China was briefly a *maritime* player, but I’d dispute that they were ever (until very recently) more than a very localized naval power. By the time Zheng He was completing his voyages, European and Muslim powers in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean were engaging in regular, large naval battles that often involved rudimentary cannons.
While Zheng He’s ships were very big and expensive (far beyond a European equivalent at the time), I think it’s the consensus that they were technologically inferior to the emerging carrack designs for most purposes other than being a (very large) physical manifestation of China’s (very large) wealth.
They definitely didn't have the same incentives pulling them further afield that the Europeans did. European exploration of the age seems to be largely motivate by a desire to access luxury products from Asia, while China had no such external need.
By 1500, you're right, they were rapidly falling behind. I haven't specifically dug into comparisons of naval construction between the two from earlier than that, but the further you go back, the less the technological differential is likely to be. I'd be curious to see a comparative timeline of the two. For armament, they were also using cannons, although Ming weapons development tended towards lighter guns and so were probably under gunned for their displacement relative to European vessels.
Ultimately, to your point, European innovation was driven by stiff maritime competition and a challenge and response dynamic between rival navies. While entirely speculative, I don't think the Ming were likely to be so severely outgunned that they couldn't have competed and innovated in response, unlike the Opium Wars where they were simply so far outmatched there was no way an effective indigenous response could be mounted.
Interesting and enlightening. You are right that history may be different if this happened a century later. First mover at a disadvantage here. Incidentally, I wrote about Melaka and briefly about Zheng He in my recent post: https://peckgee.substack.com/p/dimensions-of-diversity
Thank you! It's a fascinating period and for all the interest it generates, very little of it gets beyond the "voyages of peace and discovery" narrative. I enjoyed your post too. It's an revealing peek into what makes Malaysia, Malaysia.
China was briefly a *maritime* player, but I’d dispute that they were ever (until very recently) more than a very localized naval power. By the time Zheng He was completing his voyages, European and Muslim powers in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean were engaging in regular, large naval battles that often involved rudimentary cannons.
While Zheng He’s ships were very big and expensive (far beyond a European equivalent at the time), I think it’s the consensus that they were technologically inferior to the emerging carrack designs for most purposes other than being a (very large) physical manifestation of China’s (very large) wealth.
They definitely didn't have the same incentives pulling them further afield that the Europeans did. European exploration of the age seems to be largely motivate by a desire to access luxury products from Asia, while China had no such external need.
By 1500, you're right, they were rapidly falling behind. I haven't specifically dug into comparisons of naval construction between the two from earlier than that, but the further you go back, the less the technological differential is likely to be. I'd be curious to see a comparative timeline of the two. For armament, they were also using cannons, although Ming weapons development tended towards lighter guns and so were probably under gunned for their displacement relative to European vessels.
Ultimately, to your point, European innovation was driven by stiff maritime competition and a challenge and response dynamic between rival navies. While entirely speculative, I don't think the Ming were likely to be so severely outgunned that they couldn't have competed and innovated in response, unlike the Opium Wars where they were simply so far outmatched there was no way an effective indigenous response could be mounted.
Interesting and enlightening. You are right that history may be different if this happened a century later. First mover at a disadvantage here. Incidentally, I wrote about Melaka and briefly about Zheng He in my recent post: https://peckgee.substack.com/p/dimensions-of-diversity
Thank you! It's a fascinating period and for all the interest it generates, very little of it gets beyond the "voyages of peace and discovery" narrative. I enjoyed your post too. It's an revealing peek into what makes Malaysia, Malaysia.