Everyone wants to hear my stories. In fact, there is no knowledge in writing novels, and everyone likes to read them. I'm a little interested in history. Today, I want to briefly talk about a question, that is, what are the reasons and laws for the development and growth of the Chinese nation for such a long time?

I have been at Oxford University for several years, and I am very interested in English literature, English history and China history. As we all know, one of the most influential British historians in the 20th century was named Toynbee, who wrote a very long historical study.

In this book, he analyzed many civilizations in the world, showing that many civilizations in the world have declined or died out in the historical process. Until now, only two civilizations have really flourished, one is the western European and American civilization, and the other is the eastern Chinese civilization. Chinese civilization has a long history and is unique in the world.

Although the history of some ancient civilizations is earlier than that of China, and the scope of some civilizations is larger than that of China, such as Babylonian civilization, Egyptian civilization, Greek and Roman civilization, these civilizations gradually declined and died out because of external impact or their own corruption. Toynbee said: a civilization will always encounter external challenges, and if it can cope with such challenges well, it can continue to develop; If we can't meet the challenge well, it will decline or even die.

There are also many situations here: one is being attacked by powerful foreigners, and the whole nation is killed and the whole army is wiped out; One is the long-term rigidity within the nation, which does not reform or evolve, like a living mummy, and the result has declined; Some collapsed because of their own corruption; There is also division and civil war in the country.

There is a saying in our national anthem: "The Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time", which was written before and after the Anti-Japanese War, showing a sense of hardship. At that time, our country was invaded by foreign enemies, and the situation was indeed very dangerous.

Personally, there are seven dangerous periods of foreign invasion in the history of our country: first, from the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the east, west, north and south were attacked by foreign enemies; The second attack by Huns in Qin and Han Dynasties lasted for 400 years. Third, the invasion of Xianbei and other five lakes in Wei and Jin Dynasties lasted for 400 years. The fourth time was the invasion of Turkic and Tubo in Sui and Tang Dynasties, which lasted for about 300 years. The fifth is the invasion of Khitan, Nuzhen and Xixia during the Five Dynasties and the Song Dynasty, which lasted for about 400 years. Sixth, the invasion of Mongolia and Manchu in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The seventh is the aggression of modern western imperialism and Japanese imperialism.

Throughout the history of China, we can probably see such a rule: our nation was unified and powerful at first, and then it gradually became corrupt and its organizational strength declined. If there are some reforms at this time, then it will be revived. If the reform fails, or if it corrupts itself, foreign enemies will invade. At the time of foreign invasion, our nation has a very special phenomenon, that is, foreign invasion is often the turning point of our nation. The seven crises of our nation mentioned above are all seven turning points.

Why has no country succeeded in annexing China in history? Bian Xiao paid to ask questions to several history lovers on the audio, graphic and optical knowledge quiz platform. They expressed the following views:

Pancake Legend: Many civilizations in the world have gradually died out with the evolution of history, and only those in Europe, America and China have been left behind for a reason. The demise of Babylonian civilization, Egyptian civilization, Greek and Roman civilization has verified this view. A civilization will always meet challenges with the historical process, and it will either change or die. I still remember the sentence in the national anthem: "The Chinese nation has reached the most dangerous time", which actually represents a sense of urgency. The reason why our Chinese nation continues to grow is reform and opening up. Self-innovation and inclusiveness seem simple, but in fact it is very difficult to implement this spirit. With this tenacious national position and dignity, the people of China can climb out of the abyss again and again, see the dawn and welcome the next chapter.

Queer: As a civilized country in the past, China has nurtured generations of descendants with the wisdom, hard work and vast land of its people since ancient times, and established a complete and stable feudal social system in China with strict patriarchal clan system. The complex and changeable terrain makes it difficult for foreigners to break through in one fell swoop, and the mainstream Confucian culture has also strengthened the cohesion of the nation. Although China people are not without the explosive power of foreigners, they pay attention to persistence and stick to "flowing water". With this indomitable spirit, strong national cohesion and fighting capacity, as well as a broken fighting method, they will surely win every battle!

Cold face: I'm China brain powder. Although I am in a foreign country, I still care about my motherland. The more this time, the more I can arouse the patriotic instinct of China people. From a historical point of view, anyone who wants to destroy China will either be weakened or run away, and the western powers will be afraid. The reason for Japan's invasion of China is that on the one hand, it covets China's resources and gains benefits, on the other hand, it thinks that Japan is the true heir of Chinese civilization, but it is unable to do so. After years of anti-Japanese war, it can't compare with Mao Zedong Thought's guidance.

In history, it is often after foreigners come that our Chinese nation will assimilate and merge with them. Once assimilated and integrated, our Chinese nation will grow and unite. After that, it may be corrupt, may decline, may split, foreigners will come again, and our nation will reunite and grow again, and so on.

The nations of other countries will either win or fail when they are invaded by foreign enemies, and this country or nation will collapse. When the Chinese nation encounters foreign invasion, it can often beat back the foreigners, and there are many cases where it can't be beaten back, but it is difficult to be conquered. This is because on the one hand, we have a kind of tenacity and very tenacious resistance; On the one hand, we are very open and culturally integrated with them. After a period of time, everyone became a nation, and our nation grew and developed.

The first reason is that China has been an agricultural society from the beginning, with relatively high productivity and advanced technology, and strong economic strength to develop culture; The second reason is that since the Western Zhou Dynasty, we have had a strict patriarchal social system. When people talk about the feudal society in China, they always think that the feudal patriarchal clan system has bound people's thoughts and behaviors, which is of course correct.

In fact, this patriarchal clan system also has its historical role. Due to the strict inheritance system, our nation has avoided internal struggles and wars. Some nomads were originally strong, but they often split at critical moments. After his father died, his two sons or three sons robbed his father's position, and so did Rome. As soon as you grab a seat, you will fight and civil strife will arise. Once a tribe, tribe or nation that was originally very powerful is split, it is necessary to beat itself.

Since the Western Zhou Dynasty, despite our own internal struggles, our nation has basically followed the hereditary system, that is, the father died and the eldest son succeeded to the throne, which was an important system for the development of the Chinese nation at that time. When the basic legal system of a society is fixed, the society will be very stable and the internal struggle will be greatly reduced, which is also an important part of the prosperity of the nation.

Another important link is that we are very open to foreigners. Historically, China was ruled by foreign countries for a long time, such as the Northern Wei Dynasty. In fact, there were many ethnic minorities in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, mainly Xianbei people.

There is a situation that I don't know if you have thought of it. In my novel, I wrote a man named "lonely for failure". I'm proud of being lonely and trying to lose. He never lost a sword fight with others in his life, so he changed his name to seek defeat, hoping to fail once, but he never lost. This "loneliness" is Xianbei people.

The mother of Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was a Xianbei, so she was named Dugu. Some scholars say that the word "Xianbei" means "Siberia", and Xianbei people originally lived in Siberia. But this is not a very consistent opinion. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, there was a general named Du. He has many daughters. The eldest daughter married the Northern Zhou Emperor, the fourth daughter married Tang Gaozu's father, and the seventh daughter married Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty. So Tang Gaozu and Yang Di are cousins, while Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin should call Yang Di cousins. All have Xianbei descent. The mother's surname is Dou. Emperor Taizong's empress surname and Dou are both Xianbei people's surnames. Sun Chang Wuji, the younger brother of the Empress, was a famous prime minister in the Tang Dynasty. He is also a Xianbei.

According to Tang Shi, at least 23 prime ministers in the Tang Dynasty were conference semifinals, mainly Xianbei people. At that time, saying "conference semifinals" was the same as saying "foreigners" now, and there was no discrimination. There were 23 foreigners as "Prime Ministers of the State Council" in the Tang Dynasty, which shows that there was no discrimination against foreigners in the Tang Dynasty. Besides, in the Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty fought against Xiongnu, and Xiongnu split and surrendered. Jin Richan, one of the Xiongnu princes, was an official in the Han Dynasty and was highly valued by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. After the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the great events behind him were handed over to two people, one was Huo Guang and the other was Jin Richan. It can be seen that the important reason for the growth of our nation is openness.

China people are not very good at fighting. If you fight foreigners, you lose more and win less. But we have endurance. It doesn't matter whether we win this time. We will cooperate with you for a long time, and then the foreigners will split up.

Xiongnu is very powerful, but we can't beat him. Emperor Gaozu was besieged by Xiongnu near Datong, Shanxi, and could not get away. His men staged a coup and told the Huns that there were many beautiful Han women. If you catch the emperor of the Han Dynasty, defeat the Han people and capture a large number of beautiful women of the Han people, you will be in a bad situation as a queen. The queen of Xiongnu took this move and influenced the Xiongnu leader, so she withdrew. The Huns were later divided into north and south. The southern Xiongnu surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and the northern Xiongnu went west. Some went to France, some went to Spain, some went to Britain, and even the whole western Roman Empire was destroyed.

Are Hungarians Huns in Western History? Historians disagree. Interestingly, half of the Huns were resisted and surrendered by China, and the other half defeated the whole of Europe. The same is true of Turks in Sui and Tang Dynasties. It is divided into East Turkic and West Turkic. East Turkistan surrendered to the Sui and Tang Dynasties and was gradually annexed by the Chinese nation. The western Turks went west and came to Turkey. Later, Turkey defeated the Eastern Roman Empire and occupied the whole of Constantinople until now.

Therefore, don't think that our nation can't do it just by mentioning history. In fact, our nation really can't do it, and it will only be three or four hundred years after the sixteenth century. Recently, I met a famous scholar who studied East Asian economy at a dinner party in Oxford University. When he talked to me about the future of China's economy, he said that China's economy has been very developed since ancient times, and its per capita income has always been the highest in the world, and it was only after16th century that it was slowly caught up by Britain. But the gross national income was not surpassed by Britain until 1820. For two or three thousand years, China's national strength has been in the leading position in the world.

That scholar is very optimistic about China's economic prospects. He said that by around 2020, China's national economic income will be the first in the world again, and it will remain for a long time. I am afraid that at least in the next forty or fifty years, no country can catch up. I was very excited after listening to it and asked him if he had any data. He quoted many statistics. He is an expert and won't talk nonsense. I think his analysis is very reasonable.

In fact, China's ancient science and technology has always been very advanced, especially in the Song Dynasty, which greatly surpassed Europe. At that time, our scientific and technological inventions were far behind Europe. Such as papermaking, printing, gunpowder, compass, etc. It was very prosperous in the Song Dynasty. The paper money that people use now was also invented by China, and it has been used since the Song Dynasty. At that time, our financial system was quite advanced and the use of money was quite mature.

So when will Europeans start to turn things around? It should be said that in the Ming Dynasty in China, China began to fall behind. I think one of the reasons is political autocracy, which controls the people's thoughts very strictly, is not free and open at all, and is always copying people and implicating the nine clans, scaring the people not to talk nonsense and touch, and all power is controlled by the emperor.

Another reason is that the Ming dynasty couldn't cope with the invasion of the Japanese, so it whimsically implemented the so-called sea ban and burned all the sailboats, thinking that this would cut off contact with the Japanese and starve them to death. This is complete ignorance of Japan. This stupid ban was, of course, after Zheng He's voyage to the West during the Yongle Emperor's reign.

As soon as the closed door policy was implemented in the Ming Dynasty, the whole national strength began to decline. At the same time, western science began to develop and the industrial revolution began. There is an interesting time worth noting, that is, in the early 16th century 15 17, Martin Luther of Germany publicly denied the papal authority and opposed theocratic control. At this time, Emperor Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty in China went down to Jiangnan. Emperor Zheng De was a very boring and corrupt bad king. He went to Jiangnan and did many immoral and shameless things.

As we all know, during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, China was very rich, but it was ok during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, with advanced science, convenient transportation and opening to the outside world. Europe is closed, everything is controlled by the Holy See, and academic thoughts are not free. You said that the earth goes around the sun, and he wants you to go to jail and shut everything down. /kloc-in the 6th century, Europe was free and open, and scientific inventions began, but China was blocked for a long time. This is the biggest historical lesson.

I have talked so much today because I want you to clarify two concepts, namely, reform and opening up. The reason why our Chinese nation has developed so strongly depends on reform and opening up. When encountering difficulties, we should actively carry out internal reforms and strive to overcome them. If the reform is successful, our nation will be revived. At the same time, we must open to the outside world, which is even more important, because we in China are confident, we believe that our nation is very strong, and we are not afraid of foreign forces or cultures.

There is another important idea that I don't have time to discuss in detail today. I think historians in the past said that barbarians invaded China, Mongols and Manchus invaded China, great rivers and mountains destroyed foreign countries, and so on. This concept should be changed. I want to write some historical articles saying that ethnic minorities are also members of the Chinese nation. The Northern Wei Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were all ethnic minorities in power, not to mention that China died in a foreign country, but "took turns to sit in the village". Of course, the Manchu people were much better than the Ming Dynasty when they established the Qing Dynasty. I have played a lot of such ideas in my novels, hoping to write them in academic writing in the future. The British historian Toynbee, whom I mentioned above, didn't pay much attention to China when he wrote his masterpiece Historical Research in his early years. At the end of his life, he came to a conclusion that the hope of the world lies in the combination of China civilization and western civilization.

He believes that the advantage of western civilization lies in its constant invention, creation, pursuit and outward expansion, and it is a "dynamic" culture. The advantage of Chinese civilization lies in peace. Just like the Great Wall, it is on the defensive, stable and harmonious, and it is a "quiet" culture. Nowadays, many western scholars believe that it is impossible and undesirable for the earth to pursue expansion endlessly. We can only accept China's ideas in the future. We should maintain balance and harmony, and countries should cooperate with each other to avoid war.

With the development of science and the emergence of nuclear weapons, the future world war will be unimaginable. Some crazy people may insist on nuclear war, but they don't know that the end of such a war will be the mutual destruction of mankind. It doesn't make sense without this possibility. At present, the western scholars I contact are not too worried about fighting nuclear war. They are most worried about three problems: first, natural resources are constantly being wasted; Second, environmental pollution; The third is the population explosion. These three problems will affect the future of mankind.

So now many westerners place their hopes on China. They want to know about China and China's philosophy. They think that China's balanced, harmonious and unified philosophy and mental state may be the key to solve the whole human problem.

/kloc-the world economic center was in London in the 0/9th century, and moved to new york in the early 20th century, then moved to Tokyo in the 1970s and 1980s after the war, and will definitely move to China in the 2/kloc-0th century. It doesn't matter whether the center is in China, Beijing or Shanghai, as long as it is in China!