Transcript Chinese Civilizations

China
Creativity Continues to Flow
Chinese Civilizations
Map showing early Yellow River Societies (with later expansion to Yangtze River area)
Chinese Civilizations
• Yellow River
– High Silt content (40%
of its volume)
– Rich topsoil when it
floods
– Unpredictable flooding
• Isolated
– Deserts
– Distance
– The Great Wall
(eventually)
Chinese Civilizations:
Xia or Hsia Dynasty (2200-1700 BC)
• Earliest Dynasty (compare to Egypt)
• Lasting Contributions
– Domestication of the horse
– Development of bronze weapons and
tools
– Expansion of territory
• People were largely tribal
Chinese Civilizations:
Shang Dynasty (1700-1000 B.C.)
• Chinese Writing System
developed
– Uses logograms or
pictographs
– Over 50,000 characters,
but good literacy requires
only 5,000.
• Horse-drawn chariots
• Bronze weapons
improved
– Improvement occurred
later than the
Mesopotamian’s did,
shows isolation
Chinese Civilizations:
Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.)
• Mandate of heaven
concept introduced,
Emperors were
chosen by divine
right
• Two most important
thinkers of Chinese
history lived during
this dynasty
– Lao Tzu
– Confucius (Kung FuTzu)
Confucius
Lao Tzu
Chinese Civilizations:
Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.)
Confucius (551-479 BC)
• Kung Fu-Tzu, Master Kung
• Born to a family of
bureaucrats (minor nobility)
• Received a good education
• Worked for several
governments and
developed a system of good
government, which was
based on
–
–
–
–
Honesty
Dependability
Hard work
Loyalty
Chinese Civilizations:
Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.)
Confucius
• Had a small group of disciples during lifetime
• Teachings were recognized later during Han
dynasty
– Humans are basically good but some traits need to be
built and others diminished
– Society should be adapted to the goodness of people
– Status of a person should be decided upon merit
– Each person has a role to fill
– Family is the basic unit of society
• Confucianism is not a religion but a collection of
moral teachings
– “A clever tongue and a fine appearance are rarely the
signs of goodness”
Chinese Civilizations:
Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.)
Lao-Tzu: Taoism
• Lived about the
same time as
Confucius
• Teachings known
as Tao Te Ching or
The Way
– Nature is the great
teacher
– By observing nature
we can find the
correct path in life.
Taoism
"The term wu wei is frequently used in Taoist
philosophy and means literally "non-action."
What the Chinese mean by wu wei is not
abstaining from activity but abstaining from
a certain kind of activity, activity that is out
of harmony with the ongoing cosmic process.
[Perhaps a better definition of wu wei is]
refraining from action contrary to nature...
This is the meaning of Lao Tzu's seemingly
puzzling statement: "By nonaction
everything can be done."
–
The Turning Point, Fritjof Capra
"Lao Tzu in his Tao Te Ching shares
an invaluable piece of wisdom: 'The
world is ruled by letting things take
their course. It cannot be ruled by
interfering.'" – Ray, Michael and Rochelle
Myers, Creativity in Business, Broadway Books,
1986, p. 29.
Taoism
"When the effective leader is
finished with his work, the
people say it happened
naturally."
–
Lao Tzu, quoted in Thorpe, Scott, How to Think Like
Einstein, Barnes & Noble Books, Inc., 2000, p.172.
Taoism
Yin
Feminine
Earth
Moon
Night
Winter
Moisture
Coolness
Interior
Intuition
Contractive
Conservative
Responsive
Cooperative
Synthesizing
Yang
Male
Heaven
Sun
Day
Summer
Dryness
Warmth
Surface
Rational
Expansive
Demanding
Aggressive
Competitive
Analytical
"Yin corresponds to all that is
contractive, responsive, and
conservative, whereas yang implies
all that is expansive, aggressive, and
demanding...In Chinese culture yin
and yang have never been
associated with moral values. What
is good is not yin or yang but the
dynamic balance between the two;
what is bad or harmful is imbalance."
– The Turning Point, Fritjof Capra
Chinese Civilizations:
Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.)
Comparison:
Taoism
• Government—do
more by doing
nothing
• Man’s relationship
to nature
Confucianism
• Government─do
more, but do it
better
• Man’s relationship
to man
Zhou Dynasty (770-221 B.C.)
• Later Zhou period:
– Kings became weak and so kingdom
fragmented
– Bureaucrats became powerful
– Society became fixed
– Many wars between kingdoms
– Creativity slowed
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/Ch’in Dynasty (221-207 BC)
• First Sovereign emperor
– Powerful and feared
• All territory united for the
first time
• Ch’in emperor knew value of
– Communication
– Unity for his empire
– Good roads for trade
• Silk Road went from the capital
Xi’an to the Black Sea
• Principle route for trade between
Europe and China
• Was expanded through history
• Used through Middle Ages
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/Ch’in Dynasty (221-207 BC)
Movie: Hero
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/ Ch’in Dynasty
• The Great Wall of
China
– Improved in Ch’in
dynasty to avoid
revolt by keeping
peasants busy
– Surpassed original
expectations of
Zhou dynasty
• 1500 miles
• Stretched from
the Pacific Ocean
to the Tibetan
mountains
• Large enough to
march armies
along the top
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/ Ch’in Dynasty
• Built terracotta warriors in the capital
Xi’an
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/ Ch’in Dynasty
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/ Ch’in Dynasty
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/ Ch’in Dynasty
Silk Road
Chinese Civilizations:
Qin/ Ch’in Dynasty
Control:
• Attempted to destroy knowledge books
• Required all aristocracy to leave their land
and come to the capital so he could watch
them
• Distributed land to peasants, but heavily
taxed
"Geographic connectedness and only
modest internal barriers gave China an
initial advantage [by developing
civilization over a wide area]. But China's
connectedness eventually became a
disadvantage, because a decision by one
despot could and repeatedly did halt
innovation. In contrast, Europe's
geographic balkanization resulted in
dozens or hundreds of independent,
competing statelets and centers of
innovation.“
– Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, 1999,
414-416.