The comparison between the influences of ZhengHe’expeditions to southeast Asia and Columbus’s discovery of the new continentThe comparison between the influences of Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia and Columbus’s discovery of the new continent 1.The Brief Introduction of The Incidents1.1 Zheng He's expeditions to South-east AsiaNovember 7th in Year 1405（the third year of Emperor Zhu Di in Ming Dynasty), Emperor Zhu Di dispatched his admiral Zheng He on expedition to the south seas with more than 240 huge seagoing vessels and 27400 crews. They paid a visit to more than 30 coastal states or regions around Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, which deepen the friendship between China and Southeast Asia or Eastern Africa. His seven maritime expedition last until the Year1433.Zheng He ever reached more than 30 states ,such as Java, Sumatra, Sulu, Pahang, Chenla, Siam, etc, the furthest destination is Red Sea and Mecca, may even reach Australia.1.2 Columbus’s discovery of the new continentAugust 3th in Year 1492, 42-year old Columbus set up his voyage with 87 sailors and 3 boats. They fought with terrifying waves and went through lots of difficulties, finally, they crossed over the Atlantic Ocean to reach Bahamas, Cuba and Haiti.He was designated again by the Spanish King after his first arrival on the Americas. He undertook another three voyages by crossing over the Atlantic Ocean to reach the new continent. His step nearly went over all the sea area of Caribbean Sea, and eventually reached the south of the continents of the Americas, which was thought as the Asia by himself until his death.2.The Comparison of MotivationZheng He undertook culture communication and the trade activities during his visit to Asia-Africa states. We can conclude the main aims of Zheng He's expeditions to South-east Asia from this phenomenon:1) To claim the Ming Dynasty’s strength and prestige2) To expand the carrying trade3) To hunt for Emperor Jianwen4) To undertake culture communication and wipe out corsairsColumbus wanted to reach the India to know the monarch, liege, custom and other aspects, and even make people there to become this kind of people that believed the doctrine of Christianity. Columbus argued that the most convenient way to the Asia is the short-term voyage which crossed over the Atlantic Ocean. The main aims of Columbus are as follows:1) To expand the new market2) To undertake colonial activities3) To pioneer the new sea-route3.The Analysis of the InfluencesThe voyages of Zheng He and Columbus both took place in the 15th century, which both belong to the Great V oyage of Discovery in the term of the time. The two voyages exert different influences in the modern world world structure, it is no doubt that Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia and Columbus’s discovery of the new continent are both unparalleled great voyages in the history of human beings, preserve precious legacy to the latter generations.3.1 The Nature of V oyageThe period of Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia belongs the time horizon of the Great V oyage of Discovery in the view of development of world civilization, however, if we observe the places which Zheng He ever reached were recorded in the ancient books. The voyage found new trad spots and expand therecognition of Indian Ocean’s coastal areas, especially Eastern Africa, but the activities horizon of Zheng He’s fleets could not surpass the ocean world which had observed by navigators in Song and Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia could not be identified into the voyage in the Great V oyage of Discovery because they lack enough new recognition.3.2 The Comparison of Economical InfluenceThe voyage route of Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia was similar to The Silk Road on Sea to some extend, however, it surpass the horizon of the Silk Road on Sea, it reached the eastern coastal of Africa. Zheng He undertook extensive economical and trad communication activities with all states when his expedition to Southeast Asia. However, this kind of and economical trad communication activities served for some sorts of political motives, which led to it could not promote the development of Chinese economy, and even hurt a lot to Chinese economy.Zheng He carried out some sorts of activities ,such as ‘enfeoff and award’ when he reached every state or region on his visit to Southeast Asia. He also carried out the principle of ‘contribute more, gain less’in the activity of economical and trad to express the magnanimousness and superiority of Chinese Empire. Zheng He led huge marine government officials and soldiers in the voyage, which will expend stupendous material and human resources. And the jewellery, spice, fabric piece goods and rare birds or animals are supplied to the imperial family and nobleman to enjoy freely. Besides, Ming Dynasty also should shoulder the transport expense of delivering the diplomatic envoy from all states.Liang Qichao inquired in the book named Zheng He--The Memoir of Great Navigator ‘ what is the reason that huge of Columbus exist after the first Columbus in the west while no a second Zheng He exist after the first Zheng He?’ The key is the policy of ban on maritime trade, therefore, the trad activity of nongovernmental business boat is nearly zero although the Silk Road on Sea still existed, which restricted the influence of Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia to some extent.The great found of Columbus looked like a total failure in the primary time.Thousands of adventurers poured into the West Indies, just found a spot of gold unfortunately. What he unknown was that the new sea route he found made the European trad scope expanded without precedent in his history, strengthen the communication between western Europe and all zones and ethnics all over the word, promote the form of worldwide market. The economical relationship and economical system of western Europe and all zones had underwent huge change. Western Europe produce Price Revolution after Columbus found the new sea route, which led the damnum of feudal lord who imposed money rent with tradition method while upgraded the economical status of emerging the capitalist class. It also promoted the development of commodity and monetary economy, while the development of commodity and monetary economy promoted the disintegration of feudalization and the development of capitalism, and changed the economical status of every Western Europe country.If we regarded the Year 1500-1520 had stepped into the Period of Explorer because the famous worldwide travel by Magellan after his start from Seville in the Year 1959 and the same famous Hernando Kolster’s expedition from Cuba to Empire Aztec, then we all can called it the Period of Conqueror. Hernando conquered Cuba, Francello Pizarro conquered Inca Theocracy stimulated more other conquerors to step into the most areas in the northern and southern Americas to seek more trophy.The colonial activities which were undertook by the Empire Spain in the northern and southern Americas ravened huge of gold and silver, which led to the rise of the Empire Spain, and became one of the mother stock of genuine global empires and colonial empires, also one of the biggest empires, then spain was considered as the first t Empire on which the sun never sets.3.3 The Comparison of Political InfluenceIt is no doubt that Zheng He’s seven maritime expeditions had achieved his primary aim--to claim the Ming Dynasty’s strength and prestige, besides, they established extensive friendly diplomatic relations with every state in Southeast Asia.However, the states and zones which Zheng He visited, especially all the araucaria island nations, mostly stayed in the process of slavery or the status of primitive tribe, their national rite and morality, law, culture and education and custom were lagged behind. At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang proposed that we must crusade against them if they were the trouble for us China, while we would leave the coastal states themself if they did not annoy us. In the view of Zhu Yuanzhang, these little barbarians states were blocked by seas and mountains, which could make any troubles to Ming Dynasty. Therefore, in the ‘ancestor's instruction’, Zhu Yuanzhang considered these 15 states as countries which should not be conquered, such as North Korea, Japan, Loochoo, etc. The aim of ‘claim the Ming Dynasty’s strength and prestige’through Zheng He’s voyage was not efficient and exerted little influence of local political system because the level of social development in araucaria states were too slow.The discovery of the new continent by Columbus provide new field for the western Europe state’s colony and robbery, which made the Americas integrate with the world snugly from a isolated status. All kinds of adventurers poured into South and North America to undertake the colonial activities by establishing the economical and social system, which made the Americas be a high-developed modern society from isolated boondocks.The the capitalist class which developed in the process of primary accumulation cried for finance to develop. The discovery of the Americas precisely solved the problem of the capital source. The colonists steadily brought huge of gold, silver, pearl and the primary products such as corn, cocoa, potato, etc into the Europe. Just take the gold and silver for example, they brought 2900 kilograms gold and 0.246million kilograms silver from the Americas to Spain every year in the Year from 1521 to 1544. In the end of the century, Spain accounted for 65% of the produced quantity of precious meta. According to available statistics, spain had totally ravened 2.5 million kilograms gold and 0.1 billion kilogram silver from the establishment of colonial system to the end of colony in the Americas.The western countries eventually got rid of the darkness of Middle Ages, andstarted to spring up in the world with the trend of irresistible, which finally made it achieve its oversea ruleship in the latter several centuries. A sort of new industrial civilization became the main stream of a fluid of worldwide economical development, and the capitalism start to spring up formally.3.4The Comparison of Cultural InfluenceThe cultural influence of Zheng He's expeditions to South-east Asia mainly can be classified into two aspects: the first aspects is the cultural transmission in the all states in Asia-Africa；the second aspect showed the level of the seamanship in that time. They took efforts to transmit Chinese culture and etiquette, advanced manufacturing technique and scientific knowledge to all the oversea states to promote their level of civilization. They took efforts to make all the oversea states study and borrow ideas from Chinese penalty or civilized intercourse and etiquette or custom, to improve their laggard living conditions, to develop their social civilization. Zheng He and his group declared Chinese education and etiquette, transmitted Chinese culture to the states in Asia and Africa, which had achieve predominated effect. All the oversea states were so attracted by Chinese civilization that all states looked forward to visit Ming Dynasty, which made the communication between China and states in Asia or Africa frequently unprecedentedly. These 80 years from the Year 1369 to the Year 1449( the second year of Hongwu to the 14 year of Zhengrong), these states from Asia and Africa had visited more than 694 times to Ming Dynasty. We still can image the phenomenon of the busy visit of all states from Asia and Africa and the friendship between all states.Columbus discovered magnetic aberration and measured magnetic declination preliminarily during his first oceangoing voyage. Therefore, Columbus’s first oceangoing voyage made some practical sense in the aspect of navigation, astronomy, physical geography, physics. The first voyage pushed the coastways ocean navigation in the Great V oyage of Discovery to the ocean navigation far from the land. He also proved that the earth is round by practice, which paved the road and layed foundations for the next worldwide travel by Magellan and the discovery of the Earth.The first voyage of Columbus also made some sense in the field of thinking history. He proved the fabulous ‘the age of gold’and the ‘virtuous savage’in the condition of naturalness, which exerted the influence in inchoate Utopian socialism and latter Enlightenment. Marx dissertated clearly about the process and influence of the discovery of the Americas and colonial expansion, which promoted the development of the western capitalism. Marx referred in his book Capital ‘the discovery of places which produced bullion in Americas, the murder of aboriginal inhabitants......., all these indicate the dawn of production era of capitalism.4.ConclusionThe two modes of navigation in western and eastern reflects two modes of historical development, which deserve us modern generation to research and study. The eastern stable and peaceful pioneering mode of Zheng He and his group makes a diplomatist with spirit of peace and Oceanic strategist--Zheng He, meanwhile shapes a spirit of Zheng He, through the marine feat by Zheng He and his group or peaceful international communication incidents and basic eastern cultural conception of ‘A public spirit will rule all under the sky when the great Way prevails’and ‘The criterion of doing things is honor by gentleman who know honor; The criterion of doing things is benefit by villain who know bene fit’. The spirit of Zheng He is the valuable cultural and historical heritage which is left for us China and world by Zheng He and his group.Western marine pioneering mode symbolize violence, robbery and exploit. The local inhabitants in the Americas lived a unruffled and symphonious maintenance before the discovery of continent by Columbus. However, those native population and culture were destroyed several tens of years later after he landed this continent, More than 12million native population were killed or infected deathful disease which was brought by Spanish. The local Mayan civilization, Aztec civilization and Inca civilization was heavily damaged.The history proves that the origin of worldwide capitalism comes from robberyand exploit, and also develops from robbery and exploit,which is the nature of capitalism. So, the influence of Zheng He's expeditions to Southeast Asia is not weighted by Columbus’s discovery of the new continent because of all kinds of objective condition. However, we need the peaceful spirit of Zheng He, and we should learn and develop Zheng He’s spirit to open a new chapter of renaissance of Chinese nation and the world peace and development instead of Columbus’s western marine spirit.。
