Several months ago there was a discussion on this board of Zheng He (a.k.a. Cheng Ho), a eunuch admiral under the Emperor Zhu Di. There's a new book on his and the Chinese discoveries: 1421: The Year China Discovered the World by Gavin Menzies. There's also a web site: www.1421.tv . Zheng He (1371-1435) commanded 300 boats with 30,000 sailors and when in the capital, Nanjing, lived in a 72 rm mansion. His largest boat and the one he commanded personally was 5x the size of Columbus' Santa Maria.

The Chinese ruled the seas in this period with a navy of 3000 ships, 10x the size of the British armada in the late 16th century or the current US Navy. Following landings in Africa, the Chinese decided not to go on to Europe. They decided that what the Africans told them did not make Europeans an attractive people with whom to mingle. They made nothing the Chinese might want. China accounted for about 30% of the world's GDP at this time. The main reason we know so little about the Chinese discoveries is that the Chinese turned inward following the death of Zhu Di in 1424 and systematically destroyed all records that might lead their countrymen to think of external exploits again. The navy was destroyed as well, and it became a capital offence to build a boat larger than 2 masts.

The history of eunuchs might have been far different had this fateful change in human culture not occurred. We'd be everywhere.