Zheng He's Treasure Fleets

1405–1433 CE — East Asia, Ming China

Today: Ming China (sailing from Nanjing across the Indian Ocean)

Decades before Columbus, Ming China sent the admiral Zheng He across the Indian Ocean with 'treasure fleets' of hundreds of ships and tens of thousands of men — vessels so vast that Columbus's would have fit upon their decks. China reached East Africa and could plausibly have sailed further still. Then, abruptly, the emperors called the fleets home, burned the records, and turned inward — leaving the oceans, and the coming age of exploration, to Europe.

Worth knowing: Zheng He's flagship may have been over 400 feet long, four times the length of Columbus's — yet a court faction ruled the voyages a wasteful vanity, banned oceangoing ships, and China turned its back on the sea just as Europe turned toward it.

Pattern: Trade-route shift — The path or medium of exchange moves, and a place or power rises or declines because it sits on or off the new route.

Entry 145 of 240 in Precedent, a walk through the whole human story in order.