The Enigma of Zheng He -- The Chinese Tributary System and the Purpose of Zheng He's Voyages -- Traditional Chinese Interpretations of Zheng He's Career -- Zheng He's Voyages and Western Imperial Expansion -- Zheng He's Early Life and His Patron, Emperor Yongle -- The Fall of the Yuan and the Rise of the Ming to 1368 -- The Reign of Emperor Hongwu, 1368/1398 -- Civil War, 1398/1402 -- Yongle's Reign as Emperor, 1402/1424 -- China and the Asian Maritime World in the Time of Zheng He -- The Purpose of Zheng He's Voyages -- Patterns of Trade in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea -- The Malay-Indonesian World in the Hongwu Era -- Southern India and Ceylon in the Time of Zheng -- Sailing to India: Zheng He's First, Second, and Third Voyages -- The First Voyage, 1405/1407 -- The Second Voyage, 1407/1409 -- The Third Voyage, 1409/1411 -- Sailing to Africa: Zheng He's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Voyages -- The Fourth Voyage, 1412/14/1415 -- The Fifth Voyage, 1417/1419 -- The Sixth Voyage, 1421/142 -- The Last Years of the Yongle Reign, 1422/1424 -- The Ships and Men of Zheng He's Fleets -- Dimensions and Displacements of the Treasure Ships -- Masts and Sails -- Shipbuilding Notices in the Taizong Shilu -- Shipbuilding Costs -- Numbers of Ships in Each of the Voyages -- Personnel -- Zheng He's Career after 1424 and His Final Voyage -- Ming China in the Hongxi (1424/1425) and Xuande (1425/1435) Reigns -- Zheng He's Career from 1424 to 1430 -- Zheng He's Inscriptions at Liujiagang and Changle -- Zheng He's Seventh and Final Voyage, 1431/1433 -- The Legacy of Zheng He -- China Turns Away from the Sea after the Death of Zheng He -- Dealing with the Memory of Zheng He's Voyages -- The Rediscovery of Zheng He -- Translations of Primary Sources -- Zheng He's Biography in Mingshi 304.2b/4b -- Zheng He's Liujiagang Inscription of 1431 -- Zheng He's Changle Inscription of 1431 -- Chronology.