04-24-2004, 01:40 PM
Between 1405 and 1433 the "Treasure fleet" of China conducted seven expeditions, with ships far superior to western or Arabic ships. But then the northern borders were again under pressure by the Mongols, Zhu Di (the Yongle emperor) died, his shorttime successor turned more inwards, the next successor Zhun Zhanji, was influenced by his confucian ministers, who mistrusted the Admiral of the Treasure Fleet, Zhen He, who was an eunuch. They argued that the money is better spent for agricultural things. They were aided by the Chinese culture of "turning inwards". The emperor followed this advise. 1436 it was forbidden to build seagoing ships, later even costal ships were forbidden. Thus China has missed to dominate the world with their advanced ships and seamenship.