Below is the relevant passage from Chapter III, "Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being," in John Stuart Mill’s *On Liberty* (1859), where he discusses China. This is the full text of the paragraph (paragraph 14) that contains his reference to China, sourced from the standard public domain edition of the text:
> "We have a warning example in China—a nation of much talent, and, in some respects, even wisdom, owing to the rare good fortune of having been provided at an early period with a particularly good set of customs, the work, in some measure, of men to whom even the most enlightened European must accord, under certain limitations, the title of sages and philosophers. They are remarkable, too, in the excellence of their apparatus for impressing, as far as possible, the best wisdom they possess upon every mind in the community, and securing that those who have appropriated most of it shall occupy the posts of honour and power. Surely the people who did this have discovered the secret of human progressiveness, and must have kept themselves steadily at the head of the movement of the world. On the contrary, they have become stationary—have remained so for thousands of years; and if they are ever to be farther improved, it must be by foreigners. They have succeeded beyond all hope in what English philanthropists are so industriously working at—in making a people all alike, all governing their thoughts and conduct by the same maxims and rules; and these are the fruits. The modern régime of public opinion is, in an unorganised form, what the Chinese educational and political systems are in an organised; and unless individuality shall be able successfully to assert itself against this yoke, Europe, notwithstanding its noble antecedents and its professed Christianity, will tend to become another China."
This passage reflects Mill’s argument that China’s early advancements were undermined by a lack of individuality and excessive conformity, leading to stagnation. He uses this as a cautionary tale for Europe, warning against the suppression of individual liberty by public opinion or rigid systems.
Below is the relevant passage from Chapter III, "Of Individuality, as One of the Elements of Well-Being," in John Stuart Mill’s *On Liberty* (1859), where he discusses China. This is the full text of the paragraph (paragraph 14) that contains his reference to China, sourced from the standard public domain edition of the text:
> "We have a warning example in China—a nation of much talent, and, in some respects, even wisdom, owing to the rare good fortune of having been provided at an early period with a particularly good set of customs, the work, in some measure, of men to whom even the most enlightened European must accord, under certain limitations, the title of sages and philosophers. They are remarkable, too, in the excellence of their apparatus for impressing, as far as possible, the best wisdom they possess upon every mind in the community, and securing that those who have appropriated most of it shall occupy the posts of honour and power. Surely the people who did this have discovered the secret of human progressiveness, and must have kept themselves steadily at the head of the movement of the world. On the contrary, they have become stationary—have remained so for thousands of years; and if they are ever to be farther improved, it must be by foreigners. They have succeeded beyond all hope in what English philanthropists are so industriously working at—in making a people all alike, all governing their thoughts and conduct by the same maxims and rules; and these are the fruits. The modern régime of public opinion is, in an unorganised form, what the Chinese educational and political systems are in an organised; and unless individuality shall be able successfully to assert itself against this yoke, Europe, notwithstanding its noble antecedents and its professed Christianity, will tend to become another China."
This passage reflects Mill’s argument that China’s early advancements were undermined by a lack of individuality and excessive conformity, leading to stagnation. He uses this as a cautionary tale for Europe, warning against the suppression of individual liberty by public opinion or rigid systems.
“中国其一警戒也。彼国多才，且于诸事或有智慧，幸其草昧之世，得一尤善之成法，盖圣哲之士所为也。虽最明之欧洲人，在某限下，必许其为哲人。亦善其教政之具，以所知之至道，极烙印于人人脑中，使多知者处尊位。此其人，岂非探得进步之秘，且常居世界之先耶？不然，乃停顿矣，数千年如是；其更进，惟外人能为之矣。彼果于英国仁人所勤力者，得如所期，使一国之人皆同，思想行事悉遵一矩，此其果也。今世舆论之制，散漫如是，犹中国教政之有条理；若个性不能敌此，则欧洲虽有其高贵先业，及所称之基督教，必将为另一中国矣。”
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