DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0619
CHINA
42-9
the stars, the wind, and the rain. About these powers their
religion centered. The dragon, in varying forms one of the most
important motifs in Chinese art, and the emblem of the emperor,
possibly had its origin in the great alligators that infested the
rivers and early became objects of worship, symbolizing the
coming of spring and rain. So also the phoenix, because of its
fabulous renewal of life from its own ashes, symbolized the sun
and warmth that brings about the ever recurrent life in nature.
Added to nature worship were two fundamentals in this early
civilization which have persisted as basic elements of Chinese
culture. First, the social basis, the unit of which was the family
and not the individual. The customs of one’s ancestors consti-
tuted the established law and the perpetuation of the family
was the vital necessity. To this the rights and freedom of the
individual were sacrificed. He was but one link in the social
chain; and the chain was the paramount thing. Such an attitude
fostered the second fundamental, which was a pious reverence
for the dead, a continual looking to the past rather than to the
future, and an acceptance of the past as the ultimate authority.
The result of such a culture was unity and harmony; and, in
art, an expression that was racial rather than individual.
Early Chinese culture reached a climax in the Chou dynasty
(112.x-2.55 b.c.).1 The social system that had been evolving for
many centuries was ready to be formulated by the early fifth
century, at just about the time that the Greek civilization was
reaching a climax of expression in the age of Pericles (Fig. 13X).
This formulation was the work of Confucius (551-479 b.c.).
While Confucianism is frequently classed as a religion, it is
neither religious nor philosophical, but a social and ethical
system that aims to secure a stable society by regulating human
relationships. Its ideal is communism, as worked out among an
1 Chinese civilization may be traced back to about 3000 b.c. The important periods are as
follows:
Hsia dynasty
2205-1766 B.C.
Shang dynasty
1766-1122
Chou dynasty
1122-255
Ts‘in dynasty
255-206
Han dynasty
206 B.C.-22I A.D.
Wei and the Six dynasties
221-618
T'ang dynasty
618-907
Sung dynasty
960-1280
Yuan or Mongol dynasty
1280-1368
Ming dynasty
1368-1644
Ts’ing or Manchu dynasty
1644-1911
The spelling and the dates used in this chapter are those of Giles. For maps illustrating the
geographic extent of China in the various dynasties, and the old trade routes, see E. H. Parker,
China (N.Y., Dutton, 1917).
42-9
the stars, the wind, and the rain. About these powers their
religion centered. The dragon, in varying forms one of the most
important motifs in Chinese art, and the emblem of the emperor,
possibly had its origin in the great alligators that infested the
rivers and early became objects of worship, symbolizing the
coming of spring and rain. So also the phoenix, because of its
fabulous renewal of life from its own ashes, symbolized the sun
and warmth that brings about the ever recurrent life in nature.
Added to nature worship were two fundamentals in this early
civilization which have persisted as basic elements of Chinese
culture. First, the social basis, the unit of which was the family
and not the individual. The customs of one’s ancestors consti-
tuted the established law and the perpetuation of the family
was the vital necessity. To this the rights and freedom of the
individual were sacrificed. He was but one link in the social
chain; and the chain was the paramount thing. Such an attitude
fostered the second fundamental, which was a pious reverence
for the dead, a continual looking to the past rather than to the
future, and an acceptance of the past as the ultimate authority.
The result of such a culture was unity and harmony; and, in
art, an expression that was racial rather than individual.
Early Chinese culture reached a climax in the Chou dynasty
(112.x-2.55 b.c.).1 The social system that had been evolving for
many centuries was ready to be formulated by the early fifth
century, at just about the time that the Greek civilization was
reaching a climax of expression in the age of Pericles (Fig. 13X).
This formulation was the work of Confucius (551-479 b.c.).
While Confucianism is frequently classed as a religion, it is
neither religious nor philosophical, but a social and ethical
system that aims to secure a stable society by regulating human
relationships. Its ideal is communism, as worked out among an
1 Chinese civilization may be traced back to about 3000 b.c. The important periods are as
follows:
Hsia dynasty
2205-1766 B.C.
Shang dynasty
1766-1122
Chou dynasty
1122-255
Ts‘in dynasty
255-206
Han dynasty
206 B.C.-22I A.D.
Wei and the Six dynasties
221-618
T'ang dynasty
618-907
Sung dynasty
960-1280
Yuan or Mongol dynasty
1280-1368
Ming dynasty
1368-1644
Ts’ing or Manchu dynasty
1644-1911
The spelling and the dates used in this chapter are those of Giles. For maps illustrating the
geographic extent of China in the various dynasties, and the old trade routes, see E. H. Parker,
China (N.Y., Dutton, 1917).