Zheng He was a sick nasty explorer who started in 1405 C.E. by commanding the first of seven expeditions. He departed a with a huge fleet of ships, larger than ever before, to explore Southeast Asia and India.
In 1435, the year he died, the Ming emperor suddenly banned the building of seagoing ships. Later, ships with more than two masts were banned. Confucian scholars had little interest in overseas adventure and commerce. Rigid loyalty to tradition would eventually weaken China and leave it prey to foreign invasion. All of Zheng He's ships and travel logs were destroyed.
60 years later Christopher Columbus would discover the New World. Regretful much?
No comments:
Post a Comment