What if the Ming dynasty found the new world?

What if the Ming Dynasty had continued sending ships for exploration and eventually found the New World, how would this effect the way our timeline played out?
 
Little would necessarily come of it—after all, the Chinese visited east Africa but didn't bother going back there again. Neither did the Chinese attempt to exert imperial control over Southeast Asia despite there being large Chinese communities there. If they landed on the western coast of America they might make some contact with the natives, exchange some gifts, mark the existence of this continent, and try to go back to China.

For various economic and political reasons, exploring and colonizing was more of a European thing.
 
Even that Ming Dynasty would find America is pretty implausible. Them hadn't any reason to across Pacific which is extremely large so it would be difficult thing anyway. And there not be any reason do that. But even if Chinese reach America, anything wouldn't change. Perhaps later archaelogs find some Chinese things from United States and Canada and perhaps there is some Chinese texts about land beyond large sea, but nothing else. China hadn't reason or willing to colonise America. Them had already enough land resources. And ruling of distant colony would be difficult anyway.
 
The key problem is really they weren't exploring anything. They were asserting their power and trying to gain hegemony over trade routes they already knew about. Even the most distant places they went weren't terra incognita. It's just distant. Also the process of going across the pacific and reaching the Americas is less logical for the Chinese than the parallel idea for the Europeans. As far as they're concerned the only worthwhile trading partner to the east is Japan, everyone else comes from the south or west to trade with them. And even if they went purely on curiosity, why would they keep going the thousands of miles to America when all they can find are Polynisian islanders on the way?

There's some merit to the possibility of the Chinese coming upon Australia in their journeys. And if they find it I'd say it's hardly impossible some Chinese community in Indonesia flees their homeland (actually not that unlikely from what I understand, it's often claimed Chinese are the Jews of Southeast Asia, and a series of pogroms could easily make this happen) and settled Australia. But the chances of getting to America are minuscule. No one would do it without a good reason. And they don't have one.
 
after all, the Chinese visited east Africa but didn't bother going back there again

Let me use this opportunity to state that while expeditions of the Chinese state did not reach East Africa after the 1430s, Chinese merchants most definitely continued to (and had already been visiting Africa several centuries before the Ming Dynasty was founded).
 
Unless they found Gold or silver there ,colonization was very expensive and was one of the main reasons the Chinese state stop senting big trade fleets
 
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