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.