The Greeks lived in the maritime nation and depended on commerce to sustain their prosperity. They are fundamentally businessmen. The first thing a businessman has to deal with is the abstract numbers used for business accounts. Then there are the concrete things, which can only be directly grasped through the numbers. Such numbers are what Northrop calls hypothetical concepts. So the Greek philosophers also took this hypothetical concept as their starting point. They developed mathematics and mathematical reasoning. This is why they have epistemological problems, why their language is so clear. But merchants were also city dwellers, and their activities required them to live together in the city. Therefore, their form of social organization is not based on the common interests of the family, but on the common interests of the city. For this reason, the Greeks organized their society around the city-state, in contrast to the Chinese social system, which could be called the family-state, because under this system the state was understood in terms of the family. In a city-state social organization is not dictatorial, because within the same bourgeoisie there is no moral reason to think that one person should be more important or superior to another. But in a family state, social organization is authoritarian and hierarchical, because within a family, the authority of the father is naturally higher than that of the son

The fact that the Chinese used to be "farmers" can also explain why there was no industrial revolution in China. Only by means of the Industrial Revolution can we enter the modern world. There is a story in "Liezi" that the monarch of the Song Dynasty once asked a skilled craftsman to carve a piece of jade into a leaf. Three years later, it was carved, and when the carved leaf was placed on a tree, no one could tell which was the real leaf and which was the carved leaf. So the king was very happy. But when Liezi heard about this, he said: "If the creatures of heaven and earth will become a leaf in three years, there will be few people who have leaves!" the opinion of. The "farmers" way of life is natural. They praise nature and condemn man, and are easily satisfied in their simplicity and innocence. They don't want change, and they can't imagine change. There have been many famous inventions in China, but we often see that they are not encouraged but hindered. For businessmen in the maritime countries, the situation is different. They have more opportunities to meet people of different nationalities, with different customs and languages; they are accustomed to changes and are not afraid of novelty. Instead, in order to sell their goods, they must encourage innovation in the craftsmanship of making them. In the West, it is no accident that the Industrial Revolution first took place in Britain, which was also a maritime nation that thrived on commerce.

The fact that the Chinese used to be "farmers" can also explain why there was no industrial revolution in China. Only by means of the Industrial Revolution can we enter the modern world. There is a story in "Liezi" that the monarch of the Song Dynasty once asked a skilled craftsman to carve a piece of jade into a leaf. Three years later, it was carved, and when the carved leaf was placed on a tree, no one could tell which was the real leaf and which was the carved leaf. So the king was very happy. But when Liezi heard about this, he said: "If the creatures of heaven and earth will become a leaf in three years, there will be few people who have leaves!" the opinion of. The "farmers" way of life is natural. They praise nature and condemn man, and are easily satisfied in their simplicity and innocence. They don't want change, and they can't imagine change. There have been many famous inventions in China, but we often see that they are not encouraged but hindered. For businessmen in the maritime countries, the situation is different. They have more opportunities to meet people of different nationalities, with different customs and languages; they are accustomed to changes and are not afraid of novelty. Instead, in order to sell their goods, they must encourage innovation in the craftsmanship of making them. In the West, it is no accident that the Industrial Revolution first took place in Britain, which was also a maritime nation that thrived on commerce.

The Greeks lived in the maritime nation and depended on commerce to sustain their prosperity. They are fundamentally businessmen. The first thing a businessman has to deal with is the abstract numbers used for business accounts. Then there are the concrete things, which can only be directly grasped through the numbers. Such numbers are what Northrop calls hypothetical concepts. So the Greek philosophers also took this hypothetical concept as their starting point. They developed mathematics and mathematical reasoning. This is why they have epistemological problems, why their language is so clear. But merchants were also city dwellers, and their activities required them to live together in the city. Therefore, their form of social organization is not based on the common interests of the family, but on the common interests of the city. For this reason, the Greeks organized their society around the city-state, in contrast to the Chinese social system, which could be called the family-state, because under this system the state was understood in terms of the family. In a city-state social organization is not dictatorial, because within the same bourgeoisie there is no moral reason to think that one person should be more important or superior to another. But in a family state, social organization is authoritarian and hierarchical, because within a family, the authority of the father is naturally higher than that of the son

The fact that the Chinese used to be "farmers" can also explain why there was no industrial revolution in China. Only by means of the Industrial Revolution can we enter the modern world. There is a story in "Liezi" that the monarch of the Song Dynasty once asked a skilled craftsman to carve a piece of jade into a leaf. Three years later, it was carved, and when the carved leaf was placed on a tree, no one could tell which was the real leaf and which was the carved leaf. So the king was very happy. But when Liezi heard about this, he said: "If the creatures of heaven and earth will become a leaf in three years, there will be few people who have leaves!" the opinion of. The "farmers" way of life is natural. They praise nature and condemn man, and are easily satisfied in their simplicity and innocence. They don't want change, and they can't imagine change. There have been many famous inventions in China, but we often see that they are not encouraged but hindered. For businessmen in the maritime countries, the situation is different. They have more opportunities to meet people of different nationalities, with different customs and languages; they are accustomed to changes and are not afraid of novelty. Instead, in order to sell their goods, they must encourage innovation in the craftsmanship of making them. In the West, it is no accident that the Industrial Revolution first took place in Britain, which was also a maritime nation that thrived on commerce.

The fact that the Chinese used to be "farmers" can also explain why there was no industrial revolution in China. Only by means of the Industrial Revolution can we enter the modern world. There is a story in "Liezi" that the monarch of the Song Dynasty once asked a skilled craftsman to carve a piece of jade into a leaf. Three years later, it was carved, and when the carved leaf was placed on a tree, no one could tell which was the real leaf and which was the carved leaf. So the king was very happy. But when Liezi heard about this, he said: "If the creatures of heaven and earth will become a leaf in three years, there will be few people who have leaves!" the opinion of. The "farmers" way of life is natural. They praise nature and condemn man, and are easily satisfied in their simplicity and innocence. They don't want change, and they can't imagine change. There have been many famous inventions in China, but we often see that they are not encouraged but hindered. For businessmen in the maritime countries, the situation is different. They have more opportunities to meet people of different nationalities, with different customs and languages; they are accustomed to changes and are not afraid of novelty. Instead, in order to sell their goods, they must encourage innovation in the craftsmanship of making them. In the West, it is no accident that the Industrial Revolution first took place in Britain, which was also a maritime nation that thrived on commerce.