Chapter 14: Chinese, Polynesians, and Non-Western Peoples

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Chapter 14
What were the objectives and major accomplishments of the voyages of exploration undertaken by Chinese, Polynesians, and other non-Western peoples?
Simply put, all the mentioned groups made voyages because they were curious about their surrounding environments. For instance, Bulliet et al., (2007, 413) reveals that available evidence suggests that Polynesians could have settled in the Eastern Pacific islands accidentally, which is an indicator of curiosity. The same author further asserts that the Ming dynasty’s exploration might have been motivated by curiosity. Similarly, African voyages were motivated by sheer curiosity because one African leader sent out sailors with instructions not to return until they reached the other end of the ocean or until their resources were depleted.
Another common reason for most voyages during the maritime revolution was to search for trading opportunities. According to Bulliet et al., (2007, pp. 417), the Chinese decided to explore the oceans with an aim of expanding their commerce. Analogously, the Muslim empires made voyages with an aim of spreading Islam and seeking trading opportunities. Further, the Polynesians made their voyages to find land for settlement. It could also be deduced that some groups made voyages just to fulfill their leaders’ visions. For instance, African and Chinese explorers set out for voyages just because their leader had asked them.
In this era of long-distance exploration, did Europeans have any special advantages over other cultural regions?
According to Bulliet et al., (2007, pp.420), the Portuguese made the caravels, which could cruise the ocean waters faster than other ships. Further, the caravels were smaller and could still sail in rivers. The same ships were fitted with cannons that made them well suited for marine warfare. It is also notable that the Europeans had better weapons and military tactics than their enemies. As evidenced, the Portuguese easily conquered coastal cities apart from Malindi because they had superior weapons. The Spanish conquest in the pacific was also easy because their enemies had inferior weapons. In short, Europeans had special advantages over other cultural regions because of their developed ocean technology and weapons.
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