Other than the Mongols who ruled China for 70 years ( and had their culture subsumed by the superior Chinese culture anyway ), as I looked at China’s history... I don’t get the impression that the Chinese emperors were very keen on colonizing other countries.
Their main interest is opening trade routes and INFLUENCE. Hence, the worst they will do with their vast power is make a country ( e.g. Korea, Vietnam ) a vassal state.
Pay your yearly tribute and open up your country for trade and natural resource exploitation and we’ll pretty much leave you alone.
You are correct. As a race+culture based country, their thinking very generally was - what would be the point of trying to have "barbarians" adopt Chinese practices? the Chinese Emperors of the past also had no ideology to spread. Getting foreigners tribute, loot, and keeping the borders stable was how foreign relations were viewed. China was also historically naturally defined by geography as well, being bounded by oceans, a vast desert to the West, and the Himalayas.
Also unlike initial western conquest of the Americas, there was no real individual profit-incentive for colonization. Sure, many Chinese left China for themselves to try to become rich, but it had no bearing on the government. Finally, China has always had a massive, collectivist, centralized, top-down government - not so very different from the type they have now. As such, their goal is always focused inwardly, on control and domestic political domination.
Quote: Other than the Mongols who ruled China for 70 years ( and had their culture subsumed by the superior Chinese culture anyway ), as I looked at China’s history... I don’t get the impression that the Chinese emperors were very keen on colonizing other countries.
Yes, but that doesn’t meant that other countries aren’t interested in colonizing them. If it weren’t for Europe suiciding itself twice in the last century, they’d still be a vassal state.
I guess I’d just think that they’d look at world history and decide that when the next go around comes, they don’t want to be the weak, insular power. Especially in today’s world where it’s obvious that there are ‘new’, and very bloodthirsty empires rising on the ashes of the past.