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Napoleon, surveying a map in 1803 pointed to China and said
"There lies a sleeping giant. Let him sleep. For when
he wakes he will move the world." That time seems to
have come for the People's Republic of China. In 2003, China's
economy was second only to the United States in terms of purchasing
power and growth.
David Gutnick reports < runs 3:40> Being
at the forefront of the world's civilizations is not a new
position for China. For centuries it led the rest of the world
in the fields of arts and sciences.
As far back as 1750 BC, China's Shang Dynasty was the most
advanced bronze-working civilization in the world. It continued
to drive the fields of mathematics, medicine and agriculture
for hundreds of years.
It wasn't until the 19th and 20th centuries that the Middle Kingdom fell victim to corruption, civil unrest and |
