At that time there were many wars in a chaotic Europe, but a remote and unchanging China was seen by travellers and great writers as governed by philosophers in a state of serene and eternal stability.
當時的歐洲戰爭頻仍、支離破碎；而遙遠的中國卻在「哲學家」治理下，持續數千年而不墜，可不是一片富庶有禮、治國有道的神妙樂土？不只是馬可波羅之輩的旅行記，連啟蒙時代大哲學家伏爾泰亦作如是觀。