Dreams of China (China and the World on the Eve of the 19th Century)

Author: Zou Muluang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: In 1840, for China and the Chinese people, it should have been a belated era. If the long-sealed old world was destined to be connected or opened up sooner or later, then China had arrived at an unfavorable time to meet the troublemaking Westerners. In 1840, the Chinese people's ideal of "being content without desires and yet finding the world sufficient" was shattered. The Chinese way of life that embraced poverty and simplicity, and the tranquil and unpretentious nature of the Chinese nation, were shaken by the Westerners. Thus, when looking at the world from China, the world seemed to have moved forward, developed, or even progressed. It wasn't necessarily better, nor was it worse—it was just developed. When looking at China from overseas, China was not necessarily lagging behind or regressing; it was merely stagnant. The interweaving of development and stagnation formed the tragic Sino-Western conflict of modern times. Until today, when the Chinese nation has already escaped the of, people suddenly look back and ask: was the blood-and-fire war half a century ago a blessing or a curse for the Chinese nation? Let's set aside the inevitability of mutual exclusion when two civilizations meet, and consider only the perspective of commercial trade. In today's era of global transportation, everything that the Chinese people strongly rejected back then has become a reality today. After a century of struggle, the Westerners finally achieved their goals, and the Chinese people could not resist the tide of the times. The difference is that China finally won self-respect from the confrontation. However, this was the result of the Chinese people conforming to the trend, not the achievement of resisting the trend. Moreover, such a result was never something unattainable for the ancient China. For such a result, was the heavy price paid worth it?