Early Chinese History

Early Chinese History World History Baylor School

http://emailhost.ait.ac.th/Asia/asia.html The Sinic world • The Sinic world is something of a cultural unit. It is held together by • Chinese characters • Confucianism • Buddhism The Middle East and even India arguably have more in common with Europe than with the Sinic world.

The Chinese language The Middle Kingdom

Shang Dynasty (1751-1112 BCE) • Ancestor worship • Most important God, Shang-di, the ancestor of the ruling family • Created original Chinese script, originally on oracle bones http://www-chaos.umd.edu/history/ancient1.html

Ancestor worship in later China • Ancestors traditionally added to family altars • Most important ancestors enter celestial bureaucracy – Confucius, Laozi, Guandi • Ancestor worship tends to orient culture to past and emphasizes history and tradition

Zhou Dynasty (1122-771) • said Shang forfeited the Mandate of Heaven (dynasty rules only as long as it follows the way of Heaven) • Virtue (te) became the key, and humanity (not spirits) became the focus. Humanism will continue to be an important element of Chinese philosophy from now on. • Whereas the Shang worshipped an anthropomorphic deity, the Zhou change the focus to the Dao, the Way of Heaven.

A Chinese creation myth • In the beginning was the One, the Tai Chi • And the One became two What are the implications of this story?

Yin-Yang • Yin is dark, secret, hidden, cool, feminine, winter, passive • Yang is masculine, light, open, warm, active

Creation (cont.) • And the two became eight, the eight trigrams • And the eight became 64, the 64 patterns of all things (and the basis for the I Jing, the Book of Changes) • And the 64 became the 10,000 things (everything)

Thunder over the Lake • The 64th hexagram in the I Jing is • Thunder over the Lake • “The woman should be like the tranquil lake stirred only by the passing thunder of the male” From the Book of History... “If the hen crows in the morning, the household will be desolate.”

The Age of 100 Philosophers (770-221 BCE) • warring states seeking dominance • talented men often went from one state to another seeking government work • The great period of Chinese philosophers

Confucius, Mencius, Zhuangzi, Laozi, Han Feizi, Xunzi, Mozi... --each had a philosophy to make China great again. And the winner is... ?

Han Fei Zi!!!! • A Legalist, HFZ believed in a strong system of rewards and punishments. • Be clear about the rules, and enforce them big-time. If there is no ambiguity and laws are enforced quickly and severely, there will be order. What do you think about the advantages and disadvantages of this system? Would it work at Baylor?

Han Fei Zi 101 • the ruler wants to amass power and live in luxury, and should • no ethics • actions appropriate to the past are ridiculous now Remember, the Chinese people had worshipped their ancestors.

Han Fei Zi 102 • you can’t control people with love or ritual: do it with fear and rewards and punishments • criticism of the government should be harshly punished (how do you think the Great Wall of China was built?) • burn all books that don’t agree with the state

Han Fei Zi 103 • education for the people is positively harmful: teach the peasants only to grow food and fight • reward them when they do these well; squash them when they don’t • charity only encourages laziness, so no charity or compassion for the weak

Han Fei Zi 104 • Attack your neighbor when you are strong; appease him when you are weak The leader of the western state of Qin (where we get our word China) successfully used these strategies to conquer and unite all of China in the late 3rd Cent BCE. Ironically (but logically), one of the first things the leader did was to execute Han Fei Zi.

Han Fei Zi (b. ? -233 BCE) In Memoriam “Assign one man to each office and do not let men talk to each other.” (Han Fei Zi) “Moreover, the people will bow naturally to authority, but few of them can be moved by righteousness. Confucius was one of the greatest sages in the world. He perfected his conduct, made clear the Way, and traveled throughout the area within the four seas, but in all that area those who rejoiced in his benevolence, admired his righteousness, and were willing to become his disciples numbered only 70.” (Han Fei Zi)

The Qin Dynasty (221-207 BCE) • Only 1 real emperor, a strong, amazing man who accomplished a great deal • unified China • incredible building projects, including roads and much of the Great Wall • standardized script, coins, etc.... • took China from a feudal state to a highly bureaucratic one Can we even call it a dynasty?

Qin Emperor movies • The Emperor and the Assassin • Zhang Yimou’s Hero

Qin Dynasty II Not the least of the Qin Emperor’s projects was his own funeral spread in Xian • terracotta soldiers www.chaos.umd.edu/history/imperial.html Less well known is that he sent large expeditions off to find the elixir of immortality How did he get so much done?

Qin Dynasty III • Some of the Qin Emperor’s more ruthless moves: • Great Book Burning of 213 • organized common people into groups of 5 families--if anyone broke the law, they were all punished • after defeating a rival state and killing all of the adults, he had all of the children buried alive • ordered the public execution of anyone singing one of the old songs; anyone who quoted an old precedent was executed along with his entire family • One of his enemies hated him so much, he slit his own throat to help an assassination plot He also made the black flag the symbol of his regime and dressed his armies in black. He made the trains run on time.

Qin Emperor As Mao Zedong later said, “Revolution is not a tea party.” Could China have moved from a feudal society to a centralized state without violence?

Qin Dynasty finale • The Qin Emperor was ruthless enough to pull off Legalism, but as soon as he died his dynasty fell apart. • Is it any wonder that for future Chinese, the Qin Dynasty became the example of how NOT to rule. • And rule by law has been distrusted by the Chinese people; even today, courts of law are not about deciding guilt in China

Law vs. Morality • Strict laws can get things done, but --- • Over the long run, law without morality is a weak basis for a stable society • “the relation between force and persuasion, between law and morality, has been for centuries a problem of intense interest to the Chinese people”

Master Kong • So guess whom the Chinese turn to now?

Confucius in a nutshell Human beings can cultivate goodness; they can harmonize themselves more closely with the Dao, the way things naturally and ideally are. We can cultivate this harmony through education. We should diligently learn from the past and diligently teach others what we have learned. The best rulers are those who have cultivated this learning and this goodness--their example trickles down to all the people. My character is not what it can be, and the world is not yet as good as it can be; but with education, effort, and reasonableness, we can improve. The Confucian Publishing House at http://www.confucius.org/ has the pictures on these next pages and many more. Confucius (551-479 BCE)

Fundamental Confucian concepts • Humanism • “Until a man knows about the living, how can he know about the dead.” (A11.11) • indeed, some consider him an atheist • ren (human-heartedness) is for C the greatest virtue • “When the perfect order prevails, the world is like a home shared by all.” Confucius sought in vain throughout his life to be a counselor to a king and to put into practice his ideas. Instead, he gathered around himself a group of students and became a great teacher. Confucius accepted students from any social class.

Two great Confucian values • ren -- humanity • A thorough knowledge and practice of li -- ritual Note that these two are often in tension-- ren recognizes our common humanity, li recognizes hierarchy

Confucian concepts II • Education • Thanks to C, Chinese society perhaps more than any other has given status to learning. • Throughout most of Chinese history, the path to power was through the exam. • “What a pleasure it is to learn, and to teach others what you have learnt.” • Those who should rule are those who are the best educated. Some scholars estimate that 1/2 of the books in the world before 1800 were in China. Education for C always meant “moral improvement.”

Confucian Concepts III • C had two primary concerns -- the correct way to rule and the correct way to live • “familyism”--the ideal ruler is like the ideal parent, and society, like the family, follows a natural hierarchy

Confucius IV • The ideal for a man is to become a chun-tzu, a gentleman • Five relationships: • father/son • older/younger brother • ruler/subject • friend/friend • husband/wife

Women • Women for C should cultivate the three virtues • as a wife, submit to husband • as a daughter, submit to father • as a widow, submit to son Empress Wu Chinese women who could sometimes be independent: Empress Dowagers, nuns, courtesans

Early Chinese History