Is China Really Inferior to Other Countries?

Growing up, I always heard people complaining that China’s national conditions were inferior to America, Switzerland… and other countries, and so I grew up nourished by that kind of environment. China — in what way exactly is it inferior to foreign countries, or rather, where does the difference lie? This is a string of questions. Where do we find the answers? Growing up I learned that a country’s development is inseparable from the wisdom of the people at the bottom — creating things, building homes, running trade… and what is the basic precondition for all these activities? A stable and prosperous order. Yes, that’s the answer. I seemed to vaguely understand something… Flipping through history, our motherland’s growth must be analyzed from before and after 1840. What things were like before 1840, people today of course don’t know; all we can verify are the history books and materials left by past dynasties. Their credibility isn’t entirely high either, but they’re still quite useful for a broad historical review. The First Industrial Revolution began in England in the 1760s, that is, 1760. What was China doing in 1760? In 1760 China was in the twenty-fifth year of the Qianlong reign; Qianlong had just ascended the throne, and the country was in the middle of the Kang-Qian flourishing age, with everyone at peace and content. So why didn’t China enter the scope of the Industrial Revolution, or rather, why were there no machine inventions? That reason requires turning history back further. China’s Four Great Inventions originated in the Spring and Autumn period, the Eastern Han, the Sui-Tang, and the Northern Song respectively — that is, 476 BC, 25 AD, 581-907 AD, and 960 AD. Counting the time, there were gaps of a hundred years in between, but inventions did happen. During that time society was sometimes in turmoil, yet thought was extremely open, without entanglement over profit and glory (I guess it was roughly like that) — with a stable and open-minded way of thinking, inventions were inevitable. However, from the Sui dynasty came the imperial examination system, which the Tang further established, the Song perfected, and the Ming and Qing brought to flourish. Back then the imperial examination was for becoming an official, and becoming an official was for bringing glory to one’s ancestors — much the same goal as building a career today. Everyone thought of studying diligently for ten years, for one day of glory. Beyond the Four Books and Five Classics there was still only the Four Books and Five Classics, and thinking revolved around just these few places. Inventions therefore became fewer, and everyone was based in this way of thinking, quietly finishing one round after another. Lagging behind was thus unavoidable, and failing to keep up with the First Industrial Revolution was only natural. In addition, the Qing dynasty at the time restricted navigation and rejected foreign culture. The self-sufficient stability of the “Heavenly Kingdom” plus the ignorant indoctrination of the Four Books and Five Classics stripped away open-ended thinking. China only invented them, without bringing out their uses. And during this period the inventions flowed outward, while the Western world kept researching and improving, pushing the economy into a new era. We can put it this way: England began developing its economy in 1760. And China? Before 1840 it was still the most primitive economy; even by 1949, when the Republic of China was established, China’s economy still hadn’t. And America? It became independent in 1783, freed itself from British economic control in 1814, and vigorously developed its economy, encouraging invention and innovation. By 1860 the American economy had leapt to 4th in the world. And China? Jiaqing cut the troops, forbade going abroad. The Anglo-French allied forces entered Beijing, burned the Old Summer Palace, and the country was in turmoil. Then before 1949, China was in the middle of World War II, followed immediately by civil war. From the First Industrial Revolution to the founding of New China in 1949, China never had genuine economic development, nor any measures or inventions to revive the economy. Meanwhile America made a fortune off the war, and other countries too were in economic depression, shifted onto others by war. And today, more than half a century on, China’s economy is recovering at a rapid pace, is growing. None of us has any right to say China is bad, nor any right to say Chinese people are uncivilized. Did any country develop directly out of civilization from the very start? Any country that has developed its economy for half a century is already quite civilized. It’s true that we can’t compare with foreign countries in education, welfare, and social security — you can make your own choices, but you have no right to disparage your own motherland. This is a fact, and also a rule.