What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
As we all know, the reason why China began to suffer a large-scale invasion by foreign powers at the end of the Qing Dynasty is inseparable from the ignorance of the Qing government. However, even in modern times, there may still be many people who still try to put this situation to the fact that the Qing Dynasty did not have the ability and opportunity to understand the world at that time. But in fact, the Qing Dynasty had every ability and opportunity at that time.
Why? Because there was already a map of the world that could help them and get a good idea of the situation in the world. It's just a pity that the Qing Dynasty, from the emperor to the courtiers, ignored this map. Because of this, when they are attacked by foreign powers, they will be so powerless.
First, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty have always been committed to understanding the situation in various countries in the world.
Everyone should know that Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was born very humble. Logically, his vision should be far less broad than that of those emperors who appeared in the middle and late Qing Dynasty. But in fact, compared with the vision of the emperors who appeared in the middle and late Qing Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang's vision was simply broadened to the point where they could not compare.
You know, since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang has been committed to understanding the situation of various countries in the world. And he not only did this himself, but also left a legacy to his children and grandchildren before his death, so that they should also pay attention to understanding the situation in the world. Because of this, the emperors of the Ming Dynasty would put so much effort into this matter. Of course, the benefits gained are also very large.
Taking the fact that the Ming Dynasty was invaded by the Dutch during the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor is enough to prove that the Ming Dynasty did get a lot of benefits after doing a good job in this matter. At that time, for the Ming Dynasty, the national strength was already in a relatively weak period. But for the Netherlands, national power was at its peak.
But even so, the Netherlands was finally defeated by the Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The reason is simple, because the Chongzhen Emperor is very clear about the situation in the Netherlands. In this case, he can arrange for everyone to do a good job of defense in advance. No matter how powerful the Netherlands is, it is only a foreign invader, and it has no way to fight the local dynasty of the Ming Dynasty, and naturally it can only roll back to its own country in the end.
Second, the Ming Dynasty drew its own world map based on the world map of foreigners' tribute.
The reason why the Chongzhen Emperor was able to understand the situation in the Netherlands so clearly was, to a certain extent, related to a map of the world drawn up during the mingshen sect. That world map was called "Kunyu Wanguo Quantu" at that time, but he was not created by the Ming Dynasty people themselves through field investigations of the situation in various countries, but a map of foreigners paying tribute, and on the basis of the world map called "Atlas of All Nations" as a template, a world map more suitable for the use of our people was drawn. As for the foreigner who paid tribute to this map, he is also relatively famous in the history of our country. He was the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci.
The reason why Matteo Ricci made a special trip to China to present the world map to the Ming Dynasty was also because the Ming Dynasty at that time adhered to the national policy of opening up to the outside world. In addition to Matteo Ricci, other emissaries from various countries also went to the Ming Dynasty in China to pay tribute to the emperor. The emperor of the Ming Dynasty was not only very friendly to these foreign envoys who came to pay tribute. And they also attached great importance to studying what they brought with them that the Ming Dynasty did not have, and what they told about their own country.
Later, the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by the Qing Dynasty. After occupying the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty also occupied everything that originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty. Among them, there is the world map called "Kunyu All Nations Map". If the Qing Dynasty had paid attention to this map, China would not have been humiliated by foreign powers at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, they didn't do that.
Third, the "Kunyu All Nations Map" was ignored by the Qing court, and the Qing Dynasty itself harmed itself and went to the road of being destroyed.
After the Qing Dynasty obtained the "Kunyu All Nations Map", it not only did not pay attention to it, but also put it on the shelf as a general collection. Even the studious Qianlong Emperor was brainwashed by the idea of "heavenly kingdom". Not only did he not study this map of the world properly, but he also implemented a closed-door policy in the Qing Dynasty. As a result, due to the long-term lack of understanding of the external world environment and situation, it eventually led to foreign powers bombarding the Qing Dynasty with artillery fire. Not only were the officials and people of the Qing Dynasty humiliated and killed by foreign powers, but the Qing Dynasty itself embarked on the road to extinction.
It is said that it is precisely because the emperors of the Qing Dynasty did not pay attention to the "Kunyu All Nations Map" drawn by the Ming Dynasty and the implementation of the policy of opening up to the outside world. When the Daoguang Emperor launched the Opium War in Britain, he didn't even know where Britain was. It can be seen from this that the Qing government at that time was not only very ignorant and ignorant, but could even be said to have reached the point of being stupid.