An outline of the Traditional Chinese Culture

A Core Course of General Education






An outline of the Traditional Chinese Culture
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Shandong University


Contents

Unit 1 3
Unit 2 16
Unit 3 29
Unit 4 37
Unit 5 42
Unit 6 48
Unit 7 52
Unit 8 58
Unit 9 66
Unit 10 71
Unit 11 80
Unit 12 93









Unit 1 An overview of China
Section 1 The Geographical Surroundings and the Economic Structure of the
Chinese Culture
The Chinese culture can be defined as a cultural system rich in distinct
national style which took shape within the terrain of China. The culture
includes the spiritual culture and behavioral culture as well as their
materialized presentations. It is these cultural forms that typify the
fundamental features of the Chinese culture. It belongs to the historical
category, having undergone 5000-year development before it turns into
today's splendid sight, both extensive and profound. To some extent the
Chinese culture indicates the Chinese tradition. Meanwhile it can be
relegated to the national category. After a long process of relatively
independent development followed by the collision and exchange afterwards
between China and foreign countries, the Chinese culture assumed unique
characteristics, became an outstanding member in the brilliant global
family of national cultures, and grew to be a main representative of
Oriental national cultures.
For anyone to understand the basic national conditions of ancient China,
the Chinese culture is a must, and vice versa. The basic national
conditions in China owed its formation to the development of the Chinese
culture in the specific historical background and geographical
surroundings. Grasping the basic national conditions promises an
indispensable channel to the Chinese culture. The following is an
introduction of the Chinese culture from the perspectives of the
geographical surroundings, economic structure, and historical development
and traits.
Section 2 The Historical Development of the Chinese Culture
China has a 5000-year history of the development of civilization. The
Chinese culture is one of the most ancient cultures in the world, and the
only one that has lasted for thousands of years without suspension. The
strong vitality could be attributed to its innate structure and essential
quality. The structure of the Chinese culture is typical of integrated
pluralism. "Pluralism" refers to the fact that the Chinese culture is a
blending of so many different cultures and it displays strong tolerance to
embrace the cultures of ethnic groups and those from extraneous places.
"Integrated" means various cultures melt into a unity, forming a distinctly
Chinese culture with common values. The integrated pluralism has developed
a self-confident magnanimity so that the Chinese culture, which gives
priority to itself, can absorb foreign cultures constantly, thereby getting
revitalized in the process of discarding the old and embracing the new.
Throughout the history, the Chinese culture has survived all kinds of
ordeals and turmoil. Confronted with today's challenges, it is sure to face
them calmly, revealing its fascination and keeping its youthful vigor in
the process of remolding itself and transforming the world.
Culture before the Qin Dynasty
Pre-Qin was a period of the Chinese culture starting from its embryonic
stage to the stage when the basic form began to take shape. There were
three main influences: the Eastern Yi culture, the Western Xia culture and
the Southern Man culture. The Eastern Yi culture originated in the region
of present Shandong Province and the northern part of Jiangsu Province in
the lower Yellow River Valley. The leading figures were Taihao, Shaohao,
Chiyou, Diku and Shun. The Western Xia culture originated in the region of
present Shaanxi and Gansu provinces and the Southern Shanxi Province in the
upper and middle Yellow River Valley. The renowned leaders included Yandi,
Huangdi, Zhuanxu, and Yao. The Southern Man culture originated in the
Yangtze-Huaihe Valley. The leader was Panhu. The Eastern Yi and Western Xia
moved in the opposite directions along the Yellow River. In a long process
of alternative conflict and peace, they gradually merged, thus becoming the
predecessors of Hua Xia nationality. The culture collision and assimilation
between Yi and Xia laid a foundation for China's ancient civilization.
After Hua Xia nationality moved southward and conquered the Southern Man,
the embryonic form of the Chinese nation appeared. In honor of this, they
held a memorial ceremony to enshrine their distant ancestors, Yandi and
Huangdi. Thus, the Chinese nation can claim to be the descendants of Yandi
and Huangdi.
The dynasties of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou are historically called "Three
Dynasties", during which the unified patriarchal state, based on the
autocracy of royal right, was formed and developed. The notion of great
national unity, i.e. "all the land under the sky belongs to the king; all
the people within this country are the king's subjects", gradually came
into being. The patriarchal culture of rites and music was completed,
greatly influencing the development of the Chinese culture. Hence, China is
called "the land of ceremony and propriety". The ceremony and propriety
have embodied the different social strata of nobles through pervasive and
over-elaborate ritual formalities, their privilege and responsibility. The
quintessence of material civilization of the Three Dynasties was the
brilliant Bronze culture. The bronze wares, exquisite beyond compare, are
the gems of ancient civilization of the world. The inscriptions on tortoise
shells or animal bones of the Shang Dynasty, and the inscriptions on bronze
or copper wares in the Western Zhou Dynasty demonstrated fairly mature
writings. There was already evidence of what constitutes a character:
pictographs, self-explanatory characters, associative compounds and
pictophonetic method. Besides, literature recordings appeared using these
types of characters.
The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period witnessed a
strong momentum of growth of the Chinese culture. This phase was
characterized by the separatist regime. All the states vied with each other
for supremacy and annexed others. Nevertheless the shared consciousness of
national culture determined the nature of the wars between the rival
principalities; and they had the effect of unifying the nation, by way of
which China was reunited. In the process of the war, more states were
involved, promoting the cultural fusion in a broader realm, which laid the
basis for the foundation of the unitary feudal empire of the Qin-Han
dynasties. Corresponding with the political separatist regime was the
contention of numerous schools of thought of ideology. At the end of the
Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius initiated the privately run school,
breaking the academic monopoly set up by the notion that "education occurs
nowhere but in the family of officials". He founded the school of
Confucianism. Confucius was a remarkable figure in carrying forward the
Chinese culture and forging it ahead. He revised the cultural achievement
of the Three Dynasties, i.e. The Five Classics - The Book of Songs,
Collections of Ancient Texts, The Rites, The Book of Changes and The Spring
and Autumn Annals. He put forward the ideology to integrate "rites" and
"benevolence", thus opening up a new prospect in the Chinese culture. At
that time a variety of different schools in the field of ideology and
culture emerged. They were allowed to deliver freely their political
opinions and academic views, thus causing disputes over academic issues.
These various doctrines became inexhaustible inspiration for the
development of Chinese spiritual culture. Most of the schools of thought
that formed after the Qin-Han dynasties were revised; novel ideas of the
doctrines of the exponents of the various schools of thought during the
period from pre-Qin times to the early years of the Han Dynasties became
the origins of traditional Chinese spiritual culture. In the Spring and
Autumn Period, China entered the Iron Age, therefore the economy developed
by leaps and bounds in the Warring States Period.
Culture in the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty
At its peak period in ancient historical development, the Qin-Han periods
witnessed significant achievements in many fields, during which the unitary
multinational feudal empire was founded. In 221 B.C., the State Qin united
China, thus establishing the first centralized feudal autocratic dynasty in
Chinese history. The Han Dynasty followed the same system as the Qin
Dynasty. The unitary multinational regime achieved further development and
strengthening in the Han Dynasty. During the Qin-Han period, unprecedented
achievements were made in economic development. The cultural development
embraced an upsurge period.
The foundation of a unitary multinational country accelerated the birth of
the unitary national spiritual culture. At the beginning of the Qin
Dynasty, the ruler established a uniform national culture. In the domain of
ideology and culture, the First Emperor ordered that the written language
and behaviors had to be standardized, to pursue cultural unification by
means of a powerful administrative force. In the spiritual cult