On May 9th, 1421, lightning struck the Imperial Palace -- the resulting fires burnt the Hall of Great Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. The fires also burnt the Emperor's throne to cinders and consumed his favorite concubine (his empress had died in 1407). Emperor Zhu Di was so distraught, that he couldn't even make proper funeral arrangements for her burial in the imperial mausoleum. He fell ill, and began issuing decrees that put an end to the voyages of the treasure ships and foreign travel. Thus began China's self-imposed exile.
It's amazing to think and wonder what might have happened had the lightning not struck, had the Palace not burned, had the concubine survived -- if China had only remained open to the idea of exploring and colonizing, would the European settlers have been greeted in Chinese when they landed, decades later? Would Buddhism/Taoism be the dominant religion rather than Christianity today?
To think that the same man who commissioned these great ships, refortified the Great Wall and built the Forbidden City would withdraw inward... makes me realize one thing: sometimes we are closer to greatness than we know, and if we stop, turn around and retreat we will never know what we might have achieved.
That realization is not just true in our personal lives, but in the events of the world as well. 20th century civilization has sent men to the moon. In the ancient days, such a tale would be of myth and folklore, but we did it. When John F. Kennedy set that task before the American public in the 1960s, even the scientists at the time didn't know if it was really possible -- but they kept at it, they didn't let the fear of the unknown or fear of failure stop them.
What saddens me is this -- we haven't returned to the moon. After Apollo 13, America was scared. This, like the lightning bolt that set the Imperial Palace aflame, caused the U.S. government to turn their back on the large frontier before them. We haven't set a goal for Mars. We haven't scheduled any flights since Columbia. Will America become a footnote in history as China takes to space?
What further saddens me is that I see the fear in people too. Not just about the topics of space, but about life and love as well.
We're afraid of a dozen little things, when we really shouldn't be. We're afraid of getting our hearts broken, we're afraid of becoming a couple and losing what we already had with that person, we're afraid of loving someone too much, and we're afraid the other doesn't love us enough. We're afraid the other person doesn't care, we're afraid of rejection, we're afraid of what we don't know, of what others will think, of what will be found out. We're afraid we're going to miss out on something. We're afraid we're going to be hurt. We're afraid they might not love us for who we are. We're afraid we might be making a mistake. We set up barriers, we wall ourselves in, and we run away from what could be the most amazing adventure ever.
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