The Cautionary Tale of Zheng He
China should have discovered Europe, not the other way around. But it didn't.
by Rod D. Martin
July 27, 2015
Christians are familiar with many great figures of Chinese history, such as Lottie Moon and Hudson Taylor. But perhaps they should pay more attention to Zheng He.
Almost a century before Columbus, from 1405 to 1433, China’s Admiral Zheng He led daring voyages of exploration throughout the East Indies, along the South Asian coast, all the way to the Arabian Peninsula and as far as Zanzibar.
He commanded 317 ships and 28,000 crewmen. Columbus’ entire fleet would have fit in the hold of his flagship. He forced nations across half the world to pay tribute to his Emperor, and his treasure ships carried fortunes back to China.
Indeed, China was then the greatest nation on Earth: vast, rich, united, and far more technologically advanced than any possible foe. By contrast, Europe was a backwater, a patchwork of warring fiefdoms, locked in the Spanish Reconquista and the Hundred Years War.
Had Zheng He continued, within twenty years, China would likely have “discovered…