However, in the middle and late period, China closed its doors to the outside world and declined gradually, which made it lose its leading position in the world and was overtaken by Europe.
The Ming Dynasty was also a period of continuous development and consolidation of China's unified multi-ethnic country, which strengthened its jurisdiction over some frontier minority areas.
It plays a positive role in establishing the territory of China today.
In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, capitalism sprouted and promoted economic development.
Zheng he's voyages
Opened the prelude to the era of great navigation in the world
Experts and scholars attending the meeting believed that Zheng He's voyage to the Western Seas in the early Ming Dynasty opened the prelude to the era of great navigation in the world, which was a sign that China embraced the outside world. Zheng He's practice of opening up the Maritime Silk Road in Southeast Asia under the guidance of multi-religious culture carved China's maritime career into a milestone in the history of world navigation.
Zheng Yijun, a researcher at the Institute of Oceanography of the China Academy of Sciences, pointed out in his report entitled "Great Peaceful Practice in the Transition Period of Human History" that 1405, Zheng He made his first voyage to the Western Ocean, which opened the prelude to his voyage around the world.
Zheng Yijun said that due to the arrival of the era of world navigation, great changes have taken place in the traffic between the East and the West, which has promoted exchanges between countries in the world and gradually broken the relatively closed and isolated state between the East and the West and between different regions on all continents.
This has had a far-reaching impact on human society and international relations, leading to the increasing globalization of human society, and has since entered a fundamental historical transition period.
In this critical period of the development of human society, Zheng He's feat of going to the West made a large number of China people go abroad and go to the sea. On the big stage of the intersection of human civilizations, he wrote a magnificent chapter in the history of human civilization at the beginning of the15th century with great peaceful practice.
Wang Guiyan and Zheng Yijun, directors of Zhenghe Society in Taiwan Province Province, China, have similar views.
Wang Guiyan said that Zheng He led a huge fleet of more than 200 ships and more than 27,000 personnel to sail, which was an unprecedented maiden voyage in the history of world navigation and a great achievement. At the same time, it also pushed the maritime traffic to a peak, shocked western adventurers, aroused their desire from the East, and then let the world know about the ocean, opened up sea lanes, and enhanced world economic prosperity and cultural exchanges.
Strive to establish a peaceful and harmonious international social order.
Experts believe that, unlike the great voyages in the west at the same time, the voyages of China People's Congress, represented by Zheng He, pushed a large number of China people to the sea on an unprecedented scale in an attempt to establish a peaceful and harmonious international social order with the traditional political and moral concepts of China people.
Zheng Yijun said that China's traditional political philosophy is based on the values of "benevolence" and "forgiveness".
The efforts of Zheng He's mission to spread China's culture and education overseas are in line with the ideal of great harmony pursued by ancient people with lofty ideals and the harmonious development of human social and natural.
This ideal of "great harmony" and "harmony" is also the embodiment of people all over the world yearning for "great harmony in the world" and reflects the desire of people overseas for a better and happier life.
Lin Yibiao, president of the Semarang Confucian Society in Indonesia, expressed the significance of Zheng He's peaceful voyage to the West from the worship of the people in his hometown.
Lin Yibiao believes that Zheng He's voyage to the West is a great pioneering work in human history and a monument to Sino-foreign relations.
Zheng He's nautical charts were also used by later western navigators.
He said that Zheng He's voyages to the West promoted China's advanced technology in agriculture and handicrafts, spread cultural civilization and promoted the economic development of various countries.
"Spice Journey" of Spreading Cultural Ideas
Zheng He's voyages to the West certainly contributed to trade, because most of the ceramics, silk and coins of the Ming Dynasty were loved and needed by people all over Southeast Asia. However, spices and dyes produced in various parts of Nanyang are also needed in China. This reality made Zheng He's voyage to the West highlight the importance of trade.
However, experts believe that the lasting and far-reaching influence of Zheng He's voyage to the West is still in cultural exchange.
Jones, a professor of marine science and technology at the University of Sydney, Australia, called Zheng He's voyage to the West to spread oriental culture a "spice journey" to spread cultural ideas, saying that its influence far exceeded the Silk Road across Central Asia.
Wang Guiyan believes that on the one hand, as far as the spread of China culture to the west is concerned, wherever Zheng He goes, he often achieves fruitful results and promotes China culture; On the other hand, a large number of western Christianity was introduced into China, and at the same time, western academic textbooks such as mathematics, physics and chemistry, astronomy were also introduced, which enlightened senior officials and intellectuals at that time, which was also an important contribution of Zheng He's mission to the cultural exchanges between the East and the West.