Before Western Imperialism attempted to change Asia during the 19th century, China was a regional super power for more than two-thousand years. Over time, the Chinese believed they were too civilized and powerful to be threatened by anyone on the planet. Then the British, French, Portuguese, Germans, Americans, Russians and Japanese arrived and waged war in China for a century starting with the First Opium War.
Opium Wars
China learned a lesson from all of these wars. It only took a century to recover and start over.
The leaders of China are called Communists, but the men and women who rule China were born Chinese and the decisions they make are based on being Chinese—not being Communists. The Chinese culture is a collective culture and when an “individual” crosses the line and breaks the rules doing or saying something that is unacceptable to the collective culture, they are erased (given a death sentence) or reeducated (if possible). That’s how the Chinese collective culture on the mainland does things.
In time, interaction with other cultures may change that. In fact, China already has changed to some degree. Friendly, harmonious interaction is the key—not hate and accusations like those from Americans like Timothy V.
See Respecting Cultural Differences are Out-of-Focus
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning novels My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart. He also Blogs at The Soulful Veteran and Crazy Normal.
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