A Ming Dynasty court eunuch, a diplomat, an explorer, a mariner, a Muslim…Zeng He lived from the 1370s to around 1433 and achieved what many have since considered to be impossible.

Between 1405 and 1433 Zeng He commanded seven expeditionary voyages. He explored the East China Sea, South China Sea, up through the Straits of Malacca to the Bay of Bengal, around India and Sri Lanka to the Arabian sea, the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, and on to the east coast of Africa. He did this with enormous ships in enormous fleets. If you believe the sources some of this ships were almost twice as long as any wooden ship ever recorded. On the first voyage it is believed that there were no fewer than 265 ships in total, 62 of them being of the largest type, the 'Treasure Ships'. Historians believe these largest vessels had five or six masts and were up to 300 feet long - but that is the most conservative of estimates. There is very little physical evidence to prove any of this with the exception of one 36 foot-long rudder, a monstrous piece of timber that does suggest a ship of at least 300 feet in length.

Zeng He's seven voyages provide a fascinating foundation for historical debate and narrative. Here is an empire using seapower to reach out beyond its borders in a golden time of exploration which does not last. The scale of the fleets, the distance of the voyages, and the activities of the Chinese are all very much unsettled in the minds of modern historians. To find out more Dr Sam Willis spoke with Professor Tim Brook, a historian of China at the University of British Columbia.

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