Abstract: When ZHENG He travelled to the West, the Ming Dynasty greatly developed not only political and economic but also cultural exchanges, including the exchange of animals such as kylins(actually giraffes) with Asian and African nations. ZHENG He's voyages can be divided into two stages, the first stage including the first three trips, while the second the last four trips. At the first stage, he mainly visited the nations in Southeast Asia and South Asia while at the second stage, he visited those far in West Asia and East Africa. The maritime "kylin tributes" related to ZHENG's voyages roughly happened seven times at the second stage. The later "kylin tributes" were also closely connected with voyages to the West. It was also said that the geographical expansion of ZHENG's last four voyages was directly related to "kylin tributes". In contrast to a nation's domestic affairs, diplomacy is aimed to deal with foreign affairs by peaceful means such as dispatching missions to resolve disputes in order to achieve the maximization of national interests. Emporer Yongle made foreign policies based on the diplomatic experiences of previous dynasties and his own experiences in East Asia and consequently implemented them in the South China Sea and the West at that time. Originally, ZHENG was sent to find the missing Emperor Jianwen and to fight against the remnant rebellions, but later his voyages were gradually aimed to search for rare animals and precious native products, protect the security of waterways, promote the national prestige in the South China Sea and establish diplomatic relations with non-vassal states. In the early Ming Dynasty, the consciousness of "tianxia"(under Heaven) and the distinction between Chinese and barbarians were deepened via a series of diplomatic ceremonies of "kylin tributes", which were not only performed for local natives but also politically served to attract neighboring countries as well as the states in South Asia and East Africa to join the ally of the "heavenly sovereign" so as to establish the central status of China in the tribute system in the Ming Dynasty.

Key words: ZHENG He's voyages to the West, kylin, giraffe, kylin tribute, “kylin diplomacy”, supernatural animal politics