While dying emperors, shifting policies, and vindictive princes keep the capital busy, Admiral Zheng He will manage to sneak in on last joy-ride into the sunset aboard his beloved Treasure Fleet...

Time Period Covered:

1424-1435 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Hongxi Emperor (Zhu Gaochi) [r. 1424-1425]

The Xuande Emperor (Zhu Zhanji) [r. 1425-1435]

Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Han [1380-1426]

Zhu Gaosui, the Prince of Zhao [1383-1431]

Grand Admiral Zheng He [1371-1433]

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Zheng He's Treasure Fleet finally arrives on the African coast, and the Yongle Emperor celebrates the apex of his reign with the grand opening of Beijing and the Forbidden City. But dark clouds continue to build, but in the emperor's aged, troubled mind, and literally on the horizon... a storm is coming...

Time Period Covered:

1416-1424 CE

Major Historical Figures:

The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424]

The Noble Consort Zhaoxian, née Wang [d. ca. 1420]

Grand Admiral Zheng He [1371-1435]

Mirza Sharukh, Sultan of the Timurid Dynasty [r. 1405-1447]

Major Works Cited:

Chan, Hok-lam. “The Yung-lo reign” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Pt. I.

Dreyer, Edward L. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.

Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.

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Having laid waste to the once glorious city of Baghdad, Hulegu Ilkhan now sets his sights east of the Euphrates, to the fertile lands of Syria and Egypt beyond. But what's to follow will set of a momentous clash in Galilee, at a spring called Ain Jalut, that will shake the very fundaments of history...

Time Period Covered:

1258-1260 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Mongol Empire:

Mongke Khaghan

Khubilai Ilkhan

Ariq Boke

Ilkhanate:

Hulegu Ilkhan

General Baiju

General Kitbuqa

Ayyubid Dynasty:

al-Muzzam Turanshah

al-Malik al-Nasir Yusuf

al-Aziz

al-Zayn al-Hafizi

Mamluks:

Saif ad-Din Qutuz

Baybars al Bunduqdari, "The Great Lord Panther"

European Christendom:

King Louis IX of France

Bohemond V of Antioch

Bohemond VI of Antioch

King Hethum I of Cilicia

Major Sources Cited:

Amitai, Reuven. Mongols and Mamluks: The Mamluk Ilkhanate War, 1260-1281.

Amitai, Reuven. “An Exchange of Letters in Arabic Between Abakha Ilkhan and Sultan Baybars (A.H. 667/A.D. 1268-69)” in Central Asiatic Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1.

Gillespie, Alexander. Causes of War, Volume II: 1000 CE to 1400 CE.

Grousset, René. Empire of the Steppes: A history of Central Asia.

Subani, Hamad. The Secret History of Iran.

Richard, Jean. The Crusades, C.1071-1291.

Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades, Volume 3, The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades.

Tschanz, David W. “History’s Hinge: ‘Ain Jalut” in Saudi Aramco World.

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The treasure Fleet goes on missions 2-4, resulting in increasingly strange, valuable, and even divine gifts being presented to Great Ming.

Time Period Covered:

1407-1415 CE

Major Historical Figures

Ming:

Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424]

Admiral Zheng He [1371-1435]

Commodore Yang Min 

Ma Huan, translator & chronicler [1380-1460]

Kingdom of Malacca:

King Parameswara [r. 1402-1414]

Major Works Cited:

Chan, Hok-lam. “The Yung-lo reign” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Pt. I.

Dreyer, Edward L. Zheng He: China and the Oceans in the Early Ming Dynasty, 1405-1433.

Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. “Kéramos” in Keramos and Other Poems: A Book of Sonnets, Part II.

U.N. Museum. “Nanjing pagoda – Seven wonders of the medieval world.” www.unmuseum.org

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A live retelling (wart & all) of Genghis Khan's invasion of Khwarazmia ca. 1221, and the doomed flight of all who stood against his wrath... followed by a Q&A. From the 2021 Intelligent Speech Conference!

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There once was a fleet that put to sea

All in name of the Imperial Ming

With phoenix sterns, & dragon prows

Oh go, my baochuan, go!

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

Commanded by an admiral

So tall he seem unnatural

His voice rang out like temple bell

To get those treasures stowed

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

They sailed the southern seas so vast

They’d catch the wind with all nine masts

Astrologers would watch the skies

From Champa to Guangzhou

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

But on wave-crest a Pirate Lord

He spied the fleet and greedily roared

“Make ready all your cannon shot,

We’ll take all their cargo!”

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

Through flame and smoke they battled on

Til in a flash a month was gone

The Pirate Lord would taste defeat

His ships sunk deep below

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

At last they came to Indian shores

In search of spice and jewels and more

The deal was struck, with solemn vow

To pay all that was owed

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

But homeward bound the skies grew dim

The winds did howl, their fate seemed grim

The sailors prayed, “Help us, Tianfei!”

The masts began to glow

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

The Goddess heard their earnest pleas

She stilled the waves & calmed the breeze

The sailors gave their sober thanks

She’s spared them from their woe

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

Soon may the Treasure Fleet moor

To bring ceramics & silk galore

One day, when the trading is done

They’ll take our spice & go

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Zheng He & Co. have left the station and are sailing out! They leave the safety of the Yangtze River and set their compasses southbound and down, first to Fujian, then to Vietnam, Java, Sri Lanka, and finally all the way to India, all in the name of trade and riches. But the return journey will turn out to be anything but a pleasure-cruise. Between pirate raiders adn deadly storms, they might need a miracle to pull this off...

Time Period Covered:

1405-1407 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Grand Admiral Zheng He [1371-1433/5]

Chen Zuyi, Pirate Lord Extraordinaire [d. 1407]

Ma Huan, Chinese Muslim translator & chronicler [1380-1460]

Major Sources Cited:

Chan, Hok-lam. “The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-xi, Hsüan-te Reigns” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I.

Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.

Pregadio, Fabrizio (2004). The Encyclopedia of Taoism.

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What does the aftermath of a massacre entail, on the world stage?

CIA Memo 6/10/89 - Begins: 2:25

US Beijing Embassy Cable 7/11/89 - Begins: 6:05

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In this darkest of timelines, flickers of remembrance are more precious than ever...

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The Yongle Emperor decides it's time for Great Ming to bust out its swim trunks and its flippy-floppies... because he's going to make the biggest, bestest oceanic fleet of awesomesauce that the world has ever seen! And put in command is his trusted, tried-and-true battle-buddy: the Grand Admiral Zheng He!

Time Period Covered:

1371-1405 CE

Significant Historical Figures:

The Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di) [r. 1402-1424]

Grand Admiral Zheng He (né Ma He) [1371-1433]

Tianfei, the Goddess of the Sea and Patron Protector of Sailors [eternal]

Sources Cited:

Chan, Hok-lam. “The Chien-wen, Yung-lo, Hung-xi, Hsüan-te Reigns” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7: The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, Part I.

Levathes, Louise. The China Ruled the Seas:The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433.

Paterson, Erik T. “James Lind, Zheng He and the Prevention of Scurvy” in The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, Vol. 20, No. 4.

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