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AN INTRODUCTIONTO CHINESECULTURE
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AN INTRODUCTION TO CHINESE CULTUREContentsForewordPart 1: The Origins of Chinese Civilization1. Early Civilization2.Jade Culture3.Bronze CulturePart 2: Writing and Language1.Chinese Characters2.Chinese DialectsPart 3: Chinese Philosophy1.Confucianism2.Daoism3.Chinese Buddhism4.Historical ScholarshipPart 4.Literature1.Poetry2.Essay Writing3.The NovelPart 5.Art1.Calligraphy2.Painting3.Sculpture4.Architecture5.Music6.Dance7.Drama8.Crafts
 
Ceramics
 
Silk Textiles
 
Lacquerware9.Folk Art
Acrobatics
Miscellaneous Arts and Crafts
Part 6.Cultural Exchange1.Cultural Exchange in Ancient China
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2.Cultural Exchange in Modern ChinaAfterwordForeword
In eastern Asia lies a vast land, 9.6 million square kilometers in area, thatstretches from the heights of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the west, to theboundless Pacific Ocean in the east. This is China, the cradle of Chinesecivilization and home to fifty-six different ethnic groups.
Chinese culture embodies the philosophy of holism. Ancient Chinesephilosophers believed that all things are interrelated, and that Heaven,Earth, and Humanity form a unified whole.
This holistic philosophyinfluences every aspect of Chinese language, literature, and art, as well asthe daily lives and habits of the Chinese people. Chinese culture upholds thecentral position of human beings within the unity of Heaven and Earth. Itemphasizes personal ethics and self-cultivation, and the pursuit of moralperfection. Advocating moderation, it seeks balance and harmony in all things.
 
Two-part jade
bi 
 
 
disk with carved
chihu
(dragon-tiger),Warring States Period (475-221 BC)
(The
chihu 
is a type of dragon with the head of a tiger.
Chi 
(the dragon) represents
yin
, or Earth, and
hu 
(the tiger) represents
yang 
, or Heaven. The
chihu 
, or dragon-tiger,therefore represents the union of Heaven and Earth and the balance between
yin
and
yang 
.)
Part 1: The Origins of Chinese CivilizationAccording to Chinese legend, a giant named Pangu used a great axe tosplit Primordial Chaos and create Heaven and Earth. A goddess namedNüwa then created animals and human beings over the course of sixdays. Nüwa became responsible for human procreation, and her elder 
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