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The Past, Present and Future of China

China is one of the most ancient countries of the world. China, as a country was, more or less the same a couple of thousand years ago as well.

This uniqueness of China speaks a lot about its culture, philosophy and civilization. Most of the countries in the modern era have a history lasting not more than a couple of hundred years, but China is an exception in this case.

China has remained more or less united for past couple of thousands of years which is an achievement in itself. In this article, we will have a quick look at the past, present and future of China as a nation.

China – The Past

On The Book of Records, the history of China becomes evident from 4th to 5th century Before Christ (BC). The influence of Buddhism and Taoism, (the two popular school of thoughts that later became region), which were quite popular in that array can be clearly seen in Chinese culture and civilization. Although Taoism was of Chinese origin, Buddhism came from its neighboring country India.

As on today, most of the Chinese people, who are religious, are either Buddhist or Taoist. This makes it evident that Chinese Civilization and culture were quite open in terms of practicing religion and they were also comfortable in accepting a religion from outside China, if they find it acceptable. This clearly speaks a ton about the broadness of Chinese culture and Civilization which has played a crucial role in the survival of China as a nation for over a couple of thousands of years.

The Chinese Struggle

The journey of China as the nation has been a roller coaster ride. Like all great nations, China too has seen lots of adverse situation in recent past but she has been successfully able to survive the bad times and today, China stands tall as one of the most influential nation on the planet. The rich history, culture, heritage and civilization of China resulted in its overall development till 18th century.

Around that period, China was progressing well and most of the European Nations and other strong Nations but lots of good from China. Chinese dynastic rule used to be popular in those days and they used to ask for silver in return of all the goods and items, which were exported to Europe and other part of the world. This resulted in the continuous process of China and Chinese dynasty for long time, which made them eccentric and somewhat, arrogant. They were not able to cope up and adapt themselves to the new modern world and the changing time, which required diplomacy, understanding and tactfulness over royal, arrogant and hierarchical leadership.

Due to the nature of Chinese business, British and Europe gradually fell short of silver. In order to increase their silver stock, British started sending opium to China and asked for silver in return. This deal worked miraculously for them and the sale of opium increased tremendously within a short span of time.

Although the British gained silver from this deal, China suffered heavily due to it. First of all, Opium destroyed Chinese mentally and a vast percentage of Chinese population got addicted to it and they were left to no good cause. This made China suffered in every department and its growth got hindered and came to an almost standstill.

Finally, the Chinese dynasty decided to take action against it and in a random and impromptu and vigorous action, opium trade was banned with immediate effect. Foreigners dealing with it were immediately asked to leave the country and most of the major opium centers were sealed. This resulted in heavy loss to the British. In order to compensate that, British attacked China by navy and defeated them emphatically.

This defeat of China exposed their vulnerability and encouraged other countries to evade her. This was followed by a series of continuous evasion from foreigners in the Chinese territory which resulted in an overall destruction of the nation. Some natural calamities like floods and famine also kept on occurring during this period on a regular basis, which also affected Chinese men, material and development.

Fall of Dynasties, Democratic Stint and Finally Capitalism…

Due to all these factors, the state of unrest kept on increasing in the masses and they began to lose faith in the dynastic rulers and stated revolting against it. Gradually, the dynasty rule came to an end and democracy came in China but it was not able to last long either. The failure of democratic government gave way to the introduction of Capitalism.

Communist took some brave important decisions that were meant for the long-term benefit of the nation. These steps and measures gradually started to show their good effect and gradually, masses realized that they have a good future with communist. As a result, Communist Party became prominent in Chinese politics. They were gradually accepted in China and as a result, what we see today is a – Capitalistic China.

Conclusion

The China that we see today is the nice blend of past and present. China has learnt from her path, improvised her present and she has thus assured a comprehensive future for her. Although, China is still a developing country, it is still became the biggest economy of the world. It believes in the prophecies of Tao and Buddha and also practices it practically. Like the old good saying goes ‘everything in place and a place for everything’, tradition and contemporary trends goes parallel in China and Chinese people have been able to get along with this concept quite comfortably.

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While you can see latest technology and fashion trends in the city of Beijing, gambling, online roulette and related recreational activities in Macau, at the same time the roots of Chinese nation stands on the teachings of Confucius, Buddha and Tau.

In this way, China has been able to stand tall against test of the time and today, she is one of the strongest nations in the world.

Image source: pixabay

Last Updated on 2019/03/23

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