1421, The Year China Discovered America Options

[chynagongju]

Thoughts? I COULD provide evidence, but I'm tired....I'll do it later...it's also a book. Anyone read it? Besides me and Kulong?

[DaMo]

It is a fact that Admiral Zheng He recruited mostly Moslem pilots and navigators in China for the trips, those who had already known the way to the West since they were part of the Arab trade network spreading from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.  The Arabs were purveyors of Chinese porcelain, silk and most importantly spices-nutmegs, cinnamon and pepper- to the Europeans and were growing rich rapidly.  They had an economic interest to protect.  It is very likely that they tried to keep the sources secret, preventing both Chinese suppliers and European consumers from meeting up.

Muslims are not all Arabs. And don't forget that there were also non-Muslim Chinese admirals and officers leading the fleet. China made direct contact with many other nations through the Treasure Fleet. Emissaries and even heads of state were brought to China. There is nothing to suggest that the fleet was holding back from exploration in any way. All the opposition to further exploration came from the partisan officials back in the Imperial capital, not the admiralty. You are painting plain facts of history as circumstantial evidence of some kind of shadowy Arab control over the Treasure Fleet.

With regards to blaming conservative elements within the Chinese Court at the time for the close door policy, I would have to dispute that as well.  There are a lot of evidences that the Emperor was running out of money.  The construction cost of Yang jing, the rebellion in Annam, the reemerging threat of the Mongols and other pursuits all contributed to the draining of the Imperial coffer. Something just gotta give and long term investments and big-ticket items like the Admiral's navy naturally had to be on the chopping block.

I have no doubt that money played some role in the cancellation of the Treasure Fleet. When you have money to burn, a lot of things can be justified.

But considering how building a trade network around the expeditions (one backed by the might of the Chinese navy, who had already intervened militarily during the expeditions) could have made China wealthier, money should have been a motivation to keep the voyages going. Why didn't the Chinese take advantage of the knowledge they had gained through the expeditions to create new and more accessible markets for Chinese goods? If not through imperially funded expeditions, then at least through the initiative of private traders and entreprenuers?

Do dwindling funds explain why the Ming not only scrapped the voyages, but banned virtually all blue water sailing and even private foreign trade? Or the methodical and near-complete destruction of the records of the Treasure Fleet voyages? I think not.

There were clearly much bigger motivations at work here than simply financial considerations. It is widely accepted that it was mainly the conservative lobby in China who made very concerted and deliberate efforts to end the voyages and wipe out their memory from the pages of history. And since I have not come across any satisfactory answers to the above questions, I have to agree in concluding that this and not dwindling coffers was by far mainly responsible for China's sudden drive towards isolation.