(06-04-2014 05:37 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 05:12 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(06-04-2014 05:09 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  I think all of you are missing an essential point in history. China invented many things we take for granted today.

Here's a list of ancient Chinese inventions

and they just stopped overnight being the innovative center of the world. We don't really know why and it is one of the biggest questions in history.

Not really. Just prior to the contact with Europeans, intellectuals took power in China, destroying their massive navy and much of their military. So it's not a question as to how it happened. The question is why it happened.

Had the intellectual revolution never taken place in China, the Europeans would have found a Chinese navy far superior to the Europeans, and a massive military capable of defeating any invader. Remember, the Chinese had gunpowder. The Europeans didn't gain that until after sailing to China.