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In a history class, I heard or read that traditionally China never sought to become an empire in the Roman or the post-Columbus Western European sense due to th

In a history class, I heard or read that traditionally China never sought to become an empire in the Roman or the post-Columbus Western European sense due to their culture. I'm paraphrasing, but the Forbidden City was thought to have been the place where Heaven met Earth. Accordingly, it didn't make sense to spread so far from this Nexus, for the farther flung the empire was, the farther away it was from Heaven. Instead, it preferred to make all roads lead to heaven. In essence, by being the economic, cultural, and military center of the world, everyone would have to come to them.

paradite 10y ago
As a Chinese, I can see where you are coming from. It is true that Chinese people have this kind of "sentiments" as you described, as part of our culture. We don't go very far and establish colonies, we prefer stay close to our root. If you read more history of China, you will also notice that the Han ethnicity prefers letting others adopt Hans customs and cultures instead of actively adopting or adapting to foreign cultures. That's another striking characteristics in my opinion.