中国历史上有两次外族入侵，虽能一统华夏。但却没有任何能力扼杀华夏文明，相反后来还被华夏文明所同化，促使各民族融合。这是中华民族为之骄傲的地方。显然在文明传承与文化底蕴上，明显中国稍占优势。历史的车轮滚滚不停歇，已经行驶到了近代，蒸汽机的发明才开始引领西方的工业文明。帮助西方开启大航海时代。到了今天，经中国奋起直追，尽全力追赶，已经极大地缩小差距。在美版知乎Quora上，美国网友提问道：中华文明在与西方文明竞争时，有哪些优势？这个问题引起了不小的讨论。
问题
西方学者皮特•埃利奥托的回答
Compared with almost all other countries on the earth, China has two great advantages.
与地球上几乎所有其他国家相比，中国有两个巨大的优势。
(1) Chinese civilized country
（1） 中华文明国家的特质
"China is a civilization that pretends to be a nation-state."- Samuel Huntington, Clash of civilizations and reconstruction of world order
“中国是一个伪装成民族国家的文明。”-塞缪尔·亨廷顿，《文明的冲突与世界秩序的重建》
The unique feature of China's past dynasties is that it is not regarded as the highest geopolitical entity of the Chinese people, and "China's country" is only the torch bearer of the alternating appearance of "Chinese civilization".
中国历代国家的独特之处在于，它不被视为中国人民的最高地缘政治实体，“中国大地上的国家”只是“中华文明”先后交替的火炬手。
Many historians regard "destiny" as the system of ancient imperial China. They don't realize that even in today's world, it still exists.
许多历史学家将“天命”视为古代帝制中国的制度，他们没有意识到，即使在当今时代，它也依然存在。
In the eyes of the Chinese people, there is only one real and legitimate Chinese state in the world, and legitimacy is defined by performance. The purpose of "China State" is to:
在中国人看来，世界只有一个真正、合法的中国国家，而合法性是由表现来定义的。“中国国家”的目的是：
• the goal of reunifying all the territories belonging to China is unshakable.
• 统一归属中国的所有领土，这一目标不可动摇。
• to protect China's borders from external threats, whether it is the drug trafficking syndicates belonging to the Xiongnu, gautur, Mongolia, the British Empire or the blackmailers represented by the United States.
• 保护中国边境免受外部威胁，无论是历史上的匈奴、高图尔、蒙古、大英帝国所属的贩毒集团还是美国为代表的敲诈勒索者。
• deal with the challenges brought by nature and climate, just like Dayu's flood control.
• 应对自然和气候带来的挑战，就像大禹治水一样。
• develop the economy and bring prosperity to the Chinese people.
• 发展经济，为中国人民带来繁荣。
• govern the country in a fair and ethical manner.
• 以公正和道德的方式治理国家。
No matter who succeeds in these five points, he will soon see that he has gained legitimacy, and any one that fails to do so will soon lose legitimacy, which has been proved by many kings of Subjugation in history. A "Chinese state" that can maintain its legitimacy will maintain its destiny, thus ensuring that it will become the guardian and torch bearer of the "Chinese civilization".
无论谁在这五点上取得成功，都会很快看到自己获得合法性，而任何未能这样做的都将很快失去合法性，历史上很多亡国之君证明了这一点。一个能够维持其合法性的“中国国家”将维持天命，从而确保自己成为“中华文明”的守护者和火炬手。
The Chinese people are willing to have extraordinary confidence in the Chinese country. Even if they see new directives that they do not like, and even if the new regulations bring them temporary maladjustment, ordinary Chinese will often think: "Oh, the country knows what it is doing. They need to be far sighted. This is for our long-term interests."
中国人民愿意对中国国家抱有非凡的信心，即使新条例给他们带来暂时的不适应，普通中国人也会经常想：“哦，国家知道它在做什么，他们要有远见得多，这是为了我们的长期利益。”
The first Western Sinologist I met was Martin Jacques, who called China a "civilized country", violating the traditional rules of the western "Nation-State" model.
我见过的第一位西方汉学家是马丁·雅克（Martin Jacques），他将中国称为“文明国家”，违反了西方“民族国家”模式的传统规则。
This unique feature of China has given China an unusual history. China is the only ancient civilization that survived in the same way as thousands of years ago. Historically, it has always been a bureaucratic state with the centralization of Confucianism and Legalism.
中国的这一独特特点使中国有了不同寻常的历史。中国是唯一一个以与数千年前差不多的方式幸存下来的古代文明，历史上，他一直是一个儒家法家集权的官僚国家。
At the same time, Persia has become a Shiite theocracy Republic, Egypt has become a puppet Arab Military Government Republic, and India has become a Social Democratic Federation with British institutions.
而与此同时，波斯已成为什叶派神权共和国，埃及已成为阿拉伯伪军政府共和国，印度已成为具有英国化机构的社会民主联邦等等。
波斯遗迹
This is not because China has a continuous and uninterrupted history. On the contrary, the Central Plains Dynasty has collapsed many times, and the five most important and traumatic events occurred after the Zhou, Han, Tang, song and Qing Dynasties. However, whenever China disintegrates and reaches the bottom, it will slowly reunite, unify, consolidate, and climb back to the peak of global economy and power in a century or two.
这并不是因为中国有某种连续的、不间断的历史。相反，中原王朝已经崩溃了很多次，其中五起最重大、最具创伤的事件发生在周、汉、唐、宋和清之后。然而，每当中国解体并触底时，它都会慢慢地重新团结起来，统一、巩固，并在一两个世纪后重新登上全球经济和权力巅峰。
Westerners look at China today and think that "China is rising". However, anyone who has studied history will notice that China has not "risen" but "returned to its rightful place".
西方人看着今天的中国，认为“中国正在崛起”。但任何研究过历史的人都会注意到，中国并没有“崛起”，这是“恢复到应有的位置”。
In other words, for the Chinese people, the "Chinese nation in history" may be short-lived, but the "Chinese civilization" is eternal. And this "Chinese civilization" will in turn bring the next single "Chinese country" forever. The prologue of the romance of the Three Kingdoms best defines the rotation and transformation of this relationship: "it is said that the general trend of the world is that the division of time must be combined and the division of time must be separated."
换言之，对中国人来说，“历史上的国家”可能是短暂的，但“中华文明”是永恒的。而这种“中华文明”反过来将永远带来下一个单一的“国家”。《三国演义》的开场白最好地定义了这种关系的旋转变换：“话说天下大势，分久必合，合久必分。”
However, if you look at world history in general, you will soon realize how unusual the Chinese way of thinking is. Ask yourself:
然而，如果你从总体上看世界历史，你会很快意识到中国人的思维方式是多么不寻常。问问你自己：
Where is the Roman Empire now?
罗马帝国现在在哪里？
What about the Frankish Caroline Empire?
法兰克加洛林帝国呢？
What about the Islamic Umayyad Caliph?
那伊斯兰倭玛亚哈里发呢？
In China at the same time? With each cycle of collapse and rebirth, it becomes more powerful.
同时在中国？随着每一个崩溃和重生的循环，它变得更强大。
This is by far China's greatest advantage, surpassing not only the United States but also most other countries on the earth. This is the most powerful force of Chinese culture, which is incomparable to other cultures on the earth.
这是迄今为止中国最大的优势，不仅超过了美国，而且超过了地球上大多数其他国家。这是中国文化最强大的力量，是地球上其他文化无法比拟的。
Both India and Russia are trying to continue like China. The historical Delhi Sultanate > Mughal Dynasty > Raji Dynasty > enabled India to win four consecutive terms. The historical Rurik Dynasty > Romanov Dynasty > Soviet Union > enabled Russia to continue for a longer time.
印度和俄罗斯都在努力像中国这样延续下去。历史上的德里苏丹国>莫卧儿王朝>拉吉王朝>让今天的印度取得了4次连任，历史上的鲁里克王朝>罗曼诺夫王朝>苏联>让俄罗斯得以延续更长时间。
Meanwhile, the United States? From 1776 to the present, it has not even lasted 250 years. Can the United States survive the collapse that all countries will eventually face?
与此同时，美国？从1776年到现在，它甚至没有持续250年。美国能否在所有国家最终都将面临的崩溃中幸存下来？
But it is not enough to protect China's civilization and country. China also needs one to ensure its advantages on the world stage, which brings us a second advantage:
但仅仅保护中国的文明和国家是不够的。中国还需要一个来确保其在世界舞台上的优势，这给我们带来了第二个优势：
(2) The huge population of China
（2） 中国大地上庞大的人口
Yes, this is a double-edged sword. As experts have pointed out, there are too many Chinese people and too few resources. However, China's huge population and single market provide it with several tools that other countries dream of:
是的，这是一把双刃剑。正如专家曾经指出的，中国人太多，资源太少。然而，中国庞大的人口和单一市场为其提供了其他国家梦寐以求的几种工具：
• culturally, more than 90% of Chinese people agree with the single ethnic structure of "Han". This makes it easy for China to absorb other cultures and sinicize them, even though these ethnic minorities happen to rule the Han people. This is a unique feature of China. India, the world's second most populous country, has no hope to rival it. Therefore, as Professor Graham Allison pointed out accurately, "China expands through cultural penetration."
• 在文化上，超过90%的中国人认同“汉族”这一单一民族结构。这使得中国能够很容易地吸收其他文化并将其中国化，即使这些少数民族恰好统治着汉族。这是中国的独特之处，世界第二人口大国印度没有希望与之匹敌。因此，正如格雷厄姆·艾利森教授准确指出的：“中华通过文化渗透而扩张。”
Historically, the "Chinese mainland" - defined by the dominant position of the Han people - has expanded every year, from the Baiyue land in the Qin Dynasty to the desert in the northwest, like a glacier, but the trend is irresistible.
历史上，“中国本土”-由汉族主导地位定义-每年都在扩张，从秦朝的百越之地，到西北荒漠，像冰川一样缓慢，但趋势不可阻挡。
• economically, China has such a huge single market that any company that fails to adjust its model to the Chinese market will fail, thus creating a natural barrier for foreign competitors to enter. At the same time, the Chinese market is such a cruel Darwinism that the fittest survive. Any company that can survive in China can also compete in the world. No matter how much pressure the White House exerts on Chinese enterprises, they can still live here.
•在经济上，中国拥有如此庞大的单一市场，任何未能针对中国市场调整其模式的公司都将失败，从而为外国竞争对手的进入创造了自然障碍。与此同时，中国市场是如此残酷的达尔文主义，优胜劣汰，任何能够在中国生存的公司也可以在世界上竞争。无论白宫对中国企业施加多大压力，它们都可以在这里好好活着。
• in terms of foreign exchanges, China's huge scale gives it great bilateral influence. Any country that tries to directly challenge China is like trying to win a tug of war. The quality and momentum of the opponent is 10 times that of you. Thank God, if you choose not to fight, China will usually let you get along with you. Because as the world is tired of the endless diplomatic intervention and unilateral arrogance of the United States, China's foreign policy of "mutual non-interference" is achieving more results.
•在对外交往上，中国的庞大规模给了它巨大的双边影响力。任何试图直接挑战中国的国家就像试图赢得一场拔河比赛，对手的质量和势头是你的10倍，谢天谢地，如果你选择不打仗，中国通常会让和你友好相处。因为随着世界对美国无休止的外交干预和单边傲慢感到厌倦，中国的“互不干涉”外交政策正在取得更多成果。
• from the perspective of digital information, China's huge scale determines that China can build its own independent Chinese digital cyberspace and establish a complete digital infrastructure, which is equally excellent, if not better than other parts of the world. This is an advantage that Russia can only dream of.
•从数字信息角度看，中国的庞大规模决定了中国可以建设其独立的中文数字网络空间，并建立一个完整的数字基础设施，即使不比世界其他地区更好，也同样出色，这是俄罗斯只能梦想的优势。
新加坡学者戴维•贝利的回答
The connotation of Western civilization is too broad, from Europe and the United States, to Australia, New Zealand, and even Japan and Singapore. Therefore, the comparative advantage varies according to different counterparties.
西方文明的内涵太宽泛了，从欧洲美国，到澳大利亚、新西兰，甚至日本新加坡都包含在内，因此比较优势因交易对手的不同而不同。
For simplicity, let's divide comparable "assets" into three categories:
为了简单起见，让我们将可比较“资产”划分为三大类：
• commodities (agriculture and natural resources)
•商品（农业和自然资源）
• labor
•劳动力
• capital (historically based on industry and increasingly driven by software / Technology)
•资本（历史上以工业为基础，越来越受软件/技术驱动）
These are broad generalizations, but in the right direction:
这些是广泛的概括，但方向正确：
• compared with developed economies (the United States, Japan and Western Europe), China's comparative advantage lies in its labor force.
•与发达经济体（美国、日本和西欧）相比，中国的比较优势在于劳动力。
• compared with other middle-income countries, depending on the other side, China's comparative advantage can be labor or capital (more traditional industrial type).
•与其他中等收入国家相比，这取决于对方，中国的比较优势可以是劳动力或资本（更传统的工业类型）。
• compared with developing countries, China's comparative advantages are mainly technology and capital.
•与发展中国家相比，中国的比较优势主要是技术和资本。
• for resource rich countries (possibly rich or poor countries), China's comparative advantage is mainly industrial capital.
•对于资源丰富的国家（可能是富国或穷国），中国的比较优势主要是工业资本。
The easiest way to understand comparative advantages is to simply look at the empirical evidence on the ground. In other words, look at the types of goods and services that China trades with different countries. However, this does not fully indicate that the global market is not a 100% free trade area (that is, there are tariffs, trade barriers and other friction costs), but it is still a very useful inspiration. The main source of this data set is the economic complexity Observatory of MIT [1], which provides a tool to visualize the import and export relations between countries.
理解比较优势最简单的方法是简单地看一下实地的经验证据。换言之，看看中国与不同国家进行贸易的商品和服务的类型。但这并不能充分表明，因为全球市场不是100%自由贸易区（即存在关税、贸易壁垒等人为摩擦成本），但它仍然是一个非常有用的启发点。这个数据集的主要来源是麻省理工学院的经济复杂性观察站，它提供了一个国家间进出口关系的可视化工具。
For example, in the case of the United States , China usually exchanges labor for goods or capital (such as technology). Note that although China exports high-tech products such as iPhones to the United States, you must remember that it mainly focuses on the labor-intensive part of the value chain in the consumer electronics product chain .
例如，在美国的情况下，中国通常用劳动力交换商品或资本（如技术）。注意，尽管中国向美国出口iPhone等高科技产品，但你必须记住，它主要关注消费电子产品链中价值链的劳动密集型部分。
Like Saudi Arabia [4], China usually exchanges consumer goods and industrial goods (there is also a large number of labor here) for commodities such as crude oil.
与沙特阿拉伯一样，中国通常用消费品和工业品（这里也有大量劳动力）来交换原油等大宗商品。
China and Zambia, a poor but resource rich country , also trade consumer goods and industrial goods. However, compared with wealthier developed countries, the commodities exported by China are different combinations (for example, the combination of Chinese brands and multinational brands is higher), which may contain more contributions from domestic capital of China. Similar to Saudi Arabia, almost 100% of China's imports are commodities, mainly copper.
中国与赞比亚这样一个贫穷但资源丰富的国家也进行消费品和工业品贸易。然而，与较富裕的发达国家相比，中国出口的商品是不同的组合（例如，中国品牌与跨国品牌的组合更高），可能包含更多来自中国国内资本的贡献。与沙特阿拉伯类似，中国进口的几乎100%是大宗商品，主要是铜。
Like Bangladesh and other poor and resource poor countries [6], China is exchanging capital for labor. For example, the largest import categories in Bangla .......desh are garments and textiles, which are about the most labor-intensive industries in the country. China also exports a large number of textiles, but these are often manufactured products with low labor content. China exports a large number of consumer goods and industrial products, of which China's domestic content accounts for a higher proportion of economic added value .
与孟加拉国等贫穷和资源贫乏的国家一样，中国正在用资本换取劳动力。例如，孟加拉国最大的进口类别是成衣和纺织品，这大约是该国劳动密集度最高的行业。中国也出口大量纺织品，但这些往往是劳动力含量较低的制成品。中国出口大量消费品和工业品，其中中国国内含量占经济增加值的比例更高。