Selected texts from Fang Píng (1971). A Social and Historical Outline of China. Shanghai, PRC. Editorial Collective for People's Education (English) China was for a long time considered a country with a tradition and customs centuries old that made it refractory to change. To some observers and critiques the essence of social inertia. However in the beginning of the 20th century it would be perhaps the example of profound political and social transformations that few societies could imagine. The story of China would also affect its neighbors: Japan and Korea, and to a lesser degree the rest of South East Asia.