郑和是谁？
Who was Zheng He? China's admiral of the treasure ships
Name: ________________ Date: ________
六百多年前，一只来自非洲的长颈鹿坐着船来到了中国。宫里的人从来没见过这么高的动物，有人说，它就是传说中的麒麟，它的出现说明皇帝做得好。那么，是谁把它带来的呢？是郑和的船队。
郑和本来不姓郑。1371年，他出生在云南一个信仰伊斯兰教的家庭，原来的名字叫马和。他还是个孩子的时候，明朝的士兵打到了云南，他被抓走，后来成了太监，在朱棣身边做事。
朱棣后来当上了皇帝，也就是永乐皇帝。马和在打仗中帮了他很大的忙，皇帝就给他改了姓，从此他叫郑和。
1405年，郑和第一次带着船队出海。船队有三百多条船，将近两万八千人。这比哥伦布出海早了八十多年。
船队里最大的船叫“宝船”。古书上说，宝船有一百多米长，比一个足球场还长。不过，很多现代学者觉得这个数字太夸张了，他们认为宝船可能只有六七十米长。
从1405年到1433年，郑和一共七次出海。他去过东南亚、印度和阿拉伯，最远到了非洲东边的海边。船队带去了丝绸、瓷器和金银，作为送给各国的礼物；带回来的，有象牙，有很多中国人从来没见过的动物，还有那只让人吃惊的长颈鹿。
一般认为，郑和是在第七次出海的时候去世的，他的身体留在了大海里。所以，南京的郑和墓里，其实什么也没有。
郑和去世以后，明朝再也没有派过这样的船队。很多官员反对，说出海花钱太多，国家的钱也要用来保护北方的边境。后来很长一段时间里，人们几乎忘记了郑和这个名字。
今天，中国把每年的7月11日定为“航海日”。这一天，正是1405年郑和第一次出海的日子。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 出现 | chūxiàn | to appear; to emerge; to arise |
| 说明 | shuōmíng | explanation; instructions; to explain; to illustrate |
| 家庭 | jiātíng | family; household |
| 改 | gǎi | to change; to alter |
| 从此 | cóngcǐ | from now on; from then on; henceforth |
| 数字 | shùzì | number; digit; figure |
| 作为 | zuòwéi | as; in the capacity of |
| 吃惊 | chījīng | to be surprised; to be startled |
| 留 | liú | to keep; to retain |
| 反对 | fǎnduì | to oppose; to object to; to be against |
| 用来 | yònglái | to be used for |
| 保护 | bǎohù | to protect; to safeguard; protection |
English (for the teacher)
More than six hundred years ago, a giraffe from Africa arrived in China by ship. No one at court had ever seen such a tall animal, and some said it was the qilin of legend, whose appearance meant the emperor was ruling well. So who brought it? Zheng He's fleet.
Zheng He wasn't born with the surname Zheng. He was born in 1371 in Yunnan, into a Muslim family, and his original name was Ma He. When he was still a child, the Ming army reached Yunnan; he was taken away, later became a eunuch, and served at the side of Zhu Di.
Zhu Di later became emperor, the Yongle Emperor. Ma He helped him a great deal in his wars, so the emperor gave him a new surname, and from then on he was Zheng He.
In 1405 Zheng He led his fleet out to sea for the first time. The fleet had more than three hundred ships and nearly twenty-eight thousand people. That was more than eighty years before Columbus set sail.
The biggest ships in the fleet were called “treasure ships”. Old books say a treasure ship was more than a hundred metres long, longer than a football pitch. But many modern scholars think the number is far too big; they believe the treasure ships may have been only sixty or seventy metres long.
From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went to sea seven times. He went to Southeast Asia, India and Arabia, and as far as the east coast of Africa. The fleet carried silk, porcelain, gold and silver as gifts for other countries; it brought back ivory, many animals Chinese people had never seen, and that astonishing giraffe.
It is generally believed that Zheng He died during the seventh voyage and was buried at sea. So Zheng He's tomb in Nanjing actually holds nothing at all.
After Zheng He died, the Ming never sent out a fleet like that again. Many officials were against it, saying the voyages cost too much and the country's money was needed to defend the northern border. For a long time afterwards, people all but forgot Zheng He's name.
Today China has made 11 July every year its Maritime Day. That is the very day Zheng He first set sail in 1405.