The occurrence of etiquette dispute and the implementation of China's policy of banning religion made the missionary's activities in China drop sharply for a time, and the introduction of western learning decreased obviously. The theory of "western learning spreading to the east" gradually lost its dominant position. However, with the outbreak of the Opium War, faced with the strong guns of western countries, there was a fierce debate between scholars who advocated learning from the west and those who insisted on tradition. It is against this background that the theory of "western learning spreading to the east" is popular again.
After the Opium War, Zou was the first to demonstrate that "Western learning spread to the east". He believed that the western calendar, mechanics and optics all came from Mozi, and put forward a new theory that western learning and western learning "do their best, especially out of Mozi's scope"
Annabel also holds this view: "There are fifteen schools of thought in western countries today, and their painstaking research and test of truth is remarkable. Its origin mostly comes from Mozi and books such as Guanyin, Huainan, Kangcang and Lun Heng. " Thus, optics, electricity and pneumatics are discussed, and it is considered that these western technologies originated from China.
It is inferred that "Tessie is a clever man, from which his mood is deduced, but he is skillful in saying famous words and strange skills, so it is impossible to write China's book". In the late Qing Dynasty, the publication of Wang Renjun's Gezhi Gu Wei and Liu Yueyun's Gezhi Sino-French contributed to the revival of the theory of western learning spreading to the east.