What is the main reason for the prolongation of Chinese civilization

Reasons for the Continuity of Chinese Civilization

(I) Geographic Factors

On the one hand, this land has a certain degree of closure. The eastern and southern part of the Chinese land and other countries and regions across the sea, the north and neighboring countries sealed by ice and snow, the western part of the mountains towering, the Himalayas have become a green natural barrier. In this relatively closed environment, it is easy to form a relatively stable civilization. Compared with the circum-Mediterranean basin (rivers, islands, small countries), here can avoid more war disputes, and thus avoid a large number of wars due to the interruption of culture and the destruction of civilization.

On the other hand, Asia has vast plains and soil suitable for cultivation and its corresponding peasant society. The vast plains provided the possibility for China to become a developed agricultural country. The most important characteristic of the peasantry in comparison with the rest of the world is its "freedom". Since the unification of China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the social structure of China has been two-tiered. If the upper level of politics was authoritarian, the lower level of society was liberal. The laborers in feudal societies in other parts of the world, such as Europe, were mostly serfs and had a strong sense of personal dependence. Although the peasants in China were also subject to a very strong authoritarian system, they were only required to fulfill corvée duties, taxes, and were allowed to buy and sell land under certain conditions. The strong authoritarian system did not restrict the de facto freedom of the peasants, and it was this freedom and independence of the peasants that created the miracle of agricultural civilization. The world's civilizations originated from agricultural civilization, and the only one that has been preserved and passed on is China.

(2) Economic Factors

As far as economic reasons are concerned, one: the inheritance of Chinese civilization also benefited from a well-developed network of market exchange. As early as the time of Qin Shi Huang, weights and measures were standardized. This facilitated the realization of market exchange between different ethnic groups and regions. The integration of markets in the European region, on the other hand, has only been realized since the creation of the euro. Secondly, the 5,000-year history and culture of China also benefited from the self-sufficient small peasant economy, in which people did not lead a luxurious life, but the division of labor between men and women was conducive to the formation of a relatively harmonious family and national environment compared with the nomadic people and sea explorers.

(3) Political Factors

The long period of unification undoubtedly laid a stable political foundation for the inheritance and development of Chinese culture. After the Qin Dynasty unified the six states and established the first centralized feudal autocracy in Chinese history, the establishment of a "great unified feudal state" was the goal that the heroes of all dynasties strived to achieve or tried their best to realize, from the Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty. The unification of the country not only helped to reduce the cost of administration due to the division of the country, but also reduced the cost of rest and recuperation due to wars and turmoils. Moreover, in a unified country, people have a strong sense of belonging and pride. In contrast, the kind of small countries in Europe did not have a unified country because of the many islands, and therefore it was difficult to circumvent friction and wars between countries, and people seldom had a sense of belonging and security. A long period of non-unification will not be conducive to the cultural integration of countries and learn from each other, and the culture of some small countries is also because of their own weak political group support and quietly buried in the ground without due protection. Ancient Egypt is also because in the foreign invasion and lead to Egypt's mysterious pyramid civilization is not known. Therefore, a unified country has a strong power to avoid war, can be like a shield to guard a piece of land on the spiritual flowers.

(4) Cultural factors

The inclusiveness and openness of Chinese culture itself have forged the glorious history of Chinese civilization for 5,000 years. Sun Xiguo, director of the Institute of Chinese Cultural Development at Peking University, also said that one of the major reasons why traditional Chinese culture has lasted for thousands of years is that it is adept at absorbing and accommodating a wide range of foreign cultures and positive contents. [1] Similarly, ancient China, which has endured for 5,000 years, has not always been favored by God; like the rest of the world, it has experienced countless alternations of glory and decline, but it has not disappeared because of the trauma of war. Even during the period of foreign domination, its light was not drowned out. Since the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, when a hundred flowers blossomed and a hundred schools of thought contended, to the Tang Dynasty, when the three religions merged, and the modern era, when Western learning spread to the East, the cultural movement and even the modern government's sending of foreign students to each other have all reflected the inclusiveness and openness of Chinese culture. This characteristic of Chinese culture itself makes it not a fleeting but a fragrance in human civilization. It has not only taken root in China, but has also greatly influenced the cultures of Japan and Korea as well as neighboring countries.