Editing Western imperialism in Asia (section)

===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.