Originally posted by PhoenixOD
So whats the conspiracy theory here?

Trying to figure out why the Ming dynasty first built the world's largest naval fleet, then burned it to the water line back in the fifteenth century.

And how close it came to China having colonized the New World before the European powers, etc.

And if China is taking up where it left off in the economic colonization of America during the twenty first century, etc.

The 1421/91 author (whose name I cannot remember) is dogged by issues ranging from the accuracy of his 'facts' when used to support his theory, to even his naval career and experience - there is/was a site documenting the problems in data and procedure with the first book; I was reading it as part of a point/counter-point session on the pre-Columbian contacts as-yet 'unofficial' when I found a part of their republication of the author's service history contained an error that as a RN semi-buff was clearly a mistake. I did some digging and found the original source, saw that it had survived various publishings and chances for correction, and so wrote in to this site to explain it. They weren't at all "thank you thank you more ammo against the kook" about it - in fact they made me come back to them with MY sources to prove I hadn't lied or fiddled with the truth. I don't know what became of that (other than a Thank You I heard and thought no more of it) but if the site still exists maybe it's there still...

Originally posted by Kolya
The 1421/91 author (whose name I cannot remember) is dogged by issues ranging from the accuracy of his 'facts' when used to support his theory, to even his naval career and experience - there is/was a site documenting the problems in data and procedure with the first book; I was reading it as part of a point/counter-point session on the pre-Columbian contacts as-yet 'unofficial' when I found a part of their republication of the author's service history contained an error that as a RN semi-buff was clearly a mistake. I did some digging and found the original source, saw that it had survived various publishings and chances for correction, and so wrote in to this site to explain it. They weren't at all "thank you thank you more ammo against the kook" about it - in fact they made me come back to them with MY sources to prove I hadn't lied or fiddled with the truth. I don't know what became of that (other than a Thank You I heard and thought no more of it) but if the site still exists maybe it's there still...

The author's name is Charle C. Mann.

Though this is not the original intent of this posting about the potential Chinese colonization of the New World, it is interesting speculation.

And what did happen to the Mayans who disappeared into the jungles?

And had Zheng He began colonization in the New World before his untimely death in 1433, would the Ming dynasty have continued said colonization once they realized how much gold they could bring back?

Well, most of us who studied Chinese history at some point in time actually know about Zheng He.

His story was kind of funny...

This historical person also spun up some very interesting Martial Arts, Kung Fu fiction writings.

But yeah, on to the funny parts.

Legend has it, that Zheng He actually was sort of forced to leave. The funny story goes that the Eunuch Zheng He was falling in love with the Emperor, so therefore he had to be sent away.

In ancient China, the Emperors had a lot of Eunuchs serving beside them. So that the Emperors can keep their dragon penis in their pants, as to not screwing every maid he comes across. After all, if the Emperor seeds a woman, then the baby will be considered royalty and will have position/power and perhaps a chance at the throne in the future.

So the story goes that Zheng He was sent on the expedition by the Emperor. The reason for the rumors and stories about Zheng He was that it was a very awkward move by the Emperor.

You can't help but ask why the Emperor would ever want to send an "EUNUCH" to lead a harsh expedition to explore the world. Normally, you would send battle hardened Generals with long experiences in the ocean. But no, he sends a girly man to go conquer the world...

According to history, Zheng He wasn't really a military genius of any kind, nor does he have any real historical military battles that proves his might.

What could be the reason behind the Emperor's decision then?

It is commonly said that perhaps Zheng He was gaining a lot of political support at the time and his power and influence is growing out of hand. So the Emperor had to sent him away so he can reclaim his power over the kingdom.

But that's kind of a boring explanation or assumption.

The funny part is that people also suspected that Zheng He could have been an extremely powerful Martial Artist. His Kung Fu... is very strong...

In a very popular series of Wu Xia novels written by the famous Chinese scholar "Jin Yong", one of the most powerful martial art that existed in one of his fictional novel was said to have been created by an "Eunuch" of the same exact era as Zheng He...

So, to make life interesting and this story a lot less bland, a lot of Chinese young folks suspect that the Eunuch Zheng He was falling madly in love with the Emperor and Zheng He's Kung Fu was really really strong.

The Emperor had no choice but to send him away. Because the damn Eunuch probably want to polish the dragon pole on a daily basis and the Emperor simply cannot stand it. He can't really have Zheng He killed without a good reason, he can't assassinate Zheng He because the Eunuch was probably the most powerful Martial Artist during that era, for all we know Zheng He could probably kill the Emperor in a blink of an eye. On top of that, due to his high position as Eunuch, he is close to the Emperor and gets to see him up close in person quite often.

We like to think that the Emperor couldn't deal with this mad Liberace Kung Fu Master, so he sent his ass on a long journey, hoping that the flamboyant dude never make it back alive....