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Proof of early exchange between cultures

2012-04-19T01:49:58Z

Olivia: Created page with ' Proof of early exchange between cultures in china Due to limited data, discussions on the exchange between the East and the West focused on the period after Zhang Qia…'

Proof of early exchange between cultures in china
Due to limited data, discussions on the exchange between the East and the West focused on the period after Zhang Qian's first visit to the Western Regions in the latter part of the second century BC. Therefore, it remained an open question whether there had been contact between the East and the West in the pre-Qin period and the even earlier prehistoric Bronze Age. If there had been, where did these encounters take place, and by what means did exchange occur?
In 1921, modern archeology was introduced to China by the Swede, Dr. J. G. Andersson with the excavation at Yangshao Village, and the debate about cultural exchange between the east and the West became more intense. Some Western scholars then hypothesized that Chinese painted pottery cultures in the Yellow River Valley during the prehistoric period originated from the region of Central Asia and spread into China through the Central Asian grasslands. Some foreign scholars even conjectured that the shape and pattern of painted pottery in Henan had the same origin as that dating to the Chalcolithic Age in the Near East. The Yangshao culture is also well-known for its painted pottery. Yangshao artisans created fine painted pottery with human facial, animal, and geometric designs. Excavations found that children were buried in painted pottery jars. The discovery goes further to stipulate the possible exchange of culture and ways of life between the east and the west of ancient china.
Also, in Gansu and Qinghai, the local inhabitants' physical characteristics in the prehistoric Bronze Age had not changed markedly through time; they played an important role in the process of forming the physical characteristics of the modern inhabitants of North China.
Geographically, the overall terrain of China is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. It forms three big terraces from west to east. The first terrace is in the west, with an average altitude of 3,000-4,000 meters; the second terrace is in the middle, with an average altitude of around 1,000 meters; the third terrace is in the southeast, with an average altitude below 200 meters. This geographical structure causes China to be relatively open facing the ocean, but relatively closed away from it. Furthermore, this structure has had a great influence on the formation and development of Chinese ancient culture. From the point of view of Western-Chinese cultural exchange, China's northwest was situated at the crossroads of Central Asian culture and regional cultures of the Yellow River Valley, which was a sensitive and key area of cultural contact. Xinjiang was particularly important, both for its special location and vast area. It can be thought of as a frontier zone of cultural contact between the East and the West. Many cultural relics, including microliths, have been discovered there. Although there are materials that certify human activity in the eastern part of Xinjiang dating back to about 10,000 BP, much is not known about the prehistoric cultures and racial types in this region.
In 1979, some tombs were excavated beside the Konchi River (Kongquehe), near Lopnur in eastern Xinjiang, which dated to about 3800 BP. The human bones excavated from the site were concluded to be of the Caucasoid race. According to presently available data, these are the earliest Europoid type skeletal remains to have survived so far to the east. In the mid-1980s, there were excavations at Yanbulaq cemetery in Qumul (Rami), Xinjiang. Among the twenty-nine skulls examined, twenty-one were Mongoloid and eight were Europoid. This proved that Europoid people had advanced eastward into the Rami Oasis by 1300 BC, where they met with Mongoloid people; this show a possible interaction between the early Europeans and people of ancient china
It is more or less unanimously accepted that Japanese rice cultivation originated in China, its import route in three possible areas, north, middle or south China(5). The north China route from Hebei and Liaoning by land, or from Shandong by sea via the Korean Peninsula to Japan, was generally believed to be the main route. As it lacks solid evidence of early rice, it was an unlikely starting point for eastbound rice. Currently, the middle China route from lower Yangtze basin via East China Sea to Korea and Japan, is favored in the 10th century BCLate Shengwen period, and developed further in the Misheng (Yayoi) period. Besides rice, the origin of the Japanese stone ax, stone ben, crescent-shaped harvesting knife and other stone and wood cultivation tools are traceable to the lower Yangtze basin.
Silk roads? The Silk Road did not only promote commodity exchange but also cultural. For example, Buddhism as one of the religions of the Kushan kingdom reached China. Together with merchant caravans Buddhist monks went from India to Central Asia and China, preaching the new religion. Buddhist monuments were discovered in numerous cities along the Silk Road. Buddhism reached china thorough the Silk Road.
Irrespective of the lack of hands on evidence to proof of early cultural exchange in ancient china, history and archeological findings through excavations have come a long in the bid to coming up with tangible evidence to proof their findings.

Mencius

2012-04-19T01:04:04Z

Olivia: aticle

[[File:Mencius-1-.jpg|thumb|right| Mencius in Life ]]
==My Life==
I Was born in the state of Zou in the year 372 BC. My mother though wasn't hapy with my current location. Infact we moved around quite allot
==References: Powerpoint presentation==
[https://learn-uvu.uen.org/courses/98968/files/10489162/download?wrap=1 Powerpoint presentation]

MENSIUS
Mencius is my name; I was born in the Zou state in about 372 BCE. In several respects my life was similar to that of Confucius. Zou and Lu (the state of Confucius’ origin) were adjacent states. Like Confucius, I was only three when I lost me my father. My mother paid special attention to my upbringing. A traditional story tells of her moving our home several times and finally settling near a school, so that I would have the right kind of environmental influence, and of her encouraging me to persevere in my studies. Among the Chinese, my mother has been for ages upheld as the model mother.
As a young scholar I had for my mentor a pupil of Zisi, who was himself the grandson of Confucius. Thus, the continuity of the Confucian orthodoxy in all its purity was assured. In due time, I became a teacher myself and for a brief period served as an official in the state of Qi. I spent much time traveling, offering my advice and counsel to the various princes on government by ren (“human-heartedness”), or humane government. The effort was foredoomed because the times were chaotic, and the contending princes were interested not in humane government but in power.
The Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE) was founded on the feudalistic principle of a sociopolitical hierarchy, with clearly defined privileges and responsibilities between those of high and low status. As time went on, however, ambition and intrigue resulted in usurpations and hassles, eroding the feudalistic system at the root and bringing on a condition of political and moral chaos. This trend continued to worsen at an accelerating rate, and the age in which I lived is known in Chinese history as the period of Warring States (475–221 BCE). Under such conditions, I preached to the princes on virtuous personal conduct and humane government but it all fell on deaf ears; yet I continued to speak my mind, even though I knew that he was championing an unpopular cause.
On my part I believed that, the ruler was to provide for the welfare of the people in two respects: material conditions for their livelihood and moral and educational guidance for their edification; thus I, worked out a definite program to attain economic sufficiency for the common people. I also advocated light taxes, free, conservation of natural resources, welfare measures for the old and disadvantaged, and more nearly equal sharing of wealth. It was my fundamental belief that “only when the people had a steady livelihood would they have a steady heart.”
While I patiently exhorted the princes to cultivate the way of moral power and to forsake the way of force and intrigue, I also reminded them of the responsibility that came to them with the mandate of Heaven to govern for the good of the people. With unusual courage, I declared: “The people are the most important element in a nation; the spirits of the land and grain come next; the sovereign counts for the least.” He also quoted for all to hear from the Shujing (“Classic of History”), one of the Five Classics of Confucianism, the saying “Heaven sees as the people see; Heaven hears as the people hear.” The outspoken sympathies I received made me a champion of the common people and an advocate of democratic principles in government.
I went to several states, but nowhere did I find a prince willing to put his lofty principles of government into practice. My sense of disappointment grew with the years and finally brought me back to my native state of Zou, where I devoted the remaining years of my life to the instruction of my pupils.
My philosophic ideas might be regarded as an amplification of the teachings of Confucius. Confucius taught the concept of ren, love or human-heartedness, as the basic virtue of manhood. I made the original goodness of human nature (xing) the keynote to my system. That the four beginnings (siduan)—the feeling of commiseration, the feeling of shame, the feeling of courtesy, and the feeling of right and wrong—are all inborn in man was a self-evident truth to me; and the “four beginnings,” when properly cultivated, will develop into the four cardinal virtues of ren, righteousness (yi), decorum (li), and wisdom (zhi). This doctrine of the goodness of human nature has become an enduring topic for debate among the Chinese thinkers throughout the ages.
I also had the conviction that man possessed intuitive knowledge and intuitive ability and that personal cultivation consisted in developing one’s mind. Thus: “Persons who have developed their hearts and minds to the utmost, know their nature. Knowing their nature, they know Heaven.” Hence, all people can become like the great sage-kings Yao and Shun, the legendary heroes of the archaic past.
Since the time I earned the recognition as a major philosopher, special importance was attributed to me and my work by the neo-Confucians of the Song dynasty (960–1279). For the last 1,000 years, I have been revered among the Chinese people as the cofounder of Confucianism, second only to Confucius himself.

File:Women in ancient china.docx

2012-04-18T19:59:20Z

Olivia:

File:Mensius.docx

2012-04-18T19:13:17Z

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File:Proof of early exchange between cultures in china.pptx

2012-04-18T19:12:00Z

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File:Proof of early exchange between cultures in china.pptx

2012-04-18T19:09:20Z

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