Why the “1644 Perspective” Resonates Today

1644 marked a conquest that interrupted China’s indigenous civilizational continuity. First, Qing rule does not represent civilizational continuity. Second, civilization and regime must be separated. Third, a civilizational—not imperial—point of view. It promotes a mature attitude toward history:A great civilization survives by discarding what harms itand preserving what allows it to grow. The 1644 Perspective is not nostalgia or hostility. It is an effort to liberate Chinese civilizationfrom being permanently bound to any ruling regime. Only then can a civilization truly move forward.