A Comparison Of Zheng He And Vasco De Gama's Voyages

In 1433, the Chinese purposely and unexpectedly ended their maritime expeditions that had put them in the spotlight for the past few years. Before the expeditions were stopped, they were taking place on the Indian Ocean where Zheng He, the captain, had established their territory. During this same time Europe was trying to build and empire through their voyages, however their ships were small and much less forceful. The Chinese ending their expeditions worked out well for Europe because the Indian Ocean was clear and their Portuguese ships could finally make it onto the Pacific. One can’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if the Chinese didn’t leave the seas. At some point the Portuguese would have bumped into China’s massive fleets on the Indian Ocean,but what might have happened?

Knowing this, if Zheng He and Vasco de Gama had crossed paths on the Indian Ocean, China’s ships would have most likely attacked and demolished the Europeans ships because they were on what they recognized as their territory. Zheng He’s ships could’ve easily exterminated the four European ships due to their size and bulk. If this had happened Europe likely would have abandoned their voyage and over time would’ve stopped financing trips similar to de Gama’s. This would have then forced them to expand their empire somewhere else, or not at all. This may have greatly weakened or interrupted Western European dominance for another several hundred