Zheng He: The eunuch who launched 300 ships

Reading National Geographic this weekend, I read a story on Admiral Zheng He, who -nearly a century before Columbus made his journey- sailed a series of 7 voyages which traveled from China to as far as the Kenyan Coast.

The ships of Zheng's armada were as astonishing as its reach. Some accounts claim that the great baochuan, or treasure ships, had nine masts on 400-foot-long (122-meter-long) decks. The largest wooden ships ever built, they dwarfed those of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama. Hundreds of smaller cargo, war, and supply ships bore tens of thousands of men who brought China to a wider world.

His largest armada contained 317 ships, and nearly 28,000 men.

In contrast to most tales of exploration, the story paints him as a man of peace who was deeply interested in -and respectful of- the cultures he encountered. Proving that maybe testicles might be the problem after all.

I really recommend the article though, its also serves as a neat overview of what it was like traveling amoungst the cultures which surrounded the Indian Ocean at that time.
Story.