rudder the original was unearthed in 2003 at the
Ming Dynasty shipyard in Nanjing.
There are ancient silk sheets featuring the patterns of dragons,
and clouds and flowers, and a two-metre-high "Tianfei Goddess" stone tablet, its
inscriptions chronicling Zheng's first six voyages.
The original is housed in a museum in Changle, East China's Fujian
Province, once a port where ships sought refuge from typhoons at the time of
Zheng's seventh voyage.
Wang Yonghong, chief curator of the exhibition, said also on display are
rarely displayed ancient, hand-drawn maritime maps, calligraphic scrolls,
Buddhist sutras written with golden characters and ancient paintings vividly
depicting the prosperity of Ming capital Nanjing in its heyday.
Divided into five parts, the exhibition reveals details of Zheng and his
followers' backgrounds, provides historical context, and outlines the seven
voyages and their historical and cultural influence on countries and regions
along the routes.
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Emissary