人们在谈论中国近代社会之所以落后时,往往冠之以“闭关锁国”云云。殊不知,世界历史上最典型的“闭关锁国”却发生在古代日本。16世纪中期,葡萄牙、西班牙、荷兰、英国等国商人纷纷到日本经商。葡萄牙人还把基督教传入日本。日本一些封建领主带头信奉并大力传播,使基督教逐渐传遍日本全国,不少民众也成了信奉者。信 When people talk about why China’s modern society lags behind, they often rely on “closed-door state” and so on. As everyone knows, the most typical “closed-door state” in world history occurred in ancient Japan. In the mid-16th century, merchants from Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Britain and other countries went to Japan for business. The Portuguese also introduced Christianity to Japan. Some feudal lords in Japan took the lead in believing and propagating so that Christianity gradually spread throughout Japan and many people became worshipers. letter