In 1776, as is well known, Americans were living in a land at war. Despite its initial success at forcing the British army to evacuate Boston, the American army would face a number of crushing defeats throughout the rest of the year, until the surprise victory at Trenton at almost the year’s end. News of the Declaration of Independence came to the Continental Army just a few weeks before it would face a massive British attack on New York City. The Continental Congress, in making the decision to declare independence, was taking (or so, at least, it seemed) a big risk in doing so, as the prospects for actually achieving independence through armed conflict did not seem that bright. On the other hand, in 1776, China, under the rule of the Qianlong Emperor (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty was a land at peace—although a few years before Chinese forces had been engaged in a war with Burma and would be a few years later engaged in a war in Vietnam. Perhaps the most notable event in this year, at least for the emperor, was the completion of a lavish residence for his eventual retirement (which would not come for a number of years) within the Forbidden City, the imperial palace.
From the viewpoint of their political systems, the two countries could not have been more different at that time. The new-born United States was developing into a democracy—however imperfect—in which ordinary people could have a say in their government. On the other hand, China was under an absolute monarchy, in which the emperor literally had the power of life or death over everyone. Moreover, it is interesting to compare the dominant leaders of the two countries in the following few years after 1776. George Washington, given the chance to become king after the War of Independence, refused it. In addition, after serving as the nation’s president for eight years, he retired and gave up all political power. In contrast, the Qianlong Emperor also ostensibly retired (in order not to reign longer than his venerated grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor), but in fact held on to power until his death.
And today? Today both China and the United States are major powers, in both political and economic terms. However, their circumstances are still rather different. The United States is still engaged in war—both in Afghanistan and the so-called War on Terror—while China is officially at peace (despite tensions with some of its neighbors). The United States is a developed (but still certainly imperfect) democracy, whose leader serves at the will of the people, while China is under the absolute rule of the Party. And so, perhaps, in a way, as the French say--plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose (“the more things change, the more they stay the same”)!
Image: The Qianlong Emperor, from commons.wikimedia.org