1. Even as both China and most of the European region had similar geographical conditions during the nineteenth century, China lagged behind Europe mainly because of poor technological innovations. As for agriculture, the gap in productivity between Europe and China was very less as both countries had to take up similar soil and water management practices (Zanden, 2011). On the other hand, the productivity gap between Europe and China was much higher in industry and other services. For instance, during the medieval period, the prevailing wage rate in the Netherlands was seventy percent higher than the wage rate in the Yangzi delta of China (Allen et.al. 2011). The reason was attributed to technology-driven high productivity in Europe. Chinese farmers carried out water management practices by using hand-operated machines as their European counterparts used wind mill technology to pump water. The technology lag applies to extraction of oil that was popular both in Europe and China. Similarly, Chinese printing technology was highly labor intensive as European printing relied on capital-intensive machineries that increased productivity many folds when compared to China.
The Chinese communist regime that upholds a strong bureaucracy is responsible for the country’s fast economic growth. The concept of mass production has helped China to export its less-expensive products across the world. More employment and business opportunities within China restricted the movement of talent outside the country. Recently, China has begun relying on the spending of its own domestic customers rather than exporting its produce outside (Denlinger, 2011). Earlier, the Chinese government had insisted on producing more that led manufacturers to compromise on their profit margins. Currently, the government is shutting down unprofitable units, and encouraging manufacturers to climb up the value chain to pursue profitable businesses. As a result, many manufacturers switched over to businesses that require greater skills while moving their labor-intensive manufacturing units to neighboring countries like India
2. Frankly, I would have embraced Confucianism had I lived in the nineteenth century. Confucius taught self-realization as the ultimate objective of education (Weiming, 2016). His inspiring philosophy would have helped me to follow these virtues: taking counsel from what I have learned, doing what is right, and reforming myself when I realize I have deficiencies. These thoughts would have helped me to evaluate my defects regularly. On a wider perspective, I would have evaluated the defects of my society and the country. At that time, China feared to go global and completely shut its trade ties with the outside world. The philosophy of Confucius would have helped me to spread his message of looking deeply into China’s defects and renew its ties with the outside world so as to avert possible foreign invasion.
The opium war that took place between 1839 and1842, which was a disastrous experience for China for having shut its doors down to the outside world, would have greatly influenced me (Moody, 2012). It was a powerful lesson China learnt for relying upon its own indigenous technology and shying away from learning from the outside world. Chinese primitive technology was no match to British war ships and fighting techniques that led to the foreigners taking control of most of the Chinese ports.
I would have lived 60 years as a successful businessman following the philosophy of Confucius. Firstly, his principle of “do not adjust your goals, adjust your steps to reach your goal” would have always given me the energy to pursue different steps to reach my business goals. Confucius said: success depends on one’s preparation to face the future. This would have guided me to foresee possible opportunities even as China was devastated by the war during the time, and develop my business towards improving the productivity of my country.
References
Allen, R. C., Bassino, J. P., Christine M.M., and Zanden, J.L. (2011), Wages, Prices, and Living Standards in China, Japan, and Europe, 1738-1925, Economic History Review, 64 (1).
Denlinger, P. (2011). China’s economy hits its first hard wall. Forbes.com. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/pauldenlinger/2011/07/06/chinas-economy-hits-its-first-hard-wall/#5f2cbc0861cc
Moody, A. (2012). Lessons of the Opium War. Retrieved from http://usa. chinadaily. com.cn/weekly/2012-02/24/content_14681839.htm
Weiming, T. (2016). Confucianism. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Regtrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Confucianism
Zanden, J, L. (2011). Before the Great Divergence: The modernity of China at the onset of the industrial revolution. Retrieved from http://www.voxeu.org/article/why-china-missed-industrial-revolution
