Why is the year 1500 recognized as the beginning of modern world history?
The most important reason is that the opening of new shipping routes changed the pattern of The East and the West, so that Western Europe began to rise, and the East gradually subordinated to the West. Until then, the East has been ahead of the West, leading the Trend of the West, think of the Silk Road and the Ceramic Road.
From 1407 to 1433, Zheng He of the Ming Dynasty made seven voyages to the West, and the last magnificent performance of the Chinese fleet in the world's oceans. Zheng He's voyage to the West was called a "performance" because it did not bring substantial benefits to China, but only satisfied the emperor's curiosity and established a tributary trade system that could not make ends meet. As the financial resources were exhausted, the operation to the West was forced to stop, which also meant that China and even the Orientals lost the perfect opportunity to develop into the world's ocean for the first time.
More than 50 years later, Western navigators led by Portugal revisited the Indian Ocean (The Western Ocean), but they returned with a full load of wealth. After the opening of the new shipping route, Westerners began to land on the beach, plundering wealth and resources, and accumulating primitive capital for the development of capitalism. Westerners rose rapidly because of the opening of new shipping routes, and without the opening of new shipping routes, there would be no rich life for Westerners today.
The period around 1500 was a turning point in world history. An opportunity around 1500, the West seized it, the East lost it, such a simple choice.
