Zheng He
1433 - Nanjing
In the southern provinces of the Ming Empire, the admiral who commanded the greatest fleet in history reflects on why the emperor ordered the ships burned.
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Current period
15th century with Nanjing in view: 2 lives, 2 place stories, and 1 named historical windows to move through.
Place in focus: Nanjing
Lives in this period
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1433 - Nanjing
In the southern provinces of the Ming Empire, the admiral who commanded the greatest fleet in history reflects on why the emperor ordered the ships burned.
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1465 - Mainz
In Mainz, no longer master of the press that bears no name of his, the man who made the modern world possible reflects on invention, debt, and erasure.
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Places inside this time
In 15th century, use the same years to move from chronology into cities, courts, islands, and regions that already carry deeper context.
Alive in this timeline around 1433 / story span 1433
Connected to 1 life including Zheng He.
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Alive in this timeline around 1465 / story span 1450s-1468
Connected to 1 life including Johann Gutenberg.
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Named windows
1 windows to step into
Renaissance
1400 to 1600
Art, learning, and authority concentrated in courts, studios, and city-states.
14 lives visible here
13 place stories active in the same years
Enter this periodTime travel
Nanjing · 1401 CE to 1500 CE
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Focused place from the globe: Nanjing
2 place stories are visible in this time window.
Historical events
1 prototype event
East Asia
1405-1433 · Nanjing
Nanjing gathers decades of maritime reach back into one capital that must decide what oceanic scale means.
Zheng He gives the sequence a human center through which distance, service, and imperial expectation can all be felt.
Chronology
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1433 - Nanjing
Place story available
In the southern provinces of the Ming Empire, the admiral who commanded the greatest fleet in history reflects on why the emperor ordered the ships burned.
15th century across the atlas
1433 - Nanjing
1465 - Mainz
Decades
1465 - Mainz
Place story available
In Mainz, no longer master of the press that bears no name of his, the man who made the modern world possible reflects on invention, debt, and erasure.