A Cecil classic http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a970620.html
discussed the dominance of Europe. That article reminded me a question I’ve long held, but been to busy/lazy (pick one) to research myself.
How is it that China came to embrace a form of goverment invented a scant 150 years ago by a couple of German guys. China has been around for what? 4,000 years or so? (Xia dynasty - “from about the twenty-first to the sixteenth century B.C.”. My impression is that the Chinese have historically been pretty xenophobic. Am I wrong about that?
Is there a short answer to this question?
TIA for any insights or URLs with further information.
-bs-