China - Longest Surviving Civilization

 

China embraces the longest surviving civilization in recorded history which dates back between 7000 to 8000 years.  She is one of the Four Ancient Civilizations (alongside Babylon, India and Egypt and has a rich and profound culture.

Archeologists believe the modern human first came to China from Central Asia or India sometime around 50,000 BC.

China’s capitol is Beijing, it is the 4^th largest country on earth; she has a population of 1.3 billion, boasting 3,705,676 squire miles of land mass; she borders Russia, India, Afghanistan and 11 other countries; there are 5 time zones within her boarders; the highest mountain in the world that we call Mount Everest is located there; she encompasses the largest desert in Asia which is the 4th greatest on earth, and is called the Gobi Desert.  As you might expect there are many other facts about China that could be referenced, but this is suppose to be a summary of a sort.

By about 3000 BC, archeological digs indicate the use of pottery and evidence further indicates that living in houses as opposed to caves had been established. They soon learned from how to use horses for pulling wheeled chariots.          

By 2000 BC, Chinese people had entered the Bronze Age and had developed writing.

In about 700 BC, Chinese metal-workers learned how to make tools and weapons made of iron.  (Special note … This occurred during the time of the well known Chinese scholar / teacher, Confucius). But beginning in 481 BC, China was divided into many Warring States that fought each other for the next 200 + years

Qin Dynasty (221-206/202 BCE)    

221 BC brought the Qin dynasty (initially ruled by Qin / Ch’in Shih Huang Ti), which succeeded in putting China back together as one country. Among many other things the Qin dynasty’s most noted accomplishment was to renovate / built, along the northern border, the Great Wall of China. The first emperor of this dynasty, Qin or Ch'in is infamous for his repression of intellectual ideas, censorship of books, and the deaths of many Chinese in the service of his grand projects (such as the wall).  He tried but failed to achieve immortality: in fact great effort was extended in search for the elixir of life. He is thought to have died in 210 or 209 BCE while on a tour of the empire. Excavation of his tomb has revealed more than 6,000 life-sized statues of soldiers (the famed Terracotta Warriors and Horses) had been placed there to keep him company.

Han Dynasty (206/202 BCE-220 CE)      

 

Regardless, around 202 or 206 BC the Han dynasty ousted the Qin dynasty. The period of the Han dynasty was considered quite the economical success. The Chinese traded along the Silk Road with the Parthians (a nomadic group originating from Siberia) and the Roman Empire.  The Han Dynasty was also noted for embracing Confucianism, which became the ideological foundation of all regimes until the end of imperial China.  The emperors of the Han Dynasty also supported and promoted the development of art, science, technology, literature and religion. This dynasty was a period of great prosperity.

Jumping forward a few thousand years to the onset of WW II (7-7-37) the Japanese invaded Beijing, China and subjected the inhabitants to numerous atrocities. From Beijing, the Japanese stormed toward Nanjing, where the Nationalist government was based. Although the Chinese battled heroically at Shanghai (a quarter-million soldiers were lost) they ultimately fell to their invaders in October of that year.  For the next two months, the invading soldiers raped an estimated 7000 women, killed hundreds of thousands of troops and unarmed civilians, and burned a third of Nanjing’s houses. This incident became known as the Rape of Nanjing.

As a result, the government of China aligned with the Allied nations of WW II.

Shortly after WW II, much to the disappointment of the democratic Allies, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed in the aftermath of the Communist Party's triumph in the Chinese Civil War by Mao Zedong on October 1, 1949.

Seeming at least to those same democratic nations, to make matters even worse, the People's Republic of China initially maintained a hostile attitude toward religion which was seen as characteristic foreign colonialism. Houses of worship, including temples, mosques, and churches, were converted into non-religious buildings for non-spiritual use.

In the early years of the People's Republic in fact, religious freedoms or belief were discouraged because it was regarded by the government as superstitious and because some Communist leaders had previously been critical of religious institutions. This attitude relaxed considerably in the late 1970s, with the end of the Cultural Revolution. In fact the 1978 Constitution of the People's Republic of China now guarantees freedom of religion with a number of restrictions.  Since the mid-1990s there has been a massive program to rebuild Buddhist temples that were destroyed in the Cultural Revolution.

Individuals in China often recognize a wide range of beliefs and religions including organized religions like Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism as well as folk religions. But the majority modern of Chinese know very little about the religious past, because the government wants it that way.

Although China is regarded officially an atheist state, after Mao’s death in 1976, the government has loosened up, you might say, on religion. It has acknowledged making a mistake by persecuting monks and nuns during the Cultural Revolution and has quietly abandoned many of its atheist positions.  Buddhism and Christianity have become especially popular with new believers who come from all segments of the Chinese society, including rich and poor, urban and rural.

China has been the source of many noteworthy inventions, including the Four Great Inventions of ancient China which include: paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing (both woodblock and movable type). Other inventions include paper money and the two stage rocket.  China has the oldest surviving written language system in the world; Ice cream was invented in China around 2000 BC; and many scholars believe the game of chess originated in China.

China is the birthplace of silk; the art of developing the Bonsai tree may have been inspired by nature, but the process originated in China around 1300 years ago; in addition, Kung fu, may be one of the most well known examples of traditional Chinese culture.  

By 2010 the world’s inhabitants surpassed 6.9 billion.  Historically, China has been noted with having a huge population and with good reason.  After all her reported people count exceeded 1.3 billion in 2010 which is 19.3% of the world count as compared to the US  count which was nearly 312 million or 4.5% of the worlds total. Only one other country came even close to China … India … who had 1.2 billion or 17.45% in 2010.

With this many people to feed, I wonder why the African continent typically has a greater problem feeding its people than India or China.  May-be it’s the weather or are the Chinese just a lot smarter than the rest of us?

Sources ... 
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http://www.uchinavisa.com/china-facts.html                    

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