Asia is knowing its Renaissance. The Western world knew it in the 16th and 17th century and became in two centuries the most powerful part of the world. Asia is taking today the same path. The pionnier of this movement was Japon of the Meiji era in 1870. Japon was the first Asian country for centuries which has beaten a Western country, Russia, in 1905. It had a great impact at its time. Even if Japan, in the coming years, created dreadful massacres, for instance in China, the fact it was a great power in the WWII contributed to give other Asian countries the ability to emancipate from Western colonization, referring to old ancient times and adapting to the modern world.
Many Asian countries, before China, became very successful. For instance Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea or Taiwan became great economic powers despite their small sizes. Today Indonesia is seen as a promising country. Of course the extraordinary economic development of China tends to make forget the successes of all these countries, but they have to reflect the Renaissance of a whole continent of the world. The same way, in the Middle East, countries like Iran were pionniers in ideology, as they revived a post Marxist world in the end of the 1970’s.
Asia has the same mentality as the Western world in the 16th and 17th century. Its approach of the past glorious times would have been approved by Luther or Colbert. Both of them wanted as well to refer to Antiquity to make Western civilization revive. Luther based of old texts, and to ancient languages as well (Latin, Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew) ; Colbert wanted France to be the equal of the Roman empire at its greatest times. In the same line China is today a Confucean society again ; the competitions to become civil servants are completely taken from Confucean standards, only adapted to modern life. Many Asian countries had the ability to think in the long run, it is a reason of Chinese success. The Western world today is too much focusing on immediate profit and is not building in the long run like China.
The Western world, in decline and decadent, is looking like the Roman empire in the essay of Montesquieu “about the greatness and decadence of Romans”. As many Asian countries modelize on great period of their history and are building their success, the Western world looks too arrogant to consider long term hard work. As countries like China greatly invest in education, countries like France neglect it and despise its teachers. It is the reason why the trend is logical, with a rising Asia and a declining Western world.
Compared to the Renaissance of Asia the Western world is not taking a good path. It can be changed but it is more and more pressing. However it is very interesting to observe the Renaissance of a great civilization and of great former countries. As the hindouist vision of the time says time is cyclical but doesn’t repeat itself the same way, it is what we see today.
The observer 