That a people whose history dates back as far as those of Egypt, Babylonia, and India, and whose, continuity has been far less disturbed by foreign conquests, should be a representative of one of the oldest and most beautiful cultures in the world is not to be wondered at. The wonder is that Chinese Culture has not only been comparatively isolated in its development, but is also different in character from those of Egypt, Babylonia, and India. The geographic background of Chinese culture will help to explain this difference.
Chinese culture is generally believed to have originated in the Yellow River basin and followed its course down into the central plain. However, Chinese culture owes its origin not to the Yellow River but to its tributaries which form different alluvial tracts of land denoted by the Chinese character Jui, or delta, such as Wei Jui, Ching Jui and Lo Jui. These alluvial tracts of land or deltas are indeed the cradles of Chinese culture. For instance, the Yu culture (B.C. 2255-2205) owed its origin to the southeast of Shansi Province, on the east and northeast banks of the Yellow River, into which the Fen River flows. Next, the Hsia culture (B.C. 2205-1706) owed its origin to the west of Honan Province, on the south bank of the Yellow River, into which the Yi and Lo Rivers flow. The Chou culture (B.C. 1122-256) owed its origin to the cast of Shansi Province, on the west bank of the Yellow River, into which the Wei River flows. A hasty survey of the origins of the three great dynasties leads to the conclusion that Chinese culture has been cradled in these deltas which are formed by the Yellow River and its tributaries.
Moreover, all these deltas formed a number of land units of various sizes and of various internal formations, separated from one another by barriers of broad waters or high mountains or joined by river systems or valleys. Some units were distinct, with natural boundaries on all sides, and other natural boundaries, were indistinct or broken in places. In either case, the fords of the Yellow River in such districts as Ho Tsin, Lin Tsin, and Ping Lu in Shansi Province were the means of communication between these deltas. Chinese history records that the Hsia people came from the La River Valley northwards across the Yellow River to meet the Yu people in the Fen River Valley. As a consequence, the Yu and Hsia cultures were closely connected. The Chou people seemed to have come from the west and were often in contact with the inhabitants of the Fen River Valley on the cast bank of the Yellow River when they finally settled in the Wei River Valley. Thus the cultures of the Yu, Hsia, and Chou dynasties were blended into one at a very early period and helped to develop the consciousness of unity that encouraged the formation of a state with great territorial expansion. This is the so-called western centre of Chinese culture.
In ancient days, the Yellow River flowed through the eastern part of Honan Province, and hence it turned northwards under the Ta Pei Mountain and along the Tai Hang Range before entering the Bay of Po Hai near Tientsin. The ancient capital of the Shang Dynasty (B.C. 1766-1122) was near An Yang in Honan Province, where the Chang and Huan Rivers flow into the Yellow River. This is to show that the Shang people came from the south bank of the Yellow River. They originally lived near Kuei Teh in Honan Province, where there were many marshes, such as the Marshes of Meng Chu and Meng and small rivers, such as the Sui River and Huo River. The early culture of the Shang people was probably cradled among these marshes and thence spread northwards across the Yellow River to An Yang. This is so-called eastern centre of Chinese culture.
The two rivers had flowed through the earlier ages not in complete independence of each other. They were connected by the pulsations of a common tide. So these two cultures of ancient China, even in prehistoric days, had each been influenced by the other. Since she Shang people dominated over the Wei Valley, they had long been in contact with the Chou people. Eastwards their power extended to the sea coast of North China, including the low land of the Chi River Valley; northeast wards, to the Liao River; southwards, to the Huai River; and southeastwards, to the Han River. It is believed that the Shang culture might have extended far into the regions south of the Huai and Han Rivers and north of the Yangtze River. Therefore, these regions, though outside the Yellow River Valley, were already influenced by the Chinese culture as early as the Shang Dynasty. In the beginning of the Chou Dynasty, the Yangtze Valley and the lands near the Han, Huai, Chi and Liao Rivers all had become integral parts of the Chinese cultural entity.
From this short sketch of the physical environment we may notice two major reasons for the differences between Chinese culture and those of Egypt, Babylonia and India. First, rivers are the arteries of a country. All large countries have large rivers. There are the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates in Babylonia, and the Indus in India, but these countries have only a few tributaries over a small area. In China, there are many rivers and tributaries over a vast area. The Yellow and Yangtze Rivers are two of the largest rivers of the world. It is an important fact that the agrarian culture of ancient China owed its origin to a vast area intersected by many rivers with numerous deltas for human habitation. These deltas were scattered far and wide; they were protected by natural barriers and were able to sustain a large population. This is one of the reasons for the difference between Chinese culture and those of Egypt, Babylonia, and India.
Secondly, climate is another import ant factor in cultural development. All great states have arisen in temperate zones. Egypt, Babylonia, and India are all countries closer to the equator where the bounty of nature furnishes food in abundance and gives leisure for social development. China, in contrast, is situated further north and her culture originated in a region where the climate is not so temperate as that of Egypt, Babylonia and India. Thus Chinese culture arose in a cooler climate that stimulated energy and resulted in continuous progress.
The preceding discussion of physical differences makes clear three points, and we need only to mention them briefly. First, most ancient cultures emerged in small deltas, which were fit to be the homes of small, distinct units, and hence attempts to create nations of great size in these places have failed. Chinese culture alone arose in a vast area which encouraged the formation of one united nation with great territorial expansion. Secondly, cultures springing from small areas were compelled to wage defensive wars against outside invaders, and in the end were either destroyed or gradually declined. Chinese culture alone arising soon achieved internal unity which enabled it to tame the great wilderness, to resist danger from without and to continue its existence down to this day. Thirdly, cultures originating in warm climate and fertile soil tended to stagnate and decay. Chinese culture alone, as it began in a comparatively barren and vast area, maintained itself by receiving new impetus to progress and spread far and wide until all Eastern Asia bowed to it. China, therefore, has good reason to be proud of her culture, which emerged from the ancient world and unified a vast nation during the Ch'in and Han dynasties (B.C. 255-206 A.D. 220), expanding from the Yellow River down to the Yangtze River, at a time when the ancient cultures of Egypt, Babylonia and India had already been swamped by other cultures.
II. The General Character of Chinese Culture:
Let us first discuss some of the general features of Chinese culture which serve to distinguish it from Western culture. Western culture owes its origin to Greece where are found in miniature all the characteristic features of Europe. Greek culture flourished during the period of the Chou Dynasty. This period in China, as in Greece, was an age of intense political activity. The vast domain of China proper was at that epoch divided into a number of independent principalities, whose people were of one blood, possessed a common civilization, and were united by a common language. In Greece, similar conditions prevailed. However, there is an important difference. The Greek states, though sharing a common culture, were never united as one political entity, The Chinese states, in contrast, were only the fragments of an empire, the Royal House of Chou. China during the Chou period was virtually a united nation. This was what was lacking in Greek politics. It was political conditions which accounted in the main for the difference between Chinese and Greek cultures.
Then the unity of Greece was brought about by the Conquest of Rome during the time when China became a united nation under the emperors of the Ch'in and Han Dynasties (E.C. 255-206 A.D. 220). Here we shall trace the difference between Roman culture and Chinese culture. Rome, starting as a city state, extended her sway by alliance and conquest over surrounding cities. It was conquest and expansion that led to the emergence of a new form of state--a great empire--vast in area, centralized in organization, and uniform in law. So when Rome succeeded Greece, not only was the political structure changed from city states to an empire, but Greek culture was also replaced by Roman culture. During the Han period, however, China had no external conquest but only internal dynastic change. Thus Chinese culture still persisted; there was only a change in internal political structure—that is, from a feudal state to a state with a centralized government.
Now let us proceed to compare the Middle Ages in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire with the period which succeeded the Han Dynasty in China. Here lies a marked difference. The fall of the Roman Empire, like the decline of Greek civilization, was brought about by foreign invasion—that of the Teutonic barbarians in the north. The Northern invasion was at first marked by considerable destruction. Not only did the political structure of Europe undergo a total change, but also Roman civilization and traditions seemed completely lost. The fall of the Han Dynasty in China was not caused by foreign invasion. There was only a change in political structure, and Chinese culture still persisted. Even when "Tartar" tribes invaded North China in the thirteenth century Chinese traditions and institutions still predominated. In the West, therefore, the Teutonic tribes in the Middle Ages came as a new people and absorbed the ancient Romans, whereas in China, the Chinese still continued to be the foundation of society and the barbarian newcomers only played the role of minorities.
Moreover, towards the close of the Middle Ages, the Northern barbarians had torn asunder the foundation of the old social order and released new and terrifying forces. This process eventually led to the birth of modern civilization and modern states; and during the process such social and political life as existed was largely of the peculiar, transitional form commonly known as "feudal." The only institution that retained its unity during the Middle Ages was the Christian Church. Growing up on the ruins of the Roman Empire, it adopted imperial organization, and its power was further strengthened by the superstitious reverence in which it was held by the Teutonic barbarians. Hence Greece, Rome, and Christianity are the three forces which make up the fabric of Western culture. During the period of the Six Dynasties, Buddhism was introduced from India, and it flourished and exercised a great influence upon Chinese life and action. However, Buddhism permeated Chinese culture not so deeply and thoroughly as Christianity did in the West. For Christianity came to Europe as a new force after the decay of the Roman Empire, while Buddhism came to China as a foreign creed which did not replace China's own ideals and beliefs.
From this short survey we may derive three conclusions: (1) In the West, the new barbarian tribes replaced the old Romans, while in China the northern barbarians became Chinese in all but physiognomy. (2) In the West, feudalism replaced the Roman Empire, while in China the old political system persisted without any fundamental change. (3) In the West, Christianity replaced the Roman civilization, while in China the Confucian tradition predominated and was only slightly modified by Buddhism. In short, the Middle Ages in the West completely broke away from the old traditions, while the period of the Six Dynasties in China perpetuated the old traditions. The rise and fall of dynasties were only changes in political structure, and Chinese culture still remained in its entirety.
Towards the close of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance marked the emergence of modern civilization and modern states which appeared as entirely new entities independent of the traditions of ancient Greece and Rome. Chinese culture has continued for four thousand years since the Shang and Chou dynasties. In the progress of its growth, it has absorbed many a heterogeneous element through an assimilating power that testifies to the marvelous vitality of Chinese civilization. It has undergone some modifications in consequence of influences operating ab extra as well as from within; but such modifications have not affected the main culture. In Chinese history, accordingly, there have been successive processes of unification and expansion, but no radical changes or great revolutions have ever happened. This historical experience serves to distinguish Chinese culture from Western culture.
III. An Estimate of Chinese Culture:
In forming an estimate of the general character of Chinese culture, we must first note the difference between Chinese culture and Western culture. The reasons for this culture difference are not difficult to trace. First, geographical environment in the main accounts for the difference in the trend of Chinese and Western cultures. China lies in the centre of eastern Asia, occupying a large area which naturally encourages the formation of a united nation with great territorial expansion. It is no wonder that China, as we have remarked, became a vast and united nation at a very early period. Hence to the Chinese, internal problems are more important than external ones, and their attitude is comparatively "introvert"—looking inwards upon themselves. On the contrary, Europe as a whole is adapted to a number or states of small size; all attempts to maintain a continental empire in Europe have failed, in spite of the genius of Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon. Europe even today still remains in the age of Warring States, comparable to China in ancient days and having failed to achieve unity. Hence to the Westerners, external problems are more important than internal ones, and their attitude is comparatively "extrovert"—looking outwards upon the external world. It is because the Westerners are "extrovert" that they emphasize the expansion of power in space and the spirit of progress. It is because the Chinese are "introvert" that they emphasize the continuation of life in time and cling to the heritage of their old traditions.
Secondly, the cultural difference between China and the West is due to economic conditions. Chinese civilization is based on agriculture, while Western civilization is based on industry and commerce. From the Western viewpoint, cultural progress proceeds from agrarian civilization to industrial civilization. But the Chinese believe that human civilization will never cease to be agrarian in character. Consequently, Western culture makes for change and progress, while Chinese cultures makes for continuity and stability. But economic conditions are closely connected with geographic environment. Western culture was cradled in places such as Egypt, Babylonia, Greece and Rome, where there were only small agrarian areas and hence agrarian civilization soon reached the saturation point. As a result, they turned their energies to the development of commerce. In China, however, there are unlimited agrarian areas and hence agrarian civilization has developed without hindrance. Again, during the Chou period, there were commercial activities on a large scale; but because China began to become a great united nation, her trade was on the whole confined within her territory and did not lead to contact with other peoples. Hence in China emphasis has been placed on internal unity, whereas in the West emphasis has been laid on territorial expansion. It is no wonder that in the West there was from the earliest days a capitalistic and imperialistic tendency for the establishment of colonial dependencies, while China adopted a domestic policy for the development of internal life.
And finally, we may point out that life deal is another reason for the difference between Chinese culture and. Western culture. The Westerners are impressed by the antagonism of the different factors in the world: human versus divine, ideal versus real, society versus individual, authority versus liberty, and so forth. The Chinese, in contrast, are impressed not by the antagonism but by the continuity of the world. Let us illustrate this point by referring to the religious beliefs. According to the Westerners, the universe is composed of pairs of opposites and contradictories; hence they draw a clear distinction between heaven and earth on the ground that heaven is a spiritual world separated from the earth by a vast distance of space. The Chinese, however, have for centuries been able to conceive that what happens in the universe is a continuous whole like a chain of natural sequence. This is the conception which confirms and perpetuates the fusion and intermixture of heaven and earth, between which, as they affect the daily life and conduct of the people, the distinction is in practice hard to draw, and harder to maintain. It has been generally accepted that the minds of the Chinese are filled with romance and poetry, so that to them the invisible world is peopled with fairies and all kinds of gods; but the invisible world in the minds of the Chinese is not a kingdom in Heaven but a Paradise on Earth, which is not above but in the west. Hence heaven and earth are both necessary parts of the universe, which the minds of the Chinese people conceive as a harmonious whole in which "all things live together without injuring one another; all courses are pursued without collision with one another." This is the philosophy of the Chinese which we must understand if we are to form a just estimate of Chinese culture.
Without further comment, we venture to conclude that in China we discern a unity of thought not paralleled in the Western world. Modern science gives us the freedom to study the specific, but deprives us of the unity to see human life in its entity. It is this spirit of unity which combines art, religion, philosophy, and literature within the House of Chinese culture. This unity is in fact what we call the fundamental spirit of Chinese culture which makes it different from other great cultures of the world.
The Way to Knowledge
O Yu, let me teach you the way to knowledge. Only say that you know when you really do, and concede your ignorance of what you don't know—this is the way to knowledge.
From The Confucian Analects.
Translated by Durham Chen.