China

General Characteristics of Chinese culture:

1. Tied to highly developed agriculture which confined itself almost exclusively to the plains and valleys -- mountains are scarcely utilized;

2. A complex form of political organization which were the most highly perfected in the history of human societies;

4. Man-nature relationship: harmony with nature.

o reject the positive distinction between mind and matter

o the idea of order as an organic totality

5. Human nature: Innate goodness of human nature.

6. Past-time orientation: Ancestor worship, strong family tradition

7. Relational orientation: collectivism.

Third largest in the world (after Russia and Canada)

· The People's Republic of China (PRC)

· The Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan)

. . .

Mandate of Heaven

This is the belief that Heaven determines a man's destiny.

Mutual intelligibility among Mandarin groups, but not among Mandarin and the other dialects. After ruling for seventy years, he relinquished his throne and selected Shun, instead of his own son, to be the next emperor. Ou-yang Hsiu (1007-1072)

· Leading literary figure of the Sung dynasty

· led attempt to reform prose writing and do away with the parallel prose style of his day which he criticized as artificial and stifling to creativity. Chinese government tried to get rid of characters but failed;

4. The Han population and the area they occupy

Han populations in East Asia outside of the People's Republic of China (1986) estimates)

Countries/areas Population

Taiwan 19,400,000

Hong Kong 5,600,000

Macao 300,000

Singapore 1,800,000

Thailand 11,000,000

Malaysia 6,400,000

Indonesia 5,100,000

Vietnam 1,500,000

Total 51,200,000

Comparative areas of some provinces with a Han majority and the countries of Europe (in square kilometers)

Chinese provinces Area European countries

Szechwan 569,000

550,800 France

504,900 Spain

Heilungkiang 463,600

449,200 Sweden

Yunnan 436,200

Kansu 366,000

311,700 Poland

301,100 Italy

244,800 United Kingdom

243,400 Romania

Kwangtung 231,400

The Non-Han minorities

There are fifty-five non-Han minorities in China. This reflects a belief that developed in China's antiquity and became a foundation stone of all subsequent political thought - that rulers of China, without themselves being divinities or enjoying a divine right to rule in the traditional Western sense, ruled in hereditary succession as earthly legates of Heaven.

Shun

He was unusually gifted physically and mentally. Archaeological findings

· Paleolithic period: Peking Man (100,000 years ago?) was discovered in 1918 near Zhou Kou Dian in the vicinity of Peking. He instituted marriage and taught people how to devise tools to split wood, kindle fire and cook food. The legend described him as having two pupils in each eye. In Chinese, his name means the Divine Farmer.

Common topics in this essay:
South China, Yellow Emperor, Pan Ku, Characteristics Chinese, Classical Chinese, Yellow River, Han Chinese, Yang Shao, Lung Shan, Mandate Heaven, dynasty ·, chinese history, north china, han chinese, shih poetry, mandate heaven, china proper, mandate heaven rule, culture §, south-east asia, pan ku, § domesticated animals, § millet §, spring autumn annals, sung dynasty ·,

Approximate Word count = 3241
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)

Already a member? Click here