East Asian discovery of the New World

[democracy101]

That is why I have switched tactics. We are working from a scenario Post-Columbus where the exsistance and wealth of the Americas is known. East Asia shut itself out of world affairs or was too embroiled in regional affairs to take advantage of events in the Americas from practically the start and before the discovery. I want to see what they could have done otherwise.

The Ming would have been hampered due to the wokou raids, which continued with varying frequencies from around 1300 to 1590. The Qing wouldn't have been motivated to do so either because it had plenty of resources at its disposal. While China might have been divided sometime between 1350 and 1650, the geopolitical situation at the time would have most likely have led it to be reunified or consolidated into 2-5 stable states within 5-20 years of the initial division. As a result, any scenario would not prevent the state(s) from trading with each other and/or with other states in East and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Korea and Japan would have also been generally content due to extensive preexisting trading contacts with their neighbors, so there would be no particular push for them to seek more resources outside of East and Southeast Asia.

In terms of actual settlements in Southeast Asia, the Chinese, along with Japanese and Koreans, generally tended to found their own communities or assimilate into the local population, instead of attempting to actively govern the local populations. As a result, I find it hard to imagine a drastically different scenario occurring unless specific pressures forced at least one government to actively fund and encourage widespread settlement overseas, and specifically focus on exploiting resources and/or terrain.

 

[Faeelin]

The Ming would have been hampered due to the wokou raids, which continued with varying frequencies from around 1300 to 1590.

Mmm.... The Wakou raids are not, IMO, inevitalbe, especially as they're in part the product of the Ming's own restrictions on overseas trade. (And largely done by Chinese). It's no coincidence that Wako were at their worst when the Ming were at their most xenophobic.

In terms of actual settlements in Southeast Asia, the Chinese, along with Japanese and Koreans, generally tended to found their own communities or assimilate into the local population, instead of attempting to actively govern the local populations.

I don't think this is true at all; it really depends on where you're looking. southwestern China, Taiwan, and (under the Qing) Eastern Mongolia show attemps to actively govern local population and settle farmers.