Countering Eurocentrism
One of the biggest debate among scholars and students is the idea that early modern era evolved from European Empire and is therefore a constitution of the European culture. It's true that their ways of expansion is unique and played a big role in the modern society, but at the same time that the Europeans were building their Empire, the Russian, Chinese, Mughal and Ottoman empires were also being built, yet their stories are often not as well highlighted.
Among all the other Empires built around the same era, I found the making of the China Empire interesting. First off, they didn't force their culture into the native people. In fact, they tried to preserve their culture like in Mongolia, where they fear that their "soft" ways might compromise the Mongols' fighting spirit and will therefore weaken their military power. Buddhist monks, people of noble rank, and associated with monasteries were given tax and labor service exemption. They also didn't see themselves as having power over the people that they have taken over but rather talked about the invasion more as a unification of the poples of the central Eurasia.
The new Chinese empire lasted for eighty years, and I think that the key to their long reign was their respect for other culture. The way I see it, there was probably little resistance from the native people because the conquerers didn't try to change the way they were living their lives. It's when people that are trying to take over tries to change things that are very important to us like religion and when they introduce epidemic diseases that we see outrage and resistance from native people.
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