Actually those are myths. Read up on Zheng He, the Chinese did use a compass to navigate the oceans. Same with gunpowder, the cannon and the first crude guns were invented in China.
What China lacked was not the resources and weapons but the ambition to conquer the rest of the world. They saw themselves smugly as the center of the world and were satisfied as long as other countries paid tribute.
By the time Zheng He sailed the Arabs and Europeans had centuries of navigational experience
Zheng He was one shot event. It was never repeated