Introduction 1
Zheng He(Cheng Ho),Prince Henry and Christopher Co-lumbus—Three of the Greatest Navigator-Explorers 1
Who Was the Driving Force Behind the Explorations? 6
Were the Ancient Chinese Not a Sea-going People? 9
Biography of Zheng He 13
Chapter One Mankind's"Great Navigation Period"—Pioneers Exploring the Unknown World 16
Section 1 Opening new sea routes across the Indian Ocean 17
Section 2 Linking three oceans 23
Chapter Two Imposing Treasure Ships 26
Section 1 Surge of shipbuilding during the Ming Dynasty 26
Types of ships 26
Treasure ships 29
Section 2 The mighty armada of treasure ships 33
Zheng He's treasure ships—a wonder on the seas 33
Zheng He's fleet"braving high waves like a swimming dragon" 37
Chapter Three Application and Improvement of Nautical Technology 44
Section 1 Advanced seamanship 44
Positioning of ships 45
Correction of wind pressure and current pressure errors 48
Celestial observation 49
Section 2 One of the world's earliest navigation charts—"Zheng He's Navigation Chart" 52
The navigation routes opened by Zheng He on his expe-ditions to the Western Ocean 54
The practical value of"Zheng He's Navigation Chart" 60
The academic value of"Zheng He's Navigation Chart" 63
Chapter Four Trade and Diplomacy During Zheng He's Voy-ages to the Western Oceans 66
Section 1 Trading routes connecting Asia and Africa 66
Boosting Asia-Africa trade 66
Maritime trade offices,and import and export goods 76
Section 2 Diplomacy on a grand scale 80
Visits to Asian and African countries 81
New growth of friendship with foreign countries 83
Steady flow of goodwill envoys to China 87
Friendly relations with countries in Southeast Asia 88
Chapter Five The Impact of Zheng He's Voyages to the West-ern Oceans 92
Section 1 Cultural exchanges 92
"The history of Tanganyika is written in Chinese porce-lain" 92
Spreading the technique of blue-and-white porcelain 95
Navigation records and geographical works 97
Introduction of new glass-making techniques 100
Section 2 Religious activities 101
Appendix:Major Events During Zheng He's Lifetime 107