印度为何成不了一流大国（在拥有四大发明后）
印度为何成不了一流大国（在拥有四大发明后）当我在印度小学里上学时，我们的老师曾经告诉我们，当世界其他种群还在茹毛饮血时，中国就已经在制作日历，研究天文学了。When I was in a primary school in India our teacher once told us that China was already making calendars and studying astronomy when other species in the world were still eating their hair and blood.在我看来：农业文明培育下温良的民族性格是最直接的原因。China is a very peace loving country. They love life and have lofty aspirations. The Chinese civilization is great a
在海外知名问答网站Quora上，印度网友提问道：中国率先发明了火药、印刷、纸和指南针，却为什么没能先于西方称为世界性的超级大国？这个问题引起各国网友的围观和热议，来自印度和美国的学者分别从两个角度回答了他的问题。
问题：在拥有四大发明之后，中国为何没能成为世界性的超级大国？
印度学者Susanna的回答
In my opinion the most direct reason is the gentle national character cultivated by agricultural civilization.
在我看来：农业文明培育下温良的民族性格是最直接的原因。
China is a very peace loving country. They love life and have lofty aspirations. The Chinese civilization is great and long-lasting and much more advanced than the rest of the ancient world.
中国是一个非常爱好和平的国家，他们热爱生活，抱负远大，华夏文明是伟大悠长，比古代世界其他地方进步得多。
When I was in a primary school in India our teacher once told us that China was already making calendars and studying astronomy when other species in the world were still eating their hair and blood.
当我在印度小学里上学时，我们的老师曾经告诉我们，当世界其他种群还在茹毛饮血时，中国就已经在制作日历，研究天文学了。
1. Why should China attack other countries under this completely leading civilization? Taking over other uncivilized worlds is often a burden. Educating and supporting them is not only laborious but also easy to stimulate contradictions which is of little significance to China.
1.中国在这种完全领先的文明条件下，为什么要攻击其他国家？接管其他不文明的世界常常是一种负担，教育他们，养活他们，既劳心劳力，也容易激发矛盾，对中国来说意义不大。
2. Chinese Confucianism promotes harmony non violence family values and karma which is still actively practiced by the younger generation of Chinese.
2.中国的儒学宣扬和谐、非暴力、家庭价值观和因果报应，现在年轻一代的中国人仍在积极践行这一点。
When I was a visiting scholar in China I saw and felt these peace loving principles practiced by the Chinese people in their daily life. For thousands of years this has become their subconscious habit.
我在中国做访问学者期间，看到并感受到了中国人在日常生活中践行的这些爱好和平的原则，几千年来，这已经成为他们下意识的习惯。
3. Chinese people are very hardworking. For thousands of years China has been an economy based on agriculture. They believe in the strength of the big family. They think they have enough labor force and wisdom and do not want the outside world to intervene in their own work. Moreover they may be burdened by foreign illiteracy or more or less uncivilized human resources.
3.中国人是非常勤劳的，千年来，中国是一个以农业为基础的经济体，他们相信大家庭的力量，他们认为自己有足够的劳动力和智慧，不想让外界介入他们自己的工作内容，而且异族文盲、或多或少不文明的人力资源可能会给他们带来负担。
4. In short China is self-sufficient and advanced. In essence they believe in the values of complete peace and harmony and are very satisfied with their own life. I think although India has the ambition to become a world power it does not have such sincere faith as the Chinese.
4.简言之，中国是自给自足的、先进的，从本质上讲，他们信奉完全和平与和谐的价值理念，而且对自己的生活非常满足，我觉得印度虽然有成为世界强国的雄心壮志，却没有像中国人这样真挚的信念。
5. Chinese don't play politics. They advocate a simple way of life. They are model citizens all over the world. Almost no Chinese are involved in any crime. For them education is the first. They only care about their own affairs attach importance to culture and education and respect teachers.
5.中国人不玩政治，他们崇尚简约的生活方式。他们在世界各地都是模范公民，几乎没有中国人涉及任何犯罪，对他们来说，教育是第一位的，他们只关心自己的事情，重视文化和教育，尊师重道。
In contrast the reason why Europe can develop several world power countries I think the most convincing theory is obviously mentioned in Paul Kennedy's rise and fall of great powers. It is driven by the geographical differences between Europe and Eurasia.
反观欧洲之所以可以发展出几个世界强权国家，我认为最有说服力的理论显然是保罗·肯尼迪的《大国的兴衰》所提及的那样，它是由欧洲和欧亚大陆的地理差异所驱动的。
He believes that the terrain of Europe is easily cut apart by natural barriers such as lakes rivers forests and mountains. Although these natural barriers cause inconvenience they are never insurmountable.
他认为，欧洲地形容易被自然屏障切割得支离破碎，比如湖泊、河流、森林和山脉，这些自然屏障虽然造成不便，但从来不是无法逾越的。
This means that Europe is highly divided politically. Even now a large number of pocket countries still exist but in history none of these kingdoms has survived the conquest of strong neighbors.
这意味着欧洲在政治上高度分裂，即使是现在，大量袖珍国家依旧存在，但历史上，这些王国没有一个能幸免于强邻的征服。
This led to the European powers either always in a state of war or facing the risk of war at any time.
这导致了欧洲列强要么一直处于战争状态，要么随时面临战争风险。
This is an evolutionary process. You must move forward quickly or you risk being destroyed. This has led to the rapid development of weapons and equipment as well as scientific and economic progress. There is a Chinese saying "born of hardship and die of happiness" which is just suitable for the current situation in Europe hundreds of years ago.
这是一个进化过程，你必须快速前进，否则就有被摧毁的风险。这导致了武器装备的快速发展，也带来了科学和经济的进步，中国有句话叫“生于忧患，死于安乐”，正适合几百年前的欧洲时局。
If a nation-state tries to cut off its trade ties with neighboring countries the countries around it will completely leave it behind economically. Many European leaders are stupid or short-sighted and many are peace loving and trust others. Their rule often does not last long.
如果一个民族国家试图切断自己与周边国家的贸易联系，那么它周围的国家将在经济上把它彻底抛在身后。有很多欧洲国家领导人是愚蠢或短视的，也有很多是爱好和平和信任他人的，这些人的统治往往不会持续太久。
In contrast empires such as the Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty can easily limit their centralized rule. In the areas under their control they are quite safe from external intrusion.
相比之下，像奥斯曼帝国和明朝这样的帝国可以很容易地将中央集权统治发挥到极限，控制的区域内，他们相当安全，不受外部侵扰。
If an emperor issues a decree but the promotion and implementation are hindered for some reasons the empire can still survive and their need for progress is far less urgent.
如果一位皇帝颁布了一项法令，结果却因为某些原因阻碍了推进和执行，那么这个帝国仍然能够生存，他们前进的需求就远没有那么迫切了。
美国网友乔治•爱德华的回答
Let me explain it from another angle. China has no religion that distinguishes between mysticism and philosophy and judicial theories and precedents based on civil law common law or customary law are also missing. Scholars have not found the connection between mathematics philosophy and engineering and no natural philosopher like Archimedes Apollonius or diophantos has ever used mathematics to solve philosophical problems and prove concepts.
我从另一个角度解释一下。中国没有区分神秘主义和哲学的宗教，以民法、普通法或习惯法为基础的司法理论和判例也是缺失的，学者也未能发现数学、哲学和工程之间的联系，更是从来没有像阿基米德、阿波罗尼奥斯或迪奥芬托斯这样的自然哲学家会用数学来解决哲学问题和证明概念。
Without these capabilities scientific methods will not really be developed which means that engineering will not become a science - it will continue to be an art mended on the basis of repeated experiments.
如果没有这些能力，不会真正地发展出科学方法，这意味着工程学不会成为一门科学——它将继续作为一门艺术，在反复试验的基础上进行修补。
Science and mathematics can also be applied to the economy and China has never developed a capitalist system and economy. Although China's economy is more developed than Arab countries or Russia they have never developed a real capital market.
科学和数学也可以应用于经济，而中国从未发展过资本主义制度和经济，尽管中国的经济比阿拉伯国家或俄罗斯更发达，但他们从未发展出真正的资本市场。
Ancient China has never had similar legal jurisprudence and judicial traditions as the Romans. Before the Qing Dynasty there was no civil procedure law rule of law and clear judicial system. The emperor was the decision-maker of law and their whim was the law. In terms of contract personal judicial security and property and ownership security it is up to one person to decide.
古代中国也从来没有像罗马人那样拥有类似的法律、法理学和司法学传统。在清朝之前，从来没有民事诉讼法，以及法治和明确的司法制度，皇帝是法律制定的决策者，他们的心血来潮就是法律。在合同、个人司法安全以及财产和所有权安全方面，仅凭一人决断。
The technical weakness is that China has not invented important artifacts such as glass mechanical clock Pinyin and granular gunpowder (Corning).
技术上的弱点是，中国没有发明出玻璃、机械钟、拼音文字和颗粒状的火药（康宁）等重要器物。
No glass means no decent glassware no lens no chemical instruments and containers no scientific instruments which is an insurmountable obstacle in the field of science.
没有玻璃意味着没有没有像样的玻璃器皿，没有透镜，没有化学仪器和容器，没有科学仪器，这对科学领域来说是一个无法克服的障碍。
The lack of a mechanical clock means that the time cannot be measured accurately. This also means that ocean voyage is almost impossible. The Chinese also have large ships but they must sail along the coast or drift aimlessly on the sea.
缺少机械钟意味着无法准确地测定时间。这也意味着远洋航行几乎是不可能实现的，中国人也有大型船只，但他们必须在沿海航行，或在大海上漫无目的的漂流。
The Chinese have a compass but they mostly use it in religious ceremonies and Feng Shui rather than geographical exploration and navigation at sea.
中国人有指南针，但他们多在宗教仪式和风水上使用指南针，而不是在海上进行地理探索和航行。
The Chinese have paper and printing presses and 40000 Chinese characters. Although they are beautiful and can carry a lot of information by vision alone they are basically hieroglyphics and difficult to recognize unless you know their pronunciation and meaning.
中国人有纸和印刷机，还有40000个汉字。虽然它们很漂亮，仅凭视觉就能携带大量信息，但它们基本上是象形文字，难以辨认，除非你知道它们的发音和含义。
Before literacy and computers were popularized the printing press was almost useless - it just spent too much time casting words and arranging printed matter and literacy was not universal.
在普及识字和计算机之前，印刷机几乎是无用的——它只是花了太多的时间来铸造文字和安排印刷品，而且识字并不普遍。
China invented gunpowder but the large granular gunpowder (Corning) was an innovation of Germany in the 14th century. Without Corning powder it is more like a psychological weapon and incendiary than a propellant or explosive. The improved gunpowder can increase its efficiency eight times and can make decent bombs cannons and rockets.
中国发明出了火药，但大颗粒状的火药（康宁）是德国14世纪的一项创新。没有康宁火药，它更像是一种心理武器和燃烧剂，而不是发射药或炸药。改进后的火药能将其效率提高八倍，并且能制造出像样的炸弹、大炮和火箭炮。
There are also great paradigm differences between European and Chinese thinkers in philosophy.
欧洲和中国的思想家在哲学上也存在着巨大的范式差异。
In China the thoughts of Mencius Confucius and Lao Tzu prevailed. Confucius' goal was to seek harmony and balance. In ancient Chinese tradition dissent was difficult to tolerate which led to a stable society but it also led to social rigidity.
在中国，孟子、孔夫子和老子的思想盛行，孔夫子的目标是寻求和谐与平衡，在古代中国的传统中，异见很难被容忍，这导致了一个稳定的社会，但它也导致了社会僵化。
In this case Europeans tend to be more outgoing and open. It can be said that Europeans have not even reached an agreement on what is the best social model today.
在这种情况下，欧洲人往往更外向，更开放，可以说，欧洲人甚至在今天还没有就什么是最好的社会模式达成一致。
Europeans have the ancient Greek Jewish Roman tradition of holding big debates and open debates in squares universities and schools and have the courage to raise objections and challenges to the current situation.
欧洲人有着在广场上、大学里、学校里进行大辩论和公开辩论的古希腊-犹太-罗马传统，并勇于对现状提出异议和挑战。
