The Chinese civilization was born in a region that was very different from the Mediterranean civilization. It is centered on the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin, with a vast area and deep hinterland, and has a vast living space and room for maneuver. The southeastern part is bordered by the edge sea of the western Pacific Ocean, with a coastline of 18,000 kilometers. The west and north are blocked by plateaus, mountains, deserts and swamps, forming a relatively independent area of native civilization.
This area is much more vast than any ancient civilization (including India), and the climate is temperate and subtropical (South of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River), which provides good production and living conditions for the people and creates a living environment with great development potential for the Chinese nation. Therefore, Chinese civilization has the characteristics of continental river civilization. Since ancient times, the Chinese people have begun to set foot in the ocean. From Xu Fudong's crossing to Japan, through the Maritime Silk Road, to Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean, these all show that Chinese exploration of the ocean is still relatively focused and frequent. However, the Chinese people's understanding and attention to the ocean is relatively inferior to that of Westerners. In Chinese's conception, the sea is not very important. For example, in the sacrificial activities, the performance is "the three or five sacrifices of Kawaya, all of which precede the river and then the sea".
In ancient geographical works, geographical phenomena, customs and customs, property and history are also mainly discussed, and the records of the ocean are relatively rough. Even if there is a occasional discussion of the ocean in the works of the Hundred Sons and Hundred Schools, the Subset of Jingshi, the Interpretation of Taoism, and the Three Religions and Nine Streams, it is limited to seeing it as a mysterious world where the stars come out of the sun and the gods hide, and there is always an invisible pressure of "using the boat as a car, using the canopy as a horse, and if the wind drifts, it is difficult to go". Since the Tang and Song dynasties, with the prosperity of the feudal economy and the increasingly close foreign relations, the maritime industry has developed greatly, not only has shipbuilding technology made great progress, the navigation ability has become increasingly powerful, and Chinese sailors are also known for being good at driving ships and good at using trade winds.
In the Yuan Dynasty, there were two major expeditions across the sea to Japan, and by the eighteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1281), the fleet had 100,000 soldiers and as many as a thousand ships, which was unprecedented. In particular, Zheng He's seven voyages to the West in the Ming Dynasty are the collection of China's historical understanding of the sea and the general review of the navigation industry. Despite this, Chinese has not yet stepped out of the old frame of heavy land and light sea, and even if the sea is used, it only focuses on the benefits of fishing salt and boats, and lacks the ambition to expand overseas.
The Ming Dynasty scholar then said, "To befriend the barbarians is like the horn of a snail, and it is not enough to be afraid." The difficulty lies in riding the wind and waves, and the danger lies in profit and greed. There is no breakthrough development in the ocean view of the Chinese. Chinese view of the ocean is closely related to the living environment in which Chinese civilization lives. The Pacific Ocean in southeast China stretches endlessly, and the dangers of navigation are large and the harvest is small. The vast fertile soil of the Yangtze River and Yellow River Basins provided the ancestors with a stage where they could fully move and live, without the need to risk opening up the sea frontier.
In addition, the Chinese civilization is a water conservancy agricultural civilization characterized by cattle farming. Chinese can be called a cattle breeding people, which is very different from the nomadic horsemen and the sea peoples who sailed ships (such as ancient Greece, Phoenicia, Rome, medieval Italy, Spain, Portugal, modern Dutch, English, etc.). This civilization has extremely tenacious continuity and stability in its historical development. The economic basis for its survival is agriculture, which requires fixed areas and is not suitable for frequent, large-scale migration and colonization. These characteristics are very different from those of Mediterranean civilization.
The Chinese nation has a long history of expanding the border and chiseling the air, but most of the expeditions are mainly based on land. As early as the Western Zhou Dynasty, China's civilization area expanded from the Yellow River Basin to the Yangtze River Basin, and further expanded to the Pearl River Basin during the Qin and Han Dynasties, which first had geographical exploration and discovery, then colonization by immigrants, and then jointly developed by immigrants and local residents. Whether it was Zhang Qian, Ban Chao, Gan Ying, or Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing, their great expeditions and travels were mainly carried out on land.
Ocean expeditions are clearly not comparable to these numerous, prestigious, and far-reaching land expeditions. In addition to the discovery of Hainan Island during the Qin and Han Dynasties and the discovery of Taiwan Island during the Three Kingdoms Period, there were no more major maritime expeditions and geographical discoveries in ancient China. Although Zheng He's voyage to the West broke through the heavy ocean barrier to the east coast of Africa, which reached the equatorial region, this move was to issue the "Zhengshuo" to the Yongle Emperor, "sending envoys to the throne to summon ... The kingdoms"; "Want to dominate the four directions, send envoys everywhere to attract"; "Suspect that Emperor Hui has died overseas, and wants to trace it."
And he wants to show off his army in a foreign land and show that China is rich and strong"; "Xuande and gentle people", "Heng dispatches the messenger to preach and educate in overseas countries, and guides etiquette and righteousness", so as to achieve "caring for Huayi, jia has all directions, and the same zhen is the supreme ruler"; "the monarch of the world... Schnebuder... Shu Ji shared the blessings of peace" for the purpose. Going to the West has a strong political color, while economic and cultural exchanges are secondary, let alone the intention of "trade and relocation, pursuing profits far and near" and opening up territory. Because of this, after the death of the Yongle Emperor, maritime activities were banned by force, and the voyage to the West was condemned and criticized. Since then, China has completely entered a long period of "sea ban", losing the last opportunity to break through the traditional social pattern of cattle farming and water conservancy agriculture and the great opportunity to participate in the great geographical discovery.