I don't think the Original Author made any mistake in these writing, but I think there are some period of Expansionism and Aggressive Interventions to Outside beyond "Middle World" in Chinese History. It is not their constant attitude toward outside world.
Nick Quotations:
> Whether the so-called embassy set out with the official backing
of 'An-tun'
> is doubtful. It could well have been a private trading enterprise
rather
> than a true embassy,
I agree with it. And Orthodox Confucians usually have tried to avoid
foreign Contaminations. (Sometimes they have denied this traditional
attitude.)
>bringing in the name of the Roman emperor "to give
> artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing
narrative."
> Emperor Huan, at all events, was unimpressed by the gifts; ivory,
> rhinoceros-horn and tortoiseshell were substances which he knew
perfectly
> well already.
And (Late) Huan Dynasty have already declined to the way of malfunctional system and civic war. And they couldn't afford to see outside beyond their boundaries. In fact, China went to Darker Age until the New Unified Dynasty would appear.
>As emperor Ch'ien Lung explained to Lord Macartney at
> the end of the eighteenth century:
>
> "Our Celestial Empire produces everything that the human
race
> could possibly require, in profuse abundance. We therefore
have
> no need to purchase the goods of barbarians, however
interesting
> and curious these may be."
Much Later Age, maybe Age of Dynasty of Tang (7-10C), or Ming (14-17C)
might have shown more aggressive and meddling attitude
toward "Foreign Ignorant Barbarians" like USA came to Japan after
WW2. Sorry, bad example.
TI
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