地图与近代国家观念的形成

Atlas and the conception forming of modern state

从中国历史角度来看,史家常以19世纪中期鸦片战争之逼迫为中国近代化历程之开始。实际上,若从文化观念层面来看的话,其潜移默化的文化濡染迟至明末即已开始,启其端绪者即为明末著名传教士利玛窦。传教士们在宣扬基督教义的本职工作而外,以西方科学知识为其在中国活动的试金石,而尤以天文地理知识为重点,掀起一次次中西文化传播交流的高潮。对于西方文化的学习、借鉴在潜移默化地改变着延续了几千年的封建传统观念,政治观念上也由"朝代国家"到"民族国家"演进,为中国的近代化历程乃至其后的现代化历程准备了思想观念层次的变革基础。

The compelling of the Opium War broke out in the middle of 19th century is a starting mark of Modern China judged by the historian from Chinese history,but judged from the cultural conception aspect,cultural immersion exerting a subtle influence on people's character,thinking,etc.has already commenced in the late Ming Dynasty at least.Stemming from the inkling,Matteo Ricci,the famous Italia missionary lived in the late Ming Dynasty then acted a role as an enlightenment.The missionaries in China not only carried forward their duties on propagating the religious doctrine of Christian but also raised high tide of communication exchang between Western and China in culture again and again based on the mathod of propagating Western science knowledge as a touchstone specially focused on astronomy and geography.The course of learning and drawing on the experience of Western culture exerted an imperceptible influence on the feudalism tradition notion which lasted several thousand years,and the notion on political gradual progressed from'dynastical state'to'national state' laying a foundation on thoughts for the course of Modern China and the sequent modernization.