The main theme of the book is the documentation of the meeting between the Chinese world and the Western world, from 1842 to the present day. A forced meeting – with the exception of the special case of the Jesuits' failed attempt to take root in China – as it arose solely as a consequence of Western expansionism.

However, this meeting brought into conflict two fundamentally different spiritual worlds, each of which exclusively championed its own universal character. While one, confined within its self-sufficiency, felt indifferent to any kind of new experience, the other, propelled by the dynamism afforded by the industrial and technological revolutions that took place within it, the military power of its countries, and the insatiable thirst of its economic processes for new markets and sources of wealth, had launched itself across the globe to secure them.

The path followed by China, from its forced opening to the rest of the world until today, ultimately proved to be the historical record of its dramatic reconstruction: The 'Sick Man' in the latter half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century has become, in our days, a decisive factor in the global order of things.

An order in which – in contrast to what happened during the long history of its statehood – China participates fully and indeed plays a leading role. The presentation of this historical trajectory thus constitutes the Chronicle of its revival and strengthening, as envisioned by the political and spiritual figures who, in one way or another, bore the responsibility for ensuring its state and cultural entity. This assurance took different forms each time, depending on the stakes of the era and the particular perception of each of the main actors involved.