The initial encounter and conflict between the East and the West

Author: Zhou Ning
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-09-01
Features: In Zheng He's great voyages, some saw glory, while others saw the absurdity within the glory. Over 28 years, Zheng He made seven voyages to the Western Oceans, driven by the ideal of a world empire, grand scale, and unstoppable power. All these appearances seemed magnificent, but when compared with Western capitalist maritime expansion and analyzed in the specific historical context of Ming Dynasty maritime prohibition, the extravagant political and economic essence of these voyages revealed a bizarre absurdity amidst the glory. For four centuries (12th-15th), China once held absolute maritime superiority. Zheng He's voyages pushed this advantage to an almost frenzied peak before abruptly ceasing. In reality, before Western expansionist forces entered the Asian waters, China had already destroyed its own power. Thus, in the absurdity, we also see a sense of desolation. Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Oceans marked the end of a great era. Official maritime expansion became unsustainable, the imperial navy transformed into a police force for coastal pacification, hunting down those who defied maritime prohibition, locking the people on land while foreign barbarians roamed the seas. During the age of Western geographical discovery, China enforced maritime prohibition. Modern world history has proven that whoever controls the seas becomes the world's hegemon; a nation that loses the seas will ultimately lose its homeland. This book consists of six chapters, including "Meeting in Calicut," "Between Advancement and Retreat," "Conflict on China's Coast," "Western Missionaries Enter China," "China's Image in the West," and "Challenging the Ocean." It introduces the international relations history between modern China and Western countries. The book attempts to explore pathways in the three-century-long Sino-Western relationship that can explain the modern world order, giving reality a certain temporal depth.