This museum was set up in honour of a Chinese Ming Dynasty admiral called Cheng Ho or Zheng He. This famed explorer made seven voyages of exploration, leaving his mark in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia between 1405 and 1433. Five of these voyages brought him through Melaka, a port he is said to have founded.
These voyages made a significant impact on Melaka's regionally important role in history. As a confidante to the third Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Cheng Ho had a weighty influence on Chinese International Relations of the day.
In the mid-15th Century, he was entrusted to bring the Emperor's daughter, Princess Hang Li Po to marry the Sultan of Melaka. The Princess' entourage consisted of several hundred sons of ministers and handmaidens, a group of people who eventually intermarried with locals in Melaka, creating the Baba Nyonya culture.
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