16世纪以后历史天平为何西斜

Why the scales of history have tilted to the West since the 16th century

16世纪对人类来说,是一个重要转折时期,是世界近代史的开端。在近代开端时期,亚欧大陆四大文明中心中原来为边缘地带的西欧文明却后来居上,并成为近代革命或变革的动力之源;而其他文明尤其是高度发达的东亚文明却日益衰落,沦为列强的边缘地带,中国为什么与大好的历史机遇失之交臂?现在又值千年交替的关键时期,如何以史为鉴,为中国社会主义现代化建设服务,这正是本文写作的目的。

The 16th century, to human beings, is an important turning period——the beginning of world modern history, during which the West-European civilization, much less important than the four centers of world civilizations, rised quickly and became the source of moden revolutions and reformation. But other civilizations esp. the ever-glorions East-Asian civilizations faded away. Why did China miss such a fine historical opportunity? Now we're again in a critical period of time——the coming of another thousand years,how to learn lessons from history and serve for our modernizations is right the purpose of my writing.