4. Pertinent historical information leading up to the 19th Century change in China:
             As we have noted here briefly in class, China entered the modern era ca 1500 B.C.E. reasonably viewed (by the Chinese at least) as being at the center of and on the top of the world. And why not? Many of the most noted technologies had come out of China in the pre-modern era: gunpowder, block printing and movable type, paper, compass; many of the most popular of foreign commodities also came from China: porcelain, tea, and of course silk. Also, China had a strong tradition in its civil system and philosophy. In regard to foreign policy, "having created its own image of itself as the center of the world, the Chinese state and population were for the most part, though not completely, disinterested in the twilight world of non-Chinese cultures. This remained true down through the middle of the 19th century."(Mancall, 11) While interstate trading flourished, intrastate trading was heavily monitored and severely limited by the Chinese bureaucracy. As noted above, by 1760
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