PSA: People always talk about Rome falling, but I believe Ming China closing off was a bigger deal

In my experience, if the Ming kept trading openly, world history might look totally different, but that's just my two cents.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_troy1mo ago

Wait yeah, that's a really good point. Like, Portugal was already figuring out how to sail around Africa on their own around that same time. Even if the Ming kept their fleet, other countries were gonna start exploring and trading anyway. It wasn't just one door closing, it was a bunch of other windows opening up all over the place. Big history is never just about one thing going wrong.

christopher671mo ago

So what, we're supposed to believe that if the Ming just kept sailing, Europe would have stayed home? That's like thinking my cat wouldn't knock things off the table if I moved the vase. Portugal was already figuring out how to get around Africa, for crying out loud. It's WILD how we act like one decision in China could stop the entire planet from exploring. Big history is a bunch of people all doing their own thing at the same time. Focusing on the Ming fleet is missing the forest for the trees.

the_alice1mo ago

In 1433, the Ming court stopped Zheng He's big treasure fleet trips. But saying this was worse than Rome falling ignores how Europe was already changing on its own. The Silk Road kept going for a long time after, and trade with China never really stopped. Rome's collapse messed up whole societies for centuries, while Ming policy just slowed things down a bit. We give too much credit to one decision when big history has many causes.