Unit 1 The Formation and Development of the Traditional Chinese Culture
单元 1 中国传统文化的形成与发展
The traditional Chinese culture refers to the material and spiritual achievements made by the Chinese people in ancient times. The term “culture” under discussion is defined both in a broad sense and a narrow sense. In the former sense, the concept of culture signifies the artificial transformation of nature, hence the material achievements. In the latter sense, it mainly pertains to the spiritual achievements gained by human beings. In terms of structure, culture is classified under four headings: culture of material, culture of social system, culture of behaviors and culture of ideology. The material culture, which constitutes the fundamental part of the traditional Chinese culture, comprises mostly productive forces in ancient China, including tools of production, articles for daily use, science and technology applied to the production of them. The culture of social system refers to the various systems which took shape in ancient China; for instance, the economic system, the political system, the military system, the system of law, the system of education, and the system of family and marriage. The culture of behaviors indicates the kinds of customs and habits formed in ancient China, which represents a kind of collective behavioral mode of the people; the culture of ideology includes the spiritual systems abstracted and synthesized by great thinkers. As the core of culture, the culture of ideology profoundly reflects the essence of culture.
中国传统文化是指中国人民在古代所取得的物质和精神成就。正在讨论的“文化”一词既有广义的定义,也有狭义的定义。在前一种意义上,文化的概念意味着自然的人为改造,因此是物质成就。在后一种意义上,它主要与人类获得的精神成就有关。从结构上讲,文化分为四个标题:物质文化、社会制度文化、行为文化和意识形态文化。物质文化是构成中国传统文化的基本组成部分,主要包括中国古代的生产力,包括生产工具、日用品、生产科学技术等。社会制度文化是指中国古代形成的各种制度;例如,经济制度、政治制度、军事制度、法律制度、教育制度以及家庭和婚姻制度。行为文化是指中国古代形成的风俗习惯的种类,代表了人们的一种集体行为模式;意识形态文化包括伟大思想家抽象和综合的精神系统。意识形态文化作为文化的核心,深刻地反映了文化的本质。
China, internationally renowned for her ancient civilization, which is a great contribution to the development of human civilizations, has undergone the following phases in the formation and development of its traditional culture.
中国以其古老的文明而闻名于世,这是对人类文明发展的巨大贡献,其传统文化的形成和发展经历了以下几个阶段。
The Prehistoric Culture
史前文化
The prehistoric culture is also termed as “the primitive culture”, indicating the culture of the primitive society in which no written language emerged. According to the materials unearthed for archaeological studies, for example, stone artifacts and fire remnants left 1, 700, 000 years ago and unearthed in Yuanmou, Yunnan Province in 1965, the earliest known ancients in China were Yuanmouensis. The fossil remains of Sinanthropus Lantianensis, Sinanthropus Pekinensis, Dingcun Man and Upper Cave Man constitute the complete developing sequences of China' s ancient culture. About ten thousand years ago, the ancient Chinese culture departed from the Paleolithic era and entered the Neolithic Age, the ruined sites of which, seven thousand or so in all, have been found so far. They are the evidences of Hongshan culture in northeast China, Dawenkou-Longshan culture in Shandong Province, Yang-shao culture in Central Plains of China, Majiayao-Qijia culture in the north-west of China and Hemudu-Majiabang culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
史前文化也被称为“原始文化”,表示没有出现书面语言的原始社会文化。以考古研究出土的材料为例,1965 年在云南省元谋出土的 1, 700, 000 年前留下的石器及火遗物,中国已知最早的古人是元谋士。兰田石、北京石砺、顶村猿、上洞禅等化石遗骸构成了中国古代文化的完整发展序列。大约一万年前,中国古代文化从旧石器时代出发,进入新石器时代,迄今已发现的遗址共计七千多处。它们是东北红山文化、山东省大汶口-龙山文化、中原地区的杨韶文化、西北地区的马家窑-齐家文化以及长江下游的河姆渡-马家浜文化的见证。
The emergence of worship that was practised in the primitive religion is one of the spiritual gains of the ancient Chinese culture. The earliest primitive religion evolved from nature and ancestors, which, in turn, was derived from ancient Chinese population's awe and reverence for nature. These were demonstrated in a kind of polytheism, namely, various natural things were taken as deities and homage was paid to them. Worship of ancestors is a kind of worship of reproduction. In matrilineal society, the ancient Chinese consecrated mainly the female ancestors, while in patriarchal society, the male ancestors. Through this consecration, the ancient Chinese sang high praise of their ancestor's creation of life. On the other hand, the worship of totem, the mixed worship of nature and ancestors, is a form of higher religious manifestation. The primitive men held the belief that their clan originated from some natural things; therefore, they considered these things as their clan's sacred symbols - a worship of totem. China's traditional auspicious articles, such as dragon and phoenix were the totems of ancient China's clans.
原始宗教中崇拜的出现是中国古代文化的精神收获之一。最早的原始宗教是从自然和祖先演变而来的,而祖先又源于中国古代人民对自然的敬畏和敬畏。这些在一种多神论中得到了证明,即各种自然事物被当作神灵,并向他们致敬。对祖先的崇拜是一种对繁殖的崇拜。在母系社会中,中国古代主要供奉女性祖先,而在父系社会中,男性祖先则供奉男性祖先。通过这种奉献,中国古人对祖先创造生命的赞美赞不绝口。另一方面,对图腾的崇拜,对自然和祖先的混合崇拜,是一种高级宗教表现形式。原始人认为他们的氏族起源于一些自然事物;因此,他们认为这些东西是他们氏族的神圣象征——对图腾的崇拜。中国传统的吉祥物品,如龙、凤等,是中国古代宗族的图腾。
In the Neolithic Age, with the development of ancient society, the three dynasties of Western Xia, Eastern Yi and Miaoman Man gradually took shape as three groups of consanguinity and religion. They created their characteristic regional culture, each having its own features. The Western Xia Dynasty originated in loess plateau in the west part of China. Its chief representative figures are Yandi and Huangdi, who were the leaders of the first two groups of settlers in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Eastern Yi originally moved about in the region of present Shandong Province and the northern part of Jiangsu Province. The leading figures are Taihao, Shaohao and Zheyou. The Miaos lived in the mid-reaches of the Yangtze River, having earlier contacts with the people of mid-reaches of the Yellow River. At the end of the primitive society, the Eastern Yi Dynasty moved westward along the Yellow River. They encountered conflicts with Dangxia nationality and were defeat-ed. From then on, the Western Xia Dynasty had conflicts and peace alternatively with the Eastern Yi. In a long process, it gradually became mixed up with the Eastern Yi, thus becoming the predecessor of ancient China. The cultural collision and assimilation between the Eastern Yi and the Western Xia laid a foundation for the formation of China's ancient civilization. After the Yi and Xia dynasties moved southward and conquered the Miao Dynasty, the embryonic form of the Chinese nation was formed. In honour of this, they held a memorial ceremony for the establishment of their distant ancestors, Yandi and Huangdi. Thus, the Chinese nation claims to be the descendants of Yandi and Huangdi.
新石器时代,随着古代社会的发展,西夏、东夷、妙漫蛮三个朝代逐渐形成血缘和宗教三大群体。他们创造了自己独特的地方文化,每个文化都有自己的特点。西夏起源于中国西部的黄土高原。其主要代表人物是炎帝和黄帝,他们是黄河中游最早两批定居者的领袖。东彝族最初在现在的山东省和江苏省北部地区活动。领军人物是泰浩、邵浩和哲游。苗族生活在长江中游,较早与黄河中游的人们有接触。原始社会末期,东彝朝沿黄河西迁。他们遇到了与当下民族的冲突,并被击败。从那时起,西夏王朝与东彝王朝交替发生冲突与和平。在漫长的过程中,它逐渐与东方彝族混在一起,从而成为中国古代的前身。东彝与西夏的文化碰撞同化,为中华古代文明的形成奠定了基础。在彝夏朝南下征服苗朝后,形成了中华民族的雏形。为了纪念这一点,他们举行了远祖燕帝和黄帝成立的纪念仪式。 因此,中华民族声称自己是炎帝和黄帝的后裔。
The major achievement of prehistoric culture could be seen in the emergence of the primitive agriculture. In the north, Yangshao culture was mainly represented by the dry land agriculture, of which foxtail millet was the chief product; Hemudu culture in the south was represented by rice agriculture on wet land, of which rice was the chief product. China is among the earliest countries in the world where foxtail millet and rice were grown. In the era of Longshan culture, the initial primitive characters came into being. The primitive graphic characters, carved on pots, have been found, for instance, in the Dinggong site in Boxing, Shandong Province, the Lingyang site in Ju county and Qianzhai site in Zhucheng. These kinds of primitive characters were invented 800 years earlier than the inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells unearthed in Yin Ruins, Pottery-painted pottery and black pottery (of the late Neolithic culture) -- is a kind of great invention. In the prehistoric culture, the painted pottery of Yangshao culture and the black pottery of Longshan culture were models of handicraft. The technique of manufacturing pottery with wheels as tools was also applied to the production of the painted pottery. The temperature in the sintering process reached between 950C and1, 050℃. The utensils painted on the surface in black, brown or red, or in a mixture of two colours, were a combination for both practical and artistic uses. The black pottery represented the most advanced level of handicraft industry in the prehistoric culture. This technique applied in making clay mould with a swift wheel was then adopted in the production of a variety of the black pottery in beautiful shapes. The pottery of eggshell, with its surface brightly pitch-black and the roughcast only 0. 1 to 0. 2 centimeter thick, is regarded as the most exquisite artistic products of that time.
史前文化的主要成就可以从原始农业的出现中看出。在北方,仰韶文化以旱地农业为主,其中谷子是主要产品; 南部的河姆渡文化以湿地稻农业为代表,其中水稻是主要产品。中国是世界上最早种植谷子和水稻的国家之一。在龙山文化时代,最初的原始文字应运而生。例如,在山东省博兴市的定公遗址、居县的陵阳遗址 和诸城市的千寨遗址中发现了雕刻在罐子上的原始图形文字。这类原始文字的发明时间比殷墟出土的骨头或龟甲铭文、陶器、黑陶(新石器时代晚期)早了 800 年,是一种伟大的发明。在史前文化中,仰韶文化的彩陶和龙山文化的黑陶 是手工艺的典范。以轮子为工具制造陶器的技术也被应用于彩绘陶器的生产。烧结过程中的温度达到 950C 到 1, 050°C 之间。表面涂有黑色、棕色或红色或两种颜色混合的器皿,既实用又艺术。 黑陶代表了史前文化中最先进的手工业水平。这种用于用快速轮制作粘土模具的技术随后被用于生产各种形状精美的黑色陶器。 蛋壳陶器,表面漆黑,粗糙的铸件只有 0.1 到 0。 2 厘米厚,被认为是当时最精致的艺术产品。
Culture in the Dynasties of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou
夏、商、西周时期的文化
The dynasties of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou are also called "Three Dynasties”. It is generally believed that they were the slave society, The Xia Dynasty was the earliest slave society in the Chinese history, which was founded around the 21st century B. C. and replaced by the Shang Dynasty in the 16th century B. C. The Shang Dynasty rose in Lu Nan (present southern Shandong Province) and later moved its capital to Yin (present Anyang in Henan Province). Therefore, it was also called the Yin Dynasty. The Yin was exterminated by the Zhou Dynasty, which rose in the west of China in the 11th century B. C. The slave society was in its prime around the period of the Western Zhou Dynasty when the system culture, material culture and spiritual culture highly developed.
夏、商、西周朝也被称为“三朝”。 人们普遍认为他们是奴隶社会,夏朝是中国历史上最早的奴隶社会,成立于公元前 21 世纪左右,公元前 16 世纪被商朝取代。商朝在鲁南(今山东省南部)崛起,后来迁都至殷(今河南省安阳)。因此,它也被称为殷朝。阴朝被周朝灭绝,朝于公元前 11 世纪在中国西部崛起。奴隶社会在西周时期处于鼎盛时期,制度文化、物质文化和精神文化高度发展。
Three dynasties of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou advanced into Bronze Age and achieved great progress compared with Stone Age in the prehistoric era. The system of three dynasties of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou can be traced back to the same origin- a patriarchal clan system being its political system, with Nine-squares' system as its economic system. The patriarchal clan system presented itself in the construction of political stratum according to the differences of natural blood relationship among the slaveholders. At that time, the patriarchal clan organization and the organization of the state had been combined into one. The heads of Xia, Shang and Zhou clans became emperors of Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties. In the Shang Dynasty, the succession of the emperor followed the principle that “the young brother succeeds after the elder dies”,while in the Western Zhou Dynasty, succession was by “the wife's eldest son”. At that time, the official positions were held by nobles at different levels. Superiority or inferiority of their official positions was determined either by their close or distant blood relationship with the emperor. So fully developed, the patriarchal clan system then culminated in perfection. The patriarchal clan system in the Western Zhou Dynasty was the system of rites and music, which embodied the different social stratum of nobles through various overelaborate formalities. The concept that no rites among the ordinary people and no penalties on the senior officials” emphasized the fact that the system of rites and music was a privileged system of the nobles. Since the slaves in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties were conquered-members of different nations, it might be concluded that class oppression at that time was seen in the form of patriarchal oppression. The blood relationship became the dominant relationship; the slave system was also “the slave system of the patriarchal clan”.
夏、商、西周三个朝代进入青铜时代,与史前时代的石器时代相比取得了巨大的进步。夏、商、西周三个朝代的制度可以追溯到同一个起源——父权宗族制度是其政治制度,以九宫制作为其经济制度。父权宗族制度根据奴隶主之间自然血缘关系的差异,表现在政治阶层的建构上。那时,宗系宗族组织和国家组织已经合二为一。夏、商、周氏族的首领成为夏、商和西周朝的皇帝。在商朝,皇帝的继承遵循“小弟继位,长子死后”的原则,而在西周,继承是由“妻子的长子”继承。当时的官职由不同层次的贵族担任。他们官职的优低取决于他们与皇帝的近亲或远亲血缘关系。如此充分地发展起来,父权制的氏族制度随后以完美达到顶峰。西周的宗系宗系是礼乐制度,通过各种过于复杂的手续体现了贵族的不同社会阶层。“普通百姓不举行礼仪,不惩罚高级官员”的理念强调了礼仪和音乐系统是贵族特权系统的事实。 由于夏、商和西周时期的奴隶是不同国家的被征服者,因此可以得出结论,当时的阶级压迫以父权压迫的形式出现。血缘关系成为主导关系;奴隶制度也是“父系氏族的奴隶制度”。
The Nine-squares’ system was an indication of the social production relations at that time. Under this system, the arable land in a field was divided into units of nine squares, each of them having 100 mu. Eight of the nine squares were dealt out to eight peasant families as their private land, and on its yield, they made a living. The middle square lying in the centre of the other eight squares was the public field, which the eight families tilled together and whose yearly yield went to the granary of the feudal lord, the hereditary master of the land. In that case, slaves were forced to work in the nine squares.
九宫格制度是当时社会生产关系的标志。在这种制度下,一块田地被划分为九个方格的单位,每个方格有 100 亩。九个方格中的 8 个作为他们的私有土地分配给 8 个农民家庭,他们靠其收益谋生。位于其他八个广场中央的中间广场是公共田地,八个家庭一起耕种,每年的收成归封建领主的粮仓,即土地的世袭主人。在那种情况下,奴隶被迫在九个方格工作。
The periods of the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties constituted the initial stage of development of our national spirit. During the Xia and Shang, ideological religion was dominant, which can be verified by the remains of religious offering and plenty of buried slaves who were slaughtered as funeral objects unearthed in Yin Ruins, “Emperor” and “Heaven” were considered as the common dominators of human world. Plenty of inscriptions on animal bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty proved that people in the Yin Dynasty had superstitious belief in the deity. When the people in the Zhou Dynasty toppled the Shang Dynasty, they changed greatly in their culture and ideology. Vacillating in their belief in fate, but stressing the importance of “morality”. they maintained that “As fate is full of vicissitudes, only morality can help.” In expounding the main differences between the cultures of the Xia and Shang dynasties and the culture of the Zhou Dynasty, “The Book of Rites” reads that “People in the Xia Dynasty believe in fate, while people in the Yin Dynasty, the deity”, and “People in the Zhou Dynasty uphold rites and charities, but keep away from worshipping the supernatural beings. "The people in the Zhou Dynasty, rational with the supernatural beings, valued the system of rites and music. Consequently this kind of humanism has become a tradition, one of the basic features of the traditional Chinese culture. Characterized by ration, morality and interpersonal relations in reality, the culture of rites and music cultivated by the people in the Zhou Dynasty has greatly influenced the traditional Chinese culture.
夏、商、西周时期构成了我国民族精神发展的初级阶段。夏商时期,意识形态宗教占主导地位,这可以从宗教祭品的遗迹和大量被埋葬的奴隶作为陪葬品在阴墟中出土而被屠杀,“帝”和“天”被认为是人类世界的共同统治者。商朝动物骨头或龟壳上的大量铭文证明,殷朝的人们对神灵有迷信的信仰。当周人民推翻商朝时,他们的文化和意识形态发生了很大的变化。他们对命运的信念摇摆不定,但强调“道德”的重要性。他们坚持认为,“命运充满沧桑,只有道德能帮忙。在阐述夏商文化与周文化之间的主要差异时,《礼记》中写道:“夏朝的人相信命运,而殷朝的人相信神”,“周朝的人崇尚礼仪和慈善事业,但远离崇拜超自然的存在。周的人们对超自然的存在保持理性,重视礼乐制度。因此,这种人文主义已成为一种传统,成为中国传统文化的基本特征之一。以现实中的口粮、道德和人际关系为特征,周人民培养的礼乐文化对中国传统文化产生了很大影响。
During the periods of the Yin and the Zhou dynasties, both material and spiritual cultures had greatly developed. First of all, the brilliant Bronze culture came into being. The huge Simuwu Quadripod unearthed from Yin Ruins weighs 875 kilograms with a height of 133 centimeters, a length of 110 centimeters and a width of 78 centimeters. The pot is the biggest bronze article unearthed so far in China. It is also the only huge ancient bronze vessel in the world. The huge Yu Quadripod cast in the early Western Zhou Dynasty is 1meter high and weighs 153.5 kilograms. The pot is beautifully shaped with 291 Chinese characters cast inside the pot. The decorative pattern looks elegant even from a technological point of view. Moreover, the ancient writing was developed during the periods of the Shang and the Zhou dynasties, when the Chinese characters tended towards maturity. There were about 4,000 different characters inscribed on bones or tortoise shells in the Shang Dynasty. The characters included pictographic characters, self-explanatory characters, associative compounds and picto-phonetic characters. The characters the Western Zhou Dynasty retained were mainly inscriptions on ancient bronze objects, which is also called in Chinese “Zhongdingwen”, or inscriptions on ancient bronze objects or bronze inscriptions, that is the characters inscribed on bronze utensils. There are about 497 characters inscribed on Maogong Quadripod. The inscriptions on bones or tortoise shell and inscriptions on ancient bronze objects are comparatively mature and stable Chinese characters. With the maturity of writing appeared the early documents which recorded ceremonies of offering sacrifices to gods or ancestors and some political, military and ritual activities.
殷周时期,物质和精神文化都得到了极大的发展。首先,灿烂的青铜文化应运而生。从阴墟出土的巨型四脚架重 875 公斤,高 133 厘米,长 110 厘米,宽 78 厘米。该壶是迄今为止在中国出土的最大的青铜器。它也是世界上唯一一个巨大的古代青铜器皿。西周初期铸造的巨大禹四脚架高 1 米,重 153.5 公斤。壶的形状很漂亮,壶内铸有 291 个汉字。即使从技术角度来看,装饰图案也看起来很优雅。此外,古代文字是在商代和周代时期发展起来的,当时汉字趋于成熟。商朝大约有 4,000 个不同的字刻在骨头或龟壳上。这些字符包括象形字符、不言自明字符、联想复合词和象形语音字符。西周保留的文字主要是古代青铜器上的铭文,中文也叫“中鼎文”,或古代青铜器上的铭文或青铜铭文,即刻在青铜器上的文字。茅宫四脚架上刻有大约 497 个字符。骨头或龟甲上的铭文和古代青铜器上的铭文是比较成熟和稳定的汉字。 随着文字的成熟,出现了早期的文件,这些文件记录了向神或祖先献祭的仪式以及一些政治、军事和仪式活动。
Culture in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period
春秋战国时期的文化
The Spring and Autumn Period is named after “The Spring and Autumn Annals”-the history of Lu revised by Confucius. This period set in about between 770 B. C. and 476 B. C. when the slave society in the Chinese history came to collapse. From the Spring and Autumn Period, China entered the Iron Age. The use of ironware and the popularity of the technique of tillage by cow helped develop the social productive forces by leaps and bounds, resulting in the change of interpersonal relations and social system. The chief characteristics were the crumbling of Nine-squares' system and the system of rites and music. The period of the Warring States Period was the period of establishment of feudal system, marked by the feudal private ownership of lands and by the system of centralization. During this period, the royal court was declining and various states were annexed.
春秋时期以《春秋史》命名——孔子修订的鲁史。这一时期大约发生在公元前 770 年至公元前 476 年之间,当时中国历史上的奴隶社会开始崩溃。从春秋时期开始,中国进入了铁器时代。铁器的使用和牛耕作技术的普及,促进了社会生产力的突飞猛进,导致了人际关系和社会制度的变化。主要特征是九宫制和礼乐体系的崩溃。战国时期是封建制度建立的时期,以封建土地私有制和中央集权制为标志。在此期间,王室衰落,各个国家被吞并。
The cultural significance during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period lay in the unity of different peoples and the formation of the main body of the Chinese people- Huaxia nationality. The Xia, the Shang and the Western Zhou dynasties exercised a system of enfeoffment in politics. The existence of numerous States controlled by dukes with loose connections in politics were detrimental to the peoples' unity. Therefore, at the mid and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the areas around, the peoples in Rong, Di, Man, Yi, and other large states were contending for hegemony. On the other hand, the political and military annexation led to political unity in some areas, creating conditions for the blend of local peoples, thus forming several centers. For instance, the Qi Dynasty became a center of peoples in the eastern China, the Jin Dynasty in the northern China, the Qin Dynasty in the western China and the Chu, the Wu and the Yue dynasties in southern China. During the Warring States Period, wars for annexing became increasingly violent, from which seven powerful states emerged. Consequently, the political contacts among these states became increasingly close and the political unity seemed ready to come out.
春秋战国时期的文化意义在于不同民族的团结和中华民族主体——华夏民族的形成。夏、商和西周在政治上实行封地制度。许多由政治关系松散的公爵控制的国家的存在不利于人民的团结。因此,在黄河中下游及周边地区,戎、帝、满、彝等大国的人民都在争夺霸权。另一方面,政治和军事吞并导致一些地区的政治统一,为当地人民的融合创造了条件,从而形成了几个中心。例如,齐朝成为中国东部的民族中心,中国北方的晋朝成为中国北方的钦朝,中国西部的秦朝以及中国南方的楚、吴、越朝。战国时期,吞并战争愈演愈烈,从中涌现出七大强国。因此,这些国家之间的政治联系越来越密切,政治统一似乎已经准备好了。
The major events in the history of the ancient Chinese culture included the emergence of Confucian school in the Spring and Autumn Period and the contention of numerous schools of thoughts in the Warring States Period. The founder of Confucian school is Confucius, who lived in a time when the court’s monopoly of culture and academic study ended in failure. Confucius’ great historical contributions in this period consisted of revising ancient codes and records, such as “The Book of Songs’’, “Collection of Ancient Texts’’, “The Rites”, “The Book of Changes” and “The Spring and Autumn Annals”, etc. He inherited and synthesized the cultural achievements of the three dynasties of the Xia, the Shang and the Western Zhou. He ran a private school, enrolling students and imparting knowledge to his people. He founded a theory with “benevolence” and “rites" as its core and upon this established the Confucian school. Although Confucian political inclination tended to be conservative, his contribution to promoting the Chinese traditional culture remained remarkable through ages. During the Warring States Period characterized by splits in politics, different schools in the field of ideology and culture rose in swarms. The well-known schools were the Confucian School, Moist School, the Military Strategists, Taoist School, Legalists, the School of Logicians, the School of Naturalists, the School of Agriculturists and the Political Strategists, etc. They contended with each other in academic study, thus exerting influence over each other. The contention of numerous schools of thought involved rather extensive subjects, such as the notion of natural laws, ethics, logic, political theory and modes of social development. It was the only large-scale and free academic debate in ancient Chinese history, protected and encouraged by the rulers. Thereby the academic culture was powerfully pushed forward and gained further development. This cultural progress, as a result, provided a theoretical basis for the social reform. Furthermore, the contention of numerous schools of thought elevated the Chinese ideological culture to its basic form.
中国古代文化史上的重大事件包括春秋时期儒家学派的出现 和战国时期众多思想流派的争夺。儒家学派的创始人是孔子,他生活在朝廷对文化和学术研究的垄断以失败告终的时代。孔子在这一时期的伟大历史贡献包括修订古代法典和记载,如《诗经》、《古籍集》、《礼》、《易经》和《春秋编》等。他继承并综合了夏、商、西周三个朝代的文化成果。他经营着一所私立学校,招收学生并向他的人民传授知识。他创立了以“仁”和“礼”为核心的理论,并在此基础上建立了儒家学派。尽管儒家的政治倾向趋于保守,但他对弘扬中国传统文化的贡献历代保持着卓越的地位。在以政治分裂为特征的战国时期,意识形态和文化领域的不同流派蜂拥而至。著名的学派有儒家学派、湿学派、军事战略家学派、道家学派、法家学派、逻辑学派、博物学派、农学派和政治战略家学派等。他们在学术研究中相互竞争,从而对彼此施加影响。 众多思想流派的争论涉及相当广泛的主题,例如自然法则的概念、伦理学、逻辑学、政治理论和社会发展模式。这是中国古代历史上唯一一场由统治者保护和鼓励的大规模、自由的学术辩论。因此,学术文化得到了有力的推动和进一步的发展。因此,这种文化进步为社会改革提供了理论基础。此外,众多思想流派的争论将中国的意识形态文化提升到其基本形式。
Culture in the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty
秦汉文化
Feudal society reached maturity in the Qin and the Han dynasties. The economic development and military annexation in the Warring States Period laid the foundation for the unification, which came true in 221 B. C. when the State Qin united China, thus establishing the first centralized feudal autocratic dynasty in the Chinese history. The unification by the Qin was of great significance. Devised to meet the needs of feudal autocracy, the Qin system exerted a lasting influence on government in China's feudal society. For about 2, 000 years from the Qin to the end of the Qing dynasty, the country was governed by copying the Qin's system. There were modifications from dynasty to dynasty in government organization and administration, yet with very few fundamental changes in the main structure of the political system. The great national unity founded in the Qin became the basis on which the Chinese nation relied for existence, in spite of the temporary separatist rule and division.
封建社会在秦汉时期达到成熟。战国时期的经济发展和军事吞并为统一奠定了基础,统一于公元前 221 年秦统一中国,从而建立了中国历史上第一个中央集权的封建专制王朝。秦朝的统一具有重大意义。秦制度旨在满足封建专制的需要,对中国封建社会的政府产生了持久的影响。从秦到清末的大约 2, 000 年里,该国是通过复制秦的制度来治理的。政府组织和管理从一个朝代到另一个朝代发生了变化,但政治制度的主要结构几乎没有根本性的变化。在秦朝建立的民族大团结成为中华民族赖以生存的基础,尽管存在暂时的分裂统治和分裂。
The centralized autocratic political system revolving around the emperor was established in the Qin and the Han. Emperor Ying
以皇帝为中心的中央集权专制政治制度是在秦汉时期建立的。英帝Zheng
郑 of the Qin coined for himself a distinguished title, the First Emperor or Shi Huang Di in Chinese, which, that is, the Chinese words, suggests a blending of three sage “kings” and five virtuous “emperors" prior to his reign. He intended to express his own political ambition in making as great achievements as those by the wise legendary rulers. He also devised some terminology for the emperor's exclusive use. For instance, he addressed himself by
秦为自己创造了一个杰出的称号,秦始皇或汉语中的始皇帝,即汉语单词,暗示在他统治之前,三位圣人“国王”和五位德行“皇帝”的混合。他打算表达自己的政治野心,即取得与英明的传奇统治者一样的伟大成就。他还设计了一些术语供皇帝专用。例如,他这样称呼自己Zhen
珍 meaning the sovereign. The First Emperor enjoyed supreme power. He set up a complete autocratic system of state administration extending from the central court to the local levels. In the imperial court,
意思是主权者。秦始皇享有至高无上的权力。他建立了一个完整的专制国家管理体系,从中央法院延伸到地方各级。在朝廷中,cheng
程 xiang
湘 (the prime minister) assisted the emperor in governing the country,
(宰相)协助皇帝治理国家,tai
台 wei
魏 (the marshal) took charge of military affairs and
(元帅)负责军事事务和yu
禹 shi
石 (the censor) supervised officials of all ranks. The whole empire was divided into 36 prefectures, each of which comprised a number of counties. Both the central and local officials were appointed and dismissed by the emperor. The offices held by the nobles were not hereditary. The administrative set-up was like a pyramid guaranteeing the absolute authority and effective control over the whole country. The Han Dynasty carried on the Qin system. Emperor Wu Di of the Western Han Dynasty took steps to weaken the power of the prime minister and strengthen the authority of the monarch. At the imperial court a secretariat was set up, which reinforced the autocratic monarchy in that it took over the power of the prime minister to handle documents. The Eastern Han Dynasty was even more autocratic than the Western Han. The emperor exercised direct control over the secretariat handling imperial documents, which could decide on state policies and issue orders to the whole country, while the prime minister no longer enjoyed any real power. The Six Boards system that remained in use from the Northern Wei to the Qing Dynasty was also initiated in this period,
(审查员)监督各级官员。整个帝国分为 36 个县,每个县由多个县组成。中央和地方官员都是由皇帝任免的。贵族担任的职位不是世袭的。行政设置就像一座金字塔,保证了对整个国家的绝对权威和有效控制。汉朝继承了秦制。西汉武帝采取措施削弱宰相的权力,加强君主的权威。在朝廷设立了秘书处,它接管了首相处理文件的权力,从而加强了专制君主制。东汉王朝甚至比西汉更加专制。天皇直接控制着处理帝国文件的秘书处,秘书处可以决定国家政策并向全国发布命令,而首相不再享有任何实权。从北魏到清朝一直沿用的六板制也是在这一时期开创的,The
这 emperor divided the whole country into thirteen regions. To tighten the control over the localities, he appointed an itinerant inspector for each of these regions to keep a watchful eye on the officials in the prefectures and counties. In the early years of the Eastern Han, the thirteen governors were empowered by the emperor to be the local chief executive, thus changing the prefecture-county system in the Qin into a three-level system of administration (state-prefecture-county). Later on, the circuit-prefecture-county system in the Sui-Tang, and the Song Dynasties, the executive secretariats in the Yuan Dynasty and the province-prefecture-county system in the Ming and the Qing dynasties all de-
皇帝将全国划分为十三个地区。为了加强对地方的控制,他为每个地区任命了一名巡回检查员,以密切关注县和县的官员。东汉初年,十三都知被皇帝授权为地方行政长官,从而将秦的地县制转变为三级行政制(州-州-县)。后来,隋唐和宋代的巡州县制,元代的执行秘书和明清时期的省-州-县制都消失了。scended
已售出 from the administrative system of the Qin and the Han dynasties.
来自秦汉时期的行政制度。
The emperor took many measures to consolidate the unification. In economy, the First Emperor ordered that the land system and the weights and measures be standardized. Consequently, the road standards were worked out. “Roads for royal carriages’’ were constructed with Xianyang, the capital, as the center, stretching to the northeast, the north and/southeast of the country. The opening-up of land developed a transport network which furthered communications throughout the country. To reinforce the feudal eco-nomic foundation, in the Qin the policy of physiocracy was carried out while the development of trade was restrained, which became the traditional policy of the succeeding feudal societies. Emperor Wu Di decreed a state monopoly on iron and salt. Government offices were set up to supervise the state sale of iron and salt. Revenue for the imperial treasury increased and the menace posed by the fiefdoms to the imperial court was restricted. The economic measures instituted by Emperor Wu Di helped to reinforce the autocratic monarchy.
皇帝采取了许多措施来巩固统一。在经济方面,秦始皇下令标准化土地制度和度量衡。因此,制定了道路标准。“皇家马车之路”以首都咸阳为中心修建,向东北、 北部和/或东南延伸。土地的开放发展了交通网络,促进了全国各地的通信。为了加强封建经济基础,秦朝实行重臣政策,限制贸易的发展,这成为后来的封建社会的传统政策。武帝下令国家垄断铁和盐。政府办公室的设立是为了监督国家对铁和盐的销售。帝国国库的收入增加了,封地对朝廷构成的威胁受到限制。武帝制定的经济措施有助于加强专制君主制。
In the domain of ideology and culture, the First Emperor ordered that the written language and behaviors be standardized. He called on Prime Minister Li Si to devise a new script to replace the many different forms of writing in use in various parts of the country. Li Si introduced a standard form called Xiao Zhuan, aiming at standardizing written communication in official documents. This, in turn, was replaced by the official script which was much simpler to write and more wide-spread among the people. These standards all proved helpful for cultural exchange and merging of nationalities. In the Qin Dynasty, the established social tradition was also transformed, namely, the backward customs gave place to the more civilized habits of the Central Plains, so that the formation and development of the community of Chinese nation were promoted. The First Emperor resorted to the Legalist School for strengthening his control over every part of the country so as to root out all oppositions. The Legalist theory emphasized the gains and losses among the people and advocated a rule by penal code. In order to thoroughly wipe out the old aristocratic ideology the First Emperor ordered that books be burned and Confucian scholars be buried alive. Consequently, the social contradictions were intensified. The collapse of the Qin regime declared the defeat of its despotic cultural and ideological policy. The later rulers of China did not fail to draw the necessary lessons from this. It was in Emperor Wu Di’s time that Confucianism gained supremacy as the ideological weapon of the feudal dynasty. Emperor Wu Di adopted Confucianism as the official philosophy, and denied scholars of all other schools the opportunity to enter the civil service. Rooted in the traditional patriarchal culture, Confucianism was more geared, by taking in the merits of the various schools, to the national conditions of China than the other schools. The Confucian school in the Han Dynasty was known as Study of Confucian Classics, mainly concerned with annotating Five Confucian Classics (The Book of Changes, Collection of Ancient Texts, The Book of Songs, The Rites, and The Spring and Autumn Annuals). Taoism was regarded as infidel. The ideologists Wang Chong and Wang Fu’s materialism was closely bound up with the Taoism.
在思想文化领域,秦始皇下令规范书面语言和行为。他呼吁李思总理设计一种新的文字,以取代全国各地使用的许多不同形式的文字。李思引入了一种称为小转的标准格式,旨在规范官方文件中的书面交流。反过来,这被官方文字所取代,官方文字编写起来要简单得多,在人们中传播得更广泛。事实证明,这些标准都有助于文化交流和民族融合。到了秦代,既定的社会传统也发生了变化,落后的风俗习惯让位于中原较为文明的习惯,从而促进了中华民族共同体的形成和发展。秦始皇诉诸法家学派来加强他对该国各地的控制,以铲除所有反对派。法家理论强调人民的得失,主张以刑法为治。为了彻底铲除旧的贵族思想,秦始皇下令焚书,活埋儒家学者。结果,社会矛盾加剧了。秦政权的垮台宣告了其专制文化和意识形态政策的失败。中国后来的统治者并非没有从中吸取必要的教训。正是在武帝时代,儒家思想作为封建王朝的意识形态武器获得了至高无上的地位。武帝采用儒家思想作为官方哲学,并剥夺了所有其他学派的学者进入公务员队伍的机会。 儒家思想植根于传统的父权文化,与其他学派相比,儒家思想更注重吸收各个学派的优点,以适应中国的国情。汉代儒学派被称为儒学经典,主要关注五部儒经(《易经》、《古籍》、《诗经》、《礼》、《春秋年》)的注释。道教被视为异教徒。意识形态家王冲和王甫的唯物主义与道家密切相关。
As a peak period in ancient historical development, the Qin-Han periods witnessed significant achievements in many fields, including political system, economic development, science, culture, and military force. The Han Dynasty saw the invention of papermaking technology. Zhoubi Suanjing was a classic work on mathematics written in the Western Han Dynasty. Nine Chapters on Mathematical Art summarized the important achievements in this field since the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States periods. Zhang Heng created an armillary sphere (celestial globe) and contrived the world’s first seismograph. In the medical field, there appeared classics in traditional Chinese medical science: Classic of Internal Medicine and Febrile and Other Diseases. The solid national power stimulated the curiosity of people in the Han Dynasty for the neighboring area. Emperor Wu Di sent Zhang Qian as the envoy to the Western Regions. The mission promoted the understanding be-tween the Han empire and adjoining regions. The Silk Road that came into being became the main passage for cultural exchange between the east and the west. The Han Dynasty also saw new developments in China's foreign relations. The Han court sent missions to the countries such as Parthia (Iran), Tiao Zhi (Iraq), Da Qin (the Roman Empire), Tian Zhu (India), thus spreading its advanced culture.
秦汉时期作为古代历史发展的巅峰时期,在政治制度、经济发展、科学文化、军事力量等诸多领域取得了重大成就。汉朝见证了造纸技术的发明。《周笔算经》是西汉时期的一部经典数学著作。《数艺九章》总结了春秋战国以来数学艺术领域的重要成就 。张恒创造了一个浑天仪(天球仪),并设计了世界上第一台地震仪。在医学领域,出现了中医经典:《内科学典》和《发热等疾病》。雄厚的国力激发了汉朝人们对邻近地区的好奇心。武帝派张骞为西域使者。该任务促进了汉帝国和邻近地区之间的理解。由此产生的丝绸之路成为东西方文化交流的主要通道。汉朝也见证了中国对外关系的新发展。汉朝廷派遣使团到帕提亚(伊朗)、调植(伊拉克)、大秦(罗马帝国)、天竺(印度)等国家,从而传播了其先进的文化。
Culture in the Dynasties of Wei and Jin, and the Northern and Southern Dynasties
魏晋、南北朝的文化
The Wei, the Jin, the Northern and Southern dynasties were important stages in the development of the unitary multinational feudal state. From the macro point of view, the unity of the Qin and the Han was broken. Except for the temporary unity in the Western Jin Dynasty, tumultuous division was typical of the Three Kingdoms, the Sixteen States, the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern dynasties, which were plagued by internecine wars among these states. From the micro viewpoint, there were influential and privileged families of scholar-officials, distinguished families of hereditary power and influence as well as landlords and the monopoly herewith. The significant cultural events included the fusion of the nationalities in the north, the economic development in the south and the emergence of new ideological systems.
魏、晋、北朝和南朝是单一的多民族封建国家发展的重要阶段。从宏观角度看,秦汉的统一被打破了。除了西晋暂时统一外,三国、十六国、东晋和南北朝都存在动荡的分裂,这些国家之间饱受自相残杀的战争的困扰。从微观角度看,有有影响力和特权的士大夫家庭,有世袭权力和影响力的显赫家族,也有地主和垄断者。重要的文化事件包括北方民族的融合、南方的经济发展和新意识形态体系的出现。
In the Wei, the Jin and the Northern and Southern dynasties, an upsurge of ethnic mergence occurred in the north. Due to the havoc wrought by successive wars, the northwestern nomads had been crossing the Great Wall and pushing on to the plains ever since the time of the Eastern Han, The wholesale migration to the hinterland of the ethnic minority groups in the frontier regions led to the inhabitation of Shannxi, Gansu, Shanxi, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Liaoning by both Han nationality and minority nationalities. The five major minority nationalities included Huns, Xianbei, Jie, Di and Qiang, also called “the five Hu nationalities". During the turbulent years following the Western Jin Dynasty, the Hu tribes were engaged in mutual extermination. One kingdom after another was established on the ruins of the conquered. This period is known in Chinese history as the period of Five Minority Nationalities and Sixteen Kingdoms. Culture of the Han nationality and the culture of ethnic minorities contended and mingled with each other. Though the five minority nationalities conquered the Han nationality with force, they were finally assimilated by the advanced culture of Hans. The developed agriculture and feudal system in the Yellow River basin gradually tamed the wild culture of the five minority nationalities, which adopted the Han culture and underwent feudalization. Emperor Xiao Wen Di of the Northern Wei carried out a number of political reforms adjusted to the social customs of the Han people, a hallmark that the integration virtually completed of the Han and the other peoples in the north. The primitive impulse and passion of the nomads, conversely, invigorated the Han culture, Their simple customs and notion of the equality between men and women cleansed the negative influence on the Han culture of the political monopoly of the influential and privileged families of scholar-officials. The intermarriage between Han and Five Non-Han Nationalities infused fresh blood into the nation's development. The blending of their culture brought about a more valuable treasury of nation’s culture than before.
在魏、晋和南北朝时期,北方发生了民族融合的热潮。由于连续战争的破坏,西北游牧民族自东汉时代起就翻越长城向平原推进,边境少数民族大规模迁移到腹地,导致汉族和少数民族居住在陕西、甘肃、山西、宁夏、内蒙古和辽宁。五大少数民族包括匈奴、鲜卑、节、帝、羌,也被称为“胡五民族”。在西晋之后的动荡岁月中,胡部落进行了相互灭绝。一个又一个的王国建立在被征服者的废墟上。这一时期在中国历史上被称为五小民族十六国时期。汉族文化和少数民族文化相互竞争、相互交融。虽然五个少数民族强行征服了汉族,但最终还是被汉族的先进文化所同化。黄河流域发达的农业和封建制度逐渐驯服了五个少数民族的野蛮文化,这些民族接受了汉文化,走向封建化。北魏萧温帝进行了一系列适应汉人社会习俗的政治改革,这是汉人和北方其他民族几乎完成融合的标志。 相反,游牧民族的原始冲动和激情激发了汉文化,他们朴素的习俗和男女平等的观念清除了有影响力和特权士大夫家庭的政治垄断对汉文化的负面影响。汉族与非汉族的通婚为国家的发展注入了新鲜血液。他们文化的融合带来了比以前更有价值的国家文化宝库。
Economy in the south leapt forward. During the Three Kingdoms, the Wu state and the Shu state, having founded their states in the Yangtse River basin, engaged in developing their economy. In the Eastern Jin of the Sixteen Kingdoms, due to the discrimination and oppression of the northern minority nationalities, a large number of the Hans who fled from the Yellow River area poured into the territory south of the Yangtze and gave a fillip to land development. They provided the area with a large quantity of labor force as well as the advanced production techniques. With special favors of both nature and the Southern Han regime, the economy in the south took an upward swing. There was an increase in the cultivated farmland and per mu yield. Handicraft and commerce also enjoyed development by leaps and bounds. In the later stage of the Southern Dynasty, the southern economy was on a par with that in the Yellow River basin, laying a solid foundation for the shift of economic focus from north to south in the Sui and the Tang dynasties. The prosperity in the Yangtze River basin built up the economic strength of ancient China, on the basis of which the glorious Sui and Tang dynasties were founded.
南方的经济突飞猛进。三国时期,吴国和蜀国在长江流域建国,致力于发展经济。在十六国的东晋,由于北方少数民族的歧视和压迫,大量从黄河地区逃离的汉人涌入长江以南的领土,为土地开发注入了活力。他们为该地区提供了大量的劳动力以及先进的生产技术。在大自然和南汉政权的特殊恩惠下,南方的经济开始上升。耕地面积和亩产都有所增加。手工业和商业也得到了突飞猛进的发展。南朝后期,南方经济与黄河流域持平,为隋唐时期经济重心由北南转移奠定了坚实的基础。长江流域的繁荣奠定了古代中国的经济实力,在此基础上建立了辉煌的隋唐朝。
This period also witnessed the rise of the Dark Learning as well as the influx and spread of Buddhism, which brought a new atmosphere to the academic and ideological circles. In the Wei and the Jin dynasties, a new sect appeared in the realm of philosophy, called Dark Learning, a synthesis of thought of Confucianism and Taoism, which took the three books-The Book of Changes, Classic of the Way and Virtue and Zhuangzi as its “Three Classics”. Its principal exponents were Wang Bi and Guo Xiang. The Dark Learning was a reaction to the increasing scholasticism and philistinism within the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty. Its style was fresh and succinct, creating a new trend in learning. Although Dark Learning seemed to be aloof from petty politics and material pursuits, it was by no means purely abstract and impractical talk divorced from reality. It expounded the relation between Confucian canon and spontaneity from the perspective of philosophic ontology, with an attempt to provide the feudal upper strata with excuses for their greediness and indulgence. Laying stress on theoretical reasoning, the literati discussed such concepts as ins and outs, being and nonbeing, and soon, thus raising the level of abstraction in ancient China. The natural, genuine and profound aesthetics pursued by the Dark Learning exerted a significant influence on the traditional painting and music.
这一时期还见证了黑暗学问的兴起以及佛教的涌入和传播,为学术界和意识形态界带来了新的气氛。魏晋时期,哲学领域出现了一个新的教派,叫暗学,是儒家和道家思想的综合体,它以三书——《易经》、《经典道德》和《庄子》为“三经”。其主要代表人物是王碧和郭祥。黑暗学问是对汉代儒家经典研究中日益增长的经院哲学和庸俗主义的反应。它的风格清新简洁,开创了学习的新趋势。尽管《黑暗学习》似乎远离琐碎的政治和物质追求,但它绝不是纯粹脱离现实的抽象和不切实际的谈话。它从哲学本体论的角度阐述了儒家经典与自发性之间的关系,试图为封建上层的贪婪和放纵提供借口。文人强调理论推理,讨论了来龙去脉、存在与不存在等概念,从而提高了中国古代的抽象水平。黑暗学问所追求的自然、真实和深邃的美学对传统的绘画和音乐产生了重大影响。
The introduction of Buddhism served as the first foreign impact on traditional Chinese culture from the outside world. Buddhist monasteries first appeared in China at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, but it was only until the Wei-Jin period that Buddhism began to spread and flourish. At its heyday, sculptures and frescoes bearing images of Buddha and based on Buddhist tales were in vogue. Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Datong Yungang Grottoes and Luoyang Longmen Grottoes were all dug during this period. Each of these grottoes was bejeweled with exquisitely executed Buddhist images and was world-famous for their engravings.
佛教的传入是外界对中国传统文化的第一次外来影响。佛教寺院最早出现在西汉末年在中国,但直到魏晋时期,佛教才开始传播和繁荣。在其鼎盛时期,带有佛像和基于佛教故事的雕塑和壁画很流行。敦煌莫高窟、大同云冈石窟和洛阳龙门石窟都是在这一时期挖掘的。这些石窟中的每一个都镶嵌着精美的佛像,并以其雕刻而闻名于世。
Among the eminent scientific feats during this period were the figure of π worked out by Zu Chongzhi, which, by then, was the most precisely calculated figure in the world; Qi Min Yao Shu (Important Arts for the People’s Welfare), an agricultural encyclopedia compiled by Jia Sixie of the Northern Wei Dynasty; and Treatise on the Pulse written by the noted physician Wang Shuhe.
这一时期杰出的科学成就包括祖崇之绘制的π图形,这在当时是世界上计算最精确的图形; 北魏贾思邪编纂的农业百科全书《奇民 民医术》;著名医师王书和所著的《脉论》。
Culture in the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty
隋唐文化
Feudal society underwent a period of disunity in the Three Kingdoms, the Jin, the Southern and Northern dynasties, and the short-lived Sui Dynasty and achieved its reunification in the Tang Dynasty, one of the most glorious eras in Chinese history since the Qin and the Han dynasties. In 589, the unification of China by the founder of the Sui Dynasty put an end to the period of division and turmoil which lasted more than three centuries. The foundation of the Tang Dynasty ushered in a mighty Tang empire, The Tang Dynasty was at that time the largest and, economically and culturally speaking, the most developed empire in the world. The cultural progress of the Sui and the Tang dynasties resulted from the following factors: first, the economic development in the south of the Yangtze River acted as a catalytic in the leap of economic strength of ancient China; second, the declining of the influential and privileged families of scholar-officials and of hereditary power and the landlords made it possible for the clan of commoners to enter the historical arena and for the newly-emerging forces to rise rapidly to the domination; third, the integration of the cultures of different nationalities infused the social development with vitality so that the magnificent culture in Sui-Tang held forth her self-confidence, her vigor and her integrity in front of the world.
封建社会在三国经历了一段不统一的时期,晋朝、南朝和北朝以及短命的隋朝,并在唐朝实现了统一,这是自秦汉以来中国历史上最辉煌的时代之一。589 年,隋朝创始人统一中国,结束了持续三个多世纪的分裂和动荡时期。唐朝的建立迎来了强大的唐朝,唐朝是当时世界上最大、经济和文化最发达的帝国。隋唐时期的文化进步主要由以下因素促成:一是长江以南的经济发展对中国古代经济实力的飞跃起到了催化剂的作用;其次,有影响力和特权的士大夫家族、世袭权力和地主家族的衰落,使平民家族有可能进入历史舞台,使新兴势力迅速崛起,成为统治者;第三,不同民族文化的融合为社会发展注入了活力,使绥唐的瑰丽文化在世人面前展现了她的自信、活力和正直。
As for the system, two significant reforms in this period exercised far-reaching influence on the social development. Sui abolished the system practised since the Wei-Jin period, by which officials were selected according to family-status. The Wei and Jin system of officials selection was replaced in the Sui and the Tang dynasties by a system of competitive examinations, namely the imperial civil examination system, from which candidates with fine academic records were nominated for appointment according to the results of their performance in the official exam. Examination for the degree of Jin Shi(palace graduate) covered current affairs, poetry and rhymed prose, mainly testing the examinees' ability and originality. This opened a new channel for more people to enter upon an official career and thereby helped broaden the class basis of feudal rule. Another reform initiated in this period was concerned with the tax. Before the Tang Dynasty, by means of the Zu Yong Diao System, taking the number of adults as the tax-levying basis, the government had a strict control over the population. The Tang court issued a decree, i.e., the Two-Tax Law, providing for tax payment in proportion to the amount of one's property, mainly the land property, thus bearing the nature of assets tax instead of capitation tax. From then on, tax levy began to shift from per capital field to the land. The burden of the peasant was somewhat lightened, and the personal constraints imposed on laborers by the state were gradually decreased.
在体制方面,这一时期的两项重大改革对社会发展产生了深远的影响。隋废除了 自魏晋时代以来实行的制度,即根据家庭地位选拔官员。隋唐时期,魏晋选拔制度被竞争性考试制度所取代,即科举文考制度,根据其在官方考试中的成绩,将学术成绩优异的考生提名上任。晋师(宫籍毕业生)考试内容涵盖时事、诗歌和押韵散文,主要考验考生的能力和独创性。这为更多人进入正式职业开辟了一条新渠道,从而有助于拓宽封建统治的阶级基础。这一时期启动的另一项改革与税收有关。唐朝以前,通过祖永谣制度,以成年人的数量为征税依据,政府对人口进行了严格的控制。唐朝颁布了《两税法》一书,规定按财产(主要是土地财产)的数额按比例纳税,从而具有资产税的性质,而不是按人头税。从那时起,征税开始从人均l 田地转向土地。农民的负担在一定程度上减轻了,国家对劳动者施加的个人约束也逐渐减轻了。
The Sui and the Tang dynasties were magnanimous and tolerant in the academic and cultural policy. There was to a certain extent freedom of thought. Scholars did research on Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Taoism won special royal favor in the Tang period, because Li
隋唐朝在学术和文化政策上宽宏大量、宽容。在某种程度上,人们可以自由思考。学者们对儒家、道家和佛教进行了研究。道教在唐代赢得了皇室的特别宠爱,因为李Er
的, who was supposed to be the founder of that school, had the same family name as the ruling house. In one of his edicts, Emperor
本应是那所学校的创始人的,却和统治家族同姓。在他的一项法令中,皇帝Gao
高 Zu
祖 Li Yuan explicitly said that Tao-ism should be given priority over all other religious faith. Emperor
李源明确表示,道教应该优先于所有其他宗教信仰。皇帝Gao
高 Zong
宗 conferred on Li
授予李Er
的 the posthumous title of the Supreme Emperor of the Pro-found Heavens and on
亲发现天堂至高无上的皇帝的追授头衔等等Zhuangzi
庄子 the title of the True Man of
真人的称号Nanhua
南华. Buddhism was an equally prevailing religion in this period. Emperor Yang
.佛教在这一时期同样是一种盛行的宗教。杨帝Jian
简 in the Sui Dynasty advocated Buddhism and declared that it was the will of Buddha for Yang to replace Zhou as the sovereign. Empress Wu
在隋朝提倡佛教,并宣布杨取代周成为君主是佛陀的旨意。武皇后Ze
泽 Tian
田 promoted and popularized Buddhist doctrines. Encouraged by the monarchy, Buddhism as a religious faith had a mass adherence, and left a deep mark in the political, economic and cultural spheres during the height of Tang, There arose many Buddhist sects such as the
推广和普及佛教教义。在君主制的鼓励下,佛教作为一种宗教信仰得到了广泛的追随,并在唐朝鼎盛时期在政治、经济和文化领域留下了深刻的印记,出现了许多佛教教派,例如Tiantai
天台 sect, the
sect,Huayan
华燕 sect and the Chan sect. The absorption of Buddhism in the traditional Chinese culture accelerated in this period. Confucianism remained an effective weapon of the sovereign to control people's ideology. Together with the great national unity, the north-
教派和禅宗。这一时期,佛教对中国传统文化的吸收加速了。儒家思想仍然是君主控制人们意识形态的有效武器。与伟大的民族团结一起,北方——ern
恩 and southern branches of the study of Confucian classics collaborated. Emperor Tai
和儒家经典研究的南方分支合作。帝泰Zong
宗 of the Tang Dynasty entrusted Kong
唐代委托孔Yingda
英达 and others with a task of annotating the Five Classics. They completed the 180-volume
以及其他负责注释五经的人。他们完成了 180 卷Annotations to the Five Classics.
五经注释。 Tai
台Zong
宗 also authorized Yan
还授权 YanShigu
石鼓 to collate and edit the texts of the Five Classics, which were entitled
整理和编辑五经的文本,其标题为Definitive Edition of the Five Classics
五大经典权威版. They were a uniform interpretation of the Confucian classics stipulated by royalty. With few changes to Confucian doctrines, Emperor
.它们是对皇室规定的儒家经典的统一解释。由于儒家教义几乎没有变化,皇帝Xuan
玄 Zong
宗 of the Tang Dynasty addressed Confucius respectfully as
唐朝对孔子的尊敬称呼为Wenxuan
文轩 Wang
王, meaning king of culture. The sovereigns' tolerance of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism was helpful for the three branches to assimilate and merge with each other, resulting in the integration of the three, on the basis of which the Confucian school of idealist philosophy of the Song and the Ming dynasties took shape. Besides, the golden age of Sui-Tang witnessed closer relations between China and foreign countries. The Tang
,意为文化之王。君主对儒、道、佛的宽容有助于三个分支相互同化和融合,导致三者融合,在此基础上形成了宋明时期的儒家唯心主义哲学学派。此外,隋唐的黄金时代见证了中外关系的密切。唐empire
帝国 developed extensive ties with many countries and regions. People of the minority nationalities in China as well as foreign emissaries, ecclesiastics and merchants came to
与许多国家和地区建立了广泛的联系。中国的少数民族人民以及外国使者、教士和商人都来此参观Chang’an
长安 en masse, bringing with them exotic products, music, dance,
集体,带来异国情调的产品、音乐、舞蹈、customs and religions, such as Buddhism, calendric system, medical science, linguistics, music, paintings of South Asia, music and dance from Central Asia, Christianity from the west. The growing international contacts enriched the cultural life of the Han people. The open policy of Sui-Tang indicated the self-confidence and great momentum derived from the overall national strength and the advanced culture and ideology.
习俗和宗教,如佛教、日历系统、医学、语言学、音乐、南亚绘画、中亚音乐和舞蹈、西方基督教等。日益增长的国际联系丰富了汉族人民的文化生活。隋唐的开放政策表明了来自综合国力和先进文化和思想的自信和强大动力。
Supported by the full-fledged national strength, the culture in the golden age of the Tang Dynasty saw its achievements surpassing those in the previous dynasties. Tang poetry attained its peak in the celebrated poets Li Bai, Du Fu and Bai Juyi, who left behind tens of thousands of poems, the inexhaustible treasury and incomparable heritage. In the meantime, a galaxy of calligraphers were produced, of whom the most influential were Yan Zhenqing and Huai Su. Included in the names of great Tang painters were Yan Liben and Wu Daozi. As a noted Tang astronomer, Monk Yi Xing was remembered for his unparalleled achievements in this field. The engravings were exquisite. Papermaking and block printing also reached a high level of development. Those techniques were passed on to the abroad, as a result the Chinese made a tremendous contribution to the world culture.
在成熟的国力支撑下,唐朝黄金时代的文化成就超越了历代。唐诗在著名诗人李白、杜甫和白居易的带领下达到巅峰,他们留下了数万首诗歌、取之不尽的宝库和无与伦比的遗产。与此同时,产生了一大批书法家,其中最有影响力的是严振清和怀苏。伟大的唐画家的名字中包括严立本和吴道子。作为著名的唐代天文学家,义兴和尚因其在这一领域无与伦比的成就而被人们铭记。版画很精致。造纸和雕版印刷也达到了很高的发展水平。这些技术被传到了国外,因此中国人为世界文化做出了巨大贡献。
Culture in the Dynasties of Song, Liao, Xia, Jin and Yuan
宋、辽、夏、金、元朝的文化
The founding of China by the Northern Song Dynasty brought an end to the prolonged partition of the Five Dynasties and the Ten States and restored a unified central authority in China. The Song rulers came to realize that Tang's downfall was partly caused by the separatist rule of military governors, who were too powerful and independent to be controlled by the emperors. So the rulers did their best to strengthen the feudal autocracy. But over-concentration of power in the royal house gave rise to the political corruption in the upper stratum of officialdom and weakened the defensive power of the Northern Song when confronted with military threat from the outside. And the result was that the bureaucracy became more and more inflated and redundant. Since the government had to put aside a fabulous sum for the upkeep of a legion of officials who drew fat salaries, the treasury became more and more depleted. Threatened by the aggressive Liao and Xia regimes on the north-western border, the Northern Song took an appeasement and passive policy by presenting them an annual gift of silver and silk in exchange for temporary tranquility on the northern border. Later, the state of Jin grew stronger in the northeast, and after conquering Liao regime, the Jin regime occupied the Yellow River basin by force. The Emperor of the Northern Song fled south from Kaifeng and established his capital at Lin’an (modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). The continuation of the Northern Song regime in the south of China is known to historians as the Southern Song. Up to the 13th century, the Mongols rose to become a powerful tribe. After vanquishing the regimes of Western Xia, Jin and Southern Song, Kublai Khan founded the Yuan Dynasty and reunited China.
北宋建立中国,结束了长期的五朝十国分裂,恢复了中国统一的中央集权。宋朝统治者逐渐意识到,唐朝的垮台部分是由于军长的分离主义统治造成的,这些都太强大和独立了,无法被皇帝控制。因此,统治者们竭尽全力加强封建专制。但是,王室的权力过度集中导致了官场上层的政治腐败,并削弱了北宋在面对外部军事威胁时的防御能力。结果是官僚机构变得越来越膨胀和多余。由于政府不得不留出一大笔钱来维持一大批拿着丰厚薪水的官员,国库变得越来越枯竭。受到西北边境咄咄逼人的辽和夏政权的威胁,北宋采取了绥靖和消极的政策,每年向他们赠送银子和丝绸的礼物,以换取北部边境的暂时安宁。后来,晋国在东北地区发展壮大,征服辽政权后,晋政权强行占领了黄河流域。北宋皇帝南逃开封,在临安(今浙江省杭州市)定都。北宋政权在中国南方的延续被历史学家称为南宋。直到 13 世纪,蒙古人崛起成为一个强大的部落。在击败了西夏、晋和南宋政权后,忽必烈汗建立了元朝并重新统一了中国。
Despite the troubles, internal and external, the economy, science, and culture continued to expand under the rule of the Song regime. The social productive forces still made headway. This was particularly true in the south, which quickly became the economic center of the whole country. During the Song period, the Chinese people further developed the art of printing, the making of the gunpowder and compass three great inventions of China as great contributions to the world. The technique of block printing reached its stage of maturity and flourished during the Song Dynasty. Books exquisitely printed in the Song Dynasty are still highly valued as rare editions today. Bi Sheng invented the movable type, which advanced the art of printing to a higher level. In the Song Dynasty, gunpowder was used in the war and the proportion of different elements in the composite gunpowder was close to that of today. The compass was employed in navigation in the Northern Song Dynasty. Shen Kuo, the great scientist of the Northern Song Dynasty wrote Sketchbook of Dream Brook-an indication of the splendid achievements made by the Song in natural science. This scientific encyclopedia covered astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, geography, meteorology, medicine, and engineering technique.
尽管内外困难重重,但在宋政权的统治下,经济、科学和文化继续发展。社会生产力仍然取得了进展。在南部尤其如此,它很快成为整个国家的经济中心。宋代,中国人民进一步发展了印刷术,火药的制作和指南针是中国的三大发明,为世界做出了巨大贡献。雕版印刷技术在宋代达到成熟阶段并蓬勃发展。宋代印刷精美的书籍今天仍然作为稀有版本受到高度重视。毕生发明了活字印刷术,将印刷术推向了更高的水平。宋代时,火药用于战争,复合火药中不同元素的比例接近今天的水平。指南针在北宋时期被用于航海。北宋大科学家沈括写了《梦溪速写本》,表明了宋朝在自然科学方面取得的辉煌成就。这本科学百科全书涵盖了天文学、数学、物理学、化学、生物学、地理学、气象学、医学和工程技术。
The cultural representative of this period was Li Xue, a Confucian school of idealist philosophy, also known as Neo-Confucianism or Cheng-Zhu Li Xue school of Confucianism. This new school, which was developed by combining Confucianism with Buddhism and Taoism, was pioneered by Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty and Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty-the founders of Cheng-Zhu Li Xue school of Confucianism. The central conception of this philosophy was that of “heavenly principle" and "carnal desires". The heavenly principle was the mysterious origin of everything and the essence of the universe that transcended all material things. As feudal order originated in it, the former was a manifestation of the heavenly principle in social relations. Blinded by the desire for material gains, man could become vicious and violate the feudal moral standards. Therefore the Song Confucianists put forward the ethical slogan, “eradicate human desires to maintain the heavenly principle”. The Li Xue school of Confucianism was the consummate ideological system in Chinese feudal society. It advocated nei sheng wai wang, meaning supreme morality internalized as cultivation and externalized as governance of virtue, and xiu shen qi jia zhi guo ping tian xia, that is, “Cultivate yourself, keep your family in order, run the local government well, and bring peace to the entire country”. It espoused the necessity to place righteousness, good reputation and moral integrity above material gains. This ethics had both positive and negative influence on the society. The positive influence lay in that it encouraged the cultivation of the scholars’ morality, loyalty to the sovereign and to the country. On the other hand, it exaggerated the working of heavenly principle, suppressed human nature, and caused tragedies of principle massacre, that is “killing people with the principle”。
这一时期的文化代表是李雪,一个唯心主义哲学的儒家学派,也被称为新儒学或成珠李学学派的儒学。这个儒家与佛教、道家相结合发展起来的新学派,由程浩、北宋的程毅和南宋的朱习——程朱李雪学派的创始人开创。这种哲学的中心概念是“天堂原则”和“肉体欲望”。天法是万物的神秘起源,是超越一切物质的宇宙本质。由于封建秩序起源于封建秩序,前者是天理在社会关系中的体现。被物质利益的欲望蒙蔽了双眼,人可能会变得恶毒并违反封建道德标准。因此,宋儒家提出了“除人欲望,维护天理”的伦理口号。儒家李学派是中国封建社会完善的思想体系。它提倡内生外王,意为内化为修养,外化为治德的至高无上的道德,以及修神气甲治国平天下,即“修身养家,治好地方,为全国带来和平”。它主张必须将正义、良好的声誉和道德操守置于物质利益之上。 这种道德对社会产生了积极和消极的影响。积极的影响在于它鼓励了学者道德的培养,对君主和国家的忠诚。另一方面,它夸大了天理的运作,压制了人性,造成了原则大屠杀的悲剧,即“以理杀人”。
Unlike the energetic and daring martial spirit in Han-Tang dynasties, the prevailing social practice of this period was characterized by the trend in scholar-officials to pursue elegance and good taste, resulting in the weakening and refining of personality. Song Ci, poetry of the Song Dynasty, and Yuan opera represented the zenith of the literature during this period and the plebeian culture gradually became popular. Besides, this period was another important period of the merging of nationalities in Chinese history, Despite the confrontation between the Northern Song and nationalities of Dangxiang, Qidan and Nüzhen, and the rivaling regimes of Southern Song and Jin, economic and cultural exchanges between the Han nationality and the nationalities of Dangxiang, Qidan and Nüzhen ended up with an integration between them. In the Yuan Dynasty, the unprecedentedly vast domain and easy communications enhanced contacts between home and abroad. The formation of Hui nationality was in fact a fruit of the ethnic merging.
与汉唐朝气盛、勇往直前的武魂不同,这一时期盛行的社会习俗是士大夫追求雅贵、高雅的风潮,导致人格的弱化和提炼。宋词、宋代诗歌和元剧代表了这一时期文学的巅峰,平民文化逐渐流行起来。此外,这一时期是中国历史上另一个重要的民族融合时期,尽管北宋与当乡、祁丹、女祯各民族,南宋、金各民族相互对立,汉族与砀乡、祁丹、女燊各民族之间进行了经济文化交流最终在它们之间实现了集成。元朝,空前广阔的国土和便捷的交通加强了国内外的联系。回族的形成实际上是民族融合的成果。
Culture in the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty
明清文化
The Ming and the Qing dynasties witnessed the decline of China's feudal society. The culture in this period had strong features of its own. In politics, the autocratic system had so developed that espionage and literary inquisition were employed, and officials selected according to their stereotyped writing. The purpose of this practice was to suppress the intellectuals’ thought. In economy was carried out a reform of taxes and corvee, thus personal attachment to agriculture was released, though trade was still restricted and maritime trade with foreign countries banned. These policies curbed the development of China's economy and culture and made it fall behind of the West.
明清时期见证了中国封建社会的衰落。这一时期的文化有其自身的强烈特征。在政治上,专制制度已经如此发展,以至于使用了间谍和文学宗教裁判所,并根据他们刻板的写作来挑选官员。这种做法的目的是压制知识分子的思想。在经济方面进行了税收和徭役改革,从而释放了个人对农业的依恋,尽管贸易仍然受到限制,与外国的海上贸易也被禁止。这些政策遏制了中国经济和文化的发展,使其落后于西方。
During the Ming and the Qing dynasties, on account of the sprouting of capitalism and the merging and developing of the urban areas, the ideology of early enlightenment, which was directed against the dark autocratic politics, started to rise. The representative figures were Li Zhi, Huang Zongyi, GuYanwu, Wang Fuzhi and Dai Zhen in the end of the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty. They exposed the irrationality of the system of autocratic monarchy, condemned the hypocrisy and cruelty of Neo-Confucianism, advocated practical learning and proposed a notion that industry and commerce were both the foundations. But on the whole, this criticism was still in the primary stage. It hadn't formed into an integrated system of thought. Therefore, these social critics were not able to propose new plans for social reform.
明清时期,由于资本主义的萌芽和城市地区的合并和发展,针对黑暗专制政治的早期启蒙意识形态开始兴起。代表人物是明末清初的李治、黄宗义、顾燕武、王富治和戴真。他们揭露了君主专制制度的不合理性,谴责了新儒家思想的虚伪和残酷,倡导实践学习,并提出了工商业都是基础的观念。但总的来说,这种批评还处于初级阶段。它还没有形成一个完整的思想体系。因此,这些社会批评家无法提出新的社会改革计划。
In the period of the Ming and the Qing dynasties, facing the mature traditional culture, the ruling class took it as their key task to systemize academic achievements. The Ming and the Qing dynasties employed plenty of manpower and abundant financial resources to collect and systemize a tremendous amount of ancient books. They successively compiled “Great Encyclopedia of Yongle” and “A Collection of Books Ancient and Present”. These two books were works combining to some extent the characteristics of encyclopedias and concordances. “Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature” was a large-scaled collection. “Complete Collection of Prose in the Tang Dynasty” and “A Complete Collection of Poems in the Tang Dynasty” were general anthology of prose and verse. “The Kangxi Dictionary" and “Exegesis of Classical Works" were large reference books. Meanwhile, there rose a study of textual criticism, forming “the Qian Jia School” which was rather influential at that time. From the angel of philosophy and by means of exegesis, the scholars re-annotated Confucian classics and other classical works. It was one of the great achievements in China's ancient cultural history. So they made an important contribution to preserving and inheriting the traditional Chinese culture.
明清时期,面对成熟的传统文化,统治阶级把学术成果系统化作为自己的重点任务。明清时期动用了大量的人力和丰富的财力来收集和系统化大量的古籍。他们先后编纂了《永乐大百科全书》和《古今书籍集》。这两本书在某种程度上结合了百科全书和索引的特点。“文学四支全库”是一部大型文集。《唐代散文全集》和《唐代诗歌全集》是散文和诗歌的一般选集。 《康熙辞典》和《古典著作注释》是大型参考书。与此同时,出现了文本批评的研究,形成了当时颇具影响力的“乾家派”。从哲学的天使开始,通过解经,学者们重新注释了儒家经典和其他经典著作。这是中国古代文化史上的伟大成就之一。因此,他们为保存和传承中国传统文化做出了重要贡献。
In the literary world of the Ming and the Qing dynasties, the greatest success was attained in the creation of novels. “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms”, “Water Margin”, “Pilgrimage to the West” and “A Dream of Red Mansions” were called altogether as the four greatest classical novels. In science and technology, there came into being some great academic works of summa, such as Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica”,Pan Jixun’s “A Survey of Flood-Prevention Work on Rivers", Xu Guangqi’s “A Complete Treatise on Agriculture”, Song Yingxing’s “Tian Gong Kai Wu’’, Xu Xiake’s “Xu Xiake’s Travel Notes” and Yuan Yuan’s “Biography of Almanac Compilers”, etc. The brilliant academic achievements in a feeble political climate constituted a peculiar cultural landscape of the Ming and the Qing dynasties.
在明清时期的文学界,小说创作取得了最大的成功。 《三国演义》《水浒传》《西洋朝圣》《红楼梦》被统称为四大古典小说。在科学技术方面,出现了一些伟大的学术著作,如李时珍的《本草纲要》、潘纪勋的《河流防汛工作概况》、许光启的《农业全论》、宋英兴的《天宫开武》等。徐霞可的《徐霞可游记》和袁媛的《年鉴编纂者传》等。在微弱的政治气候中取得的辉煌学术成就构成了明清时期独特的文化景观。