Why did China, which used to mobilize 60 ships, stopped in the face of the’era of navigation’

In the 15th century, the hegemony of the sea was in China.

During the Ming Dynasty’s Yeongnakje period, Jeonghwa, the eunuch, commanded the largest fleet in history and advanced to East Africa through India and Arabia, as well as Southeast Asia. The silver coins they used at that time are still found everywhere. At that time, Europe’s sailing capabilities were not beyond the Mediterranean Sea, and shipbuilding capabilities were incomparable.
At that time, the average manpower of the purification expedition was 27,000. 60 ships with a loading weight of 2500 tons were mobilized. Comparing that 120 people boarded three 200-ton ships during the first voyage of Columbus 100 years later, you can feel the advanced technology of China at the time.

But that was it. China suddenly walked and locked the sea door. And about a century later, European countries such as Portugal entered Asia through the sea road. The flow of world history comes to a fork here.

So, Seoul National University professor Joo Kyung-cheol in his book Civilization and the Sea said, “It is surprising that China swept the Indian Ocean world with its power, but what is even more surprising is that China, which possessed such a powerful maritime power, suddenly gave up its maritime advancement and He pointed out that he retreated and closed the door.” He expressed “mystery”, saying, “China showed the possibility of dominating the seas of Asia in detail, as if a fire broke out fiercely and then suddenly collapsed.”

There was a place to look for hints on this’mystery’. This is at a seminar titled’Dae Unha University, 1415~1784: Why did China hesitate to enter the ocean?’ held by the Korea University East Asian Humanities Education Research Association on the 21st.

There are two main hypotheses that scholars have raised regarding China’s abandonment of the sea.

① European saturation: Spain and Portugal, which are difficult to compete in the Mediterranean and Europe due to France and the Republic of Venice, went out to the ocean.
② Threat from the north: As the threat from the Mongols remained, we concentrated our national power on the northern border.

Cho Young-hyun, a professor of history education at Korea University, also heard’deficiency’. “Europe was divided into several countries within the continent, competing with each other and fighting each other, so we had no choice but to go out to sea to save capital and resources. Prof. Cho also cited the meeting with the Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong’s in 1792 with a delegation sent by King George III of England. George McCartney, who led the delegation at the time, delivered European goods and requested trade, but Qianlong said that “we don’t need any of your country’s goods.”

At the same time, Professor Cho added’The Grand Canal’ as an important variable to the existing hypothesis. The reason why China did not feel as much deprivation as Europe had to go out to sea is that it had the Grand Canal. The Grand Canal is a waterway that connects Gangnam, where goods are abundant, and Beijing, a political center. With the rapid development of the Yangtze River in the era of No. 5 and 16 countries, the production capacity of goods overwhelmed the centers of Chinese history, such as Changan, Luoyang, and Beijing. Suyangje built a canal with enormous labor in order to bring these materials from Gangnam to Gangbuk. Although the Sui Dynasty collapsed due to the criticism of unreasonable civil engineering work, it played an important role in uniting China as a nation.

Professor Cho said, “Daeeunha sent the enormous physical capital that gathered in Gangnam to Beijing (Beijing) through the logistics system. The circulation structure of China connected to the canal was larger than the combined distribution of European countries.” Meanwhile, he compared it to the’Mediterranean Sea’ of the European world. “If the European world was connected to each other through the Mediterranean Sea, China had numerous rivers and the Grand Canal connecting them to the north and south. In other words, the canal acted like the inland Mediterranean Sea and the need to go out to sea because it was controlled by one state. This was less,” he explained. So, at this time, the process of change of faith in which the Majo (媽祖), which was held as a sea god until then, is changed to a Han God, also takes place. Professor Cho named this period when the nation’s resources were moved by canals instead of the sea as’Grand Unhadae’. It is a word that contrasts it with the European era of voyage.

In addition, there were concerns about forces that were not controlled by the emperor’s power, such as Christianity, that blocked the sea. Professor Cho said, “Since the Ming Dynasty, Western missionaries have been in full swing, but in the Christian world, the state power is not absolute in front of the gods. From the Chinese standpoint, the out of control could lower the emperor’s authority.”

Of course, China doesn’t mean that there was no’deprivation’ at all. “For example, there were times when the supply of ores such as silver, which was the international key currency at the time, and copper used to make coins, were in short supply, so we made limited trade through some ports possible,” he said. He added, “China and its surroundings are not static, disconnected and closed places. A place where supplies, manpower and information were constantly exchanged.” Professor Cho’s explanation of’Dae Unha University’ is expected to be published in a book soon.

Reporter Yoo Seong-woon [email protected]