Monday, November 24, 2014
Sam Poo Kong is the oldest Chinese temple in Central Java. It was originally establish
by the Chinese Muslim explorer Zheng He. Unlike most temples these buildings do not belong to any specific religion
,
but rather functions as a place to worship for people of various
ethnicities and religious groups such as Muslim, Buddhist and Taoists. So in memory of Zheng He - 1371 to 1435
He was a mariner - explorer - diplomat and a fleet admiral from 1405 - 1433. His first fleet he was in charge off consisted of 317 ships with over 28000 crewmen. He visited Arabia, Brunei, East Afrifia, India and the Malay Archipekage. He gave gold, silver , porcelain and silk as gifts and in return he received novelties such as ostrich, zebras
, camels, ivories and giraffes. It is believed that some of his fleet even found the America's.
Zheng He sought to attain his goals through diplomacy but when this failed he did not shrink back from violence
to reach his objective. He died during his last voyage in 1935 and was probably buried at sea - but in his honor he has a grave in China.
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