There are so many countries and peoples in world, and they have been able to go from ancient times to present day, which shows that they are not erased by history, and there is something admirable in this. China is a country with a long history, we have 4,000 years of history from Xia Dynasty to present day. We basically retained our status as an Asian power in ancient times, and today we are still a world-class power. However, to achieve rejuvenation, China still needs to continue economic development, make progress in culture, and especially make breakthroughs in science so that it can become a powerful country with a modern civilization. Looking at world, which countries are worth learning from?

Once upon a time, CCTV made a documentary film "The Rise of Great Powers". This documentary chronicles rise of nine great powers including Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and United States. We must learn from their successful experiences and lessons. In fact, besides above countries, there are many countries and nations worthy of our study, such as Israel, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, and so on.

Let's start with Israel and Jews. Jews are nation with highest IQ in world, and they occupy a central position in world economy and science. According to statistics, in 100 years from first Nobel Prize in 1901 to 2001, of 680 Nobel Prize winners, 138 were Jews or had Jewish origins, which is one fifth. After Jews established Israel in Middle East, they established themselves in a tiny place and transformed desert through technological means, becoming only developed country in Middle East and only food exporter.

We need to study Jewish education. The Jews are first nation in world to introduce universal education, and they are nation that loves to read books more than anyone else in world. Israelis over age of 14 read an average of one book per month, there are more than 1,000 public and university libraries throughout country, and one library per 4,500 people on average. Israel, with a population of 4.5 million, has 1 million people with library cards. In terms of per capita book and publishing house ownership and annual per capita reading ratio, Israel surpasses any other country in world and is highest in world. When Chinese children are addicted to games, Israelis finish reading another book.

Secondly, let's talk about Germany. The history of Germany can be described as three ups and downs, and today Germany is still most powerful country in Western Europe. German education and a rigorous scientific spirit is worth learning. It was mentioned in The Rise of Great Powers that Germany was determined to rise after Napoleon's conquest, so she attached great importance to education and science. For example, it was agreed that students who did not cope with their studies should pay more money. The emperor used royal funds. to open universities, but he himself never interfered in academic activities. After second industrial revolution, Germany quickly rose to become number one industrial power in Europe. Many inventions appeared, such as automobiles and generators. German philosophy and science are so advanced that nation has a meticulous and strict spirit. That is why German precision manufacturing industry is still at forefront of world.

UK, what we need to know is very intriguing because we need a spirit of moderation in Britain. Many will ask, is doctrine of average proposed by Chinese Confucianism? Indeed, Confucius greatly valued golden mean, and ancient Chinese politicians often spoke of golden mean, but there was never a golden mean in ancient China. So-called moderation is "impartiality" and one should not go to extremes, but Chinese history often goes to extremes. For example, political struggle in ancient China was basically a fight to death. In imperial court, there is little to no compromise between ministers and ministers. Generally, they will oppose because of opposition, like Sima Guang and Wang Anshi. Even in event of a foreign invasion, ministers still did not stop fighting among themselves and even preferred to surrender in order to defeat others. The emperor will not compromise with peasants, and even if a peasant uprising completely destroys dynasty, emperor will not order more rights and interests to peasants. When a new dynasty is established, it will never be compromised by old dynasty. It will usually be destroyed.

Unlike British history, this is a history of compromise. At beginning of 13th century, contradiction between nobles and king escalated, and nobles forced king to sign Magna Carta, which legally limited power of king; in 1688 Glorious Revolution broke out in England, and British nobility also forced king to sign Rights. In 1832, Britain passed first parliamentary reform, and aristocrats ceded half voting rights to bourgeoisie; in 1867 - second British parliamentary reform, aristocracy further power of bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie began to work again, and workers received right to vote. After World War II, Britain finally achieved universal suffrage through gradual compromises. The golden mean makes Britain country with fewest civil strife in world. The golden mean here is not only a compromise, but also a way for stakeholders to share fruits of development with other groups so that social conflicts can be mitigated and country can continue to develop.

Signing of Magna Carta

In Asia, we need to study Japan most, because Japan is best learning country. During Tang Dynasty, Japan learned a lot from China. When United States knocked on Japan's door, Japan learned a lot from Western countries. Good learning ability has allowed Japan to rise rapidly in modern times and become only industrial country in modern East. The Japanese are not as vast and wealthy as China, so they have a sense of crisis. But China, because of its vast territory, always thinks of itself highly, arrogantly, does not want to know excellent culture of foreign countries, and always thinks that wisdom of ancestors surpasses everything. This is an important reason why ancient China gradually fell behind global trend.

The Black Ship Incident

Of course, each country has something to learn, and here we selectively speak only about 4 countries. Of course, what we study is cultural essence of other countries, and not all. For example, Japanese militarism and Russian Great Russian nationalism can never be learned. If we can humbly adopt best culture and system of all countries in world, then we can become best nation in world and become most powerful and prosperous country in the world.