The three main reasons Ming China ended its treasure fleet was Confucian beliefs, lack of money and resources, and the two most important people of the seven voyages were dead. Confucians were not greedy for to travel and explore like the Europeans. They believed that China should be focused on internal topics rather than involve in foreign affairs. The confucians held a more lot of power towards the end of the voyages so they had a big part in stopping any more voyages from happening. China was also running out of money very quickly. The emperor, Zhu Di emptied almost half of the treasury with his ambitious projects, like the treasure fleets, the Great Wall of China, and his father’s memorial. Many natural disasters were happening in China,
leaving many places and homes destroyed that needed resources to rebuild. This allowed very little to use for another extravagant voyage. In addition, both Zhu Di and Zheng He were dead after the seventh voyage. They were the two most significant people in leading and creating these voyages. Without them, there was no major push to go on another treasure fleet. This lack of exploration was a catalyst to China’s isolation.
Another reason was that China was divided by the presence of the warlords. When Yuan died, the warlords, who were evenly powerful, assumed control in their region. China became fragments of territories ruled by the warlords. Anarchy became prevalent throughout this period because many of these warlords did not have the capability to unite or stabilize China. During this period, warlords plundered their territories and fought amongst each other.
The chief purpose of the fleet was diplomacy. Zhu Di's intent to make known his rise to the dragon throne to the rest of the world was to make it known in the best possible way. He intended to use a fleet of massive treasure ships to do this. The ships in his fleet were a little over four hundred feet in length and could carry around three thousand tons. They were filled with the empire's finest porcelains, lacquer ware, and silk. They were definitely the largest ships that the majority of the people at that time had ever seen. This intimidated other countries, which Zhu Di liked because he wanted to have the “four corners of the earth” stoop down to China as being a middle kingdom. The amazing size and wealth that the fleet represented would make most rulers consider beginning trade with China. These “Treasure ships” were filled with expensive goods and were taken to trading ports all around the Indian Ocean. These ships would also occasionally intervene in the affairs of other nations in order to obtain the best trade conditions for China from these other nations.
The chief purpose of the fleet was diplomatic in nature. Zhu Di's intent to make known his ascension to the dragon throne to the rest of the world, was to make it known by the most superb way possible: a vast fleet of massive ships bringing gifts. These ships in his fleet were over four hundred feet long and could carry a load of up to three thousand tons of cargo. They were by far the largest ships most people had ever seen. This created a certain intimidation that Zhu Di liked because he was concerned in having the 'four corners of the earth' stoop down to China as being middle kingdom. The striking size and wealth the fleet represented would make most rulers consider beginning trade with China. The 'Treasure ships' were filled to the brim with expensive goods and were taken to trading ports all over the Indian Ocean.
When comparing the Chinese and Western historical development, the similar key events would have very different outcomes due to their different backgrounds. During the fifteenth century, Zheng He was commissioned to lead the “treasure ships” for seven voyages down the Western Seas. And, Prince Henry sent expeditions to explore the western coast of Africa. China and Portugal, the both ends of the Eurasian continent, almost simultaneously began marine navigations. They have shared some similar features, but there are actually major differences between the two. This paper will compare and contrast these two remarkable explorers. The focus will be on the ideas and circumstances that influenced their actions, and their importance in shaping history.
The declines of the Ottoman and Qing Empires both had commonalities in their downfall such as corruption in the government, weak armies, and debt to the Europeans, though the main reasons for the collapse of the empires are alike the way that the problems developed are dissimilar. While both the Qing and the Ottoman were in completely separate locations both had government officials that abused their positions of power and brought down the economic standing of the empire as whole. Ottoman rule was at is peak during the sixteenth century and they stayed in that era, as did the Qing, the military advancements that had occurred were not followed by these empires causing them to be utterly defenseless in war. Finally due to the fact that the Ottoman and Qing had no way to protect themselves form the European, the British and French gave them loans or crops that force them into economical strife because they could not pay back the money they had borrowed. All of theses manipulations caused by their governments and the European nations drove to the outcome of two historic leaderships to disband.
Japan had to open ports to foreign commerce when they lost the fight against Europe and America in Tokyo Bay (Bentley 508). After losing, Japan began industrializing and soon enhanced their military by investing in tools from western empires, who had very strong and powerful militaries. Once Japan had built a strong military they began to fight for Korea. They fought China and “demolished the Chinese fleet in a battle lasting a mere five hours,” and they later gained Korea and treaty rights in China (Bentley 550). China’s military was very weak. After losing Hong Kong and many trading ports to western empires following the Opium War, China was in trouble. Chinese people began rebelling against the Qing Dynasty. After the most popular rebellion, The Taiping Rebellion, China began the Self-Strengthening Movement. “While holding to Confucian values, movement leaders built shipyards, constructed railroads, established weapons industries, opened steel foundries with blast furnaces, and founded academies to develop scientific expertise” (Bentley 543). After doing all of these things, China still did not have a strong enough military. They continued to deal with problems from the western
As in terms of economics, China grew prosperous through trade, military expansion, invention of tools and other means of convenience and through the market economy. From the Han Dynasty China began to build again. The Sui Dynasty constructed the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal was an artificial canal that extended 1,240 miles. It enabled merchants and farmers to travel by water, selling an abundance of rice and other crops. This canal was extremely expensive but throughout the years paid itself off by providing travel routes north and south of China. The Sui Dynasty also built palaces, granarie...
...age. The following Emperors had no such interest in foreign affairs and terminated the expensive voyages. The lack of imperial political interests and support in navy expedition to foreign countries was the main reason why China withdrew from the ocean after Zheng He’s 7 voyages. However, the political significance and legacy of Zheng He’s expeditions cannot be ignored. It strengthened the Middle Kingdom’s power and influence in Asia during the early years of the Ming Dynasty. The peaceful nature of Zheng He’s voyages is still used by the Chinese government today as a political tool to advocate the benevolent intention of contemporary Chinese foreign policy (Dreyer, p. 29).
Now you are probably wondering with all these similar factors that lead to the demise of the empires, how did China recover successfully? The Chinese empire unlike the Roman empire, held on to their cultural identity and tried not to accept diversity in cultures. This is also called cultural homogeneity. Cultural homogeneity create a sense of togetherness. This creates less organization and religious drama. China also had more advanced technological breakthroughs in the fields of agriculture and metallurgy. This is needed to progress and recover so you have ways of keeping up with the economy. The Chinese empire also had one common religion that mostly held up. Confucianism. Having mostly the same religion unifies most people, which is also needed for a recovery. With these main factors, the Chinese empire recovered successfully.
The Chinese empire had once been one of the greatest and most powerful empires in the world. Before the 19th century, China had a large population and was ruled by families or dynasties. It was considered technologically advanced as China had a history of many miraculous inventions, such as: writing, magnetic compasses, movable sails, porcelain, abacus and paper money. Although China was isolated from the rest of the world, it coped well on its own, and saw no need to begin trading with the west, (as Lord McCartney proposed in 1793), since it was a self-sufficient nation. At that particular time, the Chinese empire was still able to exclude the ‘barbarians’, thus forcing them to only trade at one port. However, China soon took a turn for the worst as important ...
Major changes in political structure, social and economic life define the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties. Each period laid the foundation for the next, with changes and improvements to create a new order.
The Chinese people first immigrated to Canada in hopes of making a fortune to bring back to their homeland. Many of the first Chinese immigrants left in the 1860s because of the decaying Fraser River Gold Rush; the reason why the Chinese moved there in the first place. Building the Canadian Pacific railway required many people, something not available at the time. Many workers came from the United States, where they constructed the Union Pacific Railway. Canadians grew displeased by the growing amount of Chinese immigrants, who they felt lived far too differently. This was the start of the racism and hatred for the Chinese. Although the Chinese Pioneers were critical contributors to the advancement of Canadian society, they were never perceived in that way.
With deserts and the Himalayas running along most of the border, it was extremely difficult to cross over one of the most dangerous mountain ranges in the world and a few other scorching deserts with the little transport they had during that time. The only way merchants could come into the country was the southeastern coast of China, where most of the prosperous cities resided. What led China to become conceited was because they had an abundance of goods that most of the world wanted. In the 1760-1830s, China was famous for its porcelain (rich Europeans loved it), silk, and of course, tea. Since this Eastern Powerhouse’s goods were so popular, therefore, there were only a few things that interested them to trade with.
They wanted to drive out western forces out of Asia like Britain and America as they interfered with their conquest of Asia particularly in China, by providing the Chinese with arms and raw materials.
The Chinese Empire was large and controlled most of Asia at one point in time. One of the dynasties that ruled the empire was the Ming Family. Ruling from 1368-1644, almost three hundred years, the Ming Dynasty impacted Chinese history very much.