Five thousand years of Chinese civilization: Difference between revisions
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* {{cite book | last=Liu | first=Q. | last2=He | first2=J. | title=A History of Un-fractured Chinese Civilization in Archaeological Interpretation | publisher=Springer Nature Singapore | year=2023 | isbn=978-981-19-3946-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6i-wEAAAQBAJ | access-date=2024-06-22}} |
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Revision as of 00:17, 22 June 2024
| Five thousand years of Chinese civilization | |||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 中華文明五千年 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中华文明五千年 | ||||||
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Five thousand years of Chinese civilization (or 5000 years of Chinese history[1]) is an expression or assertion widely circulated since the late Qing dynasty that China has five thousand years of history or civilization. The phrase is commonly found especially in the Chinese-speaking world by the early 20th century to show that China has a long history, although it is sometimes used by the government and media as an instrument of Chinese nationalism.[2] Even though the archaeological evidence for China's ancient history is not yet sufficient, the Chinese people generally believe that the history of China is at least 5,000 years old, and regard China as one of the Four Great Ancient Civilizations.[3]
Basis
The Xia dynasty was the first hereditary dynasty of China to rule the Central Plains as recorded in traditional Chinese history books. According to the conclusion of the Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project commissioned by China, the Xia dynasty began around 2070 BC. At the same time, most ancient Chinese documents placed the beginning of Chinese history in the era of the Five Emperors, and the Yellow Emperor, as the first of the five emperors, was nearly a thousand years before the Xia dynasty. According to the Records of Emperors and Kings written by Huangfu Mi of the Jin dynasty, it is believed that there were five emperors before Emperor Yao, which lasted 341 years in total, and the first year of the Yellow Emperor should be 2698 BC. According to this calculation, Chinese civilization has a history of nearly 5,000 years since the time of the Yellow Emperor. In addition, some scholars believe that before the Yellow Emperor, there was another era of a tribal leader named Yan Emperor, which became the beginning of Chinese civilization in the Chinese public consciousness (see Yan Huang Zisun). In this way, whether it began with the Yellow Emperor or the Yan Emperor before it, "five thousand years of Chinese civilization" gradually became a conventional narrative among Chinese people,[4] implying that the Chinese civilization can be traced as an unbroken thread five thousands of years into the past.
Origin and usage
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According to research, the first person to put forward the 5,000-year history of Chinese civilization was an Italian missionary in the early Qing dynasty. Around 1650, during the reign of Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing dynasty, the Italian missionary Martino Martini came to China. His primary purpose was to preach. At the same time, he was also a Sinologist who had a good understanding of Chinese culture and was the first person to systematically introduce Chinese geography, culture, history and language to Europe. In his book Sinicæ Historiæ Decas Prima, he covered a wide range of subjects and was the first person to put forward the concept of five thousand years of China.[5]
By the late Qing dynasty, the concept of "5,000 years of Chinese culture" had been officially recognized and promoted by the Qing government. For example, the Chinese history textbook "Chinese History of the Present Dynasty" as approved by the Board of Education of the late Qing dynasty began with the statement "China was founded 5,000 years ago and has the longest history in the world. And its culture is the best among all the Eastern countries since ancient times...".[6][7] Similarly, the "China" section of the trilingual textbook Manchu–Mongolian–Chinese Interlinear Trilingual Textbook published in 1909 during the late Qing dynasty also stated "Our country China is located in the east of Asia, with mild climate, vast land and numerous people. Its culture was developed five thousand years ago, and it is the most famous ancient country on the earth...".
When Sun Yat-sen took office as the provisional President of the Republic of China in early 1912, following the 1911 Revolution, he sent power to all provinces, "taking the year 4609 of the Yellow Emperor as the first year of the Republic of China", which was the first time in Chinese history that the "five thousand year history" theory was publicly acknowledged by a head of state of China. During this period, there was also a fever for the Yellow Emperor in China.
Since then, the concept of "five thousand years of Chinese civilization" has become more popular. Similar expressions such as "5000 years of Chinese history" have also emerged and become popular in China, including the People's Republic of China period. For example, the popular history books on Chinese history compiled by mainland Chinese writers Lin Handa and Cao Yuzhang were published under the title of "Five Thousand Years Up and Down".
Criticism
Although "five thousand years of Chinese civilization" has become a common expression or narrative both inside and outside China, especially among Chinese people, the concept is never universally accepted, especially in the Western academic world. According to most Western scholars, the recorded history of China is less than 4,000 years old, instead of being recognized as 5,000 years old. Although there are many records about the Xia dynasty in traditional Chinese literature, since they were written relatively late and no recognized direct evidence of the existence of the Xia dynasty has been found so far, such as the writings of the same period of the Xia dynasty as self-evidence, many people in modern history circle question the existence of the Xia dynasty and regard it as a period of Chinese mythology rather than a period of recorded history. If counting from the following Shang dynasty which has been universally recognized by historians, China has only about 3,700 years of recorded history, which is still a big gap from 5,000 years.
At the same time, some Chinese scholars believe that China's history is more than 5,000 years old. For example, it is said that 8,000 years ago, there was a well-ordered society and a certain degree of social differentiation in most parts of China, which produced relatively advanced and complex ideas and knowledge systems. At the same time, the culture of most areas of China had been initially integrated and connected into an embryonic "early Chinese cultural circle", and there was the bud of "early China" in culture. Therefore, 8,000 years ago was already the first step in the origin of Chinese civilization.[8]
See also
References
- ^ Kenneth James Hammond (2004). From Yao to Mao: 5000 Years of Chinese History. Teaching Company Limited Partnership. ISBN 9781565858695.
- ^ "5,000 Years of History". Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ^ Liu & He 2023, p. v.
- ^ "为什么说"中华文明五千年"？". Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "很遗憾，第一个明确提出"中华五千年文明史"的，并不是中国人". www.sohu.com. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ^ "清朝时期"中国"作为国家名称从传统到现代的发展". Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "中國歷史教科書（原名本朝史講義）第1页". Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "中华文明的起源、形成及其长存之道". Retrieved 2024-06-19.
Sources
- Liu, Q.; He, J. (2023). A History of Un-fractured Chinese Civilization in Archaeological Interpretation. Springer Nature Singapore. ISBN 978-981-19-3946-4. Retrieved 2024-06-22.
