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50 free Zheng He trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Decades before Columbus, a Muslim eunuch from landlocked Yunnan led fleets of hundreds of ships from China to Arabia and the Swahili coast. This Zheng He trivia quiz follows Ma He from his capture by Ming armies as a boy, through the Jingnan campaign that put his master on the throne, to the seven treasure voyages of 1405-1433 and the sudden end of Chinese ocean-going ambition after his death. You will meet the pirate Chen Zuyi, the captive king of Ceylon, the giraffe hailed as a qilin, the Mao Kun sailing charts, and the long argument over whether any wooden ship could really have been 127 metres long. There are also questions on his legacy: the temples of 'Sam Po' across Southeast Asia, China's Maritime Day, and the US Navy vessel that carried his name at Pearl Harbor. Questions range from easy to expert, and every answer is verified and cited to its reference page. If you enjoy this quiz, try our other explorers and Chinese history quizzes.
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Q 01Zheng He served as admiral and diplomat under which Chinese dynasty?
Ming
He commanded seven voyages between 1405 and 1433 for the Yongle and Xuande emperors.
Q 02How many treasure voyages did Zheng He command?
Seven
The first sailed in 1405 and the last in 1430-33; the Hongxi Emperor briefly halted them in 1424.
Q 03What was Zheng He's birth name?
Ma He
He was born into a Muslim Hui family; the surname Zheng was conferred by the Yongle Emperor in 1404.
Q 04Which ruler granted Zheng He his surname and commissioned his voyages?
The Yongle Emperor
As Prince of Yan, Zhu Di had been Zheng He's master since boyhood and was 11 years his senior.
Q 05By what alias is Zheng He widely known in Chinese culture and Southeast Asian temples?
San Bao (Sam Po)
The name refers to the Buddhist Three Jewels; temples of the 'Sam Po' cult stand across the Chinese diaspora.
Q 06In which province was Zheng He born?
Yunnan
Kunyang near Kunming was then held by a Mongol prince loyal to the Northern Yuan; Ming armies conquered it in 1382.
Q 07What title held by Zheng He's father and grandfather suggests they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca?
Hajji
He was also a descendant of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, Mongol governor of Yunnan.
Q 08How did the young Ma He answer General Fu Youde's question about where the Mongol claimant was?
He said the man had jumped into a lake
The defiant reply got him taken prisoner; he was castrated between the ages of 10 and 14.
Q 09Into whose household was the boy eunuch placed?
Zhu Di, Prince of Yan
The prince governed Beiping, modern Beijing, and took Ma He on campaigns against the Mongols from 1390.
Q 10Why did Ma He receive an education in Beiping that he would have been denied at the imperial capital?
The Hongwu Emperor wanted eunuchs kept illiterate
The dynasty's founder distrusted eunuchs; his son's northern court had no such rule.
Q 11Which 1399-1402 civil war brought Zheng He's master to the throne?
The Jingnan campaign
The Prince of Yan rebelled against his nephew the Jianwen Emperor and marched into Nanjing in July 1402.
Q 12For defending which Beiping site in 1399 was Ma He later rewarded with the surname Zheng?
The city reservoir, Zhenglunba
The name was conferred during Chinese New Year 1404, also honouring his role in capturing Nanjing.
Q 13How was Zheng He's height recorded?
Seven chi
The same account gives him a five-chi waist, glaring eyes, teeth like shells and a voice as loud as a bell.
Q 21Which ruler halted the treasure voyages in September 1424?
The Hongxi Emperor
His reign lasted under a year; his son Xuande allowed one final expedition in 1430.
Q 22Which city was Zheng He appointed to defend in 1425?
Nanjing
He kept command of the treasure fleet for the city's defence and later oversaw rebuilding of the Great Bao'en Temple there.
Q 23According to one reading of the History of Ming, what was the hidden purpose of the first voyages?
To hunt the escaped Jianwen Emperor
That would make the first voyage 'the largest-scale manhunt on water in the history of China'.
Q 14When did Zheng He's first voyage depart?
July 1405
The fleet of 317 ships carried almost 28,000 crew; 11 July is now Maritime Day in China in its memory.
Q 15How many ships sailed on the first voyage?
317
So many linguists were needed that a foreign-language institute was founded at Nanjing.
Q 16Who was appointed second in command of the treasure fleet?
Wang Jinghong
Ma Huan was the translator whose 1416 General Survey of the Ocean Shores describes the ports they visited.
Q 17Which animal brought back from Malindi was hailed as a qilin and proof of the Mandate of Heaven?
A giraffe
Zebras, camels, ostriches and ivory also came from the Swahili Coast in exchange for gold, silk and porcelain.
Q 18Which feared pirate did Zheng He defeat and send back to China for execution?
Chen Zuyi
The Ming then set up the Old Port Pacification Superintendency at Palembang under Shi Jinqing.
Q 19Against which kingdom on Ceylon did Zheng He wage a land war?
Kotte
King Vira Alakeshwara was taken to China as a captive to apologise to the emperor.
Q 20From how many states did Zheng He bring envoys to the Ming court after his fourth voyage?
30
His fleets called at Brunei, Java, Siam, India, Arabia and the Horn of Africa.
Q 24How did a contemporary describe the way Zheng He walked?
Like a tiger
He did not shrink from violence when he thought it necessary to impress foreign peoples with Ming might.
Q 25How many li of ocean did Zheng He claim to have traversed?
More than 100,000
His inscription describes waves like mountains and sails 'loftily unfurled like clouds day and night'.
Q 26In which 1621 book were Zheng He's sailing charts, the Mao Kun map, published?
Wubei Zhi
The strip map was 20.5 cm by 560 cm and could be rolled up; it uses a 24-point compass with sailing times.
Q 27How many masts did the largest 'treasure ships' reportedly carry?
Nine
Luo Maodeng's 1597 novel gives them 44.4 by 18 zhang, roughly 127 by 52 metres, figures many scholars doubt.
Q 28Which famous 1765 warship do the claimed treasure ships dwarf at nearly twice its length?
HMS Victory
No wooden ship recorded until the 20th century approached 127 m; the first 126 m vessels were iron-hulled steamers.
Q 29What length did Zhao Zhigang propose for Zheng He's largest ship?
About 70 m
Skeptics suggest 60-75 m; the zhang unit itself may have been misread, halving the traditional figures.
Q 30How wide at most was the largest surviving basin at the excavated Treasure Shipyard?
41 metres
At 421 m long the basin could fit the claimed ships lengthwise but not even half their claimed width.