255. China in the Era of the Founding of the United States

One question in this blog readers' mind might be why the founders of this nation wanted to learn from China. I just came across an excellent article. I think that the following quote from Why China is China: A Historical Perspective-in Forbes by Dr. Doug Guthrie will answer this question. According to him,  "

In For more than 2000 years, China was the center of the world it knew. It was the “Middle Kingdom” of a tributary system in which “lesser” nations paid homage to the “Celestial Empire.” So remarkable was its stature that during the 18^th and early 19^th centuries, China controlled one-third of the world’s economy. Several of its metropolitan areas had populations on the order of 1 million residents. (The most populous city in Europe at the time was Paris, which had 100,000 residents.) And China was a technological marvel that had an impressive list of firsts, including the discovery of gunpowder and the production of printed books."