Why did Zhu build a navy? Because the Yongle emperor wanted to impress Ming power upon the world and show off China’s resources and importance.

Opening trade routes and establishing trade through the exchange of tribute and gifts was a major goal of the voyage. Since Zheng He was a Muslim, he would be able to establish good relations with Muslim trading communities as well as with Chinese traders in the ports the ships visited.

Zheng He commanded the largest and most advanced fleet the world had ever seen. The voyages were intended to display China’s power and culture and bring foreign treasures back to the Ming court. Zheng He set sail on his first voyage in 1405, commanding some 27,800 men.

The world-renowned sea voyages of the early Ming dynasty ceased entirely when they lost their purpose. Zheng He led seven large-scale voyages within a very short period because he had an additional political purpose: to search for the Jian Wen emperor, Zhu Yunjiu (1377-1402).

Terms in this set (3) What was the primary purpose of Zheng He’s voyages? To spread China’s prestige, explore new lands, and establish trade relationships. They also didn’t think China needed trade and diplomatic contact with the world.

From highest to lowest social strata, the categories were: the Shi, or Gentry scholars; the Nong, or peasant farmers; the gong, artisans and craftsmen; and the Shang, merchants and traders.

Why did China discontinue Zheng He’s voyages after Emperor Yongle died? They were believed to be too costly and distracting.

Zheng He

Because the Yongle emperor wanted to impress Ming power upon the world and show off China’s resources and importance, he gave orders to build even larger ships than were necessary for the voyages.

On his return to China in 1415, Zheng He brought the envoys of more than 30 states of South and Southeast Asia to pay homage to the Chinese emperor. He visited the states of Southeast Asia, the coast of India, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the east coast of Africa.

If Zheng He had discovered America, the ancient civilization which China represented, would have spread over the North and South American continents, in a dynamic process to shape world history and there would be no need for the smaller European kingdoms or for a Christopher Columbus.

Chinese

Ethnocentrism is a major factor in the divisions among members of different ethnicities, races, and religious groups. It’s the belief that one’s ethnic group is superior to another. This is an ethnocentric way of thinking brought about by China’s geographical isolation from any other serious powers.

China’s isolation made them judge other cultures based off of their own culture. Isolation led to the belief that China was the center of the world. ethnocentrism. Belief in the superiority of one’s nation or ethnic group.

A conflict between Britain and China, lasting from 1839 to 1842, over Britain’s opium trade in China. China thought they were self sufficient and did not need britains goods, this led to an imbalance of trade which Britain solved by taking opium from India and smuggling it into China.