Why did China not trade with outsiders until 1402?

Question

Gianna Adams · Accepted Answer

China did not have direct trade with a European nation until 1514 when the Portuguese reached China and Hong Kong, But there was trade before 1402 when Zheng He began his explorations.

China had indirect trade with Europe back in the times of the Romans along the silk road. This trade would ebb and flow with the conditions on both sides of the Silk Road China was xenophobic and was always suspicious of foreign influences on China. This fear of other Cultures and a sense of superiority limited foreign trade, during much of Chinese history. the Mongal rule of Kublai Kong was one of the times the silk road was wide open and an active trading route. This was the time that Marco Polo traveled to China between 1271 and 1295 His memoirs of his time in China excited Europe and stimulated more trade. Under the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty in 1402 Zheng He began the first of his six voyages of discovery and trade. At the end of this era of discovery the fleet and the records of the trade routes discovered by Zheng He were mostly burned. Under the later Ming Dynasty China again turned inward and trade with the outside world was discouraged. When the Portuguese navy reached China in 1514 China was forced to trade directly with a European Nation.