 A number of factors such as contributed to China's stagnation behind Europe and Japan such as bureaucractic centralization that impeded innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, a sense of ethnic and cultural superiority, and preference of civilization continuity and resistance to modern change and technology.After 1750, driven by a modern innovation called the steam engine gave birth to the first Industrial Revolution.In addition, the cutting edge inventions born out of Western European scientific and technological discoveries and advancements propelled the growth of the European colonial powers.