What influence does agricultural production have on China culture?

The influence of farming economy on the formation of traditional cultural characteristics in China

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The word "culture" first appeared in the ancient books of the Western Han Dynasty in China. Liu Xiang said to "Talking about the Garden and Pointing to the Martial Arts": "Those who are prosperous in martial arts will not accept it, and if their culture does not change, they will be punished." There is such a supplement in Shu Xi's poem: "Connecting cultures internally and practicing martial arts externally." Wang Rong of Nanqi wrote "Preface to Qushui Poetry": "Set the spirit to the scenery and use the text for the future." Everyone inherits its meaning, and "literature" and "martial arts" are opposite, so culture takes the meaning of "education". The original meaning of culture was confused with "civilization" and "literature" in the pre-Qin period of China. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi": "Wen, wrong painting." There are three meanings: first, it extends from language symbols to cultural relics, ancient books, rituals and music systems; Secondly, ethics leads to the significance of colorful painting, decoration and artificial cultivation; The third is the meaning of beauty, goodness and virtue. And "Hua" is to cooperate with "Wen" and take the meaning of "".

The understanding of culture can be divided into narrow sense and broad sense. In a narrow sense, it refers to literature, history and philosophy, and in a broad sense, it includes all material wealth and spiritual wealth created in the historical development of human society. As far as its structure is concerned, it is mainly manifested in four levels: utensils, system, behavior and spirit. Culture has always been closely related to social economy, determined by the economy, and has a great reaction to the economy. The basic spirit, type characteristics and value orientation of China traditional culture are influenced by historical factors such as China's geographical environment and economic base. Agricultural economy is the economic base on which China traditional culture depends. This paper will discuss the influence of agricultural economy on the formation of China traditional cultural characteristics.

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China is located on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean in the east of Asia, with a vast territory, superior geographical position and mild climate. The natural geography and ecological environment of the great river continent gave birth to the economic production pattern of the Chinese nation with farming economy as the main body. China has a long history of agricultural development and a vast territory. Agriculture in China appeared very early. Archaeological data prove that primitive agriculture was developed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River four or five thousand years ago. In the third generation, farming became the main source of social life materials for China people in the Central Plains. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the unified Chinese Empire took "emphasizing agriculture and consolidating the foundation" as the way to govern the country. After the Han and Jin Dynasties, the agricultural areas in China moved to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the south of the Yangtze River. The superior natural climatic conditions and ecological environment in southern China further show great development potential. China's agricultural economy has been developing steadily for thousands of years without interruption. Stable agricultural production provides an economic basis for the emergence and development of traditional culture in China. China's farming civilization has long been formed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the triangle where rivers meet. China's dominant traditional culture, whether material or spiritual, is based on agricultural production. They were formed in agricultural areas and spread with the expansion of agricultural areas.

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Farming economy runs through the development of traditional culture in China until modern times. The formation of the main features of China traditional culture is inseparable from the influence of farming economy.

1. pragmatism

Long-term agricultural production has formed the simple character and pragmatic spirit of the Chinese nation. The pragmatic spirit of emphasizing reality and full of fantasy in China culture is closely related to the life experience of "no pains, no gains" in farming economy. The people of China have realized from their agricultural work that the benefits are unfortunate, the efforts are not in vain, empty talk is useless, and solid work is bound to yield something. This pragmatic style of farmers has also infected scholars. "Adults are flashy, gentlemen are pragmatic" is the spirit advocated by China and Tessa. Zhang Taiyan said in "Refuting the Stand of Confucianism": "Political affairs are used for daily use, working in industry and commerce, and observing the constancy of the people. If you are determined to live, you will never be in danger. " As a farming nation, the mindset and thinking method formed in the process of simple reproduction of small-scale agriculture is to pay attention to practical understanding. The Chinese nation is called "the nation that is best at handling practical affairs" by westerners.

2. Love peace and pursue harmony

The mode of production of farming economy is mainly the combination of labor and land. The lifestyle of farming people is based on the fixed land, and a stable life is the premise of the development of farming society. This mode of production and lifestyle has formed the life interest of China people. Farmers want to stick to the land, have a fixed daily life, and sometimes farm. They pursue peace and stability, take "farming and reading" as pride, and take war as a warning. "The Analects of Confucius" says: "A good man can serve the country for a hundred years, or he can win every battle and die." "Mozi" said: "The world loves each other, the countries don't attack each other, the home is not chaotic, and the thief is not there. Both the father and the son can be filial. If so, the world will be ruled. " Farming people oppose hostility and conflict. At the same time, because agricultural production is often influenced by weather and geography, the ancients worshipped nature and heaven and earth, attached great importance to the harmony between the universe and nature, especially the harmony between people, and advocated the harmony between man and nature. All these show that people in agricultural society love peace and pursue the ideal of harmony.

3. Sustainability and continuity

China people living in East Asia and later Han people lived on the vast fertile Yuan Ye irrigated by big rivers. Since the mobile fishing and hunting life ended, they have been engaged in settled agriculture for a long time. The superiority of settled agriculture makes them have a special attachment to the land. They praised the earth like this: "It is the best of Kunyuan, the birth of all things, and it is the inheritance of heaven. Kun is thick, Germany is unbounded, and the goods are salty. " The deep attachment to the land has made the Han people form the habit of "moving back to their hometown". As the saying goes, "When the bird flies back to his hometown, the fox dies first." Except for a few Hong Kong businessmen who wander around and engage in "official tours", most Han people, especially farmers, have been fixed on the land all their lives, "work at sunrise and rest at sunset". If there is no extremely serious famine and war, people are generally reluctant to leave their homeland. Because people rarely migrate and the scale of commodity production and circulation is limited, rural towns and villages left over from clan society and formed by consanguineous families can be preserved from generation to generation. This less volatile agricultural economy has the characteristics of continuity and stability, and the China culture influenced by it has a strong persistence and continuity. The so-called "long-lasting but great" in Yi Zhuan, "everlasting" in Lao Zi and "unchanging heaven and unchanging Tao" by Dong Zhongshu are typical manifestations of the concept of seeking for long-term. The persistence and continuity of China's traditional culture is very obvious, from pre-Qin philosophers to Han Confucian classics to Tang Yi-ology to Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism.

4. Diversity and great inclusiveness

Due to the vast territory and diverse geographical areas of China, nomadic people in northern China have been thriving with the development of agricultural civilization. The long-term confrontation between agricultural and nomadic peoples has promoted their economic and cultural complementarity and national integration. On the one hand, the northern nationalities are brave and brave, bold and unrestrained, with strong mobility, and are good at absorbing foreign cultures from afar, which has become a powerful agent for stable and elegant farming culture in the Central Plains; On the other hand, the advanced mode of production, political system and cultural technology of the farming people have promoted the changes of the social form of the nomadic people. All these have formed the cultural patterns of different regions in ancient China, such as Qin Jin culture, Wuyue culture, Qilu culture, Chu and Song Wenhua culture, etc., and made China culture diversified.

China's farming civilization has a long history. From a vertical perspective, the development of China's farming economy has always retained the economic components of each historical development stage. Horizontally, farming economy is not only based on agricultural production, but also includes many economic components such as industry and commerce. From the perspective of historical development, China's economy was a primitive cooperative agricultural natural economy in the three dynasties, and it was a combination of agriculture and cottage industry from Qin and Han Dynasties to Ming and Qing Dynasties. Agriculture and industry and commerce only existed in modern times. The diversified structure of China's ancient farming economy created the inclusive characteristics of China's traditional culture. "The Book of Changes Shack" puts forward that "all the worries in the world are the same, and all roads lead to the same goal", such as the integration of Confucianism and Taoism in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and the integration of Confucianism and Taoism in the Qin and Han Dynasties. These different factions and different types of ideology and culture permeate each other and are inclusive and diverse, which shows the grand spirit of "maximum tolerance" of Chinese culture.

5. The dignity shown by the cycle theory

China's agricultural culture matured earlier, and the circulation of agricultural production and plants from seed to seed, and the phenomenon of four seasons and four seasons' circulation inspired the thinking mode of circulation theory in China culture. This way of thinking has long restricted the way of thinking of China people. "Yi Zhuan" has a cloud: "Cold comes and summer goes, and summer comes and it is cold." In political life, the ups and downs of dynasties, the alternation of chaos control and separation, the so-called "the general trend of the world, long-term integration, long-term separation", and various changes in the world have further strengthened people's concept of circulation. The concept of "five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth" is the expression of recycling theory. Under the restriction of circular thinking mode, people in agricultural society are satisfied with maintaining simple reproduction, lacking the ability to expand social reproduction, and the social operation is slow and sluggish. In such a living environment, people tend to breed eternal consciousness, thinking that time is long and static, so they often show the inertia of routines, which makes China culture show a dignified and conservative character. Conservative ideology leads to social complacency and lack of foresight and pioneering spirit.

6. Take the doctrine of the mean as the advanced philosophy.

China traditional culture emphasizes harmony and unity, and advocates the golden mean. "Taking a fancy to harmony and adhering to the doctrine of the mean is the spirit that permeates every pore of China's cultural body." [3] (P.35 1) The doctrine of the mean is an important concept in China traditional culture. "The Doctrine of the Mean" said: "The joys and sorrows are not expressed in the middle, but in the middle. If you are in the middle, you are the biggest in the world; He who is in harmony is also in the world. Neutral, the status of Heaven is awkward, and everything breeds. " The doctrine of the mean recognizes the opposition and the unity of opposites, and emphasizes the solution of contradictions by moderate, harmonious and moderate methods. In ancient China, the doctrine of the mean can be said to be a kind of advanced philosophy to adjust social contradictions to a neutral state. It is a kind of survival wisdom, which regards the common way as a theorem and the right way in the world, and requires people to be moderate, just and balanced in everything. This wisdom of life comes from the soil of farming economy.

7. The conflict between centralized politics and people-oriented thought.

People-oriented thought and centralized politics in China's traditional culture are complementary to each other, which is formed by China's agricultural economy as the center. China's agricultural society is decentralized. In order to resist foreign enemies and maintain social stability, it is necessary to establish a unified and authoritative empire with centralized monarchy. In ancient China, thinkers of most schools had different degrees of respect for the monarch. People-oriented doctrine comes with centralization. The material materials on which the centralized political system depends must be produced by the people with farmers as the main body. Only when the people live and work in peace and contentment can the agricultural patriarchal society function normally and the country be preserved. A China based on agriculture is bound to have social consciousness of respecting and attaching importance to agriculture. The ruler demanded social stability. First of all, they must understand the importance of agriculture and the hardships of farmers and care for the people. Laozi's "The heart of saints is impermanent, and the people are the heart", Confucius's "Love makes the people take time", Mencius's "People are the most important, the country is the second, and the monarch is the least", and Xunzi's "The monarch is also a boat, and Shu Ren is also a water. Water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it. The theories of "Benevolence" and "King Way" all embody the people-oriented thought in China's traditional politics. Centralized politics and people-oriented thought are interdependent and conflicting.

References:

Feng Tianyu. Reflections on the cultural history of China [M]. Wuchang: Huazhong University of Science and Technology Press, 1998.

[2] Zhang Dainian, Fang Keli. Introduction to China culture [M]. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press, 1999.

[3] Li Zonggui. Introduction to China culture [M]. Guangzhou: sun yat-sen university press, 1988.