A Ming dynasty Chinese eunuch who led several missions of trade and exploration to Australasia, India and even Africa. Qeng Ho's ships were huge, and entire fleets sailed to find new sources of tribute and trade for the emperor. Qeng Ho is also notable for having been a Muslim.

Qeng Ho is also the name applied to a spacefaring society of merchants in A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon The Deep, two science fiction novels by Vernor Vinge. The Qeng Ho are travellers who trade information and technology with the various civilisations of the human diaspora. They are limited to non-FTL travel (because of their location in the galaxy, in Vinge's treatment of FTL travel in our galaxy).

Note that the correct pinyin transliteration is actually Zheng He.