When China Ruled The Seas Analysis

The book When China Ruled the Seas, despite horrific points involving main characters, is more a tale of diversification then of domination. The massive navel fleet of the Chinese army was meant to be more of a show for the world that Emperor Zuh Di was more then willing to put on as a celebration to his accent to the dragon thrown. This nonlethal way of thinking is something that today even people do not thoroughly grasp, a massive army is meant to purely intimidate not celebrate successes of a nation. By todays standards the opposite comes true quite often, the larger the army the worse off the nation really is. For instance North Korea is one of the poorest developed, using developed lightly, nations in the world. The people are constantly in a battle for survival, some resorting to digging up bodies of loved ones and eating them jus to stay alive. However, the North Korean army is vast and strong just as Zuh Di’s fleet. This is not to say that Zuh Di did not have the intent to spread the Chinese influence, this was most certainly what he was striving for but his intent was not to destroy other nations just enrich his own nation as well as others.
This point was shown when it was explained that the Chinese fleet was filled to the brim with goods meant for trade.
These were magnificent goods, such as silk, which other nations found more then useful thus opening up trade routes between more nations then before. Even more impressive is the way the Zuh Di reopened the trade routes with Africa especially. The Malaccan Straight, which is the main water trade route from China to Africa, had been over run with pirates until Zuh Di’s intervention. As well as opening the floor for more diplomatic trading between nations, such as the tension between Siam and Malacca being diminished by the Chinese presence. This was accomplished because of Zuh Di’s want for all the nations of the world to acknowledge that China was truly the Middle Kingdom of the
world. This type of forward thinking is extraordinary even by today’s standards. As open minded and civilized as the people of the modern era consider themselves this idea of open trade to benefit everyone equally is quite strange. America, whom most could argue is one of the most advanced countries in the realm of equality, does not even use this method. Not to say that trading with America does not benefit to countries, it however benefits America’s interest more then any other nations. Even on a smaller scale, not many will do something for no extreme personal gain. If given the option of getting fifty percent profit and another person getting fifty percent profit or getting eighty percent of the profit and the other person receive twenty percent of the profit, most would choose the option where they benefit more. It is only human nature to want to benefit more than another person, however Zuh Di pushed selfish desires away for the advancement of his nation which is admirable on many notes.
Even more so then profit the need to be right drives a lot of the conflict in today’s society. Zuh Di had no intention, in my opinion, of changing other nations cultural beliefs and practices, just to expand everyone’s horizon and show the power of China. Many nations today interfere with other nations as to show their own way of life is the best. This is especially prevalent in America. Although democracy is a wonderful institution that allows a people to be in control on their government, pushing this way of life on others is not the most open-minded approach. Just because two nations may not understand each other does not mean one is more correct then the other. It is very rare that you hear of a nation being completely tolerant of another nation’s ideas which could be opposite as long as respect is given and power is recognized between these two nations. However, this was truly the case for Zuh Di and his fleet, as long as other nations acknowledged china as the power that it was then said nation was safe and met with much acceptance and improvement by the Chinese fleet.
Although these voyages came to an end after Zuh Di’s death, the impact left behind is impossible to ignore. This is because Chinas influence can still be seen in many cultures from south Indonesia to west India to the Persian Gulf and finally Africa. It is hard to imagine that a Africa has strong Chinese influence but it is more prominent then one might think. Even if the Chinese influence did not spread through all of Africa where it spread it stuck. The knowledge, art, and culture gained through trade allowed parts of Africa to become a breeding ground for future Chinese immigrants to relocate as well as set the stage for todays relations between China and Africa.
Zuh Di created a view of China that was easily received by other nations around the world. He showed a level of diplomacy that even by today’s standards far surpass the norm. To see that tolerance was truly considered and acted up so many years makes me wonder why it disappeared in the first place. Many speak of now being the most tolerant era in human history however, I am not sure if I agree anymore after this reading. Although not all of this book accounted acts of tolerance, the acts it did recount are far more tolerance and diplomatic then many of the actions we choose to engage in today. It is said that we must learn from our past, if that is so then I see no reason for us to be struggling with the concept of tolerance since it was obviously mastered many centuries ago.