Zhou Man (Chinese: 周滿; pinyin: Zhōu Mǎn), was a 15th century Chinese admiral and explorer. He was born into a wealthy merchant family in the year 1378 AD; when he was six years old, his father died on an overseas voyage to Korea. Mourning his father's death, he left his mother and his four younger siblings behind. He worked his way into the emperor's staff by the age of 22. At 32, he was assigned "Grand Leader of All Vessels Commanded by the Emperor's Swift Hand."
Zhou, with the help of three other commanders, explored wide reaches of the Indian Ocean. A stone inscription, dated 1431, at the Palace of the Celestial Spouse in Liujiagang, Jiangsu is translated as:
Thomas Seinbeck's " In the Shade of the Cypress" is a historic novel, the main historic Character is Zhou Man. Published 2010
In his book 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, amateur historian Gavin Menzies claimed that Zhou Man's fleet approached and mapped the Pacific coast of North America. According to Menzies, his fleet might be wiped out by a Megatsunami caused by a Meteorite creating Mahuika crater.