What If China Discovered America?

During the 15th century, the Chinese had one of the most advanced naval fleets known to man. As a result, China was able to establish many trade routes to places such as Africa, India, Singapore, etcÐ'... If the Chinese wanted to, they could have sailed all the way to Europe and even as far as North America. However, the Chinese ran into some political problems that prevented explorations in the future. If they had continued their voyages, it would have been possible for them to have discovered the New World before Columbus. Had China discovered America before Columbus, our world would be different from what it is today.

During the mid 1400's, China was plagued with many political problems. Therefore, if China was to discover the New World, it would have been during the late 1300's under the rule of the Ming Dynasty. As stated in Latourette's book, "From the military standpoint the Ming was stronger than any native Chinese ruling house" (225). Basically in this quote Latourette is saying that during the Ming Dynasty China was at a high point in power. Because of the Ming Dynasty, China was strong and able again. If China were looking to expand, the best time would be during the Ming Dynasty because the Chinese empire was at a peak. However, the Chinese didn't take advantage of their strong naval fleets and therefore they weren't able to reach North America before Columbus.

Although it was Columbus who discovered the New World in 1492, China could have easily discovered it decades earlier. If China had discovered the New World, the culture of the west would be very similar to that of the east. Chinese culture would probably be the most dominant culture in the world, since China would have control of the east and west. "After freeing itself from it's conquest by the Mongols, China was seeking to restore and preserve its cultural independence" (Latourette 238). The best way to preserve the fading culture of Buddhism and Taoism would be to spread it throughout the west. If the Chinese had spread their culture throughout the west, we might be speaking Chinese, not have freedom of religion, and we might be limited to Chinese beliefs.

The Chinese navy in the early 1400's was very powerful but unfortunately it grew weaker and weaker over time. The cause of this was that China ran into political problems which prevented future voyages. Unfortunately for China, its military grew weak as well. If China had control over the west, it would have been a more powerful nation. Not only would it control both sides of the hemisphere, but it could easily attack its enemies from both sides. For example, if China wanted to attack Europe, it could easily do so from both sides. This would have prevented future mishaps for China. For example, in the 1800's, many nations exploited China for its silk, spices, etcÐ'... If China had control in the west, it would have been a more powerful nation and not have been taken advantage of. (Boyle 256-60)

China's control of the east and west would have made their form of government more widely accepted. Although many nations today are run under a capitalist government, if China had discovered America, many nations might follow them and become Communists as well. Due to the Communist government, China become a very aggressive nation. Usually, Communist governments stressed guerilla warfare and were skilled at it. As Houn mentions in his book about Chinese guerillas, "they used the captured weapons and equipment to arm the local peasant who had been mobilized to form guerilla bands. The Communists were successful in expanding their military force in this fashion." (57) So based on this quote, its safe to say if a Communist government were to rule America, many nations surrounding that region would follow in China's path and become Communists. The Chinese government however, did not become Communist until the 20th century. Before Communism, China was ruled by emperors. "The Chinese polity came to be organized in such a way that the ruler's authority was totalitarian in practice, in the sense that no aspect of life was considered immune to his control, should he choose to expert it". (Hucker 57) The emperor basically had total control of the land and the people in it.

If we were living in the new China, the economy would be different from what it is today. "For most of the Ming Dynasty, foreign trade was outlawed" (Grimm 99) As history shows during the Ming Dynast, China was at a peak of it's power. This shows that since foreign trade was outlawed, the economy was at a boom. Today, because of export and import, countries have to deal with inflation. If China controlled North America and present day China, they wouldn't have to deal with import and export because they'd be trading within the