If the Ming Dynasty fleets had discovered a direct sea route to Europe in the early 15th Century would China have conqured and colonized Europe? Why or Why not? How does this apply to current East-West relations?
It does not.
Being GD, I must take a contrary position:
It does so.
Somebody has Asian Studies homework due in about 2 hours.
They would not, for the same reasons that the Chung Ho voyages ceased - they lacked a sustainable financial purpose.
European colonialism in the other direction was fueled by profits. But while Europeans desired eastern spices, the Chinese did not desire anything that Europeans had.
This factor fueled future problems - in order to solve the ongoing balance-of-trade issue, the Brits later promoted the sale of opium in China, and reacted with war when the Chinese attempted to stop it (imagine Colombia marching on Washington to force the US to legalize cocaine imports ).
Direct sea route to Europe? I’m sorry, but have you ever looked at at a map of the world?
Eastwest99, you have submitted 8, (so far), threads asking General Questions regarding historical China in multiple fora.
Knock it off.
We do not permit homework questions.
We do not permit spamming the board.
We really prefer that posters pay attention to the rules and the culture of the board.
Take a deep breath. Read over the descriptions of each forum to see what sort of post is appropriate to it.
Closed.