China is rewriting history to play down the martial past of its most famous seafarer, a maritime hero said to be the original Sinbad the Sailor.
Zheng He sailed the Indian Ocean with huge warships and armies as far as Africa. According to one recent book, he also discovered America and Australia.
But according to the Chinese Communist Party and a series of events marking the 600th anniversary of his first voyage today, he was also an ambassador of peace, trade and Asian solidarity and co-operation. A bronze statue of the admiral in his home port, Nanjing, has been altered to remove a sword and replace it with a world map.
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