China and the West

Przheval'skii, Nikolaj Mikhailovic. Ot Kjachty na istoki zeltoj reki [ID D2479].
"Where centuries of isolation were unceremoniously violated by the Europeans, could hardly yield to innovation alien to it in spirit and basis. It is true that China currently introduces European improvements in military technology and the military system in general, but these changes concern only one side of the life of the state, moreover, caused by an urgent necessity of self-defense. To transplant here other branches of European culture and civilization would need such a comprehensive rift that the obsolete Chinese people will hardly be able to survive. Progress everywhere forges its way with difficulty but, in China, it most probably will not be able to force its way. People's lives here have been formed over 40 centuries too soundly and exceptionally. The well-groomed sprouts of European civilization will not take root on such a hardened ground.
The intolerable oppression of the Chinese rule on the one hand, and constant rumors of an humane attitude toward non-Russians in our Asian regions – this is what created a good reputation for Russians in the depths of the Asian deserts… One can be sure that China's policy toward us will not change, at least firmly, without a practical show of our force."