Cultural History - Shortened Version!
China and Chinese dynasties have been around for A LONG TIME: here's my quick rundown starting at Confucious.
For the first event that majorly impacted Chinese history, is the teachings of the professor Confucius. Confucious was a philosopher that lived around 500 B.C. He was from a poor family but found himself helping in civil law cases in his village. Through this he traveled, because he was exiled, to teach his way of ‘virtuous government.’ From then on, Confucius and his ideas have permeated Chinese culture through the great acceptance of virtues and morality. It also helped that his ideas were backed up by the government, which helped Confucianism become a common household spiritual way of knowing. Now, Chinese people who follows Confucius’ ideas of acceptance, love, and keep moving in life may have an accepting attitude towards people of different ideologies. However, this may not all be the case, especially with the rampant violence that prevailed in Chinese History, However, for the last decade, peace has reigned. Confucius helped China shape its principles, through the ebb and flow of different dynasties by having this ideology carry on throughout the trial of history.
Another historical event that shaped Chinese culture and attitudes is silk road. The silk road is widely known as opening a giant trade route from modern day Irag, Iran, and then eastward toward Mongolia. Among silk, this route served as a giant route of textiles, leather, food, stones and precious goods.
The cultural impact of the silk road is significant to Chinese culture and every individual culture along the route of trading posts. Along with goods, this route allowed relationships to build through different people of all nationalities to exchange ideas and even spiritual practices. Through the process of intermingling, this route helped blend cultures together. Then, China’s attitude had to be one acceptance, because of the economic advantage of each different culture, such as the ancient villages located in present day Iran.
Arguably one of the most significant events in Chinese history is the cultural revolution, aided by the Chinese Communist Party. The cultural revolution of China was a period of around 10 years where leader Mao Zedong reinstilled communist values and whiped away ideas of capitalism. This revolition started with school age children protesting in the streets, along with this ideology spreading like wildfires to officials and the military. Countless people died and were executed if they supported the previous world order.
With this event only happening around 40 years ago, the cultural revolution’s impacts are felt today. This caused China to have a significant increase of nationalism and pride towards the government and the CCP. This also caused a hated shared in China of capitalism, and ideologies that reminded them of the past. This shaped their identity today and etched it into the history of the rest of the world as well.
This is a documentary done by the history channel that provides thrilling historical information and knowledge about China's rise and fall of its empire. From one Dynasty to another, this documentary shows the motivations, the how's and whys, and the downright drama of ancient China. Check it out!
-AL