众所周知，作为世界四大文明古国的唯一现世幸存者，中华文明是当今世界当之无愧的最古老文明。
不可否认，对于大多数非中华文明体系内成员的外国人而言，中国的此种身份所带给他们的更多是一种矛盾的心情：
一方面，神秘的东方中华文明令他们痴醉向往。
另一方面，中华浩大的文明内涵让不少内心敏感的外国人心生自卑之余，逐渐滋生不满。
对此，近期在外国问答平台“quora”上，就有外国网友提问：你如何看待自己与中国人交谈时，所感受到的那股强烈的民族自豪感？这是否是中国人的炫耀？
1、Richard Sexton
There's certainly a strong current of national pride here when you talk to people here in China. That's a pretty forgivable sin, all things considered. That said, like Faye above, there's occasionally an idea that China's 5000 year history was all awesome and great and that they "invented everything," and that us white folks are barbarians.
当你和中国人交谈时，你会发现他们有一股强烈的民族自豪感。总体来说，这都是情有可原的事情。也就是说，就像有人提到的一样，人们偶尔会有这样的想法：中国5000年的历史是辉煌的、伟大的，他们“发明了一切”，而我们白人就像是野蛮人一样。
Certainly, there's a lot of impressive technological innovation in China historically. In terms of practical inventions, China definitely has a lot to show off about. Natural gas, wheelbarrows with the wheel in the middle instead of the front, et al.
当然，中国历史上有很多令人印象深刻的技术创新。就实用发明而言，中国肯定有很多值得炫耀的东西。天然气，轮子在中间而不是在前面的手推车，等等。
2、Michael Stevens
Living in and traveling around China for a few years now, the answer to this question is seemingly: No, Chinese are not showing off their history.
我在中国生活和旅游了几年，对于这个问题我的答案是:不，中国人并没有在炫耀他们的历史。
This is not to say however that they are not proud of their history. Speak to any Chinese (with whom you can communicate) and they are certain to remind you at some point that they have 5000 years of history, however they rarely elaborate on what that means. So are they showing off? No. Are they proud? Absolutely.
然而，这并不是说他们对自己的历史不感到自豪。和任何一个中国人交谈(只要他们有能力跟你交流)，他们一定会在某个时刻提醒你，他们有5000年的历史，但他们很少详细说明这意味着什么。那么他们是在炫耀吗?不。他们是在骄傲吗?绝对是的。
Should they be? Depends. -Disclaimer, my Chinese is very limited and as such, greatly restricts the demographics with whom I interact, but the question asks the perspective of the lao wai, not what the reality may actually be.
他们应该骄傲吗？视情况而定。-免责声明，我的中文非常有限，因此，这极大地限制了我能够与之互动的中国人的人数，但这个问题问的是老外的视角，而不是现实的真相应该是什么。
3、Jacksonville
historically, China (right behind the Fertile Crescent) has been very innovative by independently inventing numerous technologies superior to most of the rest of the world -the wheel, food production and domestication, writing, watercraft, pottery and porcelain, movable print, paper, the compass, and gunpowder.
历史上，中国(在新月沃土另一侧)一直非常具有创新性，他们独立发明了许多优于世界上大多数国家的技术——轮子、食品生产和驯化、文字、水利、陶瓷、活字印刷、纸张、指南针和火药。
Now，China is the fastest developing country in the world and as a foreigner you will likely be reminded that China is now the second largest economy in the world (just don't ask how they rank in terms of GDP per capita). Everywhere you go in China there are major construction projects.
现在，中国是世界上发展最快的国家，作为一个外国人，可能会有人提醒你说，中国现在是世界第二大经济体(但是请不要问他们的人均GDP排名如何)。在中国，到处都有大型建设项目。
4、Andy Lee
Most Western folks don't mind and find it a charming reason to visit China
大多数西方人并不介意，他们认为这是一个去中国旅行的迷人理由
It's mostly Vietnamese and Koreans* who find it annoying, as the other half of the historic claims is claiming that the totality of Korean and Vietnamese history is merely a branch of Chinese history.
大多数越南人和韩国人认为这很烦人，因为按照中国的历史所说，朝鲜和越南的历史只是中国历史的一个分支。
Japanese culture is already world renown as something distinct from China so they're less likely to find it bothersome, and if anything get to brag that they were influenced by the best dynasty in China, the Tang.
日本文化已经因为与中国不同而闻名于世，所以日本人不太可能觉得这很让人烦恼，非要炫耀什么的话，那就是他们受到了中国最好的朝代—唐朝的影响。
5、Yaru Lin
It is reasonable for cultures with extensive histories to be aware and proud of that. I haven't seen Chinese people show off Chinese history any more than Greek people show off Greek history.
拥有悠久历史的文化有理由意识到这一点并为此感到自豪。我从来没有见过比希腊人炫耀希腊历史更厉害的中国人去炫耀中国历史。
Nor have I met many foreigners who are well acquainted with Chinese history beyond impressions of the PRC and Confucius - hence they have always been pleasantly surprised when I offhandedly give my typical fifteen minute summary.
除了对中华人民共和国和孔子有点印象之外，我也没有遇到过许多熟悉中国历史的外国人——因此，当我不假思索地给他们做了典型的15分钟中国历史总结的时候，他们总是对此又惊又喜。
6、Maxwell Cao
Some people show off “freedom ” more than chinese show off history .Actually,many chinese “just smile and not to talk ”
有些人比中国人更爱炫耀“自由”。事实上，很多中国人只会“笑而不语”。
当然，相较于这些善意且宽容理解的评论，同样有不少外国人表现出了相当的恶意：
1、Tiffany
I don't know if you've ever played the game of "Chinese Restaurant". In the game, Chinese chefs sell rats as food.
我不知道你是否玩过“中餐馆”这款游戏。在游戏中，中国厨师将老鼠作为食物售卖。
Although I don't know much about China, it really makes me dislike them. So how can I answer this question? I don't think I will ever have a Chinese friend or have any conversation with Chinese people.
虽然我对中国不太了解，但它确实让我讨厌它们。那么我该如何回答这个问题呢？我不认为我会有一个中国朋友或与中国人交谈。
2、Martin Lawrence
When I was in high school, I had a Chinese classmate who seemed to be indifferent to all the activities that Americans were interested in, such as drinking, barbecuing and dating.
当我在高中的时候，我有一个中国同学，她似乎对美国人感兴趣的所有活动都漠不关心，比如喝酒、烧烤和约会。
This made me very angry. Especially, she only cared about the attitude of learning. I didn't even have the opportunity to communicate with her. This makes me sick of today's problems. Who wants to talk to the Chinese people?
这让我很生气。尤其是，她只关心学习的态度。我甚至没有机会和她交流。这使我厌倦了今天的问题。谁想和中国人交谈？
3、Martin Lawrence
The Chinese keep boasting about their positive history, but forget that they have been oppressed by the northern nomads for a long time in history. They hope to survive through women and money!
中国人一直在吹嘘他们的积极历史，但忘记了他们在历史上长期受到北方游牧民族的压迫。他们希望通过女人和金钱（换取）生存！
Obviously, compared with the history of unyielding fighting in Europe, this is extremely disgraceful.Therefore, I disdain the pride of the Chinese people.
显然，与欧洲不屈不挠的战斗历史相比，这是极其可耻的。因此，我鄙视中国人的骄傲。
4、Roman Knight
China should pray that the Himalayas blocked Alexander. Compared with the Macedonian phalanx, China during the Qin Dynasty was undoubtedly very fragile. （More than ten years after the Qin Dynasty was founded, it perished in a group of peasants'riots, which exposed his fragility.）
中国应该祈祷喜马拉雅山阻挡了亚历山大。与马其顿方阵相比，中国在秦朝无疑是非常脆弱的。（秦朝建立十多年后，就在一群农民的暴动中灭亡，暴露了他的脆弱性。）
Although the Chinese people constantly emphasized their strength, in my opinion, it was just the boasting of street corner tramps. The most direct proof was that China was so strong. Why don't they come and occupy Europe?
虽然中国人不断强调自己的实力，但在我看来，这不过是街角流浪汉的吹嘘而已。最直接的证据是中国如此强大。他们为什么不来占领欧洲？
显然，针对此类对于中国有着相当恶意的扭曲和污篾，评论区里的一位中国姑娘在竭力保持冷静客观之后，实在忍不住了：
Feifei Wang
We really don't need foreigners to give us their perspective on this one. We are indeed showing off our 5000 years of history ALL THE TIME. We have the longest continuous history; we practically invented everything; we are the only country who set up historian as a government official since beginning of time;
我们真的不需要外国人告诉我们他们对这个问题的看法。我们确实一直在炫耀我们5000年的历史。我们拥有全世界最长的连续历史;我们几乎发明了一切东西;我们是有史以来唯一一个把历史学家设为政府官员的国家;
we were the most advanced society for thousands of years; when we're eating fine cuisines in our fine dining hall, western Europeans were eating half cooked meat with small weapons in tiny stone hovels with hay covering their floor! Barbarians...
我们是几千年来最先进的社会;当我们在高级餐厅里享用美味佳肴时，西欧人用细小的武器在铺着干草的小石屋里吃着半生不熟的肉!像野蛮人一样活着……
Of course, the above remarks are not offensive. I support and welcome foreign friends who really want to know about Chinese civilization. But for some malicious and baseless slanders, I just want to tell them: the world is big, not just the world in your eyes!
当然，上述言论无意冒犯。我支持并欢迎真正想了解中国文明的外国朋友。但对于一些恶意和毫无根据的诽谤，我只想告诉他们：世界很大，不仅仅只有你眼中的世界！
不可否认，网友“WangFeifei ”的怒怼是及其令人爽快的！
她的言辞虽然略显情绪，但是其情绪之下所反映的现象，却又是事实：
我们是几千年来最先进的社会;当我们在高级餐厅里享用美味佳肴时，西欧人用细小的武器在铺着干草的小石屋里吃着半生不熟的肉!像野蛮人一样活着。
事实如此，中国人在4000多年前便已经熟练的使用刀叉进食，而随着社会财富及食物加工手段的发展，2500年前中国就已经普遍性的使用筷子作为餐具。
而西方是多久开始放弃“手抓”，转而使用刀叉的呢？
600年前....
小小一副刀叉，虽然并不能反映多少问题，但是至少有一点我们是可以肯定的：在谈历史这件事上，中国如果是大学的话，那么整个西方，充其量只能算幼儿园。