History 100 Debate Notes
10End of Treasure Fleet Voyage * The seven voyages of the Treasure Fleet were meant to display Chinese might to all the kingdoms and trade ports of the Indian Ocean world, and to bring back exotic toys and novelties for the emperor. * The Yongle Emperor who sponsored Zheng He's first six voyages died in 1424. His son, the Hongle Emperor, was much more conservative and Confucianist in his thought, so he ordered the voyages stopped. (There was one last voyage under Yongle's grandson, Xuande, in 1430-33. * The new emperor had a financial motivation. The treasure fleet voyages cost Ming China enormous amounts of money; since they were not trade excursions, the government recovered little of the cost. * China faced a growing threat to its land borders in the west. The Mongols and other Central Asian peoples made increasingly bold raids on western China, forcing the Ming rulers to concentrate.
No Trade * Confucius thought foreign trade interfered with important familial obligations and believed trade was mean and debasing. * There’s nothing to be gained from contact with foreigners or strange things. “The mind of the superior man dwells on righteousness; the mind of a little man dwells on profit”.
Why Did Ming Navy Decline(CRA #2) * In the mid-fifteenth century, there was a inflation and money had become less than one percent of its face value. Which meant the Ming dynasty exchange rate in foreign countries was gone. * The government now had to pat max value for the goods they needed like horses, timber and medicines. * Also the threat of the
No Trade * Confucius thought foreign trade interfered with important familial obligations and believed trade was mean and debasing. * There’s nothing to be gained from contact with foreigners or strange things. “The mind of the superior man dwells on righteousness; the mind of a little man dwells on profit”.
Why Did Ming Navy Decline(CRA #2) * In the mid-fifteenth century, there was a inflation and money had become less than one percent of its face value. Which meant the Ming dynasty exchange rate in foreign countries was gone. * The government now had to pat max value for the goods they needed like horses, timber and medicines. * Also the threat of the