Why is China called the East and foreign countries called the West?

It is often said that the division between western countries and eastern countries is based on three criteria: geographical location, cultural background and political system.

Generally speaking, if geographical factors are considered separately, countries in the western hemisphere such as Britain, France and the United States can be called western countries, and countries in the eastern hemisphere such as China, South Korea and Japan can be called eastern countries. From the cultural background, most eastern countries believe in Confucianism, while western countries believe in Christianity. In terms of political system, western countries believe that they are implementing a democratic system.

Apart from the traditional division, Russia and Japan are two special powers. Russia belongs to a branch of western culture in cultural background, but it has not been recognized by western countries because of its political system. Although Japan belongs to the East geographically, it is also considered as a western country because of its western capitalist political system.

The G8 is a cooperative organization of western countries. Western countries are an unorganized collective name, and their division is based on the following criteria:

Scientists often say that there are three criteria for the division of eastern and western countries: geographical location, cultural background and political system. If only geographical location is considered, countries in the western hemisphere such as Britain, France and the United States can be called western countries; From the cultural background, most western countries believe in Christianity; In terms of political system, western countries consider themselves democratic. However, due to the end of the cold war and the influence of globalization, the boundaries between eastern and western countries are gradually blurred.

In addition to the traditional division of eastern and western countries, Russia and Japan are two special powers. Although Russia belongs to a branch of western culture in cultural background, it has not been recognized by western countries because of its political system. Although Japan belongs to the East geographically, it is generally regarded as a western country because of its western capitalist political system. It is often said that there are three criteria for the division of eastern and western countries: geographical location, cultural background and political system. If only geographical location is considered, countries in the western hemisphere such as Britain, France and the United States can be called western countries; From the cultural background, most western countries believe in Christianity; In terms of political system, western countries consider themselves democratic. However, due to the end of the cold war and the influence of globalization, the boundaries between eastern and western countries are gradually blurred.

In addition to the traditional division of eastern and western countries, Russia and Japan are two special powers. Although Russia belongs to a branch of western culture in cultural background, it has not been recognized by western countries because of its political system. Although Japan belongs to the East geographically, it is generally regarded as a western country because of its western capitalist political system.

"Western countries" can be European and American capitalist countries, or simply refer to European countries. Let's talk about the difference between the two.

1. European capitalist countries

The "Westernization Movement" initiated by Jonathan Lee in the late Qing Dynasty was the first attempt to learn western science and technology. At that time, the western countries actually referred to the European powers-Britain, France, Germany and Russia. Why is America not one of them? The United States established the capitalist system by two civil wars, but its strength is only a baby in front of established capitalist powers such as Britain and France. We can also see from China's modern history that the United States mostly played the role of "mediator", while Britain, France and Germany were the real "western countries" at that time.

2. Capitalist countries in Europe and America

The biggest difference is the participation of the United States. Because of the outbreak of World War I, Europe fell into war, and the United States made huge war money when European powers were fighting each other. Especially after the establishment of the Versailles-Washington system, European power was greatly consumed by the war, and the United States occupied the top of the mountain. At that time, the United States had surpassed Britain, the "world factory", and ranked first in the world in industry.

This is the interpretation of western countries in different periods.

EU

The predecessor of the European Union is the European Union (EU).

1951April 18, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the Treaty on the Establishment of European Coal and Steel (also known as the Paris Treaty) in Paris, France, and signed the "Europe" on June 25 1952.

1957 On March 25th, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed a treaty (also known as the Treaty of Rome) in Rome, Italy, aiming at establishing European economic isomorphism and European atomic energy isomorphism. 1 958 65438+1October1,the European Economic Entity and the European Atomic Energy Entity were formally established.

1On April 8th, 965, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg signed the Brussels Treaty in the Belgian capital, and decided to merge the European coal and steel isomorphism, the European economic isomorphism and the European atomic energy isomorphism, which were collectively called "European isomorphism".

The origin of the G8.

G8 refers to the G8 (France, the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia) summit, which evolved from the G7 summit, namely the Western G7. The Group of Seven was founded in 1975, and Russia joined in 1997, thus becoming the Group of Eight. At first, the G-7 mainly focused on economic issues, and its official name "G-7 Economic Summit" also showed this.

However, as a club of rich countries and powerful countries, the G-8 is closed to some extent, and the annual summit is generally limited to G-8 countries. This year's dialogue between G-8 members and some developing countries is a pioneering work and of great significance in the history of G-8.

Western countries ≠ Western countries

"Western countries" is not entirely a concept of physical geography. Japan is located in the east, but it is usually called the western country.

After the end of World War II, people referred to socialist countries and capitalist countries as "Oriental Group" and "capitalist camp", and the relationship between them was usually called East-West relationship. Now, although the "camp" no longer exists, the term "two countries" is still in use. In recent years, the annual economic summit of the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan is often called the "G-7 Summit".