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buckeye · 10-29-2002, 10:13 PM

Like most all ancient cultures, Ancient China has five main aspects to it: geography, society, religion, legends and myths, and arts and crafts. Each element affects the others evenly, blending together to form the culture as a whole. In this paper, I will discuss each of these components individually and, at the end, tie them together to show how each one is equally important in the ancient Chinese culture.
The geography of China affected the cultures thoughts about the world in general. At one time, the Chinese believed that they were alone on the planet because their location was so isolated. It is from this isolation that the term “Far-East” was derived. The Chinese later found out that they were not alone on earth when they began trade with the Europeans. With this newfound knowledge, they changed their belief from thinking that they were alone on earth to thinking that China was the center of the world. China’s disconnection was achieved because of large mountain ranges and, of course, the seas to its east. Its six major borders were Chinese Turkistan, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, and the seas (Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea). Inside of these borders there existed three main regions, each of which containing its own river valley, a necessity for survival. The first of the regions was simply known as the North. The North held the Yellow River, which flowed through the highlands of the Central Yellow River Basin, through the Lower Yellow River Basin and north of the Shantung Peninsula. The North received approximately 20 to 30 inches of rain annually, providing a four to six month growing season. Because of its fertility and accessibility, the North was the usual spot for the capital of China. The second region of ancient China was known as the South. The South was a land of lush greenery with a growing season of six to nine months. Sixty inches of rain annually produced two to three crops a year. The climate was humid all year with hot summers and cold winters. Instead of having a large river, the South had many smaller rivers and canals that connected the larger rivers and lakes together. It is because of this that water transportation was the main form of communication throughout the South. The last region of ancient China was the Yangtze. Despite the fact that it was cut off from the rest of the land by the South Yangtze Hills, it was considered the heart of the country. The northern part of the Yangtze, the Szechuan, was especially remote from the rest of the country. This part was subtropical and fertile, but extremely difficult to access. (Bingham, Conroy, Iklé 285-287)
The next element of ancient Chinese culture was their society. The rulers of China, emperors, governed the land with an iron fist. Instead of allowing the people to make the decisions that affect them, the emperor made all judgments. If the people decided to oppose the government, they were executed. The unification of all the people to be under the rule of one was brought about by the elimination of all city states not under the power of the first emperor, Ch’in. Ch’in ordered unification of all aspects relating to the people in his land, which included military, politics, and cultural. Many books that went against the government were burned and The Great Wall of China was formed to protect versus military attacks. With the death of the first emperor, the system began to break apart. The emperor’s son was not a good ruler. He used the unemployed for public works which caused much discontent throughout the land. These events eventually led to a civil war and the overthrow of the Ch’in authority. (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/chempire/chin.htm)
In ancient China, legends and myths played a large part of life. The most famous myth, as in most cultures, was the legend of the creation of the universe. The legends stated that Tiamat, the Goddess of Chaos and a female dragon, produced chih, which moved to create Yang, which moved to create Yin. Yin and Yang are the equivalent of the Adam and Eve of this myth. Of Yin and Yang, one was thought of as the male, earth, while the other was thought of as the female, fauna. Together, they constituted the principles of heaven and earth. The Yin and Yang eventually separated into the Greater and the Lesser from which was born the architect Pan Ku, the Creator of the Universe. Ku grew into a giant, enlarging six feet a day. Eventually when he was hundreds of thousands feet tall, he died. With his death came the elements of all the land. His head became mountains, his breath became clouds and the winds, his voice became thunder, his left eye became the sun while his right eye formed the moon, his beard formed the stars, his four limbs and five extremities from each limb became the four quarters of the globe and the five mountains, his veins and muscles descended into the earth as great rivers, his flesh was absorbed into soil, his skin and hair grew into plants and trees, his teeth and bones turned into minerals, his bone marrow became precious stones and minerals, his sweat descended as rain and, finally, the parasites of his body became impregnated by the wind and took the form of human beings. Although this legend is only one of many, it, like all of the others in their culture, was passed down from generation to generation to explain everything that was unknown to the people of the land. (Barondes 1,2,5,6,10,11)
Hand in hand with the legends and myths of ancient China was the religion. China held a wide variety of religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Feng Shui, Islam, and Taoism, but I will explain the main gist of religion in general. In there philosophy, there is an earth and a heaven. In the heaven lives all of their ancestors who can’t talk, but are constantly watching and have the power to affect the world. A person’s life is simply a flow to that person’s spot in heaven. All of the people around that person watch as they mature and eventually take their seat in heaven. The wisest and most heavenly person in a community is thought to be the eldest person; however, a person should never forget their ancestors and should constantly make sacrifices and acknowledgements to help balance out the yin and yang of the land. The concept of Yin and Yang was developed by the ancient Chinese to help explain things that opposed each other in the world. The Yin was negative: dark, cool, earth, moon, shadows, and female. The Yang was positive: light, warmth, heaven, dry, and male. Happiness cannot be attained without an equal balance of the Yin and the Yang in a person’s life. As Confucius said, this can best be obtained by “taking the middle road.” (http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/temple.html)
The final part of ancient Chinese culture was arts and crafts. This is how they expressed each of the previous aspects. Their most popular commodities included Chinese Bronze, jade, silk, lacquer, and porcelain. Art was highly regarded in their community. This can be shown by the social pyramid, in which the artisans were considered the most important next to scholars and farmers. They made farming tools and weapons for the army, as well as luxury items. Pots of the Chinese were very famous for their high quality. This quality was partly due to the rich deposits of clay found all over China. A wide range of techniques were used to make their ceramics. The Ming used a blue on white tactic while the Tang used 3 lead glaze colors to create bold and splashy color. In China, jade was considered the most highly prized precious stone from pre-Shang times. It occurs in soft green, gray, and brown and is satiny smooth when polished. It was believed to be invested with magical properties and related to immortality. Finally, the Chinese were probably most famous for their silk creations. They made silk products from at least 3000 B.C. They produced large quantities in many rich colors. Silk was considered to be a “luxury fabric” because it was worn by scholars, civil servants, and emperors. The Chinese exported their find silk by means of the Silk Road. (Cotterell 56,57)
The junction of all the discussed components created the culture of ancient China. Separately, each part is interesting to say the least; however, when put together a culture full of amazement and awe was created, a culture that is still studied today.
Works Cited

Cotterell, Arthur. Ancient China. New York: Eyewitness Books, 1994.
Barondes, R. De Rohan. China: Lore, Legend, and Lyrics. United States: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1960.
Conroy, Bingham. A History of Asia. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1967. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/chempire/chin.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/temple.html

[This message has been edited by Orgazmo (edited March 10, 2003).]

10-29-2002, 10:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
buckeye Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 1,100 Internets: 10	Like most all ancient cultures, Ancient China has five main aspects to it: geography, society, religion, legends and myths, and arts and crafts. Each element affects the others evenly, blending together to form the culture as a whole. In this paper, I will discuss each of these components individually and, at the end, tie them together to show how each one is equally important in the ancient Chinese culture. The geography of China affected the cultures thoughts about the world in general. At one time, the Chinese believed that they were alone on the planet because their location was so isolated. It is from this isolation that the term “Far-East” was derived. The Chinese later found out that they were not alone on earth when they began trade with the Europeans. With this newfound knowledge, they changed their belief from thinking that they were alone on earth to thinking that China was the center of the world. China’s disconnection was achieved because of large mountain ranges and, of course, the seas to its east. Its six major borders were Chinese Turkistan, Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, Vietnam, and the seas (Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea). Inside of these borders there existed three main regions, each of which containing its own river valley, a necessity for survival. The first of the regions was simply known as the North. The North held the Yellow River, which flowed through the highlands of the Central Yellow River Basin, through the Lower Yellow River Basin and north of the Shantung Peninsula. The North received approximately 20 to 30 inches of rain annually, providing a four to six month growing season. Because of its fertility and accessibility, the North was the usual spot for the capital of China. The second region of ancient China was known as the South. The South was a land of lush greenery with a growing season of six to nine months. Sixty inches of rain annually produced two to three crops a year. The climate was humid all year with hot summers and cold winters. Instead of having a large river, the South had many smaller rivers and canals that connected the larger rivers and lakes together. It is because of this that water transportation was the main form of communication throughout the South. The last region of ancient China was the Yangtze. Despite the fact that it was cut off from the rest of the land by the South Yangtze Hills, it was considered the heart of the country. The northern part of the Yangtze, the Szechuan, was especially remote from the rest of the country. This part was subtropical and fertile, but extremely difficult to access. (Bingham, Conroy, Iklé 285-287) The next element of ancient Chinese culture was their society. The rulers of China, emperors, governed the land with an iron fist. Instead of allowing the people to make the decisions that affect them, the emperor made all judgments. If the people decided to oppose the government, they were executed. The unification of all the people to be under the rule of one was brought about by the elimination of all city states not under the power of the first emperor, Ch’in. Ch’in ordered unification of all aspects relating to the people in his land, which included military, politics, and cultural. Many books that went against the government were burned and The Great Wall of China was formed to protect versus military attacks. With the death of the first emperor, the system began to break apart. The emperor’s son was not a good ruler. He used the unemployed for public works which caused much discontent throughout the land. These events eventually led to a civil war and the overthrow of the Ch’in authority. (http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/chempire/chin.htm) In ancient China, legends and myths played a large part of life. The most famous myth, as in most cultures, was the legend of the creation of the universe. The legends stated that Tiamat, the Goddess of Chaos and a female dragon, produced chih, which moved to create Yang, which moved to create Yin. Yin and Yang are the equivalent of the Adam and Eve of this myth. Of Yin and Yang, one was thought of as the male, earth, while the other was thought of as the female, fauna. Together, they constituted the principles of heaven and earth. The Yin and Yang eventually separated into the Greater and the Lesser from which was born the architect Pan Ku, the Creator of the Universe. Ku grew into a giant, enlarging six feet a day. Eventually when he was hundreds of thousands feet tall, he died. With his death came the elements of all the land. His head became mountains, his breath became clouds and the winds, his voice became thunder, his left eye became the sun while his right eye formed the moon, his beard formed the stars, his four limbs and five extremities from each limb became the four quarters of the globe and the five mountains, his veins and muscles descended into the earth as great rivers, his flesh was absorbed into soil, his skin and hair grew into plants and trees, his teeth and bones turned into minerals, his bone marrow became precious stones and minerals, his sweat descended as rain and, finally, the parasites of his body became impregnated by the wind and took the form of human beings. Although this legend is only one of many, it, like all of the others in their culture, was passed down from generation to generation to explain everything that was unknown to the people of the land. (Barondes 1,2,5,6,10,11) Hand in hand with the legends and myths of ancient China was the religion. China held a wide variety of religions, including Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Feng Shui, Islam, and Taoism, but I will explain the main gist of religion in general. In there philosophy, there is an earth and a heaven. In the heaven lives all of their ancestors who can’t talk, but are constantly watching and have the power to affect the world. A person’s life is simply a flow to that person’s spot in heaven. All of the people around that person watch as they mature and eventually take their seat in heaven. The wisest and most heavenly person in a community is thought to be the eldest person; however, a person should never forget their ancestors and should constantly make sacrifices and acknowledgements to help balance out the yin and yang of the land. The concept of Yin and Yang was developed by the ancient Chinese to help explain things that opposed each other in the world. The Yin was negative: dark, cool, earth, moon, shadows, and female. The Yang was positive: light, warmth, heaven, dry, and male. Happiness cannot be attained without an equal balance of the Yin and the Yang in a person’s life. As Confucius said, this can best be obtained by “taking the middle road.” (http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/temple.html) The final part of ancient Chinese culture was arts and crafts. This is how they expressed each of the previous aspects. Their most popular commodities included Chinese Bronze, jade, silk, lacquer, and porcelain. Art was highly regarded in their community. This can be shown by the social pyramid, in which the artisans were considered the most important next to scholars and farmers. They made farming tools and weapons for the army, as well as luxury items. Pots of the Chinese were very famous for their high quality. This quality was partly due to the rich deposits of clay found all over China. A wide range of techniques were used to make their ceramics. The Ming used a blue on white tactic while the Tang used 3 lead glaze colors to create bold and splashy color. In China, jade was considered the most highly prized precious stone from pre-Shang times. It occurs in soft green, gray, and brown and is satiny smooth when polished. It was believed to be invested with magical properties and related to immortality. Finally, the Chinese were probably most famous for their silk creations. They made silk products from at least 3000 B.C. They produced large quantities in many rich colors. Silk was considered to be a “luxury fabric” because it was worn by scholars, civil servants, and emperors. The Chinese exported their find silk by means of the Silk Road. (Cotterell 56,57) The junction of all the discussed components created the culture of ancient China. Separately, each part is interesting to say the least; however, when put together a culture full of amazement and awe was created, a culture that is still studied today. Works Cited Cotterell, Arthur. Ancient China. New York: Eyewitness Books, 1994. Barondes, R. De Rohan. China: Lore, Legend, and Lyrics. United States: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1960. Conroy, Bingham. A History of Asia. Boston: Allyn and Bacon Inc., 1967. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/chempire/chin.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/12255/temple.html [This message has been edited by Orgazmo (edited March 10, 2003).]