Alecto 
04/26/2009, 21:24:39
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The institutions and hierarchical structures were thoroughly Chinese. The Mongol and Manchu minorities that lived in China proper thoroughly integrated themselves into Chinese society and culture. The conquerors in both instances had become sinicized in the process of conquering, then ruling China. This contrasts dramatically with countries like Egypt whose culture, religion, and politics were repeatedly subjected to dramatic changes with every new successive conqueror, in turn being Persianized, Hellenized, Romanized, and Islamized (several times), and in the process severing the link to its cultural, religious and political past each and every time. Chinese culture, language, economics, politics (in fact whatever you want to name), can claim an unbroken line of descent from the prehistoric Yellow River city-states that appeared thousands of years ago.
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