How the differences between Chinese and Western views of nature played a role in the development and historical process of China and the West?

How to Understand the Differences in the View of Nature between China and the West

The view of nature refers to people's fundamental view of the natural world, which shapes the characteristics of a certain cultural system. Due to the differences in their respective living environments, people in China and the West have different understandings and perceptions of nature, and the two different views of nature have different manifestations and impacts. Understanding, comparing, and studying the different views of nature between the East and the West is not only conducive to our understanding of the previous history, but also beneficial to the development of our society in the present and the future.

? In ancient China, people regarded nature as a universally connected and constantly moving whole, thus forming a simple view of nature, such as "yin and yang", "five elements", "yuan qi" and so on. etc.

In ancient times, people in the West believed that nature is the unity of movement and static, opposites, dialectical, such as "Socrates' moral doctrine", "Plato's idea of the world", "Aristotle's theory of nature" and so on. Aristotle's theory of nature", etc. China as the representative of the Oriental world since ancient times on the attitude of nature is to worship nature, not against the will of God, let nature take its course, that in the human relationship with nature in the world are all things in the non-stop cycle of reproduction, reproduction and rest. Such as Taoism has a "Taoism is born, a life of two, two born three, three born of all things, all things return to the Tao" of the famous assertion.

? In general, the ancient Chinese thinkers always held a sense of mystery about nature, rarely mentioning the understanding of nature, transformation of nature, but mostly based on the exploration of the human self within the subject. By promoting a supreme masculinity within the subject, the sages believed that they could realize their unity with heaven and earth. Europe as the representative of the West is exactly the opposite, they believe that man and nature are opposites, and accustomed to separate man and nature, that the human mind is independent of the natural world outside the objective things, focusing on man's exploration of nature, that man can be through the struggle and efforts to transform nature and even conquer nature. Its concept of nature has the following characteristics in its understanding of the relationship between man and nature:

First, the subject-object dichotomy. It believes that spirit and matter, subject and object, and man and nature are fundamentally different fields, which leads to the question of how the subject recognizes the object and how mankind conquers the nature that is different from his own.

Secondly, it advocates the supremacy of human reason or the omnipotence of natural science. It is believed that human beings, relying on science and rationality, have unlimited ability to conquer and transform nature, and that nature is only the object of human conquest and transformation, and that although the power of specific individuals is limited, the power of human beings is unlimited, and that in the process of changing nature, human beings will be able to overcome the difficulties that can not be overcome today and will be able to overcome them in the future. Reasons for the difference between Chinese and Western views of nature:?

The geographical environment affects the view of nature?

1, China has long lived in the plains of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, where the land is fertile and the climate is mild and suitable for agriculture. The Orientals lived in this environment for a long time, and over time they developed an agrarian national character, in which people only had to follow the seasonal changes in the climate and sow and harvest on time in order to be well-fed and well-catered. This relatively comfortable life developed the concept of worshiping nature and submitting to it. Coupled with Taoism, Confucianism, "Tao gives birth to all things, all things to one", "the unity of heaven and mankind", "man and nature in harmony with" the doctrine, more firmly the relationship between man and nature. Europe is more mountainous, less plains, and cold climate. Farming in this environment is not adapted, people have been hunting and animal husbandry for a living, but also every day to fight with the harsh environment of nature. In order to survive, people must face nature, fight it and win. Under these conditions, it is difficult to get any prayer in return, and over time, people have formed an antagonistic relationship with nature, and have formed a different view of nature from that of the East.

2. implicit and explicit?

To a certain extent, geography creates differences in people's thoughts, but also creates differences in people's character, and very often, thoughts are slowly precipitated by character and expression, therefore, the character of a nation may be more indicative of the characteristics of a civilization. China's geographic closure is destined to be in the "long time will be divided, long time will be united" in the cycle of nirvana and rebirth of the fate of the long time people formed a world is a big cycle of the view of nature, think that the road is from ancient times to the present day has always existed, and it is "very road "It is not necessary to discover or study it. Over the millennia the Middle Kingdom has been gradually opening up new frontiers and spreading its population like ink on rice paper. The European form of society was a city-state democracy, where citizens had the right to pursue truth, goodness, and beauty through open debate, with little restraint or confinement. European philosophers were free to exercise their creative thinking in an environment that favored reason and did not accept unproven "absolute authority.

3. The masters of knowledge determined a democratic view of nature?

China's emperors since ancient times have called themselves the sons of heaven, and there is no one who is not the king of the people, and there is no one who is not the king of the land. The reason for the deep-rooted idea of enslavement in the people's consciousness is that the people are not in charge of the knowledge, and this is also the essential factor for the emergence of the imperial concept of nature in China and the democratic concept of nature in Europe. In ancient Europe, the adoption of pinyin made it possible for knowledge not to be monopolized by the privileged classes. The confrontation between the knowledgeable and aware citizens and the kings and aristocrats gave rise to a democratic view of nature in European societies. Although Chinese civilization has long been ahead of the West, China's view of nature is still deficient. Due to the long-term nature worship, people neglected their own power, overestimated the power of nature and underestimated the power of human beings, and naturally neglected the cultivation of human beings, which resulted in the ideology that people were contented and did not seek to make progress. In addition, this comfortable living environment, the excessive worship of nature also led to some defects in the character of the Chinese people. Compared with Europeans, Chinese people are easily satisfied, lack of initiative, lack of ambition, poor in abstract thinking, and lack of the spirit of exploration and specialization in nature. These are some of the reasons why Chinese civilization gradually lagged behind that of the West

The influence of the concept of nature from the point of view of natural sciences. In China, although there are four major inventions: papermaking, printing, gunpowder, and Sinan, due to the narrowness of people's understanding, these scientific achievements were limited to the field of application only, and did not form a systematic theoretical framework, lack of theoretical guidance, and almost all of them were formed in the accumulation of people's experience in their daily lives. On the contrary, in the West, due to the fact that people have developed the character of fighting, winning and exploring, when the Four Great Inventions were introduced to the West, a series of inventions advanced in China, such as the lead printing press, the marine compass, the musket and the artillery, appeared with the efforts of the people, and were properly utilized and played a great role. The human sciences were also influenced by the view of nature. In the East, the will of the ruler has always prevailed, even in Confucianism, the essence of traditional Chinese culture. In the West, on the other hand, due to the spirit of militancy and victory, the Renaissance saw a proliferation of new ideas, and many theoretical works provided a sound theoretical basis for the later democracy. Although the Chinese view of nature as "the unity of man and nature" is not perfect, the Western antagonistic view of nature also has its limitations. Due to the influence of the opposing view of nature between man and nature, people are proud of conquering and transforming nature, but ignore some laws of nature that cannot be violated and transformed, and only know how to ask for something but not know how to give back and protect it, so that it has caused serious mistakes ...?

Now it seems that the different views of nature in China and the West do not matter to compare who is better or worse than the other, people in the previous lessons learned on the basis of a serious summary of the conclusion of a reasonable dialectical unity of the concept of nature. Both Chinese and Western views of nature have made great contributions to the progress of mankind, and while inheriting them, we should continue to pursue a view of nature that is more suitable for the development of the present society. Only in this way can society continue to develop and mankind continue to progress.