Usually we think that China's backwardness in modern times began with the Opium War, and it seems that the artillery fire of the West has made us soberly aware of the gap between us and the West. In fact, if we want to trace the origin of China's backwardness, it should be the Kangqian prosperous period, in the Kangqian prosperous period, the most representative is the visit to China by the Macartney delegation, in this time the collision of Chinese and Western cultures, let us see the monarchy of the past thousand years, as well as the stupidity of rigid thinking, kangqian prosperous era is the root cause of China's modern backwardness.
The prosperous kangqian dynasty is considered to be a peak of China's social development, the country is stable, the national treasury is abundant, and the population has reached the highest in history, with a territory of more than 13 million kilometers, but under the prosperity there are deeper hidden dangers. The Qing Dynasty had always relied on low-level agriculture and handicrafts economically, rather than developing economic trade, and cracked down capitalist industry and commerce. When the population develops to the point where agricultural land cannot be fed, the whole society will change dramatically.
In terms of foreign policy, the Qing Dynasty adhered to the policy of closing the country to the outside world, and foreign trade was limited to one port in Guangzhou, in order to limit the prevention of civilian ships from being too large to pose a threat to the military of the imperial court, and even limited the development of civilian ships, strict restrictions were placed on the size of ships and the number of masts.
And what is changing in Europe at this time? The Great Voyages propelled the entire Industrial Revolution forward, establishing colonies around the world over a period of 300 years, and Britain successfully crossed the Malthusian Trap and used industry to feed more people. The Qing Dynasty in the east, precisely because of the prosperity of Kangqian, led to a surge in population, and was about to face the current situation that land could not support the population.
Macartney's visit to China should be a good opportunity to learn Western technology, but the self-righteous Qianlong Emperor believed that the Qing Dynasty was rich in land and did not lack anything. Rejected the scientific and technological products sent by the Macartney mission, believing that these were all carving insects and small skills, and only Cheng Zhu Lixue was the need for the development of the Qing Dynasty.
We now look at these gifts from Macartney, including: celestial orbiters, globes, Herschel telescopes, Parker lenses, advanced weapons such as burst pistols and copper field guns, felt blankets, wool, books, alarm clocks, watches, two yellow carriages, and a model of a British warship with 110 large-caliber guns at the time. These represent the frontiers of Western science and technology and are the crystallization of the Western scientific system.
The kangqian dynasty was also the peak of the development of absolute monarchy in Chinese society, and all the actions of officials were not to improve efficiency, but to speculate on the holy will, and the entire imperial court staged the emperor's new clothes every day. Kang Qiansheng has become an obstacle to modern productive forces, bringing the civilization that once led the world into a state of stagnation.