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Highlights of Chinese Civilization and
Local Culture
中国地方文化英语导读
00041010
School of Foreign Languages
Suzhou University
第二章
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中国历史（History）
1、教学内容：
回顾中华文明经历的不同历史阶段和探讨不同历史阶段的
文明进程及成就。
讲授内容：
(1). 与史前文明相关的考古发现以及神话传说
(2). 早期文明的发展及成就
(3). 帝国时代的文明特征
(4). 当代文明的发展进程
2、教学要点：
重点掌握不同历史文明进程中里程碑式的文化创造及特点。
Chapter Two
History
http://v.ku6.com/show/4ruOZpNHX3-XazOc.html
Five Major Stages of Civilization
 the
primitive society
 the slave society,
 the feudal society
 the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society
 the socialist society
 Pre-historic
Time
 Early History
 Imperial Era
 Modern Period
The Prehistory Period
-----Archaeological Excavations
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From Paleolithic to Neolithic Ages
The Wushan Man in the three gorges area
2-million years ago
The Yuanmou Man
1.7 million years ago
The Lantian Man
0.5-0.6 million years ago
“Peking Man” Chinese Ape Man Zhoukoudian
0.4 -0. 5 million years ago
Maba, Changyang, Liujiang, in the Yellow River Bend region:
the Paleolithic Age
South of the Yangtze River:
Neolithic Ages
Unearthed material: specimens of painted pottery (Yangshao
Culture); specimens of black pottery (Longshan Culture)
Pre- and Early History of China
Several Legendary Characters
Pan Gu split the world into heaven and earth.
 Nu Wa used soil to create human beings and
saved the earth from being drowned by the
leaking Heaven.
 Cang Jie（仓颉） invented Chinese characters.
 Shen Nong（神农）invented agriculture.
 Sui Ren（燧人）found out how to produce fire.
 You Cao Shi （有巢氏）invented houses and
shelters.
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 Pangu
Created Heaven and Earth
In the beginning when the universe was just darkness and chaos,
a man named Pan Gu was birthed from a large egg. He separated
heaven and earth with his strength and sacrificed his body to
become the mountains and rivers and various parts of the world
that we now know.
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/tf21fPWne9M/
Story has it that the heaven and earth were integrated
into one body that resembles an egg, with Pangu slept
inside. He slept for about 18000 years and then awoke. He
found that he was in a vast of dark; therefore, he expanded
his huge hands and cut into the darkness. After an
explosion, the heaven and earth started to split. He feared
that the heaven and earth may come together again, so he
held the heaven with his hands and trod his legs on the
land. His body grew three meters every day. Consequently,
the distance between the heaven and earth became three
meters longer every day. Time flies! Another 18000 years
passed and now, the heaven became far away from the
earth and the earth was now very thick. At the same time,
Pangu also grew to a huge man.
During this period, the heaven continued ascending and
expanding while the earth sinking and thickening until the distance
between them was as far as 90,000 kilometers which had reached the
extreme. That was the condition of the universe in our eyes at present.
Pangu gradually weakened after he separated the heaven and the
earth. After he died, his body turned into all the things in the universe.
His left eye became the sun and his right eye, the moon. The protruded
parts in his body turn out to be high mountains and his blood became
rivers. His muscle became the soil field, and his hair and beard
became the stars on the sky and grasses on the ground. His teeth and
bones turned out to be iron and huge stone while the essence in his
body became pearls and precious jade. His breath became the wind
and cloud, his shout became the thunderbolt, and the sweat turned out
to be the rain. A lot of insects on his body were blown by wind into
living human beings. This story was first appeared in Sanwu Liji written
by Xu Zheng in the Three Kingdoms Period.
The myth of Pangu was pervasively spread among the
southern ethnic minorities long long ago. Both of the Miao
and Yao people took Pangu as their ancestors. So far, the
Zhuang people are still singing “Song about Pangu
Creating the Heaven and Earth”. The song goes like this:
Pangu split the heaven and the earth, and created the sun,
moon and other stars. It is thanks to Pangu that human
beings can get brightness... From historical record and oral
tales, we can detect the evolution trace of the myth of
Pangu in the process of spreading. Pangu split the heaven
and the earth, seeded all the things in the universe and
turned into the heaven and the earth. He is not only the
god that created the world but also the hero who broke
darkness and sought brightness. Pangu will forever remain
living in the minds of generations after generations of the
Chinese people.
Legendary Emperors in Prehistory China
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The Three Clan-rulers
the Tianhuang (the heavenly Emperor)
the Dihuang (the earthly Emperor)
the Renhuang (the human Emperor)
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The Five Emperors
Huangdi
Zhuanxu (grand son of Huangdi)
Diku (great grandson of Huangdi)
Yao
Shun
 1、伏羲、神农、黄帝。（《世本》、《尚书
*序》、《帝王世纪》）
 2、天皇、地皇、泰皇。（《史记*秦始皇
记》）
 3、伏羲、神农、祝融。（《白虎通*号》）
 4、伏羲、女娲、神农。（《风俗通*皇霸》、
《史记*三皇记》）
 5、天皇、地皇、人皇。（《艺文类聚》）
 6、伏羲、女娲、燧人。（《白虎通*号》）
 黄帝、颛顼、帝喾、尧、舜
 宓戏（伏羲）、神农、黄帝、尧、舜
 太昊、炎帝、黄帝、少昊、颛顼
 少昊、颛顼、帝喾、尧、舜
 黄帝、少昊、颛顼、喾、尧
 Fuxishi:
the ox-tamer, founder of law and
order.
 Suirenshi: the Fire Producer, or Chinese
Prometheus [prə'miθju:s]
 Nvwashi: the first heroine in history, Fuxi’s
wife who mends the sky; the
Goddess of marriage and inventor
of Sheng and Huang
 Shennongshi: the God of farming, the God
of medicine
 Huangdi
 Zhuanxu
 Diku
 Yao
 Shun
the Yellow Lord; inventor of
bows and arrows, boats, carts,
ceramics(制陶术), writing, and silk.
carrying out religious reform
father of Houji--first ancestor of
Zhou Dynasty; father of Qi-- first
ancestor of Shang Dynasty; father
of Yao
creating calendars and rituals
the originator of moral culture
Yao （尧）, the first sage king who chose a
talented young man Shun （舜）instead of his
own son as new emperor，an action revered
as “demise”（禅让）for centuries to come.
 Yu the Great （大禹），a hero in taming the
flood, the founder of Xia Dynasty ，and the
terminator of demise system.
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三皇
伏羲女娲
伏
羲
神农
火
神
祝
融
黄帝战蚩尤
颛顼
帝喾
尧帝
舜帝
History Timeline
Dates
ca. 2000-1500
B.C.
1700-1027 B.C.
1027-771 B.C.
770-221 B.C.
Xia
夏
Shang
Western Zhou
Eastern Zhou
商
西周
东周
春秋时期
770-476 B.C. -- Spring
and Autumn period
221-207 B.C.
朝代
Dynasty
475-221 B.C. -Warring States period
战国时期
Qin
秦
History Timeline
Dates
206 B.C.-A.D. 9
A.D. 9-24
A.D. 25-220
A.D. 220-280
Dynasty
Western Han
Xin
Eastern Han
Three Kingdoms
220-265 -- Wei
221-263 -- Shu
229-280 -- Wu
朝代
西汉
新
东汉
三国
魏
蜀
吴
History Timeline
Dates
A.D. 265-316
A.D. 317-420
420-588
朝代
Dynasty
Western Jin
Eastern Jin
Southern
Dynasties
420-478 -- Song
479-501 -- Qi
502-556 -- Liang
557-588 -- Chen
西晋
东晋
南朝
宋
齐
梁
陈
History Timeline
Dates
386-588
朝代
Dynasty
Northern Dynasties
386-533 -- Northern
Wei
534-549 -- Eastern Wei
535-557 -- Western
Wei
550-577 -- Northern Qi
557-588 -- Northern
Zhou
北朝
北魏
东魏
西魏
北齐
北周
History Timeline
Dates
朝代
Dynasty
A.D. 581-617
Sui
隋
A.D. 618-907
Tang
唐
A.D. 907-960
Five Dynasties
五代
907-923 -- Later Liang
后梁
923-936 -- Later Tang
后唐
936-946 -- Later Jin
后晋
947-950 -- Later Han
后汉
951-960 -- Later Zhou
后周
History Timeline
Dates
A.D. 907-979
A.D. 960-1279
朝代
Dynasty
Ten Kingdoms
Song
960-1127 -- Northern
Song
1127-1279 -- Southern
十国
宋
北宋
南宋
Song
A.D. 916-1125
Liao
A.D. 1038-1227 Western Xia
A.D. 1115-1234 Jin
辽
西夏
金
History Timeline
Dates
Dynasty
A.D. 1279-1368 Yuan
A.D. 1368-1644 Ming
A.D. 1644-1911 Qing
A.D. 1911-1949 Republic of China (in
mainland China)
A.D. 1949-
Republic of China (in
Taiwan)
A.D. 1949-
People’s Republic of
China
朝代
元
明
清
中华民国
中华人民共和国
Early History
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The Three Dynasties:
the Xia, the Shang and the Western Zhou
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The quintessence of material civilization of the three
Dynasties was the Bronze Culture.
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The notion of great national unity gradually came into being.
“All the land under the sky belonged to the emperor, and all
the people within this country were the emperor’s subjects”.
The Xia Dynasty
A
Dynasty that can only be detected
through archeological evidence
 An evolutional stage between the late
Neolithic cultures and the typical
Chinese urban civilization
 The pioneering dynasty
The Shang Dynasty
The Shang dynasty (from 1700 to 1027 B.C
also called the Yin
 The Huang He Valley --the cradle of Chinese
civilization--provide evidence about the Shang
Dynasty.
 Two important events: the development of a
writing system (Chinese characters on tortoise
shells or flat cattle bones, also known as the
oracle bones 甲骨文); and the use of bronze
metallurgy.
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The Zhou Period
 Zhou
(1027 to 221 B.C) had settled in the
Wei Valley in modern Shaanxi Province.
It extended Shang culture through much
of China Proper north of the Yangtze
River.
The Hundred Schools of Thought
诸子百家
 It
was the “golden age” of China. Many
different philosophies developed during
the late Spring and Autumn and early
Warring States periods that the era is
often known as that of the Hundred
Schools of Thought .
Schools of Chinese thought
the School of Literati (儒 ) Confucius; Mencius；
Xunzi
 the School of Law ( 法), or Legalism : Han Fei
Zi ; Li Si
 Taoism ( 道): Lao Zi and Zhuangzi
 the school of yin-yang (yin: dark, cold, female,
negative; yang: light, hot, male, positive) and
the five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, and
earth).
 The doctrine of Mo Zi ( 470-391 B.C.):
Advocating that all action must be utilitarian
and pacifism.
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Imperial Era
Qin Dynasty
Yin Zheng claimed himself as the
Shi Huangdi or the First emperor.
 He established the first united, power-centralized,
multi-nationality and feudal autocratic monarchy
 To silence criticism of imperial rule, the kings
banished or put to death many dissenting
Confucian scholars and confiscated and burned
their books (焚书坑儒 ).
 To fend off barbarian intrusion, the fortification
walls built by the various warring states were
connected to make a 5,000-kilometer-long great
wall ( 万里长城).
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Han Dynasty
The Han period produced China’s
most famous historian, Sima Qian ,
whose Shiji (Historical Records) provides a
detailed chronicle from the time of a legendary Xia
emperor to that of the Han emperor Wu Di.
 The empire expanded westward as far as the rim
of the Tarim Basin (in modern Xinjiang-Uyghur
Autonomous Region), making possible relatively
secure caravan traffic across Central Asia to
Antioch, Baghdad, and Alexandria. The paths of
caravan traffic are often called the “silk route”.
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Sui Dynasty
 China
was reunified in A.D. 589 by the
short-lived Sui dynasty.
 The
construction of the Grand Canal was
completed and the Great Wall was
reconstructed.
Tang Dynasty
 Stimulated
by contact with India
and the Middle East, the empire
saw a flowering of creativity in many fields,
eg. the flourishing of Buddhism.
 A government system supported by a large
class of Confucian literati selected through
civil service examinations (科举 ) was
perfected under Tang rule.
Song Dynasty
The founders of the Song dynasty built an effective
centralized bureaucracy staffed with civilian
scholar-officials.
 The Song dynasty is notable for the development
of cities not only for administrative purposes but
also as centers of trade, industry, and maritime
commerce.
 The Song Neo-Confucian philosophers, finding a
certain purity in the originality of the ancient
classical texts, wrote commentaries on them. The
most influential of these philosophers was Zhu Xi.
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Mongolian Interlude
The Han were discriminated against socially and
politically. All important central and regional posts
were monopolized by Mongols.
 The major cultural achievements were the
development of drama and the novel and the
increased use of the written vernacular.
 During the Yuan period, Beijing became the
terminus of the Grand Canal, which was
completely renovated.
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Ming Dynasty
 Pressure
from the powerful
Neo-Confucian bureaucracy
led to a revival of strict agrarian-centered
society.
 The Chinese armies reconquered Annam
(安南), as northern Vietnam was then known,
in Southeast Asia and kept back the
Mongols, while the Chinese fleet sailed the
China seas and the Indian Ocean, cruising
as far as the east coast of Africa.
Qing Dynasty
The Manchus retained many
institutions of Ming and earlier
Chinese derivation.
 The Qing regime was determined to protect itself
not only from internal rebellion but also from
foreign invasion.
 Under Manchu rule the empire grew to include a
larger area than before or since; Taiwan, the last
outpost of anti-Manchu resistance, was also
incorporated into China for the first time.
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Modern Period
Emergence of Modern China
 The
Western Powers Arrive
 The Opium War, 1839-42 Era of Disunity
 Taiping Rebellion, 1851-64
 Self-Strengthening Movement
 Hundred Days’ Reform and Aftermath
 Republican Revolution of 1911
Republican China
 Nationalism
and Communism:
Opposing the Warlords
Consolidation under the Guomindang
Rise of the Communists
 Anti-Japanese War
 Return to Civil War
People’s Republic Of China
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Transition to Socialism(社会主义改造), 1953-57
Great Leap Forward(大跃进), 1958-60
Readjustment and Recovery(国民经济调整 与恢复),
1961-65
Cultural Revolution Decade(文化大革命), 1966-76
Militant Phase, 1966-68
Ninth National Party Congress to the Demise of Lin
Biao, 1969-71
End of the Era of Mao Zedong, 1972-76
Post-Mao Period, 1976-78
China and the Four Modernizations, 1979-82
Reforms, 1980-
Review Questions:
1. What makes the Chinese civilization unique in world
history ?
2. Try to explain the following terms:
 Huaxia Civilization & Yan-Huang descendents
 A Hundred Schools Contending
 Terra cotta warriors --- the Eighth World Wonder
 The Three Kingdoms
 The Opium War
 Xinhai Revolution
 The May 4th Movement
Assignment
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观看英文纪录片《中国》，思考并讨论中华
文明发展历经的重要阶段。