问题
问题
澳大利亚网友廖彧的回答
It all began with one event: the Opium Wars
这一切都始于一个事件：鸦片战争
This was the origin of China's century of humiliation and the root cause of the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, China was bullied and occupied by foreign powers, and the country split into warlord factions before Japan took the opportunity to invade.
这是导致中国百年屈辱的起源，也是清朝垮台的根本原因。在整个19世纪和20世纪，中国被外国势力欺负和占领，该国分裂为多个军阀派系，然后日本趁机入侵。
Intrudction
介绍
The Opium Wars were two conflicts that took place in the mid-19th century, mainly involving the opium trade between the Qing Dynasty of China and the British Empire. Opium is a highly addictive drug harvested from the juice of the early seed pods of poppies. The juice contains high levels of morphine, cocaine and papaverine. Inhaling large amounts of this highly addictive drug can have many side effects on the inhaler, including high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia (NBCI, 2016).
鸦片战争是发生在19世纪中叶的两场冲突战争，主要涉及中国清朝和大英帝国的鸦片贸易。鸦片是一种高度成瘾的药物，从罂粟早熟种子荚汁液中收获。这种汁液含有高浓度的吗啡、可卡因和罂粟碱。吸入大量这种高度成瘾的药物会对吸入器产生许多副作用，包括高血压、糖尿病、高血压和血脂异常（NBCI，2016）。
Figure 1: A photograph of a poppy in which the highly addictive SAP leaks from the early-maturing seed pod (Flickr, 2014).
图1：一张罂粟的照片，其中高度成瘾的汁液从早熟种子荚中泄漏出来（Flickr，2014）。
The Opium Wars consisted of two separate wars, the first from 1839 to 1842 and the second from 1856 to 1860. The Opium Wars led to an increase in opium imports into China, which had a profound political and social impact on the country.
鸦片战争由两场独立的战争组成，第一次鸦片战争始于1839年至1842年，第二次鸦片战争始于1856年至1860年。鸦片战争导致中国鸦片进口量增加，从政治和社会角度对中国产生了深远的影响。
What caused the Opium Wars?
导致鸦片战争的原因是什么？
Since the early 18th century, the British East India Company established opium farms in the Indian province of Bengal, where they were cheaply grown and then sold to China. However, the opium trade is kept to a minimum, with only 200 cases entering China each year (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).
自18世纪初以来，英国东印度公司在印度孟加拉省建立了鸦片农场，在那里廉价种植，然后卖给中国。然而，鸦片贸易保持在最低限度，每年只有200箱进入中国（大英百科全书，2018年）。
By the early 19th century, China's economic output had become the world's largest, accounting for more than 30% of the world's total GDP. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, European powers traded mainly with China in silk, tea, porcelain and pottery, and the demand for Chinese luxury goods rose dramatically throughout Europe. However, the Qing Dynasty only accepted gold and silver as payment and did not accept European currency. As a result, large amounts of silver and gold left Europe, which led to a trade imbalance between the European powers and China. In response, Europeans produced opium on a massive scale and sold it to the Chinese to stop the trade imbalance (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).
到19世纪初，中国的经济产出成为世界第一，占世界GDP总量的30%以上。在整个18世纪和19世纪，欧洲列强主要与中国进行丝绸，茶叶，瓷器和陶器贸易，整个欧洲对中国奢侈品的需求急剧上升。然而，清朝只接受黄金和白银作为支付，不接受欧洲货币。结果，大量的白银和黄金离开了欧洲，这导致了欧洲列强与中国之间的贸易不平衡。作为回应，欧洲人大规模生产鸦片并将其出售给中国人，以阻止贸易不平衡（大英百科全书，2018）。
Figure 2: The chart below shows the total GDP of China compared to other major Western powers over the centuries.
图2：下图显示了几个世纪以来中国与其他主要西方大国相比的GDP总量。
The Opium War and its influence on China
鸦片战争及其对中国的影响
To stop the opium trade, in May 1839, the Chinese emperor Daoguang forced the British Trade Minister to hand over the opium stocks in Guangzhou, destroying 1,210 tons of opium. The British government became angry and sent a fleet from the Royal Navy. Using its superior artillery power, the Royal Navy bombed the coastal city of Guangzhou to inflict significant damage on the Chinese Navy, a tactic known as gunboat diplomacy.
为了最终制止鸦片贸易，1839年5月，中国道光皇帝逼迫英国驻华贸易大臣交出广州的鸦片库存，销毁鸦片1210吨。英国政府变得愤怒，从皇家海军派出了一支舰队。皇家海军利用其优越的炮兵力量，轰炸了沿海城市广州，对中国海军造成了重大破坏，这种战术被称为炮舰外交。
Figure 3: Illustration of British bombing of a fort in Guangzhou in 1940 (National Army Museum, 2018).
图3：1840年英国轰炸广州一座堡垒的插图（国家军队博物馆，2018年）。
In 1842, China was forced to sign its first unequal treaty, the Treaty of Nanking, which granted Britain trading rights in five Chinese ports and ceded Hong Kong to the British Empire for 99 years. However, the British were not satisfied with the treaty, as the Empire still maintained a trade imbalance with China. This eventually led to the Second Opium War in 1856, which ended in 1860 with the Treaty of Tianjin, which forced China to pay 8 million tael (Chinese currency), legalized the opium trade, gave full rights to Christian missionaries, and opened the Tianjin trading port only to European traders (ABC Bullion, 2012).
1842年，中国被迫签署了第一个不平等条约，即《南京条约》，该条约授予英国在中国五个港口的贸易权，并将香港割让给大英帝国99年。然而，英国人对条约并不满意，因为帝国仍然与中国保持贸易不平衡。这最终导致了1856年的第二次鸦片战争，并于1860年以《天津条约》结束，该条约迫使中国支付800万两（中国货币），鸦片贸易合法化，赋予基督教传教士充分的权利，以及天津贸易港口仅向欧洲商人开放（ABC Bullion，2012）。
The unfair treaty led to a dramatic increase in Chinese opium imports from 200 cases per year in 1729 to 60,000 cases of opium, each weighing about 64 kg, by the end of the Second Opium War (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018). With more than 10 million Chinese becoming opium addicts as a result of illegal British imports (National Army Museum, 2018), opium addiction became very problematic, and the opium trade formed deep networks within China, often condoned by corrupt Qing Dynasty officials.
不公平的条约导致中国进口的鸦片从1729年的每年200箱急剧增加到第二次鸦片战争结束时的6万箱鸦片箱，每个箱子重约64公斤（大英百科全书，2018年）。由于英国的非法进口，超过1000万中国人成为鸦片成瘾者（国民军博物馆，2018年），鸦片成瘾变得非常成问题，鸦片贸易在中国境内形成了深厚的网络，往往得到腐败的清朝官员的纵容。
Figure 4: Millions of Chinese men and women became Opium addicts, which led to many social problems and rising crime rates within The Qing Dynasty (The Opium Pipe, 2018).
圖4：數百萬中國男人和女人成為鴉片成癮者，這導致清朝內部許多社會問題和犯罪率上升（The Opium Pipe，2018）。
With corruption rampant within the Qing court and peasant unrest on the rise, the Qing Dynasty could no longer bear the burden and finally collapsed in 1912, marking the end of more than 2,000 years of imperial rule in Chinese history. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, China entered the warlord era, and the former generals of the Qing army became regional warlords, forming military groups throughout the country. The warlord era and the opium trade eventually ended with the victory of the Chinese Communist Party during the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018).
随着清廷内部腐败猖獗和农民骚乱的兴起，清朝再也无法承受负担，最终在1912年崩溃，标志着中国历史上2000多年的帝国统治的结束。清朝灭亡后，中国进入军阀时代，前清军的将领成为地区军阀，形成遍布全国的军事集团。军阀时代和鸦片贸易最终随着中国共产党在中国内战期间的胜利和1949年中华人民共和国的成立而结束（大英百科全书，2018年）。
结论/ conclusion
To sum up, the Opium War led to the destruction of China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty collapsed due to political and social unrest caused by the influx of opium into China. The collapse of the Qing Dynasty led to the warlord era, and opium was not banned in the Republic of China era. It was not until the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 that the opium trade in China finally stopped. This is why China was known as the "sick man of Asia" throughout the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.
综上所述，鸦片战争导致了中国最后一个帝国王朝清朝的毁灭。清朝因鸦片大量涌入中国而引发政治和社会动荡而崩溃。清朝的崩溃导致了军阀时代，中华民国时代鸦片也未被禁绝。直到1949年中华人民共和国成立，中国的鸦片贸易才终于停止。这就是为什么中国在整个19世纪和20世纪上半叶被称为“亚洲病夫”的原因。
But now, after more than half a century of development, she is rich in every sense of the word, she is a world power, she is an economic power, she is a cultural power, she is a military power. Although many would like to deny this, it is true.
可现在时过境迁，经过半个多世纪的发展，从任何意义上说，她都是富有的，她是世界强国，她是经济强国，她是文化强国，她是军事强国。尽管许多人想否认这一点，但事实就是如此。
It has the richest history and oldest civilization in the world;
她拥有世界上最丰富的历史和最古老的文明；
It has the largest population, you can look up the list of countries and territories by population;
她拥有最多的人口，你可以查询按人口列出的国家和属地列表；
It has the second largest economy in nominal GDP and the largest economy in purchasing power.
她拥有名义GDP第二大经济体，购买力中国经济世界第一；
She has the largest standing army in the world, look at the list of countries by number of military and paramilitary personnel;
她拥有世界上最大的常备军，看看按军事和准军事人员人数排列的国家名单；
With more than 100 companies on the Fortune 500 list, China's Global 500 companies are bigger than ever, and most of them are state-owned;
她在《财富》500强榜单中拥有一百多家公司 中国全球500强企业规模比以往任何时候都大，而且大多是国有企业；
She is reforming international norms and institutions and charting her own course;
她在改革国际规范和制度，制定自己的路线 ；
She created her own World Bank, and rival, the AIIB, has just opened;
She succeeded in depleting the United States and changing the course of wealth. The US trade deficit with China in 2022 was $382.9 billion, a new record and slightly higher than last year's $355.3 billion. The trade deficit exists because U.S. exports to China were only $116.2 billion, while imports from China set a new record of $481.9 billion.
她成功地耗尽了美国并改变了财富的路线。2022年美国对华贸易逆差为3829亿美元，创下新纪录，略高于去年的3553亿美元。贸易逆差之所以存在，是因为美国对中国的出口仅为1162亿美元，而从中国的进口创下了4819亿美元的新纪录。
China is a founding member of the United Nations.
中国是联合国的创始会员国；
China has more billionaires than the US;
她拥有比美国更多的亿万富翁 中国拥有比美国更多的亿万富翁；
Beijing has overtaken New York to become the billionaire capital of the world.
北京是世界亿万富翁之都 北京超越纽约成为“世界亿万富翁之都”；
The Chinese middle class outnumbers the American middle class, with 109 million Chinese adults compared with 92 million American adults. China's middle class is now larger than America's;
中国中产阶级人数超过美国中产阶级，中国成年人为1.09亿，而美国成年人为9200万。中国的中产阶级现在比美国的中产阶级还要大；
For the small countries of Asia and Australasia, a new world order is taking shape around us.
对于亚洲和澳大拉西亚的小国来说，一个新的世界秩序正在我们周围形成。
海外网友弗德雷克的回答
This was the insulting nickname given by the foreign media at the end of the 19th century, when China was being torn apart by imperial armies, warlords, tyrants, and leaders of rebel forces, when the average physical condition of the Chinese people was low. From my perspective, this is more of an irony than an insult, given that Asian countries have mostly been colonized, conquered, or severely attacked in history, including Japan. Why is only China called the "patient"? Because it was once a giant, widely admired in the world, especially in the Western world. Therefore, the nickname symbolized an ironic attitude toward China at that time.
19世纪末，当中国被帝国军队、军阀、暴君、叛乱部队领导人撕裂时，这是外国媒体给的侮辱性绰号，当时中国人的平均身体状况很低。从我的角度来看，这与其说是一种侮辱，不如说是一种讽刺，因为亚洲国家在历史上大多被殖民、征服或受到严重攻击，包括日本。为什么只有中国被称为“病人”？因为它曾经是一个巨人，在世界上，特别是在西方世界广受推崇。因此，这个绰号象征着当时对当时中国的一种讽刺态度。
Okay, what about now? The question is, does it make sense to keep using this "sick" name? Well, it should be argued that the moniker is meaningless without a specific historical context. If you're still going to tag a country with that name, why not tag other countries? America, torn by bigotry, hatred, racism, sexism, xenophobia; Europe, still threatened by terrorist attacks and misguided by a wave of nationalism; The entire Western world is still plagued by financial problems and struggling to achieve modest economic growth. So if you choose one aspect and look at a country through a certain type of tinted glass, then everyone is sick!
好吧，那现在呢？问题是，继续使用这个“病态”的名字有意义吗？好吧，应该争辩说，如果没有具体的历史背景，这个绰号是没有意义的。如果您仍然打算用这个名字标记一个国家，为什么不标记其他国家呢？美国，被偏见、仇恨、种族主义、性别歧视、仇外心理所撕裂;欧洲，仍然受到恐怖袭击的威胁，并被民族主义浪潮所误导;整个西方世界仍然受到金融问题的困扰，努力实现轻微的经济增长。因此，如果你选择一个方面，通过某种类型的有色玻璃看一个国家，那每个人都是病夫！
Now, what about China? Of course, if you look at the negative side, it's pathological; If you look on the positive side, it's not. Not to offend anyone, but I wonder why the answer has become so one-sided while the other side is completely ignored.
现在，中国呢？当然，如果你看消极的一面，它是病态的;如果你看积极的一面，事实并非如此。不是冒犯任何人，但我想知道为什么答案变得如此片面，而另一面被完全忽略。
On the one hand, we have economic growth, which is undoubtedly the envy of the world. We have a huge market that remains a powerful engine for our economy and, of course, for the world economy. We have made some breakthroughs in infrastructure development and space exploration. As the movie Gravity shows, we're also better positioned than the United States to transition to renewable, clean energy; On the other hand, we are faced with various problems caused by the population that have held us back for decades: the quality of education to be improved, the growing demand for housing and limited space, air quality, counterfeit products.
一方面，我们有经济增长，这无疑是世界羡慕的;我们有巨大的市场，仍然是我们经济，当然还有世界经济的强大引擎;我们在基础设施建设和太空探索方面取得了一些突破;正如电影《地心引力》中所显示的那样，在向可再生清洁能源过渡方面，我们也比美国更有优势;另一方面，我们面临着人口造成的各种问题，这些问题阻碍了我们几十年：教育质量有待提升，对房屋的需求不断增长和空间有限，空气质量，假冒产品。
So the question is, is China sick? No, because it is no longer as "sick" as it was a hundred years ago; Yes, because it has its own unique problems that will last for decades. But this should be done in a global context, where each country has its own unique problems to address.
那么问题来了，中国还在生病吗？不，因为它不再像一百年前那样“病态”;是的，因为它有其独特的问题，将持续数十年。但这应该放在全球背景下，即每个国家都有其独特的问题需要解决。
华裔网友安德逊•林的回答
Thank you for your invitation. Sorry, although I am Chinese, I still have to voice my opinion.
感谢您的邀请。对不起，虽然我是中国人，但我还是要说出我的意见。
I strongly disagree with the argument that because we have great economic and military power, we no longer get sick. In my opinion, "illness" reflects a lack of confidence rather than wealth.
我强烈反对“因为拥有强大的经济和军事力量，因此国人不再生病”的说法。在我看来，“生病”反映的是缺乏信心而不是财富。
The era when the Chinese were known as the "sick man of East Asia" was about 100 years ago, the darkest period in Chinese history. Traditionally, there is a saying that illustrates the difference between the "decline of a regime" and the "decline of a civilization" :
中国人被称为“东亚病夫”的时代大约是100年前，这是中国历史上最黑暗的时期。传统上，有一句谚语说明了“政权的衰落”和“文明的衰落”之间的区别：
The emperor was overthrown. It was called the fall of the regime. The destruction of ethics may lead to human beings killing each other, which is called the decline of civilization. Protecting the regime is the responsibility of the ruler, while every citizen, regardless of position, should be responsible for protecting civilization.
皇帝被推翻了，这叫政权的垮台。伦理的破坏，可能导致人类自相残杀，这被称为文明的衰落。保护政权是统治者的责任，而每个公民，无论职位如何，都应该对保护文明负责。
Beginning in 841 BC, the year of birth and death of each emperor and the length of his reign were clearly recorded. Regimes have collapsed at least hundreds of times. This, however, was the only time the Chinese were at risk of civilizational decline. Some Chinese were shocked and worried about becoming slaves to foreigners. So, to sum up, the "sick man of Asia" refers to those who have lost faith and enthusiasm for their motherland.
从公元前841年开始，每个皇帝的生卒年和在位时间都有明确的记录。政权的垮台至少发生了数百次。然而，这是中国人唯一一次面临文明衰落的风险。一些中国人感到震惊，担心成为外国人的奴隶。因此，总而言之，“亚洲病夫”指的是那些对祖国失去信念和热情的人。
But I admit that China has been reborn again and is becoming a great power. But a change in mindset takes time.
但是，我承认中国再次重生，正在成为一个大国。但心态的转变需要时间。
Today, many Chinese still believe they are inferior to foreigners, especially white people. For example, many Chinese girls feel it is honorable to have a white (and sometimes black) boyfriend. Attitudes towards foreigners are much better. In China white people get free food, free accommodation and free girlfriends...... Let's wait. So here, I want to say that many Chinese people are still sick. If one day in the future, foreigners no longer enjoy better treatment, then I believe the Chinese have healed.
今天，许多中国人仍然认为他们不如外国人，尤其是白人。例如，许多中国女孩觉得有一个白人（有时也是黑人）男朋友是光荣的。人们对外国人的态度要好得多。在中国，白人享受免费食物、免费住宿和投怀送抱的女朋友......等等。所以在这里，我想说许多中国人仍然在生病。如果将来的某一天，外国人不再享受更好的待遇，那么我相信中国人已经痊愈了。