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Journal of Asia Pacific Studies ( 2010) Vol 1, No 2, 378-386
Macro-Historical Parallelism and the China
“Puzzle”
Ruan Wei, Shenzhen University (China)
Abstract: China’s rapid development in recent years has puzzled not
only the world but also the Chinese themselves. Growth on such a massive
scale and at such an astonishing speed might seem miraculous and
incomprehensible to many. Confronting the ‘puzzle’, it could be
meaningful for us to notice the fact that between China’s sinking to its
nadir toward the end of the 19th century and its unmistakable
rejuvenation after 1949, there was a lapse of only about fifty years. This is
a very short time indeed in macro-historical terms. Or we could adopt a
different way of periodizing, putting this period of time between the Opium
Wars of the 1840s, when China was defeated by Britain and signed
unequal treaties with the Western powers, and the 1990s, when China’s
economy began decidedly to take off. In the latter case, a lapse of one
hundred and fifty years is still a very short time macro-historically.
Keywords: China, Development, History, Parallelism
China’s rapid development in recent years has puzzled
not only the world but also the Chinese themselves. Growth
on such a massive scale and at such an astonishing speed
might seem miraculous and incomprehensible to many.
Confronting the ‘puzzle’, it could be meaningful for us to
notice the fact that between China’s sinking to its nadir
toward the end of the 19th century and its unmistakable
rejuvenation after 1949, there was a lapse of only about fifty
years. This is a very short time indeed in macro-historical
terms. Or we could adopt a different way of periodizing,
putting this period of time between the Opium Wars of the
1840s, when China was defeated by Britain and signed
unequal treaties with the Western powers, and the 1990s,
when China’s economy began decidedly to take off. In the
latter case, a lapse of one hundred and fifty years is still a
very short time macro-historically.
So the question is: why has this happened?
For a meaningful explanation, to adopt a macro-historical
perspective might be conducive. Historical studies in the
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