"Ming dynasty ships could have sailed to America if their skippers had wanted to. A replica of the Zheng-era junk in fact managed the China-CA trip in 1955 (though it could not get back again)...If they could do it, why couldn't Zheng?
The most popular answer is that things happened the way they did because in the 15 C Chinese emperors lost interest in sending ships overseas, while European kings (some, anyway) became very interested in it. When Yongle died in 1424 his successor's first act was to ban long-distance voyages...In 1436 the court refused repeated requests from the shipyards in Nanjing for more craftsmen, and over the next decade or two the great fleet rotted. By 1500 no emperor could have repeated Yongle's voyages even if he had wanted to.
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By Yongle's standards the Portuguese expeditions were laughably small (involving dozens of men, not dozens of thousands) and undignified (involving rabbits, sugar, and slaves, not gifts from great princes), but with the benefit of hindsight it is tempting to see the 1430s as a - perhaps the - decisive moment in world history, the point when Western rule became possible. At just the moment that maritime technology began to turn the oceans into highways linking the whole planet, Prince Henry grasped the possibilities and Emperor Zhengtong rejected them.
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As breathtaking as Zhengtong's error now seems, we should bear in mind that when he "decided" not to send shipwrights to Nanjing in 1436 he was only nine years old. His advisers made this choice for him, and their successors repeated it through the 15 C. According to one story, when courtiers revived the idea of Treasure Fleets in 1477, a cabal of civil servants destroyed the records of Zheng's voyages. The ringleader, Liu Daxia, we are told, explained to the minister of war,
The voyages of Zheng to the Western Ocean wasted millions in money and grain,
and moreover the people who met their deaths may be counted in the tens of thousands...
This was merely an action of bad government of which ministers should severely disapprove.
Even if the old archives were still preserved they should be destroyed.
Grasping the point -- that Liu had deliberately "lost" the documents -- the minster rose from his chair. "Your hidden virtue, sir, " he exclaimed, "is not small. Surely this seat will soon be yours!"
"Ming dynasty ships could have sailed to America if their skippers had wanted to. A replica of the Zheng-era junk in fact managed the China-CA trip in 1955 (though it could not get back again)...If they could do it, why couldn't Zheng? The most popular answer is that things happened the way they did because in the 15 C Chinese emperors lost interest in sending ships overseas, while European kings (some, anyway) became very interested in it. When Yongle died in 1424 his successor's first act was to ban long-distance voyages...In 1436 the court refused repeated requests from the shipyards in Nanjing for more craftsmen, and over the next decade or two the great fleet rotted. By 1500 no emperor could have repeated Yongle's voyages even if he had wanted to.
...
By Yongle's standards the Portuguese expeditions were laughably small (involving dozens of men, not dozens of thousands) and undignified (involving rabbits, sugar, and slaves, not gifts from great princes), but with the benefit of hindsight it is tempting to see the 1430s as a - perhaps the - decisive moment in world history, the point when Western rule became possible. At just the moment that maritime technology began to turn the oceans into highways linking the whole planet, Prince Henry grasped the possibilities and Emperor Zhengtong rejected them.
...
As breathtaking as Zhengtong's error now seems, we should bear in mind that when he "decided" not to send shipwrights to Nanjing in 1436 he was only nine years old. His advisers made this choice for him, and their successors repeated it through the 15 C. According to one story, when courtiers revived the idea of Treasure Fleets in 1477, a cabal of civil servants destroyed the records of Zheng's voyages. The ringleader, Liu Daxia, we are told, explained to the minister of war,
Grasping the point -- that Liu had deliberately "lost" the documents -- the minster rose from his chair. "Your hidden virtue, sir, " he exclaimed, "is not small. Surely this seat will soon be yours!"