In 1799, just as mankind was about to usher in the 19th century, a great head of state in the east and west of the world passed away: the one in the east was ai xinjueluo Hongli, the Qianlong emperor of the Qing Dynasty of China; the one in the west was George Washington, the first president of the United States of America. More precisely, the two have one thing in common – they are in fact former heads of state: in 1796 the Qianlong Emperor Ai XinJue Luo Hongli gave way to the fifteenth son of the Emperor Ai Xin Jue Luo Yongyan, who died as the tai shang emperor of the training government; in March 1797, George Washington gave a farewell speech after two terms of office, and when he died, he was a retired former president.
So Washington and Qianlong were not only people of the same era, but they were also on the same foot: the Qianlong Emperor died in February 1799, and Washington died of illness on December 14, 1799. Today, however, we define Qianlong as an ancient man and Washington as a modern man. Why do we develop such a feeling? This is first of all because mainland textbooks use different narrative modes when telling Chinese history and world history. The vast majority of countries in the world tell their own histories as part of their history. In this mode, one can see at a glance which famous figures in foreign history are in the same era as famous figures in the history of their own country.
Our history teachers will not explain to you what Shakyamuni and Socrates were doing when Confucius traveled around the world. When our textbook divides Chinese history and world history into ancient, modern and modern times, it is not based on time and age, but on the basis of events that have a turning and symbolic moment in history. Ancient Chinese history refers to the thousands of years of history from the origin of the Chinese nation to the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840, modern Chinese history refers to the history of more than 100 years from the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 to the founding of New China in 1949, and modern Chinese history refers to the history of the founding of New China in 1949 to the present. Naturally, this pattern of division according to Chinese historical events cannot correspond to the division of world history.
Therefore, we have formed a completely different division system of world history and Chinese history in our textbooks. In our history textbooks, the ancient history of the world refers to the thousands of years of history from the origin of human civilization to the rise of capitalist mode of production in the 16th century, the modern history of the world refers to the history between the birth of capitalism in the 16th century and the October Revolution in Russia in 1917, and the modern history of the world refers to the history from the October Revolution to the present. Under this system of division criteria, the world has entered the stage of modern history from the 16th century to the outbreak of the Opium War in 1840, but China is still in the period of ancient history. The reason for this discrepancy is that China's modernization process started late.
From the 15th century to the Renaissance, Copernicus, Bruno, Galileo, Newton and others set off a revolution in the field of natural science in the Western world, while the maritime activities of Dias, da Gama, Columbus, Magellan and others promoted the advent of the era of geographical discovery. Before this, the so-called world history was actually the history of the independent development of various civilizations in the world, and it was only after the 15th century that the "world history" of global integration gradually began to form. Therefore, it is generally customary in the world to regard the year 1500 AD as the dividing point of world history: the history of the independent development of each region before this is called ancient history; after this the history of global integration is called modern history.
What are you doing when all this happens Chinese? Obviously, at this time, China did not have much intersection with the outside world. Until the outbreak of the Opium War, the Daoguang Emperor asked, "How far is Britain from China?" "Does Britain border Russia?" "Is there any land route between England and Xinjiang?" Such a problem. It can be seen that before 1840, China's understanding of the outside world was indeed quite limited. Our history textbooks divide ancient history, modern history, and modern history in the context of social form from primitive society to slave society, feudal society, and then to capitalist society and socialist society.
Although Qianlong and Washington were actually in the same era, because the countries under their respective administrations were in different social forms, the perceptions of them by later generations were completely different: the Qing Empire under Qianlong was still in a traditional feudal small peasant society, while the United States under Washington had entered a capitalist social form. Therefore, Qianlong's division system according to our history textbooks is defined as an ancient person, and Washington is defined as a modern person. Although Qianlong and Washington lived in the same era, the two people who grew up in different social forms were completely people of the two eras in terms of psychological state and spiritual outlook.
Despite his abdication, Aishin Kyora Hiroshi was still de facto in charge of state affairs as Emperor Taishang; George Washington voluntarily relinquished power after two terms of office, with no intention of nostalgia. Aisin Kyora Hongli gave way to his son and still practiced the traditional family system; George Washington did not claim the title of king, did not pass on his descendants, and pioneered a democratic republic. Aisin Kyora Hongli regarded the people of the country as his own slaves and enjoyed the grand scene of many people creeping on the mountain and calling for long live; George Washington advocated the natural human right that all people are created equal. The powerful Ai Shin Kyora Hiroshi favored and favored the court so that there was no official or greedy at all levels of the court; George Washington followed the principle of separation of powers, so that power was constrained by the system.
In the ninth year of Ming Xuande, the Portuguese first traveled to the black African region south of the Sahara Desert via Cape Bohador; in the first year of The Ming Dynasty Emperor Hongzhi Dias discovered the southernmost cape of good hope in Africa; in the fifth year of The Reign of Hiroshi Columbus first arrived in the New World of the Americas; in the eleventh year of Hongzhi Da Gama opened a new route from Europe to India; in the eighth year of Ming Wuzong Zhengde, Copernicus proposed the heliocentric theory; in the first year of the Jiajing Dynasty, magellan's fleet completed the first circumnavigation of human history; and in the eighteenth year of the Ming Dynasty, Galileo conducted experiments on the simultaneous landing of two iron balls The world's earliest joint-stock company was born in the Netherlands in the 30th year of the Wanli Calendar; the Royal Society was founded in the seventeenth year of the Reign of Qing Shunzhi.
The establishment of the French Academy of Sciences in the fifth year of the Qing Kangxi Dynasty; the publication of the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy by Newton in the twenty-sixth year of the Qing Kangxi; the establishment of the Bank of England in the thirty-third year of the Qing Kangxi; the advent of the world's first modern industrial steam engine in the thirty-seventh year of the Qing Kangxi; the birth of the world's first rice futures market in Osaka, Japan in the forty-ninth year of the Qing Dynasty; the establishment of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the second year of the Qing Yongzheng; the thirty-fourth year of the Qingqianlong watt-improved steam engine; the establishment of the New York Stock Exchange in the fifty-seventh year of the Qingqianlong; the establishment of the Bank of France in the fifth year of the QingJiaqing; the establishment of the Bank of France in the fifth year of the QingJiaqing; the establishment of the Qingjiaqing in the ninth year The French Civil Code was promulgated; Fulton invented the world's first steamship in the twelfth year of Qing Jiaqing; citibank was established in the seventeenth year of Qing Jiaqing.
George Stephenson invented the world's first train in the nineteenth year of Qing Jiaqing; Procter & Gamble was founded in the seventeenth year of Qingdaoguang; the birthplace of the Vienna Concert in the twenty-seventh year of Qingdaoguang; the chicago board of trade was established in the twenty-eighth year of Qingdaoguang; the first World Expo of Qingxianfeng was held in London, England; the first light bulb in the world was invented in the fourth year of Qingxianfeng; the establishment of the British Medical Association in the eighth year of Qingxianfeng; the establishment of JP Morgan Company in the second year of Qingxianfeng; the establishment of the International Red Cross Society in the second year of Qingtongzhi; and the establishment of the Goldman Sachs Group in the eighth year of Qingtongzhi Kodak Company was established in the sixth year of Qing Guangxu, Mobil Oil Company was established in the eighth year of Guangxu, Johnson & Johnson Company was established in the twelfth year of Qing Guangxu, and the Coca-Cola brand was born.
The world's first car was launched in the twelfth year of Qing Guangxu; Abbott was established in the fourteenth year of Qing Guangxu; and General Electric was established in the eighteenth year of Qing Guangxu. The founding of the International Olympic Committee in the 20th year of Qing Guangxu; the establishment of the Nobel Prize in the 21st year of Qing Guangxu; the first modern Olympic Games of the 22nd year of Qing Guangxu was held in Athens, Greece; the birth of the Pepsi Cola brand in the 28th year of Qing Guangxu; the establishment of Ford Motor In the 29th year of Qing Guangxu; the invention of the world's first airplane in the same year; the establishment of FIFA in the 30th year of Qing Guangxu; the establishment of Mead Johnson in the 31st year of Qing Guangxu; the establishment of General Motors in the 34th year of Qing Guangxu; the establishment of IBM in the third year of qing xuanununion; and the establishment of Universal Pictures in the first year of the Republic of China.
In the three years of the Republic of China, Boeing Company was established; in the twelfth year of the Republic of China, Warner Bros. was founded and Disney was established; and the animated images of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck were born in the thirteenth year of the Republic of China. In the fifteenth year of the Republic of China, Wyeth Corporation was established, United Airlines was established; Delta Air Lines was established in the seventeenth year of the Republic of China; the Academy Awards were established in the eighteenth year of the Republic of China; the first World Cup football tournament in the nineteenth year of the Republic of China was held in Uruguay; the 20th anniversary of the Republic of China was completed; the first Venice Film Festival was opened in the 21st year of the Republic of China; the 28th year of the Republic of China Was established; McDonald's was established in the 29th year of the Republic of China; the cartoon "Tom and Jerry" began to be broadcast in the same year; and the first Cannes Film Festival was held in France in the 35th year of the Republic of China.