In 1405， the 34-year-old Zheng He confidentlyaccepted an order from Emperor Yongle and startedthe arduous task of traveling to western oceans with afleet as chief imperial envoy.
Under his leadership， the fleet was active in SoutheastAsia， South Asia and East Africa. According to ZhengHe，s strategy， the fleet navigated westward step bystep in a ladder shape in line with a “three-layered”structure-taking Southeast Asia as the base， the IndianSouth Peninsula and coastal countries as the center， andnavigating to West Asia and East Africa. With an aim toestablish a solid base in Southeast Asia， Zheng He，s first，second and third voyages focused on Southeast Asia， andthe end goal was reaching Guli in South Asia. In the fourthand fifth voyages， the end point was moved westward toHormuz in West Asia. In the sixth and seventh voyages，the destination was pushed to Malindi， Kenya in EastAfrica. Zheng He， with his excellent command ability and
2七下西洋
1405年，时年34岁的郑和满怀信心地领受永乐皇帝的敕谕，以下西洋正使、钦差总兵的身份，开始了统领船队下西洋的艰巨任务。
郑和统领的船队主要活动在东南亚、南亚和东非
outstanding diplomatic and military wisdom，successfullyorganized and accomplished these difficult ocean voyages.
First voyage to the west oceans (1405-1407)
On July 11， 1405， Zheng He started his first voyageto the west oceans. Shortly after， he led the fleet out ofNanjing， the capital of the dynasty， and into the YangtzeRiver. He stopped at Liujiagang Port in Suzhou at theentrance of the Yangtze River to wait for further orders.
That late autumn， a solemn ceremony to launch thetrip was held at Liujiagang Port to send off Zheng He，the envoy of Ming Dynasty. The fleet of 62 vessels thennavigated from the East Sea to the South China Sea underZheng He，s leadership.
After arriving at Taiping Port， Changle County inFujian Province， the fleet berthed at the port to wait forthe northeast monsoon. While waiting， Zheng He andhis officers and soldiers held a solemn ceremony to offersacrifices to the god of navigation-the Celestial Queen-to seek for protection. After the monsoon passed， thefleet sailed off from Wuhumen (currently at the MinjiangRiver Estuary)， entered the South China Sea after passingthrough the Taiwan Strait and sailed downwind for 10days to Zhancheng (south part of Vietnam at present).After a short rest， the fleet sailed downwind for 20 daysto Java. At that time， Java was governed by east and
三大区域。郑和经略这三大区域，在总体战略上是按“三级”式格局，呈梯状层层西进的，即以东南亚为后方基地，以印度南半岛及沿海诸国为经略中心，远届西亚、东非。为了建立稳固的东南亚后方基地，郑和将第一、第二、第三次远航的重心放在东南亚，远航终点为南亚的古里；第四、第五两次，向西推进至西亚的忽鲁谟斯（霍尔木兹）；第六、第七两次推进至东非肯尼亚的麻林（马林迪）。郑和以他卓越的指挥才能和杰出的外交、军事智略，出色地组织并完成了七次远航的重大任务。
第一次下西洋（1405-1407）
1405年7月11日，郑和奉旨第一次下西洋。不久，他指挥下西洋船队陆续从京师南京下关开船，浩浩荡荡进入长江，驶抵长江口的苏州刘家港集结待命。
同年深秋，刘家港举行隆重的开航仪式，欢送出使西洋各国的明朝使者郑和启航。然后，62艘海船组成的长长船队，在郑和的率领下，浩浩荡荡地航行在东海的海面，向南海驶去。
在茫茫东海中破浪前进的郑和船队到福建长乐县
west kings. Upon the arrival of Zheng He，s fleet， the twokings were fighting a war. Seeing Zheng He，s fleet， thewinner west king mistakenly thought the east kind wasreceiving reinforcements and killed more than 170 people.When the truth came out， the west king felt great fearand dispatched an envoy to apologize. Considering thewest king of Java to be the offender and the entire case amisapprehension， Emperor Yongle criticized the king andordered him to pay compensation of 60，000 liang (taels) tosettle the matter.
Zheng He，s fleet left Java and sailed downwind foreight days to Jiugang. From there it sailed downwind foreight more days to Manlajia.
Manlajia (today，s Malacca)， was a country in theMalaysian peninsula in early 15th century. Manlajiacontrolled the Strait of Malacca， the traffic hub betweenthe Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean， a required routefor vessel. In early 15 th century， the Ming Dynasty andManlajia exchanged frequent visits. After ascending tothe throne， Emperor Yongle dispatched Yin Qing to visitManlajia. Upon the arrival of Zheng He，s fleet， the king ofManlajia led his officials to welcome Zheng He at the portin magnificent dresses and with an honor guard. ZhengHe produced the letter of reference from the ChineseEmperor Yongle to the king of Manlajia and gave him giftssuch as double silver seals and garments.
太平港后，驻泊等候东北季风。等候期间，郑和亲率船队官兵隆重祭祀航海保护神--天妃，以求保护。季风来后，再由五虎门（今闽江口）扬帆开航，穿越台湾海峡进入南海，顺风航行十昼夜到达占城国（今越南南部）。在那里作短暂停留后，又顺风航行20昼夜到达爪哇。爪哇有东、西二王。当郑和船队航行至此时，正值东、西二王交战。郑和船队到达时，战胜者西王以为是东王请来的救兵，便一哄而上，乱杀一气，误杀船队队员170余人。真相大白后，西王胆战心惊，立即遣使谢罪。永乐皇帝念其初犯，且为误伤，一番责备之后，令其赔偿黄金6万两了断此事。
郑和船队离开爪哇，继续航行，顺风八昼夜到旧
The king of Manlajia extended great thanks to theChinese envoys and encouraged Zheng He，s endeavor.
The king not only provided material support to ZhengHe but also allowed Zheng He to set up a warehouse inManlajia to store cargo.
The warehouse was large and made up of an inner partand an outer part. It had a door on each of four sides.In the warehouse， Zheng He stored grain， money andmaterials to exchange or give away in other countries.Surrounding the warehouse， there were four-door drumtowers. The warehouse was both a warehouse and a cargotransshipment station for Zheng He，s voyages to thewestern oceans. The fleet was dispatched to surroundingcountries for visits or trade activities after arriving at thewarehouse. The vessels returned from these trips andgathered at the warehouse to clear and package cargo，waited for the southwest monsoon in mid May and thensailed back to China. The establishment of such a cargotransshipment station in Manlajia played an importantrole in Zheng He，s expeditions and reflected the profoundfriendship between China and Manlajia. During ZhengHe，s voyages to western oceans， Manlajia dispatchedenvoys to visit China 26 times and each was warmlyreceived by the Ming Dynasty.
After staying in Manlajia for a period of time， ZhengHe，s fleet sailed westward to the Indian Ocean after
港，又顺风八昼夜到满剌加。
满剌加（今马六甲）是15世纪初在马来半岛兴起的一个国家。它控制着马六甲海峡，这里是太平洋与印度洋之间的交通咽喉，是过往船只的必经之地。15世纪初，中国明朝与满剌加往来不绝，永乐皇帝登基后曾派尹庆到满剌加访问。这次郑和船队一到满剌加，国王便亲率大臣，穿着华丽的盛装，带着仪仗队，前往港口迎接。郑和向国王宣读了中国永乐皇帝的国书，赠送了双台银印、服饰等优厚的礼物。
满剌加国王十分感谢中国使者，大力支持郑和的远航，不仅提供物质援助，还同意郑和在那里建立仓库存放货物。这座仓库规模很大，分为内城和外城两