They clung hard to the feudal despotism, and deprived China of one chance after another for development, leading it step by step from an advanced position to a backward one and eventually throwing it.

• 相反，明、清封建统治者看不到日益变化的外部世界，没有准确把握世界历史发展的大势，而是固守封建专制制度，使中华民族一次次痛失发展机遇，终于逐步地由先进转为落后。