China - History, Tradition, Government

According to Chinese mythology, Chinese civilization begins with Huangdi, also known as the "yellow emporer." Many believe civilization began five thousand years ago, however, recent historians can only date it back to around 1523 to 1028 B.C with the Shang dynasty. The Chinese are responsible for four great inventions: the compass, gunpowder, papermaking, and printing; others include silk production.

Chinese technology was the most advanced in the world inthe 14th century but would stagnate as Confucianism came to the forefront. Confucianism had an emphasis on morality and relationships and had a disregard of crafts and commerce.

In China Taoism and Bhuddism are two major religions, however, China is not a very religious culture. In fact, It is very secular. Confucianism has been the prevailing school of thought (not a religion). So what is confucianism? It was founded by the though of Confucious or Master Kong and is unconcerned with the supernatural or the after life. The Confucian order: the society is composed of a set of dualistic relationships; Emperor to subject, father to son, elder brother to younger brother, and friend to friend. Each person is expected to know their role in these dualistic relationships. The superiors of these relationships should set moral exampls and subordinates should respect the superiors and follow their examples. Confucious is revered as a great teacher rather than being worshiped as a god. Confucianism can really be seen through the secularity of the Chinese government.

Some other schools of though in China include Mohism, Daoism, Legalism, School of Names, Yin-Yang Theory, and Feng - Shui. Buddhism was imported from India in the second century A.D.

Traditional Chinese Government:

In the Han Dynasty (202 B.C. - 9 A.D. and 25 - 225 A.D.), Confucianism was adopted as the state philosophy and would define the political culture of China. Confucianism was used to enforce the examination system in China; which, in turn, enforced the lack of commercial and scientific progress. The purpose of the examination system was producing intelligent officials, to provide people with an orthodox belief system, and to provide a channel of social mobility. Unfortunately, it also took the brightest minds of China and put them to work for the government rather than the sciences and business, hindering their progress. The examination system, also, put excessive emphasis on memorization and writing of couplets; leading to an imperfect social mobility.

The actual structure of traditional China was headed by the Emperor, followed by the premier. They then had six boards: Personnel, revenue, rites, war, punishment, and works. The levels of governent in traditional China consisted of a central government, provinces, prefectures, and counties (very similar to the system in place today). Local governments were held to interesting rules. If a male was going into governmental work, they were not allowed to work in their own village as they had too many ties and it opened up too much room for corruption.