Analysis and Research on the Turning Points in the Development of Chinese and Western Civilizations

The 17th century was a significant stage in global history, with the West ushering in the Scientific Revolution and the rise of Enlightenment thinking, and China experiencing the transformations of the Ming and Qing dynasties. These advances have had a profound impact on the development of contemporary society. However, most of the existing studies focus on a single civilization, and there are fewer comprehensive studies on the interaction between Chinese and Western civilizations. The study examines the development of civilisation in ancient China and the West (Europe) through the analysis of existing historical data on China and the West and compares the performance of civilisation in China in the 17th century with that of the West during the same period through a horizontal comparison of the historical processes of the Middle Ages, including the change of polity, the development of the economic system, and the way of education. The results show that China's level of civilisation was higher than that of the West before the 17th century, but the West's civilisation gradually surpassed China's after that. Despite the different paths and speeds of development between China and the West, the turning point in the 17th century had a profound impact on the course of world history (turning point: the 17th century, when China's civilisational development gradually lagged behind that of the West, i.e. the West's entry into a capitalist society).