The West Wind Whispers to the Setting Sun (Sino-Western Relations Before the Opium War)

Author: Xiao Zhizhi, Yang Weidong (compilers)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: This book attempts to adopt the form of annals, narrating major events between the arrival of Portuguese colonizers in China in the early 16th century and the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 in chronological order. It covers significant interactions between China and Western countries in various aspects, including economy, military, politics, diplomacy, science and technology, religion, culture, and arts. The book focuses on narration with appropriate commentary. It strives to clearly explain the causes, consequences, and details of each important event, providing readers with a systematic and comprehensive understanding. Through the narration of these major events, readers will see how Western colonizers used peaceful, military, economic, and political means to colonize and invade China, ultimately resorting to force and rashly launching the large-scale Opium War. At the same time, the book also highlights the exchange of academic and cultural knowledge between the East and the West. Additionally, it shows how corrupt rulers, facing Western colonial aggression and the introduction of advanced Western culture and technology, were indifferent, incompetent, failed to recognize the trends of the times and social progress, did not keep pace with the times, and failed to take timely measures to catch up, ultimately missing out on historical opportunities and falling further behind the times. In the end, they were defeated by the powerful Western military forces, causing suffering to the people and humiliation to the nation, pushing China to the brink of extinction.