Quote Originally Posted by zeichen View Post
"The Roman Empire did not."

You never heard of Charlagmane?

"A very small legacy,"
What? Latin is the foundation of several languages. You, yourself admitted to studying Latin in School and if you were a linguist of any sorts, you could learn 4 other languages in less than 1 year after knowing Latin.

"People living in China today have more in common with their distant ancestors than we do with ancient Greece or Rome."
Genocide is a such a great legacy to hold onto. Whereas at least the Roman Empire allowed countries to assimulate and still keep a sense of culture.

The Roman Empire conquered so many diverse lands and cultures and allowed them to retain their artistic style, language, food, every sense of their culture. They just had to follow Roman law, and of course be subservient.

China forced all regions in the area to give up all aspects of culture or be eliminated. Even today the people in China that aren't part of the Genome get treated differently.

Trust me, there is little unity in China accept for a sense of nationalistic superiority.

You really make a lot of assumptions. In order to be accurate in writing, you really should go to China and study there. It sounds like your Wiki research isn't quite cutting it.
I usually don't reply to ad hominum attacks, even if subtle. However, if you think Charlemagne was a continuation of the Roman Empire, you know little of real western history.

Yes, the Romans were better than any other western civilization in terms of toleration—never mind the millions they made slaves and worked to death. However, prejudice against anyone not born a Roman was strong until very late in the Empire's history, when most of the effective people were "barbarian" imports. Roman law was as harsh as any. A current resident in the PRC would find it very familiar.

Whether the ancient Chinese were tolerant of conquered peoples depended largely on the dynasty. Yes, the Chinese may be somewhat xenophobic—but one can hardly blame them. So I ask you: How many different cultural ethnicities survive in China today, officially recognized or not? Don't bother—you can look it up on Wikipedia.

Sure, I'd love to spend a lifetime studying ancient China, but mine is too near its end. I do not presume to write accurately about ancient China. Rather, I take elements of its history and culture for inspiration—along with those from other Asian peoples and cultures.

I think it funny that your apparent opinion of the ancient Romans is so like what we know of the Han attitude. If it's any consolation, the ancient Romans returned the compliment. Neither apparently had a clue what the other was really like.

However, this is not the place to discuss, debate, or bloviate about history, the current state of a sovereign nation, or anything but cartography. I will no longer respond. I don't feed trolls, at least not anything digestible.