Gong Zhen
Ming dynasty author, advisor, secretary, explorer
Gong Zhen (simplified Chinese: 巩珍; traditional Chinese: 鞏珍) was a fifteenth-century translator and writer famous for his association with the Chinese admiral Zheng He.
Life
Born near Nanjing in present-day Jiangsu Province during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Gong Zhen's dates of birth and death are not recorded but it is known that his father was a soldier. Gong Zhen was first appointed as an advisor to the Xuande Emperor (r. 1425–1435), then in 1431 he became secretary to the admiral Zheng He.
Gong Zhen accompanied Zheng He on his voyages to the Western Ocean until 1433. His role was as advisor, translator and diarist in the various countries that Zheng He's treasure fleet visited.
Gong Zhen is best known as the author of Xiyang Fanguo Zhi (西洋番国志; 西洋番國誌; 'The Annals of Foreign Nations in the Western Ocean') published in 1434.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Gong Zhen” as ming dynasty author, advisor, secretary, explorer. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as ming dynasty author, advisor, secretary, explorer. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3497776. VIAF identifies the subject as 21821254. The Library of Congress control number is no2002107395. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1368, 1644, 1425 and 1435.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gong Zhen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.