Perception of “The Great Transformations Once in a Century”

World history is a constant flow of change. In the last century, this planet saw so many dramatic events: two world wars, followed by a cold war, and the clash of civilizations between Islam and Christianity; and a kaleidoscope of amazing technological progress. But deeper changes are happening today. As Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “This is China’s best period of development in modern history. The world is undergoing the most profound and unprecedented changes in a century. The two tendencies have become increasingly intertwined and contentious.” In other words, the secular changes happening right now will have a greater impact on the future of humanity than all of the transformations of the twentieth century. It was President Xi who recognized the importance of this critical moment in world history, and his analysis in a speech a little more than a year ago sparked vigorous discussion among China’s scholars and researchers. This article has catalogued eight dimensions in which we can identify the depth of these profound changes.