The Problem of China

Over 100 years ago, Bertrand Russell spent some time in China. He wrote about his observations and the implications for the western world. He understood that China had an advanced civilization that developed in a way different from the west. Both the United States and Europe had their own world view that they viewed to be superior to others. This view led to significant misunderstanding of both China and Asia. He hoped that China would learn from the experiences of the west and adopt the good while eschewing the problematic. Today, that seems so naive. China today has adopted both the good and the bad from the west, in many cases out-westing the west.

Some of the discussions in the book are quite interesting today. This was written before the Maoist experiment in China. Sun Yat Sen barely appears. China was still more concerned with the Japanese. The country was barely developed with some small railway lines. What would Russell have thought of the China of today with miles and miles of high speed rail? 

Russian Bolshevism was viewed as something that could not be adopted in China due in part to the culture and independence. There seems to be some truth to this. Even though China did adopt communism, it has had a very independent, capitalistic flair. The government is centralized, yet there is a significant degree of provincial autonomy.

It is fascinating to see how much Russell got right about China 100 years ago. Even the parts that he seemed to miss often had a kernel of truth. In spite of this work, the west has struggled understanding China for the past century.