Word: zheng
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...That route, up through the Indian Ocean, closely followed Zheng He's voyages. A purist, the first preparation Cuthbert made for his trip was to rip out the wheelhouse. "You have to feel the elements," he says. Once, off Sri Lanka, more than 100 dolphins swam alongside the Precious Dragon, taking turns surfing the bow wave. When sailing in the junk, he says, "you feel that time's stopped. She moves very gracefully, silently...
...Smuggling has gotten more dicey recently, and Zheng has quit his trade. China is trying to crack down on corruption: the former head of Shenzhen's customs, Zhao Yucun, faces the death penalty for taking $1.2 million in bribes. At the same time, triads are muscling out independent operators all over the place. Working both sides of the border, gangs own perhaps half the nightclubs and bars in Shenzhen, often reportedly in partnership with officers of the People's Liberation Army and the Public Security Bureau. They are into everything that pays: car theft, gambling, prostitution, kidnap for ransom...
...central figure in the propaganda battle is Zheng Chenggong, traditionally known to Westerners as Koxinga, the mentally unhinged son of a pirate, now lauded on the mainland as a "nationalist hero." After Manchu "barbarians" breached the Great Wall to establish the Qing dynasty in the 17th century, Zheng led his coastal forces in resistance before fleeing in 1661 to Taiwan, then a scarcely populated outpost supporting some Dutch traders and a small garrison, which he defeated. Shortly after, Zheng ordered his officers to execute his own son over a love affair with a nurse; they refused, so the hero killed...
...worthy tales need a bad guy, and it is the Dutch who are used to symbolize 21st century Washington. In the coming mainland film Hero Zheng Chenggong, the naval leader overwhelms the colonialists from Holland because, says director Wu Ziniu, "he is like Mel Gibson in Braveheart, fighting for his love of freedom." A state-produced TV mini-series premiering in October will present the Dutch as scheming to divide China. In fact, they were ensconced in Indonesia, "with no plans for a big presence in Taiwan," says Philip Kuhn, a Harvard historian. "They held out for a while...
...Taiwan, naturally, has a different spin. Many independence activists trace the modern incarnation of their movement to Legacy, a seminal dance performance that told the story of the initial wave of Chinese emigrants that followed Zheng to Taiwan. When it opened in 1978, it was the first open celebration of Taiwan's separate history. Far from demonizing the Dutch, Taiwan's students now learn that they helped build schools and developed the island as a trading hub. Over in Beijing, at a special exhibition on Taiwan at the Revolutionary History Museum, the scenario goes more like this: the Dutch colonize...