The Continuity and Discontinuity of the Chinese Culture

Dai Xiaohang

（Shanghai University of International Business and Economics， Shanghai 201620， China）

The Continuity and Discontinuity of the Chinese Culture

Dai Xiaohang

（Shanghai University of International Business and Economics， Shanghai 201620， China）

Chinese culture has been disrupted and distorted for several times during its history.Two cases are introduced to discuss how the Chinese culture was affected by the various factors.Some cultural legacies of China may be lost， and the way for remedy is to keep Chinese culture open up and in a competitive environment.

culture； chinese culture； disconnection； han chinese； unifcation； nomadic ethnic group

Some say Chinese culture has never been disconnected，but many others don't agree with the point very much.When we speak of Chinese culture， there are two concepts we ought to defne， which are what is the connotation of culture and the defnition of what is the concept of Chinese culture.First， to defne the word culture is needed.Culture is in the words of E.B.Tylor， "that complex whole which includes knowledge， belief， art， morals， law， custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." Alternatively， in a contemporary variant， "Culture is defned as a social domain that emphasizes the practices，discourses， and material expressions， which， over time，express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common." Cambridge English Dictionary states that culture is "the way of life， especially the general customs and beliefs， of a particular group of people at a particular time." The word is also used to denote the complex networks of practices and accumulated knowledge and ideas that are transmitted through social interaction and exist in specifc human groups， or cultures， using the plural form.Some aspects of human behavior， such as language，social practices such as kinship， gender and marriage，expressive forms such as art， music， dance， ritual， religion，and technologies such as cooking， shelter， clothing are said to be cultural universals， found in all human societies.The concept material culture covers the physical expressions of culture， such as technology， architecture and art， whereas the immaterial aspects of culture such as principles of social organization （including， practices of political organization and social institutions）， mythology， philosophy， literature （both written and oral）， and science make up the intangible cultural heritage of a society.Second， the defnition of China shall be given before the discussion.As we refer to China geographically， we mean the whole territory now under control of the People's Republic of China.

After finish defining the two concepts， we now can enter into the topic which is Chinese culture has never been disconnected or not？ The study shows Chinese culture has been disconnected for several times and we can see the issue from a number of perspectives.When we speak of Chinese culture， we focus in the main contributor of the cultures that infuenced and shaped the Chinese culture profoundly，and the cultures of very little influence in Chinese history are not discussed in this paper.Tow historical facts will be introduced to manifest when and how Chinese Culture had been disconnected.

In the 8th century BC， power became decentralized during the Spring and Autumn period， named after the infuential Spring and Autumn Annals.The Hundred Schools of Thought of Chinese philosophy blossomed during this period， and such influential intellectual movements as Confucianism， Taoism， Legalism and Mohism were founded，partly in response to the changing political world.The Hundred Schools of Thought were philosophies and schools that flourished from the 6th century to 221 BC， during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period of ancient China.An era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China， it was fraught with chaos and bloody battles， but it was also known as the Golden Age of Chinese philosophy because a broad range of thoughts and ideas were developed and discussed freely.This phenomenon has been called the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought.The thoughts and ideas discussed and refined during this period have profoundly infuenced lifestyles andsocial consciousness up to the present day in East Asian countries and the East Asian diaspora around the world.The intellectual society of this era was characterized by itinerant scholars， who were often employed by various state rulers as advisers on the methods of government， war， and diplomacy.This period ended with the rise of the imperial Qin Dynasty and the subsequent purge of dissent.

The unifcation of Qin started a centralized government，the unifcation of the legal code， development of the written language， measurement， and currency of China after the tribulations of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.Even something as basic as the length of axles for carts—which need to match ruts in the roads—had to be made uniform to ensure a viable trading system throughout the empire.Also as part of its centralization， the Qin connected the northern border walls of the states it defeated，making the frst Great Wall of China.The burning of books and burying of scholars refers to the supposed burning of texts in 213 BC and live burial of 460 Confucian scholars in 210 BC by the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty of ancient China.The event caused the loss of many philosophical treatises of the Hundred Schools of Thought.The official philosophy of government （‘legalism'） survived.Recent scholars doubt the details of the story in the Records of the Grand Historian—the main source —since the author，Sima Qian， wrote a century or so after the events and was an official of the Han dynasty， which succeeded the Qin dynasty， and could be expected to show it in an unfavorable light.While it is clear that the First Emperor gathered and destroyed many works which he regarded as subversive， two copies of each were to be preserved in imperial libraries，which were destroyed in the fighting following the fall of the dynasty.It is also now believed that many scholars were killed， but that they were not Confucians and were not ‘buried alive.' In any case， the incidents and the phrase ‘burning of books and burying of scholars' became enduring legends in the Confucian legacy.The extent of the damage to Chinese intellectual heritage is diffcult to assess， for details have not been recorded in history.There are several facts， however，that indicate the consequences of this event， although enduring， had not been extensive.First， it is recorded in Li Si's memorial that all technological books were to be spared.Secondly， even the ‘objectionable' books， poetry and philosophy in particular， were preserved in imperial archives and allowed to be kept by the offcial scholars.Of the various categories of books mentioned， history suffered the greatest loss.Extremely few state history books before Qin have survived.Li Si stated that all history books not in the Qin interpretation were to be burned.It is not clear whether copies of these books were allowed to stay in the imperial archives.Even if some histories were preserved， they would have been destroyed in 206 B.C.when enemies captured and burned the Qin imperial palaces in which the archives were most likely located.

According to the above historic materials， several facts can be seen： fist， the unification of Qin destroyed the ecosystem of the a Hundred Schools of Thoughts， and the government of Qin tried very hard to eliminate the dissimilarities of the warring states.Secondly， the unifcation of the legal code， measurement， currency and etc.all these impeded the diversification of the development of Chinese culture.This unification greatly changed the direction of the Chinese civilization， and turned it into rigid state of development in more than two thousand years after.During Emperor Wu's reign Confucianism was officially elevated to orthodox status and was to shape the subsequent Chinese Civilization.To consolidate the emperor's power，Confucianism， which emphasizes stability and order in a well-structured society， was given exclusive patronage to be the guiding philosophical thoughts and moral principles of the empire.Imperial Universities were established to support its study and further development， while other schools of thoughts were discouraged.The unification of Qin and the putting Confucianism as orthodox by Emperor Wu can be supposed to be as a profound disconnection of the Chinese culture to the pre-Qin period.

In Chinese history Chinese had been ruled for several times by nomadic ethnic groups， and in such cases， Chinese culture ought to be considered as disconnected to some extent.After the Manchu's taking over of China， the male Chinese were forced to shave their hair off and have a Manchurian hair style： Manchuria braid， also they were forced to wear nomadic clothing.A man who was against the national oppressing policies would be severely punished.And generally speaking， during the whole regime of Manchurian，the connection between China and the outside world were cut off.The significant progress of science and technology in the west could not be introduced to the Chinese public，and the economic relationship with the rest of the world was also cut off.These are all major reasons which caused the backwardness of modern China.The development of the Qing society had been in stagnation for almost 250 years.

Ming dynasty attached great importance on foreign trade， and during Ming dynasty the Chinese were intrigued with European technology， but so were visiting Europeans of Chinese technology.In 1584， Abraham Ortelius （1527–1598）featured in his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum the peculiar Chinese innovation of mounting masts and sails onto carriages， just like Chinese ships.Gonzales de Mendoza also mentioned this a year later—noting even the designs of them on Chinese silken robes—while Gerardus Mercator （1512–94）featured them in his atlas， John Milton （1608–74） in one of his famous poems， and Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest （1739–801） in the writings of his travel diary in China.The encyclopedist Song Yingxing （1587–1666）documented a wide array of technologies， metallurgic and industrial processes in his Tiangong Kaiwu encyclopedia of 1637.This includes mechanical and hydraulic powered devices for agriculture and irrigation， nautical technology such as vessel types and snorkeling gear for pearl divers， the annual processes of sericulture and weaving with the loom，metallurgic processes such as the crucible technique and quenching， manufacturing processes such as for roasting iron pyrite in converting sulphide to oxide in sulfur used in gunpowder compositions—illustrating how ore was piled up with coal briquettes in an earthen furnace with a stillhead that sent over sulfur as vapor that would solidify and crystallize—and the use of gunpowder weapons such as a naval mine ignited by use of a rip-cord and steel fint wheel.A cannon from the Huolongjing， compiled by Jiao Yu and Liu Bowen before the latter's death in 1375.Focusing on agriculture in his Nongzheng Quanshu， the agronomist Xu Guangqi （1562–1633） took an interest in irrigation，fertilizers， famine relief， economic and textile crops， and empirical observation of the elements that gave insight into early understandings of chemistry.In 1607， Xu and Ricci translated the first parts of Euclid's Elements into Chinese，introducing his countrymen to new concepts in mathematics and Western logic.Chinese scholars credit Xu as having ‘started China's enlightenment'.After followers of Xu and Ricci publicly predicted a solar eclipse in 1629， Xu was appointed by the Emperor as the leader of an effort to reform the Chinese calendar.The reform， which constituted the frst major collaboration between scientists from Europe and from the Far East， was completed after his death.There were many advances and new designs in gunpowder weapons during the beginning of the dynasty， but by the mid to late Ming the Chinese began to frequently employ Europeanstyle artillery and firearms.The Huolongjing， compiled by Jiao Yu and Liu Bowen sometime before the latter's death on 16 May 1375 （with a preface added by Jiao in 1412）， featured many types of cutting-edge gunpowder weaponry for the time.This includes hollow， gunpowder-filled exploding cannonballs， land mines that used a complex trigger mechanism of falling weights， pins， and a steel wheellock to ignite the train of fuses， naval mines， fin-mounted winged rockets for aerodynamic control， multistage rockets propelled by booster rockets before igniting a swarm of smaller rockets issuing forth from the end of the missile （shaped like a dragon's head）， and hand cannons that had up to ten barrels.Li Shizhen （1518–93）—one of the most renowned pharmacologists and physicians in Chinese history—belonged to the late Ming period.His Bencao Gangmu is a medical text with 1，892 entries， each entry with its own name called a gang.The mu in the title refers to the synonyms of each name.Inoculation， although it can be traced to earlier Chinese folk medicine， was detailed in Chinese texts by the sixteenth century.Throughout the Ming dynasty， around fifty texts were published on the treatment of smallpox.In regards to oral hygiene， the ancient Egyptians had a primitive toothbrush of a twig frayed at the end， but the Chinese were the first to invent the modern bristle toothbrush in 1498，although it used stiff pig hair.

We can see from the above historical facts that the Manchu regime hindered China's modernization and left many negative effects on the Chinese culture.With the Manchu invasion the seeds of capitalism in the southeast China were strangled.Some of the traditions of Ming dynasty disappeared， and the direction of the development of Chinese culture is distorted.Some of the Chinese culture remained today is the sediment of the past which is not intact anymore.The Chinese assimilated the nomadic ethnic groups， and on the contrary the nomadic ethnicity also assimilated Chinese， and left many traces in the Chinese culture， which we would not feel novel， for they are now parts of our traditional customs.A culture which does not advance with times can also be considered as disconnected，because if it moves forward with the times， the culture could have been in a totally different shape and condition.Chinese culture in some aspects remains itself， but in many other aspects it stagnates from time to time.We seldom see people wear Han clothing today， but in Japan it is common to see girls wear kimono on streets.In terms of architecture， there are very few structures in China which can date back to Tang dynasty or date back before Tang dynasty， however， the Temple of the Flourishing Law built in 607 AC is in a good shape in Nara Japan which is a tourist attraction.Culture is a dynamic concept， and it shall always be in changing because of human's creative activities.And because of various reasons Chinese culture might be partly disconnected， and some traditions both tangible and intangible disappeared， but there are still much culture remained through various forms.

Today the Chinese still have their festivals， cuisines， and lifestyles.China is huge from every perspective， and Chinese Culture has several dimensions， and from one dimension we may see disconnection， but from another dimension we may see culture inheritance.Culture is also a comprehensive existence and has many branches in terms of connotation.Over more than 5000 years， our culture has had continuities and also discontinuities， and just in these changes today's Chinese culture formed itself.The ways to promote Chinese culture's development are clear to us： we need to keep our door open， and encourage competition， and to some extent decentralize the over centralized political structure， also we need to enhance national unity then we can make Chinese culture's prosperity to a new high.

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戴晓杭（1979-），男，上海人。