Chinese civilization

This article is about the Chinese civilization. For the modern states corresponding to "China", see People's Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan). For other meanings, see China (disambiguation).. For other uses, see Chinese civilization (disambiguation).

Geography of China and geographic region labels

China (simplified Chinese: 中国; traditional Chinese: 中國; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Tongyong Pinyin: Jhongguó; Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Jonggwo) is a culture and civilization in East Asia. Due to the 1949 Chinese Civil War, China today is administratively divided into two states: the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC). The PRC administers and governs the majority of China (mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau), while the ROC administers the island groups of Taiwan, the Pescadores, Kinmen, and Matsu.

China has one of the world's longest periods of mostly uninterrupted civilization and one of the world's longest continuously used written language systems. The successive states and cultures of China date back more than six millennia. For centuries, China was the world's most advanced civilization, and the cultural center of East Asia, with an impact lasting to the present day. China is also home to many of the great technical inventions in world history, including the four great inventions of ancient China: paper, compass, gunpowder, and printing.

Names ur mum

Main article: Names of China

"Zhongguo", the Middle Kingdom

China is called Zhongguo (also Romanized as Jhongguo or Chung-kuo) in Mandarin Chinese, usually translated into English as "Middle Kingdom." The first character Zhong (中) means "middle" or "moderation" while guo (国 or 國) means "country" or "kingdom".

The term has not been used consistently throughout Chinese history, and carries certain cultural and political connotations. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was used only to describe the states politically descended from the Western Zhou Dynasty, in the Yellow River (Huang He) valley, to the exclusion of states such as the Chu along the Yangtze River and the Qin to the west. However, by the time of the Han Dynasty, the states of Chu, Qin and others had linked themselves to the politics of Zhongguo and were already considered integral parts of a newer Zhongguo.

Zhongguo quickly came to include areas farther south, as the cultural and political unit (not yet a "nation" or "country" in the modern sense) spread to include the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems. By the Tang Dynasty it included barbarian regimes such as the Xianbei and Xiongnu. Over time, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, and the island of Taiwan became dominated by Imperial China, and are often included as part of Zhongguo, though such claims remain politically controversial, especially when Zhongguo refers to the PRC.

During the Han Dynasty and before, Zhongguo had three distinctive meanings:

1. The area around the capital or imperial domain. The Book of Poetry explicitly gives this definition.
2. Territories under the direct control of the "central" authorities. The Historical Records states: "Eight mountains are famed in the empire. Three are with the Man and Yi barbarians. Five are in Zhongguo."
3. The area now called the North China Plain. The Sanguo Zhi records the following monologue: "If we can lead the host of Wu and Yue (the kingdoms in areas of present-day Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang) to oppose Zhongguo, then we should break off relations with them soon." In this sense, the term Zhongguo is synonymous with Hua (華) and Xia (夏), and distinct from southern peoples living around the Yangtze River Delta.

During the period of division after the fall of the Han Dynasty, the term Zhongguo was subjected to transformation as a result of the surge of nomadic peoples from the northern frontier. This was reinforced after the loss of the Yellow River valley, the cradle of Chinese civilization, to these peoples. For example, the Xianbei called their Northern Wei regime Zhongguo, contrasting it with the Southern Dynasties, which they called the Yi (夷), meaning "barbarian". The southern dynasties, for their part, recently exiled from the north, called the Northern Wei Lu (虜), meaning "criminal" or "prisoner". In this way Zhongguo came to represent political legitimacy. It was used in this manner from the tenth century onwards by the competing dynasties of Liao, Jin and Song. The term Zhongguo came to be related to geographic, cultural and political identity and less to ethnic origin.

The Republic of China, as it controlled mainland China, and later, the People's Republic of China, have used Zhongguo theoretically to mean all the territories and peoples within their political control as well as those outside of it. Thus it is asserted that all 56 officially recognized ethnic groups are Zhongguo ren (中國人 or 中国人), or Zhongguo people. Their disparate histories are collectively the history of Zhongguo, while the overarching ethnicity that unites these different groups is known as "Zhonghua Minzu" (Chinese people).

"China"

English and many other languages use forms of the name "China" and the prefix "Sino-" or "Sin-". These are believed to be derived from the name of the Qin Dynasty that first unified the country, although this is still controversial. The Qin dynasty was short-lived and often regarded as tyrannical, but it unified the written language in China and gave the supreme ruler of China the title of "Emperor"; thus the subsequent Silk Road traders might have identified themselves by that name.

In any case, the word "China" passed through many languages along the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe and England. The Western "China", transliterated to "Shina" (支那) was also used by the Japanese from the nineteenth century, but it is now obsolete and regarded as offensive by the Chinese.

The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper or, often, China proper and Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang, a combination essentially coterminous with the 20th and 21st century political entity. However, the boundaries between these regions do not necessarily follow provincial boundaries. "China" often refers to the People's Republic of China or mainland China, while "Taiwan" often refers to the Republic of China. Informally, in economic or business contexts, "the Greater China region" (大中華地區) refers to Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Sinologists usually use "Chinese" in a more restricted sense, akin to the classical usage of Zhongguo, or the "Han ethnic group", who make up the bulk of the population in China.

"Mainland China" (中國大陸,zhōngguó dàlù in Mandarin), is often used in contrast to other, politically different regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and territories administered by the Republic of China.

"Cathay"

The more historical and lyrical English term for China is "Cathay." Cathay is derived from the name of the Khitans (契丹) in northern China, founders of the Liao Dynasty. The Chinese were referred to as "Cathayans" in English texts before the 16th century and the term Cathay was still commonly used to refer to China, particularly northern China, until the mid-19th century. Today, Russians and many Central Asian states still call China as "Kitay" (Китай) or variations of this name. There is an airline called Cathay Pacific although many people do not know it refers to China.

History

Main articles: History of China and Timeline of Chinese history

China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization. Chinese civilization was also one of the few to invent writing independently, the others being ancient Mesopotamia (Sumerians), Ancient India (Indus Valley Civilization), the Mayan Civilization, and Ancient Egypt. The Chinese script is still used today by the Chinese and Japanese, and to a lesser extent by Koreans and Vietnamese. This script is one of the few, and the only major, logographic script still used in the world.

Prehistory

Archaeological evidence suggests that the earliest occupants in China date to as long as 2.24 million to 250,000 years ago by an ancient human relative (hominin) known as Homo erectus. One particular cave in Zhoukoudian (near current-day Beijing) has fossilized evidence that current dating techniques put at somewhere between 300,000 and 550,000 years old. Evidence of primitive stone tool technology and animal bones associated with H. erectus have been studied since the late 18th to 19th centuries in various areas of Eastern Asia including Indonesia (in particular Java) and Malaysia. It is thought that these early hominids first evolved in Africa during the Pleistocene epoch. By 2 million years ago, the first migration wave of H. erectus settled throughout the Old World.

Fully modern humans (Homo sapiens) are believed to originally have evolved roughly 200,000 and 168,000 years ago in the area of Ethiopia or Southern Africa (Homo sapiens idaltu). By 100,000 to 50,000 years ago, modern human beings had settled in all parts of the Old World (25,000 to 11,000 BC in the New World). In the last 100,000 years, all proto-human populations disappeared as modern humans took over or drove other human species into extinction.

The earliest evidence of fully modern humans in China comes from Liujiang, China where a cranium has been found dating from 67,000 years ago. There is a partial skeleton from Minatogawa that is only 18,000 years old.

Dynastic rule

File:Qinshihuang2.jpg

The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.

The first dynasty according to Chinese sources was the Xia Dynasty, but it was believed to be mythical. It was difficult to separate myth from reality before scientific excavations were made at early bronze-age sites at Erlitou in Henan Province. Since then, archaeologists have uncovered urban sites, bronze implements, and tombs that point to the possible existence of the Xia dynasty at the same locations cited in ancient Chinese historical texts.

The first reliable historical dynasty is the Shang, whish settled along the Huang He river in eastern China from the 18th to the 12th centuries BCE. The Shang were invaded from the west by the Zhou who ruled from the 12th to 5th centuries BCE. The centralized authority of the Zhou was slowly eroded by warlords. In the Spring and Autumn period there were many strong independent states, continually warring with each other, who deferred to the Zhou state in name only.

The first unified Chinese state was established by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE, when the office of the emperor was set up. This state did not last long, as its legalist approach to control soon led to widespread rebellion.

The Han Dynasty lasted from 206 BCE until 220 CE. Another period of disunion followed. In 580 CE, China was reunited under the Sui. Under the succeeding Tang and Song dynasties, China had its golden age. Between the 7th and 14th centuries, China was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world in technology, literature, and art, although change was gradual. The Song Dynasty fell to the invading Mongols in 1279, and Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty. A peasant named Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty, which lasted until 1644. Then came the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, which lasted until the overthrow of Puyi in 1911.

Regime change was often violent and the new ruling class usually needed to take special measures to ensure the loyalty of the overthrown dynasty. For example, after the Manchus conquered China, the Manchu rulers put into effect measures aimed at subduing the Han Chinese identity, such as the requirement for the Han Chinese to wear the Manchu hairstyle, the queue.

In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over the peoples of Central Asia, with which it had been at war for several centuries, while simultaneously falling behind Europe.

In the 19th century China adopted a defensive posture towards European imperialism while itself engaging in imperialistic expansion into Central Asia. At this time China awoke to the significance of the rest of the world, in particular the West. As China opened up to foreign trade and missionary activity opium became available. Two Opium Wars with Britain weakened the Emperor's control. One result was the Taiping Civil War which lasted from 1851 to 1862. It was started by Hong Xiuquan, who was partly influenced by Christianity and believed himself the son of God and the younger brother of Jesus. Although the imperial forces were eventually victorious, the civil war was one of the bloodiest in human history, costing at least twenty million lives (more than the total number of fatalities in the First World War), with some estimates of over 30 million. The flow of opium led to more decline, even in the face of noble efforts by missionaries such as Hudson Taylor and the China Inland Mission to stem the tide. Further destruction followed the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 which aimed to repel Westerners. Although secretly supporting the rebels, Empress Ci Xi publicly aided foreign forces suppressing the uprising. In the end the Boxers were defeated by the Eight-Nation Alliance.

See also: Dynasties in Chinese history and Chinese sovereign

Republican China

File:Whampoa1.jpg

At the 1924 inauguration of the Whampoa Military Academy, Sun Yat-sen delivered a speech that would later become the lyrics of the ROC's national Anthem.

On January 1, 1912, the Republic of China was established, ending the Qing Dynasty. Sun Yat-sen of the Kuomintang (KMT or Nationalist Party), was proclaimed provisional president of the republic. However, Yuan Shikai, a former Qing general who had defected to the revolutionary cause, soon forced Sun to step aside and took the presidency for himself. Yuan then attempted to have himself proclaimed emperor of a new dynasty; however, he died of natural causes before fully taking power over all of the Chinese empire.

After Wen Tans death, China was politically fragmented, with an internationally-recognized, but virtually powerless, national government seated in Beijing. Warlords in various regions exercised actual control over their respective territories. In the late 1920s, the Kuomintang, under Chiang Kai-shek, was able to reunify the country under its own control, moving the nation's capital to Nanjing and implementing "political tutelage", an intermediate stage of political development outlined in Sun Yat-sen's program for transforming China into a modern, democratic state. Effectively, political tutelage meant one-party rule by the Kuomintang.

The Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945 (part of World War II) forced an uneasy alliance between the Nationalists and the Communists. With the surrender of Japan in 1945, China emerged victorious but financially drained. The continued distrust between the Nationalists and the Communists led to the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. In 1947, constitutional rule was established, but because of the ongoing Civil War many provisions of the ROC constitution were never implemented on the mainland.

The People's Republic of China and the Republic of China

After its victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Party of China controlled most of Mainland China. On October 1 of that year, they established the People's Republic of China, laying claim to the successor state of the ROC. The central government of the ROC was forced to retreat to the island of Taiwan. Major armed hostilities ceased in 1950 but both sides are technically still at war.

Beginning in the late 1970s, Taiwan began the implementation of full, multi-party, representative democracy in the territories still under ROC control (i.e., Taiwan Province, Taipei, Kaohsiung and some offshore islands of Fujian province). Today, the ROC has active political participation by all sectors of society. The main cleavage in ROC politics is the issue of eventual unification with China vs. formal independence.

Post-1978 reforms on the mainland have led to some relaxation of Communist Party control over many areas of society. However, the Party still has absolute control over politics, and it continually seeks to eradicate threats to its rule. Examples include the jailing of political opponents and journalists, general control of the press, regulation of religions and other non-party organizations, censorship, and suppression of independence/secessionist movements. In 1989, a popular demonstration held in Beijing at Tiananmen Square was put to a bloody end by the Party.

In 1997 Hong Kong was returned to the PRC by the United Kingdom and in 1999 Macao was returned by Portugal.

See also: History of Hong Kong, History of Macau, and History of Taiwan

Present

Today, the ROC continues to exist on Taiwan, while the PRC controls the Chinese mainland. The PRC continues as a one-party state, but the ROC has moved towards democracy. Both states are still officially claiming to be the sole legitimate ruler of all of "China". The ROC had more international support immediately after 1949, but most international diplomatic recognition eventually shifted to the PRC. The ROC representative to the United Nations was replaced by the PRC representative in the 1970s.

The ROC has not formally renounced its claim to "China", or changed official maps that show its territory to include the mainland and Outer Mongolia, but it has moved away from this identity and increasingly identifies itself as "Taiwan". The PRC continues to claim to have succeeded the ROC as the legitimate governing authority of all of China including Taiwan. The PRC has used diplomatic and economic pressure to advance its One China policy, which attempts to displace the ROC in official world organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Olympic Games. Today, there are only twenty-five U.N. member countries that still maintain official diplomatic relations with the ROC.

The PRC has resisted the ROC's identification of itself as "Taiwan", especially in the Taiwanese independence movement. Significant disputes persist over the nature and extent of "China", possibility of Chinese reunification, and the political status of Taiwan.

Territory

Historical political divisions

Main article: History of the political divisions of China

Top-level political divisions of China have altered as administrations changed. Top levels included circuits and provinces. Below that, there have been prefectures, subprefectures, departments, commanderies, districts, and counties. Recent divisions also include prefecture-level cities, county-level cities, towns and townships.

Most Chinese dynasties were based in the historical heartlands of China, known as China proper. Various dynasties also expanded into peripheral territories like Inner Mongolia, Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The Manchu-established Qing Dynasty and its successors, the ROC and the PRC, incorporated these territories into China. China proper is generally thought to be bounded by the Great Wall and the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Manchuria and Inner Mongolia are found to the north of the Great Wall of China, and the boundary between them can either be taken as the present border between Inner Mongolia and the northeast Chinese provinces, or the more historic border of the World War II-era puppet state of Manchukuo. Xinjiang's borders correspond to today's administrative Xinjiang. Historic Tibet occupies all of the Tibetan Plateau. China is traditionally divided into Northern China (北方) and Southern China (南方), the boundary being the Huai River (淮河) and Qinling Mountains (秦嶺).

Geography and climate

Main article: Geography of China

The precipitation in different regions of China

China is composed of a vast variety of highly different landscapes, with mostly plateaus and mountains in the west, and lower lands on the east. As a result, principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang He (central-east), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are extensive and densely populated alluvial plains;. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers, the Huang He and Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Most of China's arable lands lie along these rivers; they were the centers of China's major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include the Xijiang River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur.

In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and the Himalayas, containing the highest point Mount Everest. The northwest also has high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaus.

The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate climate. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate.

Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China. Dust has blown to southern China and Taiwan, and has even reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, and pollution control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.

See also: Environment of China

Society

Demographics

Main articles: Ethnic groups in Chinese history, Nationalities of China, and Demographics of China

Over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China. The largest ethnic group in China by far is the Han. This group is diverse and can be divided into smaller ethnic groups that share some traits.

Many ethnic groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. Several previously distinct ethnic groups have been Sinicized into the Han, causing its population to increase dramatically. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and cultural traditions, though still identifying as Han. Many foreign groups have shaped Han language and culture, for example the queue was a pig tail hairstyle strictly enforced by the Manchurians on the Han populace. The term Zhonghua Minzu is sometimes used to describe a notion of a "Chinese nationality" transcending ethnic divisions.

The government of the People's Republic of China now officially recognizes a total of 56 ethnic groups, of which the largest is the Han Chinese. China's overall population exceeds 1.3 billion, about one-fifth of the world's population.

Languages

Main article: Languages of China

Most languages in China belong to the Sino-Tibetan language family, spoken by 29 ethnicities. There are also several major "dialects" within the Chinese language itself. The most populous dialects are Mandarin (spoken by over 70% of the population), Wu (Shanghainese), Yue (Cantonese), Min, Xiang, Gan, and Hakka. Non-Sinitic languages spoken widely by ethnic minorities include Zhuang (Tai), Mongolian, Tibetan, Uyghur (Turkic), Hmong and Korean.

Putonghua (Standard Mandarin) is the official language and is based on the Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing. Standard Mandarin is taught in all schools and used by the government. Non-Sinitic languages are co-official in some autonomic minority regions.

The Chinese have used a common written standard, "Vernacular Chinese" or "baihua", since the early 20th Century, based on Standard Mandarin. An older written standard, Classical Chinese, was used by the literati for thousands of years before the 20th Century. Classical Chinese is still a part of high school curricula and so is intelligible to some degree to many Chinese. Spoken variants other than Standard Mandarin are usually not written, except for Standard Cantonese (see Written Cantonese) which is sometimes used in informal contexts.

Chinese banknotes are multilingual and contain written scripts for Standard Mandarin (Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin), Zhuang (Roman alphabet), Tibetan (Tibetan alphabet), Uyghur (Arabic alphabet) and Mongolian (traditional Mongolian alphabet).

Religion

Main article: Religion in China

500 Buddha lohans in Shanghai's Longhua temple (first built during the Three Kingdoms era)

59% of the Chinese, or about 767 million people, identify themselves as non-religious. However, religion and rituals play a significant part in the lives of many, especially the traditional beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism. About 33% of the population follow a mixture of beliefs usually referred to by statisticians as "Traditional Beliefs" or just "Other".

The major religions of China are:

• Confucianism
• Taoism
• Ancestor worship
• Buddhism
• Islam
• Christianity
• Falun Gong

About 6% of the Chinese population are avowed Buddhists, with Mahayana Buddhism and Zen Buddhism being the most widely practiced. With an estimated 100 million adherents, Buddhism is the country's largest organized religion. Other forms of Buddhism, such as Theravada Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism, are practiced largely by ethnic minorities along the geographic fringes of the Chinese mainland. Official figures indicate that there are currently about 20 million Muslims (mostly Hui), more than 15 million Protestants, and 5 million Catholics in the country.

The PRC is officially secular and atheist but it does allow personal religion or supervised religious organization. Taoism and Buddhism, along with an underlying Confucian morality, have been the dominant religions of Chinese society for almost two millennia. Personal religion is widely tolerated in the PRC today, so there has been a resurrection of interest in Buddhism and Taoism in the past decade. Among the younger, urban secular population, Taoist spiritual ideas of Feng Shui have become popular in recent years, spawning a large home decoration market in China.

In recent years Falun Gong has attracted great controversy after the government labeled it a malicious cult[1] and attempted to eradicate it. The Falun Gong itself denies that it is a cult or a religion. The Falun Gong claims approximately 70-100 million followers, higher than estimates by foreign independent groups; exact numbers are unknown.

See also: Catholicism in China, Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology, Protestantism in China, and Way of Former Heaven

Culture

Main article: Culture of China

Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. The literary emphasis of the exams affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, e.g. the view that calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama. China's traditional values were derived from various versions of Confucianism and conservatism. A number of more authoritarian strains of thought have also been influential, such as Legalism. There was often conflict between the philosophies, such as the individualistic Song Dynasty neo-Confucians, who believed Legalism departed from the original spirit of Confucianism. Examinations and a culture of merit remain greatly valued in China today. In recent years, a number of New Confucians have advocated that democratic ideals and human rights are quite compatible with traditional Confucian "Asian values".

With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures. In essence, the history of 20th century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.

The first leaders of the PRC were born in the old society but were influenced by the May Fourth Movement and reformist ideals. They sought to change some traditional aspects of Chinese culture, such as rural land tenure, sexism, and Confucian education, while preserving others, such as the family structure and obedience to the state. Many observers believe that the period following 1949 is a continuation of traditional Chinese dynastic history, while others say that the CPC's rule has damaged the foundations of Chinese culture, especially through political movements such as the Cultural Revolution, where many aspects of traditional culture were labeled "regressive and harmful" or "vestiges of feudalism" by the regime. They further argue that many important aspects of traditional Chinese morals and culture, such as Confucianism, Chinese art, literature, and performing arts like Beijing opera, were altered to conform to government policies and communist propaganda. The institution of the Simplified Chinese orthography reform is controversial as well. Today, the PRC government has accepted much of traditional Chinese culture as an integral part of Chinese society, lauding it as an important achievement of the Chinese civilization and emphasizing it as being vital to the formation of a Chinese national identity.

See also: Chinese law and Chinese philosophy

Arts, scholarship, and literature

Chinese calligraphy by Mifu, Song Dynasty

Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still extant, from Oracle bones to Qing edicts. Calligraphy is a major art form in China, more highly regarded than painting and music. Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were handwritten by ink brush. Calligraphy later became commercialized, and works by famous artists became prized possessions.

Printmaking was developed during the Song Dynasty. Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on the classics in both printed and handwritten form. Royalty frequently participated in these discussions.

For centuries, economic and social advancement in China could be provided by high performance on the imperial examinations. This led to a meritocracy, although it was available only to males who could afford test preparation. Imperial examinations required applicants to write essays and demonstrate mastery of the Confucian classics. Those who passed the highest level of the exam became elite scholar-officials known as jinshi, a highly esteemed socio-economic position.

Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets were highly respected, and played key roles in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire. Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the common people, often to the displeasure of authorities.

The Chinese invented numerous musical instruments, such as the Zheng (箏), Qin (琴), Sheng (笙), Xiao (簫), and Erhu (二胡), that have later spread throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia, particularly to Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

See also: Chinese art, Chinese painting, Chinese paper art, Chinese poetry, and Music of China

Sports and recreation

Main article: Sports in China

There is evidence that a form of football was first played in China around 1000 CE, leading many historians to believe that it originated there.. Besides football, the most popular sports are martial arts, table tennis, badminton, basketball, American football, and more recently, golf. Basketball is especially popular with the young, in urban centers where space is limited. The NBA has a great following and many idolize Yao Ming.

There are also many traditional sports. Chinese dragon boat racing occurs during the Duan Wu festival. In Inner Mongolia, Mongolian-style wrestling and horse racing are popular. In Tibet, archery and equestrian sports are part of traditional festivals.

China has become a sports power in the Asian region and around the world. China finished first in medal counts in each of the Asian Games since 1982, and in the top four in medal counts in each of the Summer Olympic Games since 1992. The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be held in Beijing, China.

Physical fitness is highly regarded. Morning exercises are a common activity and the elderly are often seen practicing qigong in parks.

Board games such as International Chess, Go (Weiqi), and Xiangqi (Chinese chess) are also common and have organised formal competitions.

Science and technology

Main article: Science and technology in China

Pascal triangle first drawn by the Chinese

In addition to the cultural innovations mentioned above, technological inventions from China include:

• Asian abacus
• Blast furnace (steel)
• Block Printmaking / Printing Technology
• Bronze
• Clock
• Compass
• Crossbow
• Dry dock
• Fans
• Fireworks and solid-fuel rocket
• Fishing pole (hook)
• Gunpowder
• Glider
• Hot air balloon
• Kite
• Lacquer
• Matches
• Paper
• Paper money and necessary monetary institutions
• Parachute
• Petroleum well
• Porcelain (China)
• Rudder
• Seismograph
• Silk
• Stirrup
• Toilet Paper
• Toothbrush
• Umbrella
• Wallpaper
• Wheelbarrow
• Whiskey (medicinal/surgical use)

Other areas of technological study:

• Mathematics, applied to architecture and geography. Pi (π) was calculated by 5th century mathematician Zu Chongzhi to the seventh digit. The decimal system was used in China as early as the 14th Century BCE. Pascal's Triangle was discovered by mathematicians Chia Hsien, Yang Hui, Zhu Shijie and Liu Ju-Hsieh, long before Pascal was born.
• Biology, such as pharmacopoeias of medicinal plants.
• Traditional medicine and surgery have achieved recognition over the last few decades in the West as alternative and complementary therapies.
• Military innovations, such as the crossbow and the grid sight, the crossbow stirrup, repeating crossbows, the trebuchet, poison gas (smoke from burning dried mustard), tear gas made from powdered lime, relief maps for battle planning, manned kites, the fire lance, rockets, gunpowder incendiaries, and early bronze cannon.

See also

• Chinese calendar
• Chinese cuisine
• Chinese dragon
• Chinese name
• Chinese New Year
• Chinese phoenix
• Chinese units of measurement
• History of postage in China
• Military history of China
• Overseas Chinese

External links

• Doing Business in China World Bank Group's guide
• Enterprise Surveys: China
• Infrastructure Projects Database: China
• Privatization Database: China