Editing Western imperialism in Asia (section)

==Early European exploration of Asia==
{{See also|Chronology of European exploration of Asia}}
European exploration of Asia started in [[Ancient Rome|ancient Roman]] times along the [[Silk Road]]. The Romans had knowledge of lands as distant as China. Trade with India through the Roman Egyptian [[Red Sea]] ports was significant in the first centuries of the [[Common Era]].

===Medieval European exploration of Asia===
[[File:Marco Polo traveling.JPG|thumb|Illustration of [[Marco Polo]]'s arrival in a [[China|Chinese]] city]]

In the 13th and 14th centuries, a number of Europeans, many of them Christian [[missionary|missionaries]],{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} had sought to penetrate into China. The most famous of these travelers was [[Marco Polo]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Marco Polo, Il Milione |year=1965|language=it|newspaper=[[De Agostini|Istituto Geografico DeAgostini]]|last=Benedetto|first=Luigi Foscolo}}</ref> But these journeys had little permanent effect on east–west trade because of a series of political developments in Asia in the last decades of the 14th century, which put an end to further European exploration of Asia. The [[Yuan dynasty]] in China, which had been receptive to European missionaries and merchants, was overthrown, and the new [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] rulers were found to be unreceptive of religious proselytism. Meanwhile, the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Turks]] consolidated control over the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], closing off key overland trade routes. Thus, until the 15th century, only minor trade and cultural exchanges between Europe and Asia continued at certain terminals controlled by Muslim traders.

===Oceanic voyages to Asia===
Western European rulers determined to find new trade routes of their own. The Portuguese spearheaded the drive to find oceanic routes that would provide cheaper and easier access to South and East Asian goods. This chartering of oceanic routes between East and West began with the unprecedented voyages of Portuguese and Spanish sea captains. Their voyages were influenced by medieval European adventurers, who had journeyed overland to the Far East and contributed to geographical knowledge of parts of Asia upon their return.

In 1488, [[Bartolomeu Dias]] rounded the southern tip of Africa under the sponsorship of Portugal's [[John II of Portugal|John II]], from which point he noticed that the coast swung northeast ([[Cape of Good Hope]]). While Dias' crew forced him to turn back, by 1497, Portuguese navigator [[Vasco da Gama]] made the first open voyage from Europe to India. In 1520, [[Ferdinand Magellan]], a Portuguese navigator in the service of the [[Crown of Castile]] ('[[Spain]]'), found a sea route into the [[Pacific Ocean]].