"Napoleon and his view on China" Topic

"Some might be already familiar with the notion of China being the world's sleeping dragon (well, they're now pretty much awakened and breathing fire, albeit, peacefully). Napoleon needs little introduction – the short and stout Frenchmen who pretty much took over Europe with a belly of fire, never taking no for an answer. Apparently, even 200-odd years ago, he had the foresight to predict what's happening in the world today.

On China…He was supposed to have said, "Let China Sleep, for when the Dragon awakes, she will shake the world." Now – foresight or wisdom? Another perspective would reveal that he could have very much appreciated the value of what a cultural centre like China's could do to keep an empire together (like how early Christianity served as a glue for the Roman Empire).

Or something to that effect. That triggered a little hunt online for the origins of such a saying, if it indeed happened, and if it did, what it meant…"

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Amicalement
Armand

Well, if you look at "big picture" history, China has been way ahead of every other human society in pretty much every measure of human development for most of the last 6000-odd years.

It was only from around the 16th Century that Europe suddenly surged ahead. This was probably a result of the new European ability to sail long distances and exploit new resources and markets.

It would seem that this period of dominance by Europe and 'The West' is coming to an end and China is reassuming its normal global position.

In a few hundred years the 'European/American Centuries' will probably be seen as just a weird blip in World history!

I've read an article (published by the Napoleon Foundation?) which suggests that there's no source for Napoleon ever saying those words and, in fact, the quotation originates from the film 55 Days in Peking.

It's sad but true that many famous quotations turn out never to have been said by the great men to whom they're commonly attributed. 'L'etat c'est moi' being another example, apparently.

I've often wondered about the famous 'an army marches on its stomach'. Oft quoted but I've never seen a reference to when it was supposed to have been said and to whom. It also seems to be somewhat at odds with Napoleon's method of campaigning, after all, his troops are not known for being well-fed.

We never know….

Amicalement
Armand

IIRC that remark is always attributed to Louis XIV, not Bonaparte.

IIRC that remark is always attributed to Louis XIV, not Bonaparte.

That's right of course. Sorry, should have made it clearer in my post.