History's Greatest Events: The Chinese Giant Remaining Asleep

“China is a sleeping giant. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will move the world.”

When Napoleon Bonaparte referred to the vast empire in the Far East as such, he was no man of small stature himself (on the inside, at least). As a benchmark in history and scourge of European monarchies that formed numerous Grand Coalitions to topple him, Bonaparte knew a thing or two about iconoclasm. His uncanny rise to power and significant successes led to him advancing through Europe, as though other nations' borders were just lines on a map (abolishing the 1,000-year-old Holy Roman Empire). His skill as a general knew the nature of power, and a power base that held for close to 2,000 years - as China had - he recognised as a force to be reckoned with.

Today, the world revolves around China; red symbolises good fortune in the nation, so it is prevalent whenever one gazes at their flag. It was prescient of Napoleon to spot the slumbering rouge of rage that fired up when French successors ignored his warnings and pillaged China - alongside the UK - in The Second Opium War. Imposition from outside aggressors (with a great coastal set-up for Britain in Hong Kong) nudged China awake; where it comes to in a 21st century that sees it as a superpower. China designs the world's goods, ships them and even plans a huge globe-spanning road and shipping initiative dubbed "The New Silk Road."

However, this was not actually the first time that a once insular China looked past its borders. A similar flirtation with the international stage can be found as far back as the Ming Dynasty. The Yongle Emperor rose to power as the first of his dynasty in 1402. He dispatched mariner Zheng He to explore beyond the empire, with Zheng's vessel launched a mere 18 days before that of Portugal's Prince Henry the Navigator. Although it appears Zheng He went no further than Japan and Indo-China, there are rumours that he ventured as far as Arabia and even Europe/Africa. Also, the death of Tamerlane meant that his Timurid Empire in the MIddle-East and Central Asia lay vulnerable, with open trade more available.

The Yongle Emperor's successor, the Hongxi Emperor, already began putting a stop to Zheng He's voyages while Yongle reigned in 1421. Hongxi only ruled for a year, though his son continued down the same insular path, which led to a big historical decision for China and the rest of the world. Had the Ming Dynasty branched out into the wider world, what would have become of European colonialism? Not only would the kingdoms of the West battle one another for the dominance of the New World, China would have strong stakes too. Economic diversity might have been vastly different too; meaning we may see an entirely different Atlas in 2018, China becoming more introvert ensured this wasn't the case.

#minds, #politics, #history.