Certainly the wealth of the East was regarded as wondrous and was one of the principle causes of Columbus journey to find another route to the wealth.Originally Posted by Everyan
As a Chinese who can read those, I confirm that these are all written with a Confucius mindset, which at that time, has already evolved into a ruling tool for the imperial court. In their eyes, land beside the "middle kingdom" is not worth taking, and Romans are just mightier barbarians
For the westerners in Medieval, the eastern wealth was just mind boggling (even in the late 1700's, China & India combined for more than half of the world's GDP). Guess just like the general Chinese impression of a rich West nowadays.)
It strikes me as strange that although porcelain, cast iron, the compass, paper, gunpowder, brass and printing were all invented in China before the West (according to Professor R.A. Buchanan in The Power of the Machine) and that some of these technoligies were actualy transferred from the East, why the West, in a relatively short period of time managed to establish such a technological lead. I would welcome a Chinese view on this.
Just my 0.02c....
Both Indians and the Chinese were fat with the fruit of the land. We were soft, arrogant and xenophobic. No incentive to explore or innovate.
The west in contrast was poor and hungry, they always looked for any chance to come up and so pushed harder.
For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!
snapper,
three main reasons:why the West, in a relatively short period of time managed to establish such a technological lead. I would welcome a Chinese view on this.
-overpopulation, meaning that the machines developed by the west to save labor wasn't necessary
-high pre-industrial efficiency, many of the technologies used by china were already very efficient for a pre-industrial society, no overwhelming need to make the jump
-government/culture set up so that merchants are despised, while best and brightest are shunt off into a minisicule bureaucratic elite
The human mind cannot grasp the causes of phenomena in the aggregate. But the need to find these causes is inherent in man’s soul. And the human intellect, without investigating the multiplicity and complexity of the conditions of phenomena, any one of which taken separately may seem to be the cause, snatches at the first, the most intelligible approximation to a cause, and says: “This is the cause!"
-Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace
oops, double posts....
edited
Last edited by Everyan; 10 Sep 08, at 04:21.
天下兴亡，匹夫有责
This. Competitiveness comes before prosperity, not after. The same goes for the West after the Greek/Roman glory.
As for the record, it was written right during a period when the East started rising. Han dynasty is the first prosperous unified Chinese dynasty after centuries of turmoil of Waring States. At the same time, it is during this period of conflict, a hundred flowers bloomed and a hundred schools of thought contended, including Confucianism, laying foundations for the later glories.
The Chinese system didn't change much after 1000 A.D., and anything achieved after 1400's are mere quantities because of the momentum. People were satisfied and conservative about major changes. If the emperor sucks, they would rather replace it with an old school Confucian than creating a new system.
天下兴亡，匹夫有责
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
Share this thread with friends: