China ( ) is a
cultural region, an ancient
civilization, and, depending on perspective, a
national or
multinational entity extending over a large
area in
East Asia.
In 1949, when major combat ended in the
Chinese Civil War,
two political entities emerged having the term
"China" in their names:
China has one of the world's oldest
civilizations and has the oldest continuous
civilization. It has archaeological evidence dating back over 5,000
years. China was the largest and most advanced civilization for
much of recorded history and is viewed as the source of
many major inventions. It has
also one of the world's oldest
written language system.
Historically, China's
cultural sphere has extended across
East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing
systems being adopted to varying degrees by neighbors such as
Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
The first
evidence of human presence in the region was found at the Zhoukoudian cave and is one of the first known specimens of
Homo erectus, now commonly
known as the Peking
Man, estimated to have lived from 300,000 to 780,000
years ago.
Etymology
- English names
The first recorded use of the word "China" is dated 1555. It is
derived from
Cin, a Persian name for China popularized in
Europe by
Marco Polo. In early usage,
"
china" as a term for porcelain was
spelled differently than the name of the country, the two words
being derived from separate Persian words. Both these words are
derived from the
Sanskrit word for China,
Cīna (चीन). This word was first
recorded in the 5th century BC in
Mahābhārata, where
it refers to a "yellow-colored" barbarian tribe from the north.
This tribe is conventionally identified with
Qin (秦) (778 BCE – 207 BCE), the westernmost of
the Chinese kingdoms at this time, but may refer to an unknown
group then inhabiting Tibet. In
Latin, China
was historically referred to as Sinia (hence "Sino-"),
Sinae,
Cathay, or
Seres.
- Chinese names
The official name of China changed with each dynasty. The common
name is
Zhōngguó (
中國 in traditional Chinese or
中国 in simplified Chinese).
This translates as "central nation" or (traditionally) as "middle
kingdom".
The name
Zhōngguó first appeared in the
Classic of History (6th century BC),
and was used to refer to the late
Zhou
Dynasty, as they believed that they were the "center of
civilization," while peoples in the four cardinals were called
Eastern Yi,
Southern
Man,
Western Rong and
Northern Di respectively. Some texts imply that
"Zhōngguó" was originally meant to refer to the capital of the
sovereign, to differ from the capital of his vassals. The use of
"Zhōngguó" implied a claim of political legitimacy, and
"Zhōngguó" was often used by states who saw themselves as
the sole legitimate successor to previous Chinese dynasties; for
example, in the era of the
Southern Song Dynasty, both the
Jin Dynasty and the
Southern Song state claimed to be
"Zhōngguó."
Zhōngguó came to official use as an
abbreviation for the Republic of China (Zhonghua Minguo) after the government's
establishment in 1912. Since the People's
Republic of China, established in 1949, now controls the great
majority of the area encompassed within the traditional concept of
"China", the People's Republic is the political unit most commonly
identified with the abbreviated name
Zhōngguó.
History
Ancient China was one of the earliest
centers of human civilization.
Chinese civilization was also one of the few
to invent writing, the others
being Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley civilization, the
Maya civilization, the Minoan civilization of ancient Greece, and
Ancient Egypt.
Prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest
hominids in China date from 250,000 to 2.24
million years ago.
A cave in Zhoukoudian (near present-day Beijing)
has fossils dated at somewhere between 300,000 to 550,000
years. The fossils are of Peking Man, an example of Homo
erectus who used fire.
The earliest evidence of a fully modern human in China comes from
Liujiang
County,
Guangxi, where a cranium has
been found and dated at approximately 67,000 years old.
Although
much controversy persists over the dating of the Liujiang remains,
a partial skeleton from Minatogawa in Okinawa, Japan has been dated to 16,600 to 18,250 years
old, so modern humans probably reached China before that
time.
Dynastic rule
Chinese
tradition names the first dynasty Xia, but it was considered mythical until
scientific excavations found early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province in
1959. Archaeologists have since uncovered urban sites,
bronze implements, and tombs in locations cited as Xia's in ancient
historical texts, but it is impossible to verify that these remains
are of the Xia without written records from the period.
The
second dynasty, the loosely feudal Shang, settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 18th to the 12th century
BC. They were invaded from the west by the
Zhou, who ruled from the 12th to the 5th
century BC, until their centralized authority was slowly eroded by
neighboring warlords. Many strong, independent states continually
waged war with each other in the
Spring and Autumn period, only
occasionally deferring to the Zhou king.
The first unified Chinese state was established by the
Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, when the office of the
Emperor was set up and the Chinese language
was forcibly standardized. This state did not last long, as its
legalist policies soon led to
widespread rebellion.
The subsequent
Han Dynasty ruled China
between 206 BC and 220 AD, and created a lasting
Han cultural identity among its populace that
would last to the present day.
The Han Dynasty expanded the empire's territory
considerably with military campaigns reaching Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and
also helped establish the Silk Road in
Central Asia.
After Han's collapse, another
period of disunion followed, including the highly chivalric period
of the
Three Kingdoms. Independent
Chinese states of this period also opened diplomatic relations with
Japan, introducing the Chinese writing system there. In 580 AD,
China was reunited under the
Sui.
However, the Sui Dynasty was short-lived after a failure in the
Goguryeo-Sui Wars (598–614)
weakened it.
Under the succeeding
Tang and
Song dynasties, Chinese technology and culture
reached its zenith. The Tang Empire was at its height of power
until the middle of the 8th century, when the
An Shi Rebellion destroyed the prosperity
of the empire. The Song dynasty was the first government in world
history to issue paper money and the first Chinese
polity to establish a permanent standing navy.
Between the 10th and 11th centuries, the population of China
doubled in size. This growth came about through expanded rice
cultivation in central and southern China, and the production of
abundant food surpluses. Within its borders, the Northern Song
Dynasty had a population of some 100 million people. The Song
Dynasty was a culturally rich period in for philosophy and the
arts.
Landscape art and
portrait painting were
brought to new levels of maturity and complexity after the Tang
Dynasty, and social elites gathered to view art, share their own,
and make trades of precious artworks.
Philosophers such as
Cheng Yi and
Chu
Hsi reinvigorated Confucianism with new commentary, infused
Buddhist ideals, and emphasized a new
organization of classic texts that brought about the core doctrine
of
Neo-Confucianism.
In 1271,
the Mongol leader and fifth Khagan of the Mongol
Empire Kublai Khan established the
Yuan
Dynasty, with the last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling
to the Yuan in 1279. Before the
Mongol invasion, Chinese dynasties
reportedly had approximately 120 million inhabitants; after the
conquest was completed in 1279, the 1300 census reported roughly 60
million people.
A peasant named Zhu
Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the
Ming
Dynasty. Ming Dynasty thinkers such as
Wang Yangming would further critique and
expand Neo-Confucianism with ideas of
individualism and innate morality that would
have tremendous impact on later Japanese thought.
Chosun
Korea also became a nominal vassal state of Ming China
and adopted much of its Neo-Confucian bureaucratic
structure. China's capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing during the early
Ming Dynasty. The Ming fell to the Manchus in 1644, who then established the Qing Dynasty. When Beijing was captured by
Li Zicheng's peasant rebels in 1644, the last
Ming Emperor
Chongzhen committed
suicide. The Manchu then allied with Ming Dynasty
general
Wu Sangui and seized control of
Beijing, which became the new capital of the Qing dynasty.
The Qing Dynasty, which lasted until 1912, was the last dynasty in
China. In the 19th century the Qing Dynasty adopted a defensive
posture towards European
imperialism,
even though it engaged in
imperialistic expansion into Central
Asia. At this time China awoke to the significance of the rest of
the world, the West in particular. As China opened up to foreign
trade and missionary activity,
opium produced
by
British India was forced onto Qing
China. Two
Opium Wars with Britain
weakened the Emperor's control.
One result was the
Taiping Civil
War, which lasted from 1851 to 1862. It was led by
Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by an
idiosyncratic interpretation of Christianity. Hong believed himself
to be the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the
Qing forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of
the bloodiest in human history, costing at least 20 million lives
(more than the total number of fatalities in the
First World War), with some estimates of up
to two hundred million. Other costly rebellions followed the
Taiping Rebellion, such as the
Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855–67),
Nien Rebellion (1851–1868),
Muslim Rebellion (1862–77),
Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873) and the Miao
Rebellion (1854–73). These rebellions resulted in an estimated loss
of several million lives each and led to disastrous results for the
economy and the countryside. The flow of British opium hastened the
empire's decline. In the 19th century, the age of colonialism was
at its height and the great
Chinese
Diaspora began. About 35 million
overseas Chinese live in Southeast Asia
today. The famine in 1876-79 claimed between 9 and 13 million lives
in northern China. From 108 BC to 1911 AD, China experienced 1,828
famines, or one per year, somewhere in the empire.
While China was wracked by continuous war,
Meiji Japan succeeded in rapidly modernizing its
military and set its sights on Korea and Manchuria.
Influenced by Japan,
Korea declared independence from Qing China's suzerainty in 1894, leading to the First Sino-Japanese War, which
resulted in the Qing Dynasty's cession of both Korea and Taiwan to
Japan. Following this series of defeats,
a reform plan for the empire to become
a modern Meiji-style
constitutional monarchy was drafted
by the
Emperor Guangxu in 1898, but
was opposed and stopped by the
Empress Dowager Cixi, who placed
Emperor Guangxu under house arrest in a coup d'état. Further
destruction followed the ill-fated 1900
Boxer Rebellion against westerners in
Beijing. By the early 20th century, mass
civil disorder had begun, and calls for reform and revolution were
heard across the country. The 38-year-old Emperor Guangxu died
under house arrest on 14 November 1908, suspiciously just a day
before Cixi's own death. With the throne empty, he was succeeded by
Cixi's handpicked heir, his two year old nephew
Puyi, who became the Xuantong Emperor. Guangxu's
consort, who became the
Empress
Dowager Longyu, signed the abdication decree as regent in 1912,
ending two thousand years of imperial rule in China. She died,
childless, in 1913.
Republic of China (1912–49)
Map of Republic of China printed by
Rand McNally & Co. in the year 1914.
On 1
January 1912, the Republic of China was established, heralding the end of the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen of
the
Kuomintang (the KMT or Nationalist
Party) was proclaimed provisional president of the republic.
However, the presidency was later given to
Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general, who had
ensured the defection of the entire
Beiyang
Army from the Qing Empire to the revolution. In 1915, Yuan
proclaimed himself
Emperor of China
but was forced to abdicate and return the
state to a republic when he realized it was
an unpopular move, not only with the population but also with his
own Beiyang Army and its commanders.
After Yuan Shikai's death in 1916, China was politically
fragmented, with an internationally recognized but virtually
powerless national government seated in
Peking (Beijing). Warlords in various regions
exercised actual control over their respective territories.
In the
late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under
Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify
the country under its own control, moving the nation's capital to
Nanking (Nanjing) and implementing "political tutelage", an
intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun
Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a modern, democratic
state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule
by the Kuomintang.
The
Sino-Japanese War of
1937–1945 (part of
World War II)
forced an uneasy alliance between the
Nationalists and the
Communists as well as causing around
20 million Chinese civilian deaths. With the
surrender of Japan in 1945, China emerged
victorious but financially drained. The continued distrust between
the Nationalists and the Communists led to the resumption of the
Chinese Civil War. In 1947,
constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing
Civil War many provisions of the ROC constitution were never
implemented in mainland China.
Post Civil War (1949–present)
After its victory in the
Chinese Civil
War, the
Communist Party of
China (CCP) led by
Mao Zedong gained
control of most of Mainland China. On 1 October 1949, they
established the People's Republic of China as a Socialist State
headed by a "Democratic Dictatorship" with the CCP as the only
legal political party, thus, laying claim as the
successor state of the ROC.
The central
government of the Chinese Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-shek
retreated to the island of Taiwan that it had
occupied at the end of World War II, and moved the ROC government
there. Major armed hostilities ceased in 1950 but no peace
treaty has been signed. An estimated 36 million died during the
Great Chinese Famine of
1958–61.
Beginning
in the late 1970s, the Republic of China began the implementation
of full, multi-party, representative democracy in the
territories still under its control (Taiwan, and a
number of smaller islands including Quemoy and Matsu). Today, the ROC has active political
participation by all sectors of society. The main cleavage in ROC
politics is the issue of eventual political unification with the
Chinese mainland vs. formal independence of Taiwan.
After the Chinese Civil War, mainland China underwent a series of
disruptive
socioeconomic movements
starting in the late 1950s with the
Great Leap Forward and continuing in the
1960s with the
Cultural
Revolution that left much of its education system and economy
in shambles. With the death of its first generation Communist Party
leaders such as
Mao Zedong and
Zhou Enlai, the PRC began implementing a series
of political and economic reforms advocated by
Deng Xiaoping that eventually formed the
foundation for mainland China's rapid economic development starting
in the 1990s.
Post-1978 reforms in mainland China have led to some relaxation of
control over many areas of society. However, the PRC government
still has almost absolute control over politics, and it continually
seeks to eradicate what it perceives as threats to the social,
political and economic stability of the country. Examples include
the fight against
terrorism, jailing of
political opponents and
journalists, custody
regulation of the press, regulation of religion,
and suppression of independence/secessionist movements.
In 1989,
the student protests at Tiananmen Square were violently put to an end by the Chinese
military after 15 days of martial law. In 1997, Hong Kong was ceded to the PRC by the United Kingdom, and in
1999, Macau was handed
over by Portugal.
Today,
mainland China is administered by the
People's
Republic of China—a one-party state under the leadership of the
Chinese Communist Party—while the island of Taiwan and
surrounding islands are administered by the Republic of
China—a democratic multi-party state. After the
founding of the People's Republic in 1949, both states claimed to
be the sole legitimate ruler of all of China.
After the Kuomintang
retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the
Republic of
China had maintained official diplomatic relations with
most states around the world, but by the 1970s, a shift had
occurred in international diplomatic circles and the People's
Republic of China gained the upper hand in international diplomatic
relations and recognition count. In 1971, under
resolution
2758, the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek to the
United Nations were expelled from the
intergovernmental organization.
With the expulsion of the representatives,
and effectively the Republic of China, the representatives of the People's
Republic of China were invited to assume China's seat on the UN Security Council, the
UN General Assembly
and other United Nations councils and
agencies. Later attempts by the Republic of
China to rejoin the UN have either been blocked by the
People's
Republic of China, which has veto power on the UN Security Council, or
rejected by the United
Nations Secretariat or a United Nations General
Assembly committee responsible for the General Assembly's
agenda.
Since the
relocation of its capital to Taiwan, the Republic of China has not
formally renounced its claim to authority over all of China, nor
has it changed its official maps, which include the mainland and Mongolia. Following the introduction of full
democracy, and the electoral victory of the
DPP's
Chen Shui-bian in the presidential elections,
the ROC had adopted a policy of separating the state's identity
from "China", while moving towards identifying the state as
"Taiwan". However, the ROC has not made any formal moves to change
the name, flag, or national anthem of the state to reflect a
Taiwanese identity due to the lack of consensus within Taiwan,
pressure from the United States and the fear of invasion or
military action from the People's Republic of China against the
island. The Republic of China during the DPP years did not actively
pursue its claims on mainland China or Mongolia, however, following
the electoral victory of the KMT's
Ma
Ying-jeou as president, the claim to mainland China has been
reasserted.
The People's Republic of China claims to
have succeeded the Republic of China as the sole legitimate
governing authority of all of China, which, from the official
viewpoint of the People's Republic of China, includes the island of
Taiwan. Over the last 50 years, both the Republic
of China and the People's Republic of China have used diplomatic
and economic means to compete for recognition in the international
arena.
Because most international,
intergovernmental organizations observe the One-China policy of the People's Republic
of China, the PRC has been able to pressure organizations, such as
the World Health
Organization and the International Olympic
Committee, to refuse to officially recognize the Republic of
China. Due to the One-China policy, states around the world
are pressured to refuse, or to cut off diplomatic relations with
the Republic of China. As a result,
23 U.N. member states currently maintain official diplomatic
relations with the Republic of China, while the vast majority of
U.N. member states maintain official diplomatic relations with the
People's Republic of China.
Territory and environment
Historical political divisions
Territories occupied by different
dynasties as well as modern political states throughout the history
of China.
Top-level political divisions of China have altered as
administrations changed. Top levels included
circuits and
provinces. Below that, there have been
prefectures,
subprefectures,
departments,
commanderies,
districts, and
counties. Recent divisions also include
prefecture-level cities,
county-level cities,
towns and
townships.
Most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands of
China, known as
China proper. Various
dynasties also
expanded into peripheral
territories like
Inner Mongolia,
Manchuria,
Xinjiang, and
Tibet.
The
Manchu-established Qing Dynasty and its successors, the ROC and the PRC,
incorporated these territories into the Chinese
empire.
Geography and climate
China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to
lower lands in the east.
Principal rivers flow from west to east,
including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south
(including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and
Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the
Pacific
Ocean.
In the
east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains. On the edges of the Inner
Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern
China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges.
In the central-east
are the deltas of China's two major
rivers, the Huang
He and Yangtze
River. Most of China's arable lands lie along
these rivers, and they were the centers of China's major ancient
civilizations.
Other major rivers include the Pearl
River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur.
Yunnan Province is considered a part of the Greater Mekong
Subregion, which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Vietnam.
The Geography of China
In the
west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a
vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate
elevation, and the Himalayas, containing Earth's highest point, Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with
more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert,
which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern
border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of
Yunnan, which
separate modern China from Burma, Laos and
Vietnam.
The
Paleozoic formations of China,
excepting only the upper part of the
Carboniferous system, are marine, while the
Mesozoic and
Tertiary deposits are
estuarine and freshwater, or else of terrestrial
origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north
China.
In
the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.
The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing
Beijing) has summer daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees
Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The central zone
(containing
Shanghai) has a temperate
continental climate with very
hot summers and cold winters.
The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical
climate with very hot summers and mild winters.
Due to a prolonged
drought and poor
agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring
in China. Dust has blown to southern Mainland China and Taiwan, and
has reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion,
and
pollution control have become
important issues in China's relations with other countries.
Economy
Culture
Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of
Imperial China's
history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion
for
entry into the imperial
bureaucracy. China's traditional values were derived from
various versions of
Confucianism. A
number of more
authoritarian
strains of thought have also been influential, such as
Legalism. There was often conflict
between the philosophies, e.g. the
Song
Dynasty Neo-Confucians believed
Legalism departed from the
original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a
culture of merit remain greatly valued in China
today. In recent years, a number of
New
Confucians (not to be confused with Neo-Confucianism) have
advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite
compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values".
With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in
the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political
organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be
reformers totally rejected China's cultural legacy, while others
sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures. In
essence, the history of 20th-century China is one of
experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic
organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation
in the wake of dynastic collapse.
Arts, scholarship, and literature
Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout
Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are
still extant, from
oracle bones to Qing
edicts. This literary emphasis affected the general perception of
cultural refinement in China, e.g. the view that
calligraphy was a higher art form than
painting or drama. Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts
(mainly
Confucian,
Taoist, and
Buddhist) were
handwritten by
ink brush. Calligraphy
later became commercialized, and works by famous artists became
prized possessions.
Chinese
literature has a long past; the earliest classic work in
Chinese, the
I Ching or "Book of
Changes" dates to around 1000 BC. A flourishing of philosophy
during the
Warring States
Period produced such noteworthy works as Confucius's
Analects and
Laozi's
Tao Te
Ching. (See also: the
Chinese
classics.) Dynastic histories were often written, beginning
with
Sima Qian's seminal
Records of the Historian,
which was written from 109 BC to 91 BC. The Tang Dynasty witnessed
a
poetic flowering, while the
Four Great Classical
Novels of Chinese literature were written during the Ming and
Qing Dynasties.
Printmaking in the form
of
movable type was developed during
the
Song Dynasty. Academies of scholars
sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on the classics in
both printed and handwritten form. Royalty frequently participated
in these discussions as well. The Song Dynasty was also a period of
great scientific literature, and saw the creation of works such as
Su Song's
Xin Yixiang Fayao and
Shen Kuo's
Dream Pool Essays. There were also
enormous works of historiography and large encyclopedias, such as
Sima Guang's
Zizhi Tongjian of 1084 AD or the
Four Great Books of
Song fully compiled and edited by the 11th century.For
centuries, religious and social advancement in China could be
achieved through high performance on the
imperial examinations. This led to the
creation of a meritocracy, although success was available only to
males who could afford test preparation. Imperial examinations
required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the
Confucian classics. Those who passed the highest level of the exam
became elite scholar-officials known as
jinshi, a highly
esteemed socio-economic position. Chinese philosophers, writers and
poets were highly respected and played key roles in preserving and
promoting the culture of the empire. Some classical scholars,
however, were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the
common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.The Chinese
invented numerous
musical
instruments, such as the
zheng (zither
with movable bridges),
qin (bridgeless
zither),
sheng (free reed mouth
organ), and
xiao (vertical flute) and
adopted and developed others such the
erhu
(alto fiddle or bowed lute) and
pipa
(pear-shaped plucked lute), many of which later spread throughout
East Asia and
Southeast Asia, particularly to Japan, Korea,
and Vietnam.
Demography
Hundreds of
ethnic groups have existed
in China throughout its history. The largest ethnic group in China
by far is the
Han. This group, however,
is internally diverse and can be further divided into smaller
ethnic groups that share similar traits.
Over the last three millennia, many previously distinct ethnic
groups in China have been
Sinicized
into a Han identity, which over time dramatically expanded the size
of the Han population. However, these assimilations were usually
incomplete, and vestiges of indigenous language and culture still
often remain in various regions of China. Because of this, many
within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and
cultural traditions while still identifying as Han. Several
ethnicities have also dramatically shaped Han culture, e.g. the
Manchurian clothing called the
qipao became
the new "Chinese" fashion after the 17th century, replacing earlier
Han styles of clothing such as the
Hanfu. The
modern term
Chinese nation
(
Zhonghua Minzu) is now used to describe a notion of a
Chinese nationality that transcends ethnic divisions.
Languages
Most languages in China belong to the
Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken by 29
ethnicities. There are also several major
linguistic groups within the
Chinese language itself. The most spoken
varieties are
Mandarin (spoken by
over 70% of the population),
Wu,
Yue (Cantonese),
Min,
Xiang,
Gan,
and
Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages
spoken widely by ethnic minorities include
Zhuang (Thai),
Mongolian,
Tibetan,
Uyghur (Turkic),
Hmong and
Korean.
Classical Chinese was the written
standard in China for thousands of years, and allowed for written
communication between speakers of various unintelligible languages
and dialects in China.
Vernacular
Chinese or
baihua is the written standard based on the
Mandarin dialect first popularized in Ming dynasty
novels, and was adopted (with significant
modifications) during the early 20th century as the national
vernacular. Classical Chinese is still part of the high school
curriculum and is thus intelligible to some degree to many
Chinese.
Religion
The "official" orthodox faith system held by most dynasties of
China since at least the
Shang Dynasty
(1766 BC) until the overthrow of the last dynasty (1911 AD)
centered on the worship of
Shangdi
("Supreme God") or "
Heaven" as an omnipotent
force. This faith system pre-dated the development of
Confucianism and
Taoism
and the introduction of
Buddhism and
Christianity. It has features of
monotheism in that Heaven is seen as an
omnipotent entity, endowed with personality but no corporeal form.
From the writings of Confucius, we find that Confucius himself
believed that Heaven cannot be deceived, Heaven guides people's
lives and maintains a personal relationship with them, and that
Heaven gives tasks for people to fulfill to teach them
righteousness (
yi, 義). However, this faith system was not
truly monotheistic since other lesser gods and spirits, which
varied with locality, were also worshiped along with
Shangdi. Still, variants such as
Mohism approached high monotheism, teaching that the
function of lesser gods and ancestral spirits is merely to carry
out the will of
Shangdi, which included observing
"universal love" (
jian'ai, 兼爱) and shunning
fatalism.
Worship of Shangdi and Heaven in
ancient China includes the erection of shrines, the last and
greatest being the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, and the offering of prayers. The
ruler of China in every Chinese dynasty would perform annual
sacrificial rituals to Heaven, usually by slaughtering a bull as
sacrifice. Although its popularity gradually diminished after the
advent of Taoism and Buddhism, among other religions, its concepts
remained in use throughout the pre-modern period and have been
incorporated in later religions in China, including terminology
used in Chinese Christianity.
Taoism is an indigenous religion of China and
its beginnings are traditionally traced to the composition of
Lao Zi's
Tao Te
Ching (
The Book of Tao and Its Virtues) or to
seminal works by
Zhang Daoling. The
philosophy of Taoism is centered on "
the way";
an understanding of which can be likened to recognizing the true
nature of the universe. Taoism in its unorganized form is also
considered a folk religion of China. More secular derivatives of
Taoist ideas include
Feng Shui, Sun Tzu's
Art of War, and
acupuncture.
Buddhism in China was first
introduced from India and
Central Asia
during the
Han dynasty and became very
popular among Chinese of all walks of life, embraced particularly
by commoners, and sponsored by emperors in certain dynasties.
Mahayana (
Dacheng, 大乘) is the
predominant form of Buddhism practiced in China, where it was
largely
Sinicized and later exported to
Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Some subsets of Mahayana popular in China
include
Pure Land (
Amidism) and
Zen. Buddhism is the
largest organized faith in China and the country has the most
Buddhist adherents in the world. Many Chinese, however, identify
themselves as both Taoist and Buddhist at the same time.
Ancestor worship is a major
religious theme shared among all Chinese religions. Traditional
Chinese culture, Taoism, Confucianism, and Chinese Buddhism all
value
filial piety, or a love and
respect for one's parents and ancestors, as one of the most
important virtues. Chinese people generally offer prayers and food
for their ancestors, light incense and candles, and burn offerings
of
Joss paper. These activities are
typically conducted at the site of ancestral graves or tombs, at an
ancestral temple, or at a household shrine.
Christianity in China has
developed since at least the 7th century AD with the introduction
of the
Assyrian Church of
the East. Christianity began to make significant inroads in
China after the 16th century through
Jesuit
and later
Protestant missionaries. The
Taiping Rebellion was influenced to some
degree by Christian teachings, and the
Boxer Rebellion was in part a reaction
against Christianity in China.
Islam in China dates to a mission in
651, eighteen years after
Muhammad's death.
Muslims came to China for trade, dominating the import/export
industry during the
Song Dynasty. They
became influential in government circles, including
Zheng He,
Lan Yu and
Yeheidie'erding, was one of the people who
helped to construct the Yuan Dynasty's capital,
Khanbaliq.
Nanjing became an important center of Islamic study.
The
Qing
Dynasty waged war and genocide against Muslims in the
Dungan revolt and Panthay rebellion.
Judaism in China dates to as early
as the 7th or 8th century
CE.
In the
first half of the 20th century, many Jews
arrived in Shanghai and Hong Kong during those cities' periods of economic expansion,
seeking refuge from the
Holocaust. Shanghai was notable for its volume of Jewish
refugees, as it was the only port in the world to accept them
without an entry visa.
Sports and recreation
- For sports in the People's Republic of China, see Sport in the People's
Republic of China, Sports in
Hong Kong, and Sports in
Macau.
- For sports in the Republic of China, see Sports in Taiwan.
Many historians believe that
association football originated in
China, where a form of the sport may have appeared around 1000 AD.
Other popular sports include
martial arts, table tennis, badminton,
and more recently, golf. Basketball is now popular among young
people in urban centers.
There are also many traditional sports. Chinese
dragon boat racing occurs during the
Duan Wu festival. In
Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style wrestling and
horse racing are popular. In
Tibet, archery
and equestrian sports are part of traditional festivals.
Physical fitness is highly regarded. It is common for the elderly
to practice
Tai Chi Chuan and
qigong in parks.
Board games such as
International
Chess,
Go (Weiqi), and
Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also common and have
organized formal competitions.
The capital city of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, hosted
the
2008 Olympic Games, a major
international sporting event.
Science and technology
Among the technological accomplishments of
ancient China were paper (not
papyrus) and
papermaking,
woodblock printing and
movable type printing, the early
lodestone and needle compass, gunpowder,
toilet paper, early
seismological
detectors, matches,
pound locks, the
double-action
piston pump,
blast furnace and
cast
iron, the iron plough, the multi-tube
seed drill, the
suspension bridge, natural gas as fuel,
the
differential
gear for the
South Pointing
Chariot, the hydraulic-powered
armillary sphere, the hydraulic-powered
trip hammer, the mechanical
chain drive, the mechanical
belt drive, the
raised-relief map, the
propeller, the
crossbow,
the cannon, the rocket, the
multistage
rocket, etc. Chinese
astronomers were
among the first to record observations of a
supernova. The work of the astronomer
Shen Kuo (1031–95) alone was most impressive, as he
theorized that the sun and moon were spherical, corrected the
position of the
polestar with his improved
sighting tube, discovered the concept of
true
north, wrote of planetary motions such as
retrogradation, and compared the orbital
paths of the planets to points on the shape of a rotating willow
leaf. With evidence for them, he also postulated geological
theories for the processes of land formation in
geomorphology and climate change in
paleoclimatology. Other important
astronomers included
Gan De,
Shi Shen,
Zhang Heng,
Yi Xing,
Zhang
Sixun,
Su Song,
Guo Shoujing, and
Xu
Guangqi.
Chinese mathematics
evolved independently of Greek mathematics and is therefore of
great interest in the
history of
mathematics. The Chinese were also keen on documenting all of
their technological achievements, such as in the
Tiangong
Kaiwu encyclopedia written by
Song Yingxing (1587–1666).
China's science and technology had fallen behind that of Europe by
the 17th century. Political, social and cultural reasons have been
given for this, although recent historians focus more on economic
causes, such as the
high
level equilibrium trap.
Since the PRC's market
reforms, China has become better connected to the global economy
and is placing greater emphasis on science and
technology.
See also
References
- What Is a Culture ?
- Haggett, Peter. [2001] (2001). Encyclopedia of World Geography,
Volume 23. Edition 2, illustrated. Marshall Cavendish publishing.
ISBN 0761472894, 9780761472896. p 37. p 2836.
- CIA - The World Factbook -- China. Accessed
November 26, 2009.
- Professor M.D. Nalapat. Ensuring China's "Peaceful Rise".
Accessed January 30, 2008.
- Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. China and the
Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century. WBI Development
Studies. World Bank Publications. Accessed January 30,
2008.
- The Real Great Leap Forward. The Economist. Sept
30, 2004
- Chris Patten. Financial Times. Comment
& Analysis: Why Europe is getting China so wrong. Accessed
January 30, 2008.
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7937351.stm
- Eden, Richard. Decades of the New World (1555) 'The
great China whose kyng is thought the greatest prince in the
world.'
- " China", Online Etymology
Dictionary
- Wood, Francis, Did Marco Polo go to China (1995), p.
61.
- " china", The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language, Boston and New York, Houghton-Mifflin,
2000.
- Liu, Lydia He, The clash of empires, p. 77.
- Mahābhārata 6/9/65-66
- Danda, Ajit K., Asia, land and people, Vol. 1, pt 1,
(Calcutta, India), 2003, p. 198
- 《尚書•梓材》:「皇天既付中國民越厥疆土于先王」Roughly translated as "The Heavens
awarded the lands and peoples of Zhōngguó to our
ancestors".
- 《毛亨·傳》:「中國,京師也」 Roughly translated as "Zhōngguó, the
capital."
- See Quansongwen (8,345 chapters), 2005. Historic texts written
in the period of Southern Song refer to the Jin Dynasty as
"barbarians", while Jin texts portray the Song as "Manzi." Official
historic texts such as Songshi, which is written after the period,
are more neutral.
- The official name of the Republic of China in traditional Chinese
is "中華民國", "中华民国" in simplified Chinese. The official name of the
PRC in simplified Chinese is "中华人民共和国", "中華人民共和國" in traditional
Chinese. Zhōngguó are the first and last characters of
both of these official names. Although in both of these contexts,
the name does not contain the exact phrasing of "Zhōngguó," it is
expressed in the similar phrase "Zhonghua," while the PRC's
official abbreviation is "中国."
- Gernet, Jacques. [1996] (1996). A history of Chinese
civilization Edition 2, illustrated. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0521497817, 9780521497817. p 40.
- "Early Homo erectus Tools in China" by Archaeological
Institute of America
- List of Chinese fossil hominids at ChinesePrehistory.org
- Skull may complicate human-origins debate. (Chinese
Roots). Skull may complicate human-origins debate
- "Bronze Age China" by National Gallery of
Art
- Ping-ti Ho, "An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin
China", in Études Song, Series 1, No 1, (1970) pp.
33-53.
- " Ming Dynasty". Microsoft Encarta Online
Encyclopedia 2009. Archived 2009-10-31.
- Jenks, R.D. Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou: The Miao
‘Rebellion’, 1854–1873. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
1994.
- Cf. William J. Peterson, The Cambridge History of China
Volume 9 (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
- Damsan Harper, Steve Fallon, Katja Gaskell, Julie Grundvig,
Carolyn Heller, Thomas Huhti, Bradley Maynew, Christopher Pitts.
Lonely Planet China. 9. 2005. ISBN 1-74059-687-0
- Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. 2. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
- Perry, Elizabeth. Rebels and Revolutionaries in Northern China,
1845–1945 (Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1980).
- The world's successful diasporas. Management Today.
April 3, 2007.
- Dimensions of need - People and populations at risk.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO).
- Ó Gráda, C.: Famine: A Short History. Princeton
University Press.
- China: Land of Famine. Journal of the Royal Institute
of International Affairs.
- "Nuclear Power: The End of the War Against
Japan". BBC — History.
- "A hunger for the truth: A new book, banned on the
mainland, is becoming the definitive account of the Great
Famine.". Chinaelections.org. July 7, 2008.
- A tombstone on China's history. Anne Applebaum.
Telegraph. August 17, 2008.
- Greater Mekong Subregion Atlas of the Environment
published by Asian Development Bank
- "Beijing hit by eighth sandstorm". BBC news. Accessed
17 April 2006.
- Bary, Theodore de. . Columbia University.
- Languages. 2005. GOV.cn. URL accessed 3 May
2006.
- Homer H. Dubs, "Theism and Naturalism in Ancient Chinese
Philosophy," Philosophy of East and West, Vol. 9, No. 3/4,
1959
- BBC Islam in China (650-present)
- Levene, Mark. Genocide in the Age of the Nation-State.
I.B.Tauris, 2005. ISBN 1845110579, page 288
- Giersch, Charles Patterson. Asian Borderlands: The
Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier. Harvard University
Press, 2006. ISBN 1845110579, page 219
- Dillon, Michael. China’s
Muslim Hui Community. Curzon, 1999. ISBN 0700710264, page
xix
- Origins of the Great Game. 2000.
Athleticscholarships.net. Accessed 23 April 2006.
- Qinfa, Ye. Sports History of China. About.com. Retrieved
21 April 2006.
- People have walked across the Anlan Bridge for 1,700
years.
Notes
- What Is a Culture ?
- Haggett, Peter. [2001] (2001). Encyclopedia of World Geography,
Volume 23. Edition 2, illustrated. Marshall Cavendish publishing.
ISBN 0761472894, 9780761472896. p 37. p 2836.
- CIA - The World Factbook -- China. Accessed
November 26, 2009.
- Professor M.D. Nalapat. Ensuring China's "Peaceful Rise".
Accessed January 30, 2008.
- Dahlman, Carl J; Aubert, Jean-Eric. China and the
Knowledge Economy: Seizing the 21st Century. WBI Development
Studies. World Bank Publications. Accessed January 30,
2008.
- The Real Great Leap Forward. The Economist. Sept
30, 2004
- Chris Patten. Financial Times. Comment
& Analysis: Why Europe is getting China so wrong. Accessed
January 30, 2008.
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7937351.stm
- Eden, Richard. Decades of the New World (1555) 'The
great China whose kyng is thought the greatest prince in the
world.'
- " China", Online Etymology
Dictionary
- Wood, Francis, Did Marco Polo go to China (1995), p.
61.
- " china", The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language, Boston and New York, Houghton-Mifflin,
2000.
- Liu, Lydia He, The clash of empires, p. 77.
- Mahābhārata 6/9/65-66
- Danda, Ajit K., Asia, land and people, Vol. 1, pt 1,
(Calcutta, India), 2003, p. 198
- 《尚書•梓材》:「皇天既付中國民越厥疆土于先王」Roughly translated as "The Heavens
awarded the lands and peoples of Zhōngguó to our
ancestors".
- 《毛亨·傳》:「中國,京師也」 Roughly translated as "Zhōngguó, the
capital."
- See Quansongwen (8,345 chapters), 2005. Historic texts written
in the period of Southern Song refer to the Jin Dynasty as
"barbarians", while Jin texts portray the Song as "Manzi." Official
historic texts such as Songshi, which is written after the period,
are more neutral.
- The official name of the Republic of China in traditional Chinese
is "中華民國", "中华民国" in simplified Chinese. The official name of the
PRC in simplified Chinese is "中华人民共和国", "中華人民共和國" in traditional
Chinese. Zhōngguó are the first and last characters of
both of these official names. Although in both of these contexts,
the name does not contain the exact phrasing of "Zhōngguó," it is
expressed in the similar phrase "Zhonghua," while the PRC's
official abbreviation is "中国."
- Gernet, Jacques. [1996] (1996). A history of Chinese
civilization Edition 2, illustrated. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 0521497817, 9780521497817. p 40.
- "Early Homo erectus Tools in China" by Archaeological
Institute of America
- List of Chinese fossil hominids at ChinesePrehistory.org
- Skull may complicate human-origins debate. (Chinese
Roots). Skull may complicate human-origins debate
- "Bronze Age China" by National Gallery of
Art
- Ping-ti Ho, "An Estimate of the Total Population of Sung-Chin
China", in Études Song, Series 1, No 1, (1970) pp.
33-53.
- " Ming Dynasty". Microsoft Encarta Online
Encyclopedia 2009. Archived 2009-10-31.
- Jenks, R.D. Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou: The Miao
‘Rebellion’, 1854–1873. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
1994.
- Cf. William J. Peterson, The Cambridge History of China
Volume 9 (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
- Damsan Harper, Steve Fallon, Katja Gaskell, Julie Grundvig,
Carolyn Heller, Thomas Huhti, Bradley Maynew, Christopher Pitts.
Lonely Planet China. 9. 2005. ISBN 1-74059-687-0
- Gernet, Jacques. A History of Chinese Civilization. 2. New
York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
- Perry, Elizabeth. Rebels and Revolutionaries in Northern China,
1845–1945 (Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1980).
- The world's successful diasporas. Management Today.
April 3, 2007.
- Dimensions of need - People and populations at risk.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO).
- Ó Gráda, C.: Famine: A Short History. Princeton
University Press.
- China: Land of Famine. Journal of the Royal Institute
of International Affairs.
- "Nuclear Power: The End of the War Against
Japan". BBC — History.
- "A hunger for the truth: A new book, banned on the
mainland, is becoming the definitive account of the Great
Famine.". Chinaelections.org. July 7, 2008.
- A tombstone on China's history. Anne Applebaum.
Telegraph. August 17, 2008.
- Greater Mekong Subregion Atlas of the Environment
published by Asian Development Bank
- "Beijing hit by eighth sandstorm". BBC news. Accessed
17 April 2006.
- Bary, Theodore de. . Columbia University.
- Languages. 2005. GOV.cn. URL accessed 3 May
2006.
- Homer H. Dubs, "Theism and Naturalism in Ancient Chinese
Philosophy," Philosophy of East and West, Vol. 9, No. 3/4,
1959
- BBC Islam in China (650-present)
- Levene, Mark. Genocide in the Age of the Nation-State.
I.B.Tauris, 2005. ISBN 1845110579, page 288
- Giersch, Charles Patterson. Asian Borderlands: The
Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier. Harvard University
Press, 2006. ISBN 1845110579, page 219
- Dillon, Michael. China’s
Muslim Hui Community. Curzon, 1999. ISBN 0700710264, page
xix
- Origins of the Great Game. 2000.
Athleticscholarships.net. Accessed 23 April 2006.
- Qinfa, Ye. Sports History of China. About.com. Retrieved
21 April 2006.
- People have walked across the Anlan Bridge for 1,700
years.
External links