The Ming Dynasty in the 15th century was a maritime power, when the rulers of the Ming Dynasty strictly controlled the import and export of overseas for the sake of the peace of the country, when Zheng He's feat of seven voyages to the West (1405-1433) was enough to be called the pioneer of the "Age of Discovery", which had a certain impact on Chinese society in all aspects such as politics, economy, culture, and military, and the Western society began more than eighty years later than China, but the Western society has been open up since the Age of Discovery, It found a way for Western society to quickly conquer the world, and then Western society developed rapidly in economic development and education, and still maintains a leading position in the world.
This article focuses on the economic, political, military, and cultural impact of Zheng He's voyage to the West and the Western Age of Discovery on their respective societies.
1.The influence of politics in politics first came to mind the purpose of Zheng He's voyage to the West, when the Yongle Emperor wanted to shape the image of China's Son of Heaven and establish an orderly international political order. Send Zheng He to lead an excellent fleet and strengthen relations with neighboring countries, not for profiteering. Politically, we have adopted the method of buying people's hearts and minds.
2.Economy Zheng He pursued a diplomatic strategy of "purchasing goods and goods, and reciprocating with others" in the economic aspect. In Adan, Zheng He went to him to "finish reading, that is, to his countrymen, but there are treasures, and they are allowed to sell them easily". Siam, "Chinese treasure ships to Siam, also used small boats to buy and sell there." Its land produces yellow incense, agarwood, and true incense ......"Manchuria," when the Chinese treasure ship arrives there, it will erect a row of fences, such as city walls, set up four gates and drum towers, and raise bells to patrol around at night.
Inside and set up a small city with a heavy fence, build a warehouse and store warehouse, and put the money and grain inside. Therefore, economic reciprocity makes the relationship between China and other countries friendly. Although the Ming Dynasty emperor implemented a maritime ban policy at that time, armed sea smuggling merchants were still prevalent, and piracy was frequent, so the Yongle Emperor sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean seven times, opening up the link between China and Western countries, and laying the foundation for the first exchange.
3.Military China in the fifteenth century was the era of the Ming Dynasty, and Zheng He's foresight: "If you want the country to be rich and strong, you must not ignore the sea." Wealth comes from the sea, and danger also comes from the ...... seaOnce the king of another country captures the South Seas, China is in danger. Our fleet is invincible, and it can be used to expand business, and it is ...... to make it dare not covet the South Seas"The opening of navigation routes has enriched China's ties with coastal countries. Zheng He proposed"Take the sea and the land"The military strategic thinking is to seize the strategic initiative and ensure inland security by building a powerful fleet, controlling the sea routes, and taking an offensive on the sea, so that the consolidated coastal defense can be used as a barrier for the vast land territory.
In fact, this is the practice of an active defensive strategy, that is, the so-called "if we take offense as defense, we will have more than we can defend." To this end, Zheng He systematically established boat divisions, controlled shipping lanes, and built overseas bases. At the same time, the Ming Dynasty also transferred a large number of elite soldiers from the navy to serve as the main force of Zheng He's fleet, including all commanders, commanders, thousands of households, hundreds of households, flag schools, warriors, wrestlers, military forces, Yu Ding and other soldiers, mainly incorporated into the two sequences of boat division and amphibious troops. Among them, the boat division is responsible for sea operations and sea transportation, while the amphibious forces can fight at sea and land operations. In this way, an organic combat whole with tight organization and strong combat effectiveness is formed, which ensures that it can easily cope with all kinds of critical situations during the voyage. No wonder Joseph Needham exclaimed: "The navy of the Ming Dynasty may be superior to any Asian nation in history, and even any European country of its time, and even all European countries combined, can be said to be unable to match the navy of the Ming Dynasty." ”
It can be seen that Zheng He's strategy of "using the sea and the land" was to take the western countries into a central and radial control, firmly grasp the sea control in the South China Sea, and cast a solid maritime defense line in Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and other places, effectively promoting and driving the entire land defense, and making the national defense system of the Ming Dynasty integrated and impregnable.
4. Culture "Xuandehua, Rouyuan people" uses excellent Chinese culture to attract people from afar to come to China to pay tribute. Zheng He's overseas voyage brought with him the culture of the Chinese calendar, agriculture, system, architecture, medical skills, navigation, religion, musical instruments, etc., so that foreign countries could understand China's advanced science and technology culture and thus generate admiration. Joseph Needham once commented: "The navigators of the Orient Chinese are calm and docile, do not remember past enmities, are generous, never threaten the survival of others, and do not regard themselves as benefactors; They were heavily armed, but they never conquered foreign races, nor did they build fortresses. ”
After Zheng He went to the West, although the Ming Dynasty imposed a sea ban, the sea private merchants were repeatedly banned, and in 1567, they were switched in Longqing. Since then, the ocean has become even more important due to the many benefits it brings. To this day, people in many Asian and African countries commemorate Zheng He, and some countries still have Zheng He's relics. On the Indonesian island of Java, there are Sambaoyuan City and Sambao Gong Temple; Thailand has the Three Treasure Temples and the Three Pagodas; The museum in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, also treasures the stone monument erected by Zheng He. Zheng He went to the West to carry forward the traditional culture of openness, pioneering spirit and good navigation and navigation.