Exploring China's History and Culture

While many people think of China as "The place with the Great Wall", China's history has changed vastly since it's first recording . The Dynasties, first starting with the Xia, and leading to the People's Rebublic of China, which it is still known as today, present a history filled with culture, wars, and discoveries all contributing to the Sino-centricity of the people and lands of China. While there were many inhabitants of China before written language, the first recorded Dynasty of China is the Xia Dynasty. This period lasted from 2200 - 1750 bc. This culture originated from the Yellow River Neolithic culture known as the Longshan culture, and they were famous for their black lacquered pottery. They had a primitive writing system that was a precursor of the Shag Dynasty's "oracle bones".

Next came along the Shang, who were the most advanced bronze working civilization in the world. They liked human sacrifice. For example, if a king died, his slaves would follow him to his grave. Later, these slaves were replaced with terra cotta statues. In the event that the king died, kingship would be passed from older brother to younger brother, not father and son.
Later the Western Zhou ruled from 1100- 771 BC. Scholars believed this Dynasty, along with the former two mentioned above, were three different cultures that merged together in different areas of the Yellow River Valley. During this time, China was made up of many different principalities. The most powerful was located in the middle; hence the Chinese called this part of the country the Middle Kingdom.

The Eastern Zhou (771 - 256 BC), Spring and Autumn Period (722 - 841 BC), Warring States Period (403 - 221 BC) were periods of important influences and philosophies. During this time, three major philosophies came into play: Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism. Dao translates to "the way". A book on Daoism provided the Chinese with a way or philosophy on how to live life. Confucists believed that virtue could be obtained by following proper ways of behaving and placed a great deal of stress on proper living. The teachings of Legalism, believed man was evil by putting himself first in life. The Legalists devised a series of laws that would make the population easier to control. The main goal of both the Legalists and Confusists was to reunite China. However, Confucists were peaceful, where as Legalists were relentless. The Legalists had a secret police, informants, and instilled fear in citizens.

During the Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC), the old principalities were united to the Great Wall of China. However, this is not the Great Wall that we think of today. This fortress was built much later during the Ming dynasty. The Earlier Han (206 BC - 8AD), Wang Mang Interregnum (AD 8 - 25), Later Han (25 - 220) all followed next. The Han played and integral role in Chinese history. The predominant ethnic group in Chins were the Han, hence the name for the dynasty. This Dynasty was most important in installing administrative codes in China. At this time, China stretched from 500 miles north of Beijing, to Guilin, to the Pacific, to Chongquing. With a territory this large, emperors based a governmental system based on Confucianism. Also during this time, historian Sima Qian wrote a book known as Records of the Grand Historian. This was a written record of Chinese history. Finally, there was a population shift from the Yellow River in the north, to the Yangzi in the south. The reason people were moving to the south was that they could not control Barbarian invaders. Later in 200 AD, the providences collapsed which led China into 350 years of chaos.

Next, the Three Kingdoms Dynasty (200 - 265) and the Dynasties of the North and South ( 317 - 589) were times of great social change. In the last Dynasty, the Han had been moving south, while the Barbarians had been invading the north. This trend kept on, with the Barbarians mixing themselves into Chinese society. Another important development was Buddhism. Buddhism competed with Confucianism and merged somewhat with Daoism. This was not to be true entirely, because Daoism still remained its own identity. Shortly after, the Sui Dynasty (589 - 618) was a very brief period in Chinese history. However, during this time, China was reunified. The Sui Dynasty and later the Tang (618 - 907) were mostly Barbarian power base because it was located in the north. The Tang was one of the greatest dynasties in Chinese history. During this time, the boundaries of China were extended through Siberia, Korea, and Vietnam. Due to this expansion, trade became more favorable. The Tang extended a road into Afghanistan which was for the Silk Road. The Tang was the only Dynasty to have an Empress serving as Emperor. In the end, the An Lushan Rebellion marked the end of the Tang Dynasty.

China's Sino centricity

The term Sino centric means centered on China. It is believed that many of the philosophies and religions which were around during the various Dynasties helped the people to focus around China. Also, during the Zhou period, the Zhou shared the language and culture of the Shang, which allowed the Zhou, through colonization, to spread Shang culture throughout the region. Later, during the First Imperial Period, the city-states were centralized. This was achieved by writings, coinage, patterns of thought and ruthless methods. During the Han Dynasty, a new invention; paper, was discovered. This was important for written materials to be circulated throughout China. Therefore, many of the same ideas were spread throughout the entire Chinese countryside. City states were allowed to be independent; however, they had to accept the Han as their leader over China. Later, in 304 - 589 AD, sinicization was accelerated due to China's being invaded by Barbarians in the north, and the aboriginal tribesmen in the south. In both regions, Buddhism was very popular. This period was a time of great inventions such as gunpowder, astronomy, cartography, and medicine.