On China

Deeming themselves more advanced societies, their goal was to exploit China for economic gain, not to join its way of life.

China strove for a new identity, and above all, to reconcile the values that marked its greatness with the technology and commerce on which it would have to base its

They were not seeking to replace the existing dynasty—they simply imposed an entirely new world order essentially incompatible with the Chinese one.

they would soothe and tame the barbarians while buying time for China to outlast their assault.

All of China’s diplomatic maneuvers and abrupt rejections only delayed an inevitable reckoning with the modern international system, designed as it was along European and American lines.

In its imperial role, China offered surrounding foreign peoples impartiality, not equality: it would treat them humanely and compassionately in

proportion to their attainment of Chinese culture and their observance of rituals connoting submission to China.

War is A grave affair of the state; It is a place Of life and death, A road To survival and extinction, A matter To be pondered carefully.

they proposed to replace the Sinocentric system with an entirely new vision of world order—with free trade rather than tribute, resident embassies in the Chinese capital, and a system of diplomatic exchange that did not refer to non-Chinese heads of state as “honorable barbarians” pledging fealty to their Emperor in Beijing.

The chess player aims for total victory. The wei qi player seeks relative advantage.