西方价值观有三个核心内容，一个是人文艺术，一个是法治理念，另一个是以基督教为基础的宗教文化。西方价值观虽然对之前的欧洲人文历史有所传承，但大体上都是在资本主义产生以后才逐渐稳固下来的。资本主义的生产方式和生产关系塑造了西方的独特的价值观，这种价值观从根本上来说都是建立在金钱、资本的基础上的。在美版知乎Quora上，美国网友提问道：西方人了解中国的最大障碍是什么？这引起各国广大网友的热议，我们来看看他们的观点。
问题：西方人了解中国的最大障碍是什么？
德国网友汤姆•钱德勒的回答
• arrogance. We have the so-called universal values and democratic freedom, so it is tacit that everyone should abide by them and act like us. Since they should act like us, there is no need to understand the behavioral logic of the Chinese people and their cultural background.
•傲慢。我们有所谓的普世价值观和民主自由，因此默认每个人都应该遵守，每个人都应该像我们一样行事，既然他们应该像我们一样行事，就没有必要去理解中国人的行为逻辑以及他们的文化背景。
• language barriers. If you do not understand Chinese, it is difficult to correctly understand China, a country with a vast territory and diverse cultures. Almost all the students at school are learning English, but how many Westerners are learning Chinese? This is undoubtedly one of the most important issues in the future Sino Western relations.
•语言障碍。如果不懂中文，就很难正确理解中国这样一个幅员辽阔、文化多样的国家。几乎所有的在校生都在学英语，但有多少西方人学汉语？这无疑是未来中西方关系中最重要的问题之一。
• I don't know how many Chinese military experts have paid close attention to the world war in order to predict whether China and the western media will pay close attention to the bottom line in a certain month.
•西方媒体在报道中国新闻方面做得很差，为了关注度和点击率他们可以没有底线，我已经记不清有多少次某位军事专家预测下个月美国将与中国开启世界大战。
Westerners believe that their relationship with China began after Nixon's visit to China in the 1970s. However, China believes that their relationship with the West began with the Opium War, which means that when China puts forward legitimate territorial claims to the islands and other regions in the South China Sea, the West will think that China is implementing blatant imperialist and expansionist policies, while China believes that it is only recovering what they have lost.
西方人认为他们与中国的关系始于20世纪70年代尼克松访问中国之后。但是，中国认为他们与西方的关系始于鸦片战争，这意味着，当中国对南海诸岛等地域提出正当的领土声索主张时，西方会认为中国在施行明目张胆的帝国主义和扩张主义政策，而中国则认为这只是在挽回他们失去的东西。
The West and other countries in the world believe that the current situation is the international governance system dominated by Europe and America, while China seeks the core position in Asia before the Opium War within a reasonable range.
西方和世界其他国家都认为现状是欧美主导的国际治理体系，而中国则在合理的范围内寻求鸦片战争前在亚洲的核心地位。
To a large extent, China suffers from some kind of national post-traumatic stress disorder. They have suffered great pain in the near past. Although their economy and reputation have recovered, the national spirit is still traumatized by the past. Anger and the desire for retribution deeply exist in the hearts of the Chinese people.
中国很大程度上患有某种全国性的创伤后应激障碍，他们在不远的过去遭受了巨大的痛苦，虽然经济和声望有所恢复，但国民的精神仍然受到过去的创伤，愤怒和对报应的渴望深深地存在于中国人的心中。
Their views on the world are still deeply influenced by the colonial aggression of great powers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Every contempt or criticism from the west is regarded as an extension of Western imperialism. He regards Japan as an uneasy force allied with the United States and endangering regional stability, and the Taiwan authorities as a rebel force running counter to mainland compatriots. China's relations with the West and its surrounding countries are largely strongly affected by the traumatic experience 150-100 years ago, which Westerners cannot understand.
他们对世界的看法仍然深受19世纪和20世纪初列强殖民侵略事件的影响。西方的每一个轻蔑或批评都被看作是西方帝国主义的延伸，他把日本视为与美国结盟危害地区稳定的不安力量、台湾当局作为与大陆同胞背道而驰的反叛力量，中国与西方及其周边国家的关系大多受到150-100年前的创伤经历的强烈影响，这是西方人不能理解的。
Therefore, the next time the "West" groundlessly accuses China of so-called human rights violations, the Chinese are thinking about the heinous crimes and double labeled acts committed by Western powers and Japan during colonial aggression. Next time, when the "West" talks about China bullying others, Chinese people will think of their times and deeds of being bullied. Therefore, respect for China's deep suffering may be of great help to understand China.
所以，下次“西方”无端指责中国所谓人权侵犯事件时，中国人正在思考西方列强和日本在殖民侵略时犯下的滔天罪行及其双标行径。下一次，当“西方”大肆谈论中国欺负他人时，中国人会想到他们被欺负的时代和事迹，因此，对中国深重苦难的尊重可能会对理解中国有很大帮助。
China also understands that many things have changed in the past 100 years. The rest of the world hopes that China will stand up in the new global era and act like a world leader, rather than continue to repeat the nightmare of the past – not only for China, but also for everyone else.
中国方面也明白，在过去的100年里，很多事情都发生了变化，世界其他国家都希望中国在新的全球时代站出来，像一个世界领袖一样行事，而不是继续重演过去的噩梦——不仅是为了中国，也是为了其他所有人。
英国专家麦道克•威廉姆斯的回答
The biggest obstacle is that they don't realize that the core values that Chinese people and the West attach importance to are different. If Westerners can't deeply appreciate and understand Chinese tradition, they won't understand China.
最大的障碍是没有意识到中国人和西方重视的核心价值观并不相同，如果西方人不能深刻地欣赏和理解中国传统，他们就不会理解中国。
The West has developed the concepts of individual rights, human rights and animal rights. The Christian doctrine extracted from the Bible, the church teaching in 2000, the religious reform, the Magna Carta and the principles of the French Revolution, such as freedom, equality and fraternity, can not be mechanically imposed on Chinese culture, which is illustrated by the failure of the experiment of modern Chinese cultural movement.
西方发展出了个人权利、人权、动物权利等概念，《圣经》提炼出的基督教教义、2000年的教会教学、宗教改革、《大宪章》、法国革命原则，如自由、平等、博爱，但这些都不能生搬硬套强加于中国文化之上，中国近代文化运动实验的失败说明了这一点。
China or East Asia has a different history. China did not take Christianity as its cultural basis in the process of growth. It grew up with Confucianism, which emphasizes harmony and social cooperation and individual responsibility to the country and family. For thousands of years, Chinese culture has been derived into different tributaries, but they all emphasize the concepts of obedience, obedience and respect for the system.
中国或者说东亚有着不同的历史，中国在成长过程中没有把基督教作为其文化基础。它与儒家思想一起成长，儒家思想强调和谐与社会合作，强调个人对国家和家庭的责任。千百年来，中国文化衍生为不同的支流，但都强调顺从、服从、尊重制度等理念。
The Western patricide or Oedipus complex is abhorrent to most East Asians.
西方的弑父或恋母情结对大多数东亚人来说，是令人憎恶的。
Chinese people have been taught to respect and be filial to their parents since childhood. Chinese culture has always been based on ancestor worship, which made the ancient Chinese move back in peace unless the situation was critical.
中国人从小就被教导要尊重和孝顺父母。中国文化一直以祖先崇拜为基础，这使得古代中国人安土重迁，除非情况危急。
In China, obedience is regarded as the ultimate virtue, and Chinese people also have great trust in family, government and other institutions. In the west, rebellion and personal freedom, speech and thought are respected. In Asia, there is a proverb: "a gun shoots a bird."
在中国，服从被视为终极美德，中国人也非常信任家庭、政府等机构。而在西方，反叛和个人自由、言论和思想受到了推崇，在亚洲，有句谚语叫：“枪打出头鸟。”
These ideas guide people's thinking and behavior, and finally shape their personality and behavior.
这些理念指导着人们的思想、行为方式，最终塑造了他们的个性和行为。
What many Europeans don't realize is that China is very similar to Europe, and China also has many different nationalities. The difference is that China was unified under one regime more than 2000 years ago. However, Europe has never been unified, nor has it evolved and integrated with different countries with different cultures, languages and laws.
许多欧洲人没有意识到的是，中国与欧洲很相似，中国也有许多不同的民族。不同之处在于，中国在2000多年前统一于一个政权之下。然而，欧洲从未统一过，也从未与不同文化、语言和法律的不同国家一起进化，融合发展。
Because China is unified under one political power, it enables a government to impose prohibitions and smooth government orders. This has allowed China to experience a period of relative peace and stability for centuries, which has both advantages and disadvantages. It has gradually become complacent – a government led by exam oriented bureaucrats who are more interested in building their own fame than encouraging progress, development and reform. Since the Chinese dynasty became rich and powerful, it has been more interested in maintaining the status quo rather than exploring new boundaries.
因为中国统一于一个政权之下，这使得一个政府能够令行禁止，政令通畅。这让中国经历了几个世纪的相对和平与稳定的时期，这既有好处，也有坏处。它渐渐变得固步自封——一个由应试官僚领导的政府，他们对建立自己的功名更感兴趣，而不是鼓励进步、发展和改革。中国王朝自从变得富强起来，将更多的兴趣放在维持现状上，而不是探索新的边界。
Europe was not United – which led to a continuing war between rival kingdoms. This continuous state of war made Europeans make the greatest progress in military technology. The war forced them to innovate or be conquered. This led them to seek foreign land for development and colonization. This constantly changing state also urges people to develop new ideas and inventions.
欧洲没有统一——这导致了敌对王国之间的持续战争。这种持续不断的战争状态使欧洲人在军事技术方面取得了最大的进步，战争迫使他们创新或被征服。这导致他们寻找外国土地进行开发和殖民。这种不断变化的状态也促使人们发展出新思想、新发明。
华裔网友Yauming的回答
Of course, the prejudice of westerners is an important reason why they have been unable to understand China, but we must also focus on a special type of Chinese, because they always add fuel to the Chinese problem.
当然，西方人的偏见是他们一直未能理解中国的一个重要原因，但我们也必须重点提及一种特殊类型的中国人，因为他们总爱在中国问题上添油加醋。
In China, they are called "higher Chinese". Most of them are Chinese, including people from Hong Kong and Taiwan, or the second generation of Chinese immigrants. They always complain about themselves, but they are confident that they are superior to their compatriots. They often have a distorted and distorted view of the Chinese government and people, and will spare no effort to comply with the prejudice of the West.
在中国，它们被称为高等華人”,他们大多为中国人，包括来自香港和台湾的人，或者第二代中国移民，他们总爱自怨自艾，却又自信自己比他们的同胞更加优越，他们往往对中国政府和人民都有一种扭曲、扭曲的看法，并会不遗余力地顺应西方的偏见。
Zhang Jiadun, a conservative scholar, is a good example.
保守派学者章家敦就是一个很好的例子。
Since 2001, he has repeatedly predicted that China will collapse soon, including 2011, 2012 and 2016. He recently claimed that in terms of extremism, China is on a par with Japan in the 1930s, and China's defensive action is a threat to the United States to some extent.
自2001年以来，他多次错误预测中国将很快崩溃，包括2011年、2012年和2016年。他最近又妄称，在极端主义方面，中国与20世纪30年代的日本不相上下，中国采取的防卫行动在某种程度上是对美国的一种威胁姿态。
What I want to say is that it would be foolish for you to believe a so-called expert like him. Traditionally, American International Relations think tanks tend to avoid "senior Chinese" such as Zhang Jiadun like avoiding the plague, not only because they are Chinese and have a low ethnic status in American society, but also because they tend to present China in a distorted way, which will have a disastrous impact on foreign policy.
我想说的是，你要是相信像他这样的所谓专家就太傻了。传统上，美国国际关系智库倾向于像躲避瘟疫一样避开像章家敦这样的“高级中国人”，这不仅是因为他们是中国人，在美国社会中种族地位较低，还因为他们倾向于以一种歪曲的方式呈现中国，这将对外交政策产生灾难性影响。
However, in recent years, "senior Chinese" have been increasingly recruited by American think tanks. I don't know why this happened, but my understanding is: the US government has no other way to obtain first-hand information about China. The Anti China forces in the United States have gone crazy and lost their reason.
然而，近年来，“高级中国人”越来越多地被美国智库招募。我不知道为什么会出现这种情况，但我的理解是：美国政府没有其他办法获取有关中国的第一手信息，美国国内反华势力已经疯狂到失去理智了。
It is commendable that their misinformation is very beneficial to China, because western countries no longer know how to treat China, which will largely mislead their foreign policies. They have nothing to do except resort to long-standing smear and bullying, and China has enough ability to deal with these despicable means.
值得赞扬的是，他们的错误信息对中国非常有利，因为西方国家不再知道如何对待中国，这将在很大程度上误导他们的对外政策，除了诉诸由来已久的抹黑和欺凌，他们已经无计可施，而中国已经有足够的能力应对这些卑劣的手段。