Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Christopher Columbus, Richard M. Nixon and a 15th century emperor of China
"House" having been preempted last night by a two-hour "American Idol," I had plenty of time to finish John Lewis Gaddis' The Cold War: A New History
, previously touted here. One of the great things about Gaddis is that he draws connections that other people do not see:One of the questions the Gorbachev Foundation wrestled with, but never resolved, was: what did it all mean? The failure to find an answer was hardly surprising, for people who live through great events are rarely the best judges of their lasting significance. Consider Christopher Columbus, who might well have looked forward at some point during his life to the 500th anniversary of his great voyages, envisaging it as a celebration of himself, his men, and the ships they sailed, as well as the monarchs who sent them on their way. Columbus could hardly have anticipated that what historians would choose to remember, when the anniversary finally did roll around in 1992, was the near genocide he had set in motion by unleashing the forces of imperialism, capitalism, technology, religion, and especially disease upon civilizations that had few defenses against them.
Columbus's reputation, in turn, would hardly have been what it was had it not been for the decision of the Hongxi emperor, in 1424, to suspend China's far more costly and ambitious program of maritime exploration, thus leaving the great discoveries to the Europeans. A strange decision, one might think, until one recalls the costly and ambitious American effort to outdo the Soviet Union by placing a man on the moon, completed triumphantly on July 20, 1969. It had been, President Nixon extravagantly boasted, "the greatest week in the history of the world since the Creation." But then, after only five more moon landings over the next three and a half years, Nixon suspended the manned exploration of space altogether, leaving future discoveries to be postponed indefinitely. Which emperor's behavior will seem stranger 500 years hence? It is difficult to say.
This, by the way, captures my thinking about manned space flight perfectly: which side of history do you want to be on?
3 Comments:
By 
, at
Thu Jan 19, 01:46:00 AM:
Discover Magazine has an interesting article this month.
http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-06/features/megadeath-in-mexico/
It turns out that many of the big Aztec epidemics were a local disease, and not caused by the Spanish.
In fact, they've found evidence of a similar outbreak within the past 15 years, and there may be more coming, as it's related to rainfall after a severe drought, and there's a drought in Mexico going on right now.
By , at
Fri Jan 20, 12:14:00 PM:
"near genocide he had set in motion by unleashing the forces of imperialism, capitalism, technology, religion, and especially disease upon civilizations that had few defenses against them." The New World would have been "discovered" by someone from the Old World eventually, if not the Western Europeans, then someone else like the Chinese. The native Americans, having lived in isolation from the rest of the world for millenia, would have had to face devastating changes no matter who "discovered" them.
By , at
Fri Jan 20, 12:53:00 PM:
Back again, one other point of view. Ray Bradbury's 1953 short story "The Flying Machine" sheds some light on a culture that would refrain from trans-Pacific exploration. The story, set in 400 AD imperial China, tells of a local inventor proudly bringing his new flying machine to the Emperor. Instead of being rewarded, the inventor is executed, his machine destroyed and witnesses silenced. The Emperor has seen the invention as a threat to the peace of his realm and reflects: Here is a man who has made a certain machine... And yet asks us what he has created. He does not know himself. It is only necessary that he create, without knowing why he has done so, or what this thing will do...there are times...when one must lose a little beauty if one is to keep what little beauty one already has The Emperor does spare the life of the other witness to the miraculous flight, a witness who tells the Emperor he is merciful. "No, not merciful," said the old man. Beyond the garden wall he saw the guards burning the beautiful machine of paper and reeds that smelled of the morning wind. He saw he dark smoke climb into the sky. "No, only very much bewildered and afraid." He saw the guards digging a tiny pit wherein to bury the ashes. "What is the life of one man against those of a million others? I must take solace from that thought." I read this story in first grade and gained an early understanding of one aspect of human nature.
