“Yong is the outer manifestation of something. Ti is the underlying essence. Technology is a yong associated with a particular ti that is”—the Doctor stumbled here and, through a noticeable effort, refrained from using pejorative terms like barbarian or gwailo— “that is Western, and completely alien to us. For centuries, since the time of the Opium Wars, we have struggled to absorb the yong of technology without importing the Western ti. But it has been impossible. Just as our ancestors could not open our ports to the West without accepting the poison of opium, we could not open our lives to
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