ABSTRACT
The most obvious point that can be made about the rise of Chinese power in the twenty-first century is that it is a resurrection rather than a new or unique phenomenon. Chinese often talk of the century of humiliation, the years in which their country was plagued by European, Japanese, and American imperialists – from the Opium War through World War II. Although they are proud of their ancient heritage, they are less likely to discuss the humiliations they inflicted on their neighbors over the thousands of years in which their emperors built the Chinese Empire. Their historians have not forgotten the centuries in which China was the world’s greatest power, but these memories are awkward when juxtaposed to the preferred role as history’s victims, so often used to justify irresponsible behavior in contemporary affairs.
