China, which Smith was involved in, was the period before the mid-Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. It should be said that although Smith has never been to China, his observation and analysis of China is correct. In particular, many European missionaries and travelers misrepresented China's observation, many French thinkers advocated China culture, and the physiocratic school also appreciated China's traditional thought of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining the end" (referring to the end of industry and commerce) and took it as a confidant. However, Smith used these materials to make his own unique judgment. In my opinion, Smith's exposition of China is much higher than these people. This is the master's superman.

Smith grasped the most essential feature of feudal society in China at that time-long-term stagnation. China is the country with the longest stagnation time in world history. It has a vast land, hardworking people and convenient transportation. It has already reached the prosperity that the feudal system can achieve. It became a powerful country as early as the Han Dynasty, but it has made little progress since then. According to an American economist's estimation, from the Western Han Dynasty to 1952, the per capita income of China only increased by about 20%. It's like a precocious child, who grew faster than others in the early stage, but never grew up again. Some scholars call China an "ultra-stable society", which refers to this stagnation. This feature of China society is the key to understanding China's modern problems-the complexity of China's difficult modernization process and its stubborn conservative consciousness are all due to this long-term stagnation.