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This article is about the Chinese civilization. For the two modern states using the name "China", see China People's Republic of China (PRC), which governs mainland China,  Hong Kong and  Macau and Taiwan Republic of China (ROC), which governs Taiwan, Matsu, and Kinmen. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).. For other uses, see Chinese civilization (disambiguation).

China (simplified Chinese: 中国; traditional Chinese: 中國; Hanyu Pinyin: Zhōngguóⓘ; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguó) is a cultural region and ancient civilization in East Asia. China refers to one of the world's oldest civilization comprising successive states and cultures dating back more than 6,000 years. Due to the stalemate of the last Chinese Civil War following World War II, China is currently divided into two separate countries: the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Republic of China (ROC). The PRC administers and governs mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, while the ROC administers and governs Taiwan and its surrounding islands.

China has one of the world's longest periods of mostly uninterrupted civilization and one of the world's longest continuously used written language systems. The successive states and cultures of China date back more than six millennia. For centuries, China was the world's most advanced civilization, and the cultural center of East Asia, with an impact lasting to the present day. China is also the source of many great technical inventions developed throughout world history, including the four great inventions of ancient China: Paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

Geography of China and geographic region labels
The Great Wall of China

Names

Main article: Names of China

"Zhongguo"

China is called Zhongguo (also Romanized as Chung-kuo or Jhongguo) in Mandarin Chinese. The first character zhōng (中) means "central" or "middle" while guó (国 or 國) means "country" or "kingdom". The term can be literally translated into English as "Central Kingdom" or "Middle Kingdom". Regarding the accuracy of the translation, senior scholar Chen Jian writes[1]:

I believe that "Central Kingdom" is a more accurate translation for "Zhong Guo" (China) than "Middle Kingdom." The term "Middle Kingdom" does not imply that China is superior to other peoples and nations around it -- China just happens to be located in the middle geographically; the term "Central Kingom", however, implies that China is superior to any other people and nation "under the heaven" and that it thus occupies a "central" position in the known universe.

The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, and has carried varying cultural and political connotations.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe the states politically descended from the Western Zhou Dynasty, in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley, to the exclusion of states such as the Chu along the Yangtze River and the Qin to the west. However, by the time of the Han Dynasty, the states of Chu, Qin and others had linked themselves to the politics of Zhongguo and were already considered integral parts of a newer Zhongguo.

During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive meanings:

  1. The area around the capital or imperial domain. The Book of Poetry explicitly gives this definition.
  2. Territories under the direct control of the "central" authorities. The Records of the Grand Historian states: "Eight mountains are famed in the empire. Three are with the Man and Yi barbarians. Five are in Zhongguo."
  3. The area now called the North China Plain. The Records of Three Kingdoms records the following monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the kingdoms in areas of present-day Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we should break off relations with them soon." In this sense, the term Zhongguo is synonymous with Hua (华 or 華) and Xia (夏), and distinct from the Wu and Yue peoples living around the Yangtze River Delta.

During the period of division after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the term Zhongguo was subjected to transformation as a result of the surge of nomadic peoples from the northern frontier. This was reinforced after the loss of the Yellow River valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization, to these peoples. For example, the Xianbei called their Northern Wei regime Zhongguo, contrasting it with the Southern Dynasties, which they called the Yi (夷), meaning "barbarian". The southern dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (虜), meaning "criminal" or "prisoner". In this way Zhongguo came to represent political legitimacy. It was used in this manner from the tenth century onwards by the competing dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song. The term Zhongguo came to be related to geographic, cultural and political identity and less to ethnic origin.

Zhongguo quickly came to include areas farther south, as the cultural and political unit (not yet a "nation" in the modern sense) spread to include the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems. By the Tang Dynasty it included barbarian regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu.

The Republic of China, when it controlled mainland China, and later, the People's Republic of China, have used Zhongguo to mean all the territories and peoples within their political control. Thus it is asserted that all 56 officially recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguoren (中国人 or 中國人), or Zhongguo people, though such claims remain politically controversial, especially when Zhongguo refers to the PRC.

"China"

English and many other languages use various forms of the name "China" and the prefix "Sino-" or "Sin-". These forms are thought to be probably derived from the name of the Qin Dynasty that first unified the country (221-206 BCE).[2] The Qin originated from a small warring tribe located in the Shanxi region, while the ethnic Han Chinese originated from the east branch of the Yellow River; this difference in ethnicity makes "China" a misnomer. The Qin Dynasty unified the written language in China and gave the supreme ruler of China the title of "Emperor" instead of "King," thus the subsequent Silk Road traders might have identified themselves by that name.

The term "China" can also be used to refer to:

In economic contexts, "Greater China" (大中华地区 or 大中華地區) is a neutral and non-political way to refer to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and sometimes Taiwan. "Taiwan" often refers to the Republic of China.

Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, akin to the classical usage of Zhongguo, to the Han ethnic group, which makes up the bulk of the population in China and of the overseas Chinese.

Cathay

Although now restricted mostly to poetic usage, the name Cathay has historically been used as a name for China, particularly its northern half. Cathay derives from the name of the Khitan ethnic group, which ruled over most of North China as the Liao Dynasty until being displaced in turn by the Jurchens from the northeast and the Mongols from the north. A cognate form, Kitay, remains the most commonly used name for China in the modern Slavic languages.[citation needed]

Seres (Σηρες)

Main article: Seres

Seres (Σηρες) was the ancient Greek and Roman name for the northwestern part of China and its inhabitants. It meant "of silk," or "land where silk comes from." The name is thought to derive from the Chinese word for silk, "si" (Traditional Chinese: 絲; Simplified Chinese: 丝; pinyin: sī). It is itself at the origin of the Latin for silk, "serica". See the main article Seres for more details.

Sinae

Sinae was an ancient Greek and Roman name for some people who dwelt south of the Seres in the eastern extremity of the inhabitable world. References to the Sinae include mention of a city that the ancients called "the metropolis of the Sinae," the identity of which is unknown to modern scholars. Although the name Sinae appears to be derived from the same etymological source as the Latin prefixes Sino- and Sin-, which are traditionally used to refer to China and the Chinese, there is some controversy as to the ultimate origin of these terms, as their use in historical texts of classical antiquity in the West appears to antedate the emergence of the Qin Dynasty and its empire, the name of which has often been cited as the source of Latin Sino- and Sin-.[citation needed]

History

Main articles: History of China and Timeline of Chinese history

China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing independently, the others being ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians), Ancient India (Indus Valley Civilization), the Mayan Civilization, and Ancient Egypt. The Chinese script is still used today by the Chinese and Japanese, and to a lesser extent by Koreans and Vietnamese. This script is one of the few, and the only major, logographic script still used in the world.

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest occupants in China date to as long as 2.24 million to 250,000 years ago by an ancient human relative (hominin) known as Homo erectus. One particular cave in Zhoukoudian (near current-day Beijing) has fossilized evidence that current dating techniques put at somewhere between 300,000 and 550,000 years old. Evidence of primitive stone tool technology and animal bones associated with H. erectus have been studied since the late 18th to 19th centuries in various areas of Eastern Asia including Indonesia (in particular Java) and Malaysia. It is thought that these early hominids first evolved in Africa during the Pleistocene epoch. By 2 million years ago, the first migration wave of H. erectus settled throughout the Old World.

Fully modern humans (Homo sapiens) are believed to originally have evolved roughly 200,000 and 168,000 years ago in the area of Ethiopia or Southern Africa (Homo sapiens idaltu). By 100,000 to 50,000 years ago, modern human beings had settled in all parts of the Old World (25,000 to 11,000 BCE in the New World). In the last 100,000 years, all proto-human populations disappeared as modern humans took over or drove other human species into extinction.

The earliest evidence of fully modern humans in China comes from Liujiang, China where a cranium has been found dating from 67,000 years ago. There is a partial skeleton from Minatogawa that is only 18,000 years old.

Dynastic rule

The first dynasty according to Chinese sources was the Xia Dynasty, but it was believed to be mythical until scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province. Since then, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the possible existence of the Xia dynasty at the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts.

The first reliable historical dynasty is the Shang, which settled along the Yellow River in eastern China from the 18th to the 12th century BCE. The Shang were invaded from the west by the Zhou who ruled from the 12th to the 5th century BCE. The centralized authority of the Zhou was slowly eroded by warlords. In the Spring and Autumn period there were many strong, independent states continually warring with each other, who deferred to the Zhou state in name only. The first unified Chinese state was established by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE, when the office of the emperor was set up. This state did not last long, as its legalist approach to control soon led to widespread rebellion.

The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BCE until 220 CE. Another period of disunion followed. In 580 CE, China was reunited under the Sui. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, China had its golden age. Between the 7th and 14th centuries, China was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world in technology, literature, and art, although change was gradual. In 1271, Mongol leader Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, with the last remnant of the Song Dynasty falling to the Yuan in 1279. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty, which lasted until 1644. The Manchu-founded Qing Dynasty, which lasted until the overthrow of Puyi in 1911, was the final dynasty of China.

Regime change was often violent and the new ruling class usually needed to take special measures to ensure the loyalty of the overthrown dynasty. For example, after the Manchus conquered China, the Manchu rulers put into effect measures aimed at subduing the Han Chinese identity, such as the requirement for the Han Chinese to wear the Manchu hairstyle, the queue.

In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, with which it had been at war for several centuries, while simultaneously falling behind Europe.

In the 19th century China adopted a defensive posture towards European imperialism, even though it engaged in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia itself. At this time China awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, in particular the West. As China opened up to foreign trade and missionary activity opium became available. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. One result was the Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862. It was started by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by Christianity and believed himself the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the imperial forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, costing at least twenty million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the First World War), with some estimates of over 30 million. The flow of opium led to more decline, even in the face of noble efforts by missionaries such as Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission to stem the tide. Further destruction followed the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 which aimed to repel Westerners. Although secretly supporting the rebels, Empress Ci Xi publicly aided foreign forces suppressing the uprising. In the end the Boxers were defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

See also: Dynasties in Chinese history and Chinese sovereign

Republican China

File:Whampoa1.jpg
At the 1924 inauguration of the Whampoa Military Academy, Sun Yat-sen delivered a speech that would later become the lyrics of the ROC's national Anthem.

On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China was established, ending the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party), was proclaimed provisional president of the republic. However, Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who had defected to the revolutionary cause, soon forced Sun to step aside and took the presidency for himself. Yuan then attempted to have himself proclaimed emperor of a new dynasty; however, he died of natural causes before fully taking power over all of the Chinese empire.

After Yuan Shikai's death, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally-recognized, but virtually powerless, national government seated in Beijing. Warlords in various regions exercised actual control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control, moving the nation's capital to Nanjing and implementing "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a modern, democratic state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang.

The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 (part of World War II) forced an uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists. With the surrender of Japan in 1945, China emerged victorious but financially drained. The continued distrust between the Nationalists and the Communists led to the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing Civil War many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented on the mainland.

See also: History of the Republic of China

The People's Republic of China and the Republic of China

After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China controlled most of Mainland China. On October 1, 1949, they established the People's Republic of China, laying claim to be the successor state of the ROC. The central government of the ROC was forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan. Major armed hostilities ceased in 1950 but both sides are technically still at war.

Beginning in the late 1970s, the Republic of China began the implementation of full, multi-party, representative democracy in the territories still under its control (i.e., Taiwan Province, Taipei, Kaohsiung and some offshore islands of Fujian province). Today, the ROC has active political participation by all sectors of society. The main cleavage in ROC politics is the issue of eventual unification with China vs. formal independence.

Post-1978 reforms on the mainland have led to some relaxation of the control over many areas of society. However, the Chinese government still has absolute control over politics, and it continually seeks to eradicate threats to the stability of the country . Examples include the fight against terrorism, jailing of political opponents and journalists, custody regulation of the press, regulation of religions, and suppression of independence/secessionist movements. In 1989, the student protests at Tiananmen Square were violently put to an end by the Chinese military after 15 days of martial law.

In 1997 Hong Kong was returned to the PRC by the United Kingdom and in 1999 Macao was returned by Portugal.

See also: History of Hong Kong, History of Macau, and History of the Republic of China

Present

Today, the Republic of China continues to exist on Taiwan, while the People's Republic of China controls the Chinese mainland. The PRC continues to be dominated by the Communist Party, but the ROC has moved towards democracy. Both states are still officially claiming to be the sole legitimate ruler of all of "China". The ROC had more international support immediately after 1949, but most international diplomatic recognitions have shifted to the PRC. The ROC representative to the United Nations was replaced by the PRC representative in the 1970s.

The ROC has not formally renounced its claim to all of China, or changed its official maps on which its territories include the mainland, including Outer Mongolia, but it has moved away from this identity and increasingly identifies itself as "Taiwan". Presently, the ROC does not pursue any of the territories on mainland China, Tibet, or Mongolia claimed by the PRC. The PRC claims to have succeeded the ROC as the legitimate governing authority of all of China including Taiwan. The PRC has used diplomatic and economic pressure to advance its One China policy, which attempts to displace the ROC in official world organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Olympic Games. Today, there are only twenty-four U.N. member states that still maintain official diplomatic relations with the ROC.

Territory

Historical political divisions

Main article: History of the political divisions of China

Top-level political divisions of China have altered as administrations changed. Top levels included circuits and provinces. Below that, there have been prefectures, subprefectures, departments, commanderies, districts, and counties. Recent divisions also include prefecture-level cities, county-level cities, towns and townships.

Most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands of China, known as China proper. Various dynasties also expanded into peripheral territories like Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The Manchu-established Qing Dynasty and its successors, the ROC and the PRC, incorporated these territories into China. China proper is generally thought to be bounded by the Great Wall and the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are found to the north of the Great Wall of China, and the boundary between them can either be taken as the present border between Inner Mongolia and the northeast Chinese provinces, or the more historic border of the World War II-era puppet state of Manchukuo. Xinjiang's borders correspond to today's administrative Xinjiang. Historic Tibet occupies all of the Tibetan Plateau. China is traditionally divided into Northern China (北方) and Southern China (南方), the boundary being the Huai River (淮河) and Qinling Mountains (秦岭 or 秦嶺).

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of China
The precipitation in different regions of China

China is composed of a vast variety of highly different landscapes, with mostly plateaus and mountains in the west, and lower lands on the east. As a result, principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (central-east), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains;. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Huang He and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Most of China's arable lands lie along these rivers; they were the centers of China's major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include the Pearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. Yunnan Province is considered a part of the Greater Mekong Subregion which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam [1].

In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing our planet's highest point Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.

The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate climate. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate.

Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China.[3] Dust has blown to southern China and Taiwan, and has even reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.

See also: Environment of China

Society

Demographics

Main articles: Ethnic groups in Chinese history, Ethnic minorities in China, and Demographics of China

China's overall population exceeds 1.3 billion, about one-fifth of the world's population. While over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China, the government of the People's Republic of China officially recognizes a total of 56. The largest ethnic group in China by far is the Han. This group is diverse and can be divided into smaller ethnic groups that share some traits.

Many ethnic groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. Several previously distinct ethnic groups have been Sinicized into the Han, causing its population to increase dramatically. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions, though still identifying as Han. Many foreign groups have shaped Han language and culture; the queue was a pig tail hairstyle strictly enforced by the Manchurians on the Han populace. The term Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu) is usually used to describe a notion of a Chinese nationality that transcends ethnic divisions.

Languages

Main article: Languages of China

Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken by 29 ethnicities. There are also several major "dialects" within the Chinese language itself. The most spoken dialects are Mandarin (spoken by over 70% of the population), Wu (Shanghainese), Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang (Thai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean.[4]

Putonghua (Standard Mandarin, literally Common Speech) is the official language and is based on the Beijing dialect of the Mandarin group of dialects spoken in northern and southwestern China. Standard Mandarin is the medium of instruction in education and is taught in all schools. It is the language used in the media, for formal purposes, and by the government.[5] Non-Sinitic languages are co-official in some autonomic minority regions.[4]

"Vernacular Chinese" or "baihua" is the written standard based on the Mandarin dialect which has been in use since the early 20th century. An older written standard, Classical Chinese, was used by literati for thousands of years before the 20th century. Classical Chinese is still a part of the high school curriculum and is thus intelligible to some degree to many Chinese. Spoken variants other than Standard Mandarin are usually not written, except for Standard Cantonese (see Written Cantonese) which is sometimes used in informal contexts.

Chinese banknotes are multilingual and contain written scripts for Standard Mandarin (Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin), Zhuang (Roman alphabet), Tibetan (Tibetan alphabet), Uyghur (Arabic alphabet) and Mongolian (traditional Mongolian alphabet).

Religion

Main article: Religion in China
500 Buddha lohans in Shanghai's Longhua temple (first built during the Three Kingdoms era)

Due to the Cultural Revolution and other policies, 59% of the mainland Chinese from the People's Republic of China (PRC), or about 767 million people, identify themselves as non-religious or atheist.[6] However, religion and rituals play a significant part in the lives of many in the PRC, especially the traditional beliefs of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. About 33% of the population in the PRC follow a mixture of beliefs usually referred to by statisticians as "Traditional Beliefs," "Ancient Chinese Beliefs," or just "Other". This is in contrast to the demographics of religion in the Republic of China (Taiwan) which was not affected by the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China. Religion and ancient Chinese traditions play a big role in the daily lives of modern Taiwanese people. According to the official figures released by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America:

The major religions of the China People's Republic of China are:

The major religions of the Taiwan Republic of China are:

Only about 6% of the mainland Chinese population in the PRC are avowed Buddhists, with Mahayana Buddhism and Zen Buddhism being the most widely practiced, in contrast to the combined 93% of the ROC (Taiwan) population who are devout adherents of a symbiotic combination of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. With an estimated 100 million adherents, Buddhism is the PRC's largest organized religion. Other forms of Buddhism, such as Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, are practiced largely by ethnic minorities along the geographic fringes of the PRC.[7] Official figures indicate that there are currently about 20 million Muslims (mostly Hui), more than 15 million Protestants, and 5 million Catholics in the country.[8]

The People's Republic of China (PRC) is officially secular and atheist but it does allow personal religion or supervised religious organization. Taoism and Buddhism, along with an underlying Confucian morality, have been the dominant religions of Chinese society for almost two millennia. Personal religion is widely tolerated in the PRC today, so there has been a resurrection of interest in Buddhism and Taoism in the past decade. Among the younger, urban secular population, Taoist spiritual ideas of Feng Shui have become popular in recent years, spawning a large home decoration market in China.

In recent years Falun Gong has attracted great controversy after the government labeled it a malicious cult[2] and attempted to eradicate it. The Falun Gong itself denies that it is a cult or a religion. The Falun Gong claims approximately 70-100 million followers, higher than estimates by foreign independent groups; exact numbers are unknown.

See also: Catholicism in China, Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, Protestantism in China, and Way of Former Heaven

Culture

Main article: Culture of China
A Chinese Tang Dynasty tri-color glazed porcelain horse (ca. 700 CE).

Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, e.g. the view that calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama. China's traditional values were derived from various versions of Confucianism and conservatism. A number of more authoritarian strains of thought have also been influential, such as Legalism. There was often conflict between the philosophies, such as the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians, who believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians have advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values".[9]

With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures. In essence, the history of 20th century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.

The first leaders of the PRC were born in the old society but were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change some traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, and Confucian education, while preserving others, such as the family structure and obedience to the state. Many observers believe that the period following 1949 is a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others say that the CPC's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution, where many aspects of traditional culture were labeled "regressive and harmful" or "vestiges of feudalism" by the regime. They further argue that many important aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, Chinese art, literature, and performing arts like Beijing opera, were altered to conform to government policies and communist propaganda. The institution of the Simplified Chinese orthography reform is controversial as well. Today, the PRC government has accepted much of traditional Chinese culture as an integral part of Chinese society, lauding it as an important achievement of the Chinese civilization and emphasizing it as being vital to the formation of a Chinese national identity.

Rice is very important in Chinese culture. Not only is it the main part of the diet, but many Chinese myths and parables involve rice. Rice is the major grain crop in China, grown mainly in the Yangtze River valley and southern China, and on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. [3]. China produces and consumes more rice than any other country [4] [5]. Some archeologists theorize that rice cultivation originated in China [6].

See also: Chinese law and Chinese philosophy

Arts, scholarship, and literature

Chinese calligraphy by Mifu, Song Dynasty

Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still extant, from Oracle bones to Qing edicts. Calligraphy is a major art form in China, more highly regarded than painting and music. Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were handwritten by ink brush. Calligraphy later became commercialized, and works by famous artists became prized possessions.

Printmaking was developed during the Song Dynasty. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on the classics in both printed and handwritten form. Royalty frequently participated in these discussions.

For centuries, economic and social advancement in China could be provided by high performance on the imperial examinations. This led to a meritocracy, although it was available only to males who could afford test preparation. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed socio-economic position.

Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets were highly respected, and played key roles in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire. Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.

File:96px-Lian Zhu - Shi - horizontal.jpg
A Chinese stringed instrument qin (琴, also known as guqin, a seven string bridgeless zither)

The Chinese invented numerous musical instruments, such as the zheng (箏, zither with movable bridges), qin (琴, bridgeless zither), sheng (笙, free reed), xiao (箫 or 簫, end blown flute) and adopted and developed others such the erhu (二胡, bowed lute) and pipa (plucked lute), many of which have later spread throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly to Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

See also: Chinese art, Chinese painting, Chinese paper art, Chinese calligraphy, Chinese poetry, Cinema of China, and Music of China

Sports and recreation

Main article: Sports in China

There is evidence that a form of football (i.e. soccer) was first played in China around 1000 CE, leading many historians to believe that it originated there.[10]. Professional football is still in its developmental stages, owing a kickstart to the recent formation of the Chinese Super League. Besides football, the most popular sports are martial arts, table tennis, badminton and more recently, golf. Basketball is especially popular with the young, in urban centers where space is limited.

There are also many traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are part of traditional festivals.[11]

China has become a sports power in the Asian region and around the world. China finished first in medal counts in each of the Asian Games since 1982,[12] and in the top four in medal counts in each of the Summer Olympic Games since 1992.[13] The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing, China.

Physical fitness is highly regarded. Morning exercises are a common activity and the elderly are often seen practicing qigong in parks.

Board games such as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also common and have organised formal competitions.

Science and technology

Main article: Science and technology in China
Yanghui Triangle, known as Pascal's Triangle in West, was first drawn by the Chinese

In addition to the cultural innovations mentioned above, technological inventions from China include:

Other areas of technological study:

See also

Notes

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  1. ^ Mao's China and the Cold War. published by UNC Press ISBN 0-8078-4932-4
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed (AHD4). Boston and New York, Houghton-Mifflin, 2000, entries china, Qin, Sino-.
  3. ^ "Beijing hit by eighth sandstorm". BBC news. Accessed 17 April, 2006.
  4. ^ a b Languages. 2005. GOV.cn. URL accessed 3 May 2006. Cite error: The named reference "language" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language (Order of the President No.37). 2005. GOV.cn. URL accessed 15 May 2006.
  6. ^ World Desk Reference. D K Publishing. ISBN 0-7566-1099-0
  7. ^ Macintosh, R. Scott. China's prosperity inspires rising spirituality (March 09, 2006). Retrieved April 15, 2006.
  8. ^ "China (includes Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau)". 2004. International Religious Freedom Report 2004 - U.S. Department of State. URL accessed 30 May 2006.
  9. ^ Bary, Theodore de. "Constructive Engagement with Asian Values". Columbia University.
  10. ^ Origins of the Great Game. 2000. Athleticscholarships.net. Accessed 23 April 2006.
  11. ^ Qinfa, Ye. Sports History of China. About.com. Retrieved April 21, 2006.
  12. ^ http://www.dohaasiangames.org/en/asian_games_2006/history.html
  13. ^ http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/index_uk.asp

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