Chinese Civilization

Lecturer: MA Xuefei
E-mail:whatslegal@163.com

Do You Know China?

Business Centers of the world

Great Progress in Aeronautics and

Astronautics

 A developing country

Children without
education opportunity

 Confucianism
Five
Relationships
Theory

Sovereign to subject
Parent to child
Elder to younger brother
Husband to wife
Friend to friend

 Ruler guides subject;

Father guides son;
Husband guides wife.

Benevolence
Righteousness
Rituals
Wisdom
Faithfulness

 Confucianism
Three Obedience
and Four Virtues
for Women

 Obedience to her father before marriage

To her husband after marriage
To her son after husbands death

Morality
Proper speech
Modest manner
Diligent work

Taoism
Jing, Qi and Shen
Yin and Yang
Self-cultivation
Nei Dan and Wai Dan

Lao Zis Opinion

The core: be natural and Wuwei
Dao Fa Zi Ran
Zi Ran is not the nature without the
interference of human beings.
An attitude to follow and observe the rules
of nature.
The way to practice Tao is to observe the
rules of Nature.

 vs.

nature, the attitude to follow the rules of
nature.

false
No human deeds that will break the
balance of nature.
Nature vs. human deeds

Creation
Therefore, the creation or human deeds
promoted by Lao Zi is the creation or
human deeds that agrees with the spirit of
nature.

About Wars
So, people should let go the desire of
ruling the world, follow the way of nature
as it is, and this is the most basic solution
to all the conflicts and warfares in human
society.


Wuwei and so there is nothing that you
cannot do.

De
Things turn to their opposite when they
reach the extreme.

The most delicate art looks like
clumsiness.
Zhuang Zi story of incompact wood

The philosophy of No Aggression

The weak conquering the strong
Aggression is the root of comedown, while
Wuwei corresponds to the way of nature.


The supreme goodness is like water.
The water benefits everything without
aggression of any form.
The weakest thing in the world is water,
but it could conquer every other thing.

 E.g.
Humans are weak when they are alive,
and hard-shelled after their death.

Back to the stage of Infants

Saints are, in some ways, all infants,
innocent, desire-free, pure, and sincere.
It is a blessing to have a childs, or
childlike innocence.

On Civilization
Civilization, to some extent, is a deviation
from inherent qualities.
The entire development of human
civilization is a process of decoration.
Language for communication
Clothes for body
House for living
National politics for human organization

Zen Buddhism
Every single creature owns the whole
world.

Chinese Paintings

Calligraphy

Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Great Wall

The Forbidden City

The Dunhuang Fresco

Cavehouse

Terra-cotta Warriors

COURSE PLAN
W4: CLASS ORIENTATION
W7: CHINA: CHINESE GEOGRAPHY AND
CHINESE PEOPLE
W8: DYNASTIES
W9-10: EARLY HISTORY
W11: CALLIGRAPHY AND WINE CULTURE
W12: SEMINAR: MYTHS AND LEGENDS
W5-6: TRADITIONAL FESTIVALS

 W13: THE ZHOU DYNASTY

W14: CHINESE MUSIC AND
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE
W15: RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
W16: SEMINAR: PHYLOSOPHY
W17: THE QIN DYNASTY
W18-19: THE HAN DYNASTY

Grades on
Attendance 20%
Classroom Contribution 40%
Classroom Qs & As 20%
Participation in seminars 20%

Final Test 40%

Its your turn to introduce your

culture
Go to groups of 3 or 4, and work on a
culture report with your group mates.
After the group discussion, do the report to
the class.