Product Description

From an isolated agricultural society, China has risen in the last 20 years to the rank of the second largest economy in the world. While many tabloids cover this event, little is remembered about the tumultuous interaction between China and the Western powers throughout the nineteenth century. This documentary will explore the fundamental differences between the Western and Chinese culture from early beginnings. Part one will debate how Christianity and Confucianism were translated in political thought and social systems. Next, the film explores why the industrial revolution did not take place in China, despite its many early inventions, but in Europe. Part two explains the first economic and military encounters between the British and Chinese Empires. Trade deficits, war threats and reprisals have marked the 19th century as one of the bloodiest and most shameful in Chinese history. Today, these past lessons can serve as an powerful insight for what the future might bring for China and the rest of the world.