Monday, February 25, 2013
China Accomplishments vs. Europe's Industrialization
Based upon notes from the other day about the world systems theory, do you guys think that, overall, Europe's industrialization was better/more advanced than China's several accomplishments thus far (such as the Ming Voyages, capitalism, the planning for famine, or their stable government), or do you believe that China has always been "ahead" of Europe and its successes?
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Okay I just wrote an essay in the comments and my wifi crashed and its gone... essentially...
ReplyDeleteAge of Exploration/Imperialism > Ming Voyages
European Interest in Rome and learning more > Chinese Xenophobia
European desire for faith in middle ages > China's technological inventions
Present day air quallity and population in US/Europe > China
I had a lot more to say, but to be honest I am frustrated. Sorry if that is hard to read.
This is a hard question to answer because it depends on what you consider a 'success', but I personally think China is more successful. China's accomplishments were based on their own hard work, and they were relatively peaceful. They were civilized, and they had a stable economy for a long time. Europe's accomplishments, on the other hand, were largely based on the resources and slave labor of other nations they brutally conquered/colonized. Therefore, Europe lost power when they lost control of these colonies, while China's power lays entirely in its own hands.
ReplyDeleteI think this answer will be fairly biased since the changes and success that Europe has had sparked greater global change. But I do agree with Gabbi that there is no denying that China's order and peaceful values allowed it to develop by itself for a long period of time, however China was also eventually changed because of the "success" that Europe had had. Industrialization was a far greater leap in human history than any of the prior accomplishments by the Chinese.
ReplyDeleteI believe that China hasn't always been necessarily successful, they have just been around for much much longer. China took a while to establish a stable government. In about 770 BC, during the Warring States period, they established their first Emperor. This was their first glimpse at a possible stable government. But then a while after the Mongols came and swept through leaving a whole new system behind. Unlike China, England has pretty much survived through everything and after establishing a monarchy government, they started to be able to evolve and advance and grow as a nation. With the advancement of technology and a new economy, came more interest in trade and more interest in joining England, making them much more successful. So the biggest thing that mad China not successful, was the inability to keep a stable government.
ReplyDeleteI think one advantage that Europeans had was the aspect of competition. As Europe industrialized, countries and companies competed against each other to make newer and better products faster than they had ever been made for. This accounted for more progression in a shorter amount of time. It's hard to say whether innovations were greater in Europe or China, but I believe European industrialization led to faster innovations.
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