中国古代概况.docx

中国古代概况.docx

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中国古代概况

Section1TheGeographicalSurroundingsandtheEconomicStructureoftheChineseCulture

TheChineseculturecanbedefinedasaculturalsystemrichindistinctnationalstylewhichtookshapewithintheterrainofChina.Thecultureincludesthespiritualcultureandbehavioralcultureaswellastheirmaterializedpresentations.ItistheseculturalformsthattypifythefundamentalfeaturesoftheChineseculture.Itbelongstothehistoricalcategory,havingundergone5000-yeardevelopmentbeforeitturnsintotoday’ssplendidsight,bothextensiveandprofound.TosomeextenttheChinesecultureindicatestheChinesetradition.Meanwhileitcanberelegatedtothenationalcategory.AfteralongprocessofrelativelyindependentdevelopmentfollowedbythecollisionandexchangeafterwardsbetweenChinaandforeigncountries,theChinesecultureassumeduniquecharacteristics,becameanoutstandingmemberinthebrilliantglobalfamilyofnationalcultures,andgrewtobeamainrepresentativeofOrientalnationalcultures.

ForanyonetounderstandthebasicnationalconditionsofancientChina,theChinesecultureisamust,andviceversa.ThebasicnationalconditionsinChinaoweditsformationtothedevelopmentoftheChinesecultureinthespecifichistoricalbackgroundandgeographicalsurroundings.GraspingthebasicnationalconditionspromisesanindispensablechanneltotheChineseculture.ThefollowingisanintroductionoftheChineseculturefromtheperspectivesofthegeographicalsurroundings,economicstructure,andhistoricaldevelopmentandtraits.

第一节地理环境和经济结构

中国文化指产生发展于中国地域内的一种富有鲜明的民族特色的文化体系。

我们这里讲的主要是精神文化和行为文化，以及这些精神文化和行为文化的某些物化的文化形式。

这些文化形式最典型地反映展示了中国文化的概要面貌和基本特征。

中国文化是一个历史的范畴，它经历了50000年的发展才形成了今天的面貌，底蕴厚重，博大精深。

中国文化在某种程度上指的就是传统文化。

同时它又是一个民族的范畴，在长期的相对独立的发展以及中外文化的冲撞交流中，以我为主，中国文化形成了自己的特色，卓然立于世界民族文化之林，成为东方民族文化的主要代表。

了解中国的基本国情，必须要了解中国文化。

反之亦然。

中国的基本国情，是中国文化的发展在特定的历史背景和地理环境下形成的，而把握中国的基本国情，也是我们了解中国文化的必要门径。

下面依次介绍中国文化形成的地理环境、社会人文背景、历史发展和基本特征。

TheGeographicalSurroundings

Chinaisaunitarymultinationalcountrywithavastterritoryandalargepopulation.ThegeographicalsurroundingsplayavitalroleintheformationanddevelopmentoftheChineseculture.SituatedinthecontinentofEastAsia,Chinaislocatedinrelativelyenclosedgeographicalsurroundings.Inthenorthstretchesthevastdesertandprairie;inthewest,thevastexpanseofGobianddesertandQinghai-Tibetplateau;inthesouthwest,Yunnan-Guizhoumountainousregionandboundlesstropicalrainforests;intheeastandsoutheast,theocean.TherelativelyenclosedgeographicalsurroundingsprovidedexceptionalnaturaladvantagesfortheancientChineseculturetodevelopindependently,forafairlylongperiodfreefromtheimpactofforeigncultures,especiallythosepowerfulones.ThesefacilitatedtheChineseculturetoevolveintoastableandindependentsystemwithdistinctiveregionalfeatures.

SincetheterrainofChinaishighinthewestandlowintheeast,severallongriversrunningfromwesttoeastaredistributedevenlytoformthevalleysofLiaoheRiver,YellowRiver,YangtzeRiverandPearlRiver.Thelargeriversandtheirtributariesfacilitatetheagriculturaldevelopmentandtransportationaswellasthegrowthofregionalcultures.Chineseculturalsystemisanorganicunitywithmulti-elements.DifferentstylesofregionalculturesenrichtheconnotationoftheChineseculture.Meanwhile,conflictsamongdifferentregionalculturescameintobeingbetweenvariousnationalitiesaswellasregionalregimes,duetothedifferenceingeographicalsurroundingsandtheregionalculturesarisingtherefrom.Thegeneraltrend,however,isculturalfusionandpoliticalunity.

Withtheterritoryinthetemperateandsubtropicalzones,thenaturalresourcessuchaslight,heat,waterandsoilarefitforthedevelopmentofagriculturaleconomy.EspeciallyintheYellowRiverValleyandtheYangtzeRiverValley,farmingisthemajoreconomicmode.AncientChinesecivilizationisofagriculturalnature,whichisanearly-maturingtypeofhumancivilization.Hence,China’sancientcivilizationoriginatedmainlyintheYellowRiverValleyandtheYangtzeRiverValley.AgriculturalcivilizationdevelopedearlyintheYellowRiverValley.Peoplehereenjoyseasonalclimateoftemperatezone.Besides,thethickandfertilelayerofloess,andthewaterresourcesprovidedbytheriveranditstributariesalsocontributetoitsdevelopment.Forquitealongperiod,theYellowRiverValleyhasbeenthemajorbirthplaceandbaseoftheancientcivilization.AgriculturalcivilizationplaysadecisiveroleinformingandpromotingtheChineseculture,whichconstitutesitsfundamentaldifferencesfromWesternculture.

地理环境

中国是一个疆域辽阔、人口众多的多民族的统一国家。

它立国的地理环境对中国文化的形成发展起到了至关重要的作用。

中国位于东亚大陆，处于一个相对隔绝封闭的地理环境中：

北部是辽阔的大漠与草原，西部是浩瀚的戈壁沙漠和青藏高原，西南部是云贵山地和莽莽雨林，东部和东南部的平原与丘陵地带则面向大洋。

这种相对封闭的地理环境为中国古代文化相对独立的发展提供了自然条件。

所以在相当长的一段时间里，中国文化与外来文化的武力冲撞较少。

这对中国文化形成一个历史悠久又自成体系，具有鲜明的地域特征且具有一定的稳定性的文化系统，有着重要的作用。

中国内部的地理环境西高东低，东西走向的几条大河较为均匀地分布于其间，构成了辽河、黄河、长江、珠江几个流域。

流域内纵横其间的支流为农业的发展和交通提供了有利的自然条件，也促成了区域文化的发展。

风格多样各异的区域文化融合为一体，丰富了中国文化的内涵。

但又产生了区域文化间几次的冲突，这里面既有民族间的，也有地方政权间的，但最终是复归于文化的融合和政治的一统。

中国的疆域处于温带和亚热带地区，光、热、水、土和生物等自然资源和自然条件都比较适合农业经济的发展。

特别在黄河流域与长江流域，农耕生产是其主要的经济方式。

中国的古代文明，其性质是农业文明，这是一种早熟型的人类文明。

中国的古代文明主要发生在黄河流域和长江流域，尤其是黄河流域。

黄河流域那四季分明的温带气候，肥沃厚实的黄土层，大河及其支流所提供的可资开发利用的水利资源，使黄河流域的农业文明很早就发展起来，在很长的一段历史时期内，成为中华古代文明的主要发祥地和根据地。

农业文明给予中国文化的形成和发展以决定性的影响，是构成中国文化不同于西方文化的基本点。

　TheEconomicStructure

Chineseeconomicstructurehasundergoneaprocessofchangefromtheancientpatterncomposedmainlyofagriculturetothatoftechnologyinamodernindustrialsociety.Theagriculturalsociety,whichlastedforseveralthousandyears,withthesmall-scalepeasanteconomyintheleadingposition,exertedastronginfluenceonthedevelopmentoftheChineseculture.

InancientChina,thenaturaleconomicpatternwentlikethis:

farmingwasthemajormodeofproductionandfamily,thebasicunit.Inprimitivesociety,threetypesofregionaleconomy—farming,pasturageandfishing—graduallycameintoexistencebecauseofthediscrepanciesinnaturalgeographicalsurroundings.AftertheXia,ShangandZhoudynasties,somerelativelystableeconomiczonesdeveloped:

thefarmingzoneinthemiddleandlowervalleysoftheYellowRiverandtheYangtzeRiver,thenomadiczoneinthenorthernandnorthwesternfrontiersandthefishingandhuntingzoneinthenortheast.However,duetotheearly-maturingprosperityandwidedispersion,theagriculturaleconomyalwayshadaleadingroleinancientChina.ThemainstreamoftheancientChineseculturewasbasedontheagriculturalcivilization.Thenationalitiesengagedinpasturageorfishingandhuntinginthenorthmountedlarge-scaleoffencessouthwardmanytimesbytakingadvantageoftheirmilitarymight,andmanagedtoestablishtheirpoliticalpowersuccessively,buteachtimetheywerebroughtunderthecontroloftheagriculturalcivilizationoftheCentralPlains.AssimilatedbyandintegratedwiththeHuaXiaandHannationalities,theyrevertedtothetraditionalsocialpatternwithHannationalityasitsmainbodyandagriculturaleconomyasitsfoundation.

AgriculturewasfundamentaltothedevelopmentofancientChina.Farming,theoriginofwhichcanatleastbetracedbackto8000yearsago,hasbeeninstrumentalinmoldingthebasicsocialoutlookofancientChina.Agricultureshapedthepoliticalsystemandideology.InancientChina,rulersofeachdynastyhappenedtocoincideintheirpolicyofprotectingagriculture,i.e.encouragingfarmingbutlimitingcommerce.Incentivemeasureswereadoptedtodevelopfarming.WiththebeginningoftheWesternZhouDynasty,emergedthesystemofhouseholdland.EveryyearattheBeginningofSpring（firstsolarterm）ofeachyear,agrandceremonywouldbeheld.TheEmperor,aswellasdukesandprinceswouldploughtheirownhouseholdland,settingamodelforthecommonpeopletofollow,andconveyingthemessagethatthegovernmentattachedhighimportancetoagriculture.Later,thisbecameaconventionalpractice.Thegovernmentalsocommendedthosewhohadscoredoutstandingachievementsintheareaoffarming.Inordertodiscouragethedevelopmentofthecraftandcommercialsector,measuresweretakentopunishandrestrainthosehandicraftsmenandbusinessmen.Thepunishmentsweresometimesverystern,suchasforbiddingbusinessmentowearsilkclothes,carryswordsoruseachariotandeventoconfiscatetheirproperty.Allthesemeasuresguaranteedthedominantroleofagriculturaleconomyintheancientsociety.

TheeconomyofancientChina,nomatterwhichtypeittook,suzeraineconomy,landlordeconomyorowner-peasanteconomy,judgingfromthenatureandmode,belongedtothecategoryofasmall-scaleeconomy.Thiskindofeconomyhadthefollowingcharacteristics.

Firstly,thefamilywasthebasicunit.InancientChina,farmingwasconductedforthousandsofyearswitheachhouseholdasaproductiveunit.Originallyeachfamilywasfairlylargewithacomplexstructure.DuringthethreedynastiesofXia,ShangandZhou,theextendedfamiliesconsistingofthreeorfourgenerationswerethebasiccellsofthesocialeconomy.Sincethen,itbecamepopulartodividethefamilypropertyandtoliveapart,whichledtoatrendofreducingthesizeandstructureofthefamily.DuringtheWarringStatesPeriodandtheQinDynasty,anuclearfamilyoffivemembersbecamethemostcommonpattern,andthiscontinuedtothepresent.

Secondly,themajorproductivemodewasthenaturalfamilyeconomywiththemancultivatingthelandandthewomanweavingathome.Thistypeofeconomyandthesimpledivisionoflaborweresufficienttomeetpeople’sneeds.Therefore,itwasatypeofself-sufficientnaturaleconomy,withlimitedreli