Talk:1434

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China[edit]

"The recoil from such guns was so powerful that only heavy ships could sustain it without shaking apart. The Chinese might have matched European ships in this respect, but for reasons domestic to imperial politics, the Chinese government prohibited the construction of ocean-going ships after 1434, and made private Chinese oceanic enterprise illegal. Operating as pirates systematically handicapped Chinese (and Japanese) sailors thereafter and deprived them of any chance or arming their vessels with heavy guns like those European traders carried routinely."

- William McNeill, ‘The Changing Shape of World History’

What politics is he talking about? 81.68.255.36 (talk) 20:59, 27 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]