This book based on documents investigates and compares two civilizations, the Chinese and the European, through European eyes in a historical perspective. Both civilizations were based on similar moral and social organizational principles. However, the different geography, differences in ways of thinking, and local specificities led to very different realizations of these principles. The Chinese civilization was the first to develop, and it had its influence on the development of its European counterpart. Later, primarily in the 19th and 20th centuries, it was the European trend of modernization that influenced and challenged Chinese development. This documentary essay deals with the interpretations of some important European political thinkers of the values and principles of the Chinese civilization, as well as the thoughts of their Chinese contemporaries. It also investigates the answers given by some important Chinese thinkers to the challenge of European modernization in the area of state and international organization in the 19th and the 20th centuries. The goal is to contribute to the dialogue between the two civilizations.
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