What is European civilization? How did it come about? What is Chinese civilization? How was it formed?

The following materials can be used for reference:

Origin: 1. The birthplace and cradle of European civilization is Greece, and the tradition of ancient Greek civilization is preserved everywhere in the Western world. The Mycenaeans, conquerors of Crete and destroyers of the city of Troy, were one of the earliest inhabitants of Greece, who later fell into slavery to the northern peoples and gradually diverged into the Doric and Ionian peoples. Greece, which entered the slave society, used to establish slave city-states, with Athens and Sparta being the most powerful. The Greek culture as a whole was highly developed, characterized by distinctive features, and widely disseminated. "Heroism" was an ideology enjoyed throughout Greece. Alexander of Macedon created an era of "Hellenization". He came to realize that the Persians and other peoples were as wise and talented as the Greeks and should be respected. To promote the integration of Macedonians with Persians and Orientals, he encouraged Macedonians to marry Oriental women and founded dozens of cities in the East. These policies, which promoted the cultural exchanges between the East and the West, also made the Greek culture become the representative of European culture and recognized by the neighboring countries. 2. Unlike the Greeks, the contribution of the Romans was mainly in the construction of institutions and laws. The Romans built a powerful empire, emphasizing law and system, and everything was regulated by law. The Romans also emphasized education, and anyone needed to be able to read, write, and learn rhetoric. The combination of the Greeks' emphasis on ideals and the Romans' emphasis on practicality laid the foundation for the classical civilization, which was both emotional and rational. Classical civilization had a great influence on Europe. "The elements constituting the culture of the Middle Ages were, in a nutshell, first, the legacy of Greek and Roman culture, secondly, the energy of the new national leaps, and last but not least, the domination of Christianity over the material and the spiritual. These three dynamics came into contact, not as water and milk, but as they struck and rejected each other, and were tempered by five or six hundred years before they became one and produced a new consciousness and order."

Two, development: 1, European medieval civilization, with a strong Christian religious color. Melting late antiquity of ethics and salvation in one of the Catholic Church was very powerful, began to lead the culture and fight against secular rulers. 16th century Martin Luther led the Reformation movement, both against the corruption of the church and asceticism, the Reformation quickly developed into a Europe-wide movement. 2, broke out in the 14th century the Renaissance is another far-reaching cultural movement in Europe. Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio and others advocated the study of Greco-Roman culture, condemned the ignorance of the feudal system, and called for the "new birth" of man. The Renaissance laid a new foundation for modern European civilization, and as the German historian Troeltsch puts it: the modern spirit "originated in the inner development of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Protestantism, through the gestation stages of urban culture, Protestant ecclesiastical culture, and Catholic-Roman ecclesiastical culture opposed to the Reformation in the late Middle Ages and finally in the Enlightenment, Britain, the United States, and the United States. Enlightenment, and the revolutionary baptisms of England, the United States and France, reaching full independence. All the important features of present-day life have their origin here." 3. After 1500, European civilization entered a period of rapid development, the links between countries were further strengthened, and the trend of the overall development of European civilization became more and more obvious. There is a new view in European intellectual circles that the true European identity was formed after 1500. Whatever links and continuities modern Europe has with medieval Europe, it is only in the modern era that the overall identity of European civilization has become distinctly visible, whether reflected in its internal cohesion or in its cutting edge or modernity.

First of all, the civilization structure was adjusted, and the elements of civilization developed in a balanced and synchronous manner. The three cultural movements of the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment, and the three political movements of the British Revolution, American Independence and the French Revolution completed the transformation of Europe from the Middle Ages to modern times. Then, with the Commercial Revolution, the Industrial Revolution and the Scientific and Technological Revolution, the European economy and science and technology entered the frontiers of the world. The revolutions transformed Europe, turning an "old Europe" into a "new Europe". On the economic view, the value of exchange replaced the traditional use value; on the social view, the identification of competition and ability replaced the identification of difference and dignity; on the political order, the identification of revolution and reform replaced the conservative sense of sticking to the rules; on the cultural view, the works showing the distinctive personality of human beings replaced the works promoting asceticism and religious ideology; on the religious view, the spirit of science replaced ignorance and superstition.

Secondly, easing conflicts and shaping the overall European civilization. 2003, German philosopher Habermas and French philosopher Jacques Derrida jointly signed and drafted the article "Our Revival", pointing out that: "From the perspective of historical experience, the culture of Europe for centuries because of the antagonisms between urban and rural areas, the conflict between ecclesiastical and secular power, the competition between faith and knowledge, the competition between political traditions and the struggle between the classes opposed to them have become a culture torn apart more than any other. Because of this, Europeans have learned through pain to recognize differences and to use various means to ease antagonisms and tensions. This ****same encounter and ****same fate has created a sense that Europeans have to ****same to shape policy. This is the hallmark of European identity."

From this point of view, European civilization has a very rich and complex cultural connotation and variable forms. The development of European civilization tells us that as important as cultural integration is Europe's cosmopolitan vision: such as the Hellenization of Alexander's time, the medieval knights and missionaries who acted transnationally, and even the modern capitalist trading system, all of which starred in the world's big stage. Seeking development in the world, enhancing Europe's own cohesion, and integrating and making good use of its resources is precisely how European civilization has developed.

Chinese civilization

One of the characteristics of Chinese civilization is to start from the origin of Chinese civilization, which originated in the Xia Dynasty 2070 B.C. (if the same standard in the West, Chinese civilization originated in Yangshao and Hongshan cultures 5,000 B.C.), and China is undoubtedly one of the earliest countries with the origin of civilization in the world.

The second feature of Chinese civilization: the continuity of China's historical development. more than 80 years ago, Russell, a famous British scholar, once said: "China is not so much a political entity as a civilizational entity -- the only civilization that has survived to the present day. Since Confucius, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Macedonia, including the Roman Empire have all perished, but China has survived with continuous evolution." Russell highly valued the important role of Chinese thought and culture in the development of Chinese history, and his evaluation captured the very important feature of continuity in the development of Chinese history.

Third, the third characteristic of Chinese civilization: the idea of great unity has been dominant in the historical development of Chinese civilization. Throughout the history of the world, the origin and development of civilization and unity are always closely related, in the origin and development of Chinese civilization there is basically a stable trend of unity, from the history of today, speak of great unity is the national righteousness. From the literature, up to the Warring States period at the latest, all schools of thought advocated great unification (only Mozi advocated a return to the small state, an exception). With regard to the understanding of this characteristic, in addition to analyzing the geographical structure of the Chinese land, we should focus on the unification tradition of Chinese culture. The first sentence of the Three Kingdoms, "the world's momentum, divided for a long time will be united, united for a long time will be divided," the words of the powerful unification of the country has been continued, the reason why the split in history was soon replaced by unification, unification of the time is much higher than the time of the split, the reason why minorities enter the Central Plains soon after the integration of the most important reason is that China has an The most important reason is that China has a ***same thought, ***same culture, this ***same thought, ***same culture has the national cohesion that transcends the interests of different political groups and even the interests of separate regimes. China's ancient tradition of revering history and ancestry, which is centrally reflected in Confucianism, and revering history and ancestry will naturally lead to a strong cultural continuity. The Persian Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Roman Empire and so on are all built on the exploitation, oppression and domination of the conquered countries, so these empires have no economic base of their own within the territory of the empire, but rather a temporary not consolidated by military force, there is no unity of language, unity of culture and way of life, so the empire's prospects can only be divided into a final demise.

Fourth characteristic of Chinese civilization: Along with the idea of great unity, there is another characteristic of Chinese civilization, namely, integration, which is a secondary characteristic. If it only has unity, (there are countless such empires in history, all of which eventually fell apart.) It does not fully reflect the reason why Chinese culture remains colorful to this day. Chinese culture is not simply the culture of the Han Chinese people or the culture of the Yellow River basin, but on the basis of the Han Chinese culture, it has organically absorbed the cultures of various ethnic groups and different regions within China-such as the Chu culture, the Wu culture, the Ba-Shu culture, the culture of the Western regions, and so on, to form a Chinese culture with rich connotations. And precisely because Chinese civilization itself is pluralistic, and Confucianism is a tolerant ideology, holding a tolerant and accommodating attitude toward other academics and religions, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism together constitute the ideological backbone of Chinese culture, and Chinese civilization, with its broadmindedness, has accepted a variety of religions, digesting and integrating them into its own bloodstream in the course of a long period of historical development, and with this fusion, it is possible to, under the unifying ideology, the different cultural characteristics of various ethnic groups can be integrated. At the same time, this multi-ethnic unification of China is not an exercise in cultural colonization or cultural chauvinism; only this kind of pluralistic unification can guarantee the consolidation and development of unity. Therefore, the Chinese nation will be able to continuously integrate with other nationalities, and China's multi-ethnic, great unity will be able to continue to develop and grow.

In short, there are only two civilizations in the world that have had a profound impact on the world, one is the ancient Greek and Roman civilization, and the other is the Chinese civilization. But it is the powerful vitality of Chinese civilization that puzzles the West. Think about the Western Anglo-Saxon nation, and Germany and other Western nations to the present only 1,000 years of history can be written so why the Western countries are trying to deny, divide, polarize, disintegrate Chinese civilization? Because the West has a 4,000-year history of Chinese civilization (if the standard of the same civilization in the West, Chinese civilization has a 7,000-year history is not too much to ask), the West is bent on getting rid of it, and would like to do the same with Japan, through cutting Chinese history to achieve the purpose of dividing China or even the destruction of China, and ultimately achieve the world ruled entirely by the West. Gong Zizhen, a famous scholar of the Qing Dynasty, said: "To destroy the country, you must first destroy its history, and to destroy its people, you must first destroy its culture.