The culture
of China is the result of over 5,000 years of artistic, philosophical,
political, and scientific advancement. Though regional differences
provide a sense of diversity, commonalities in language and
religion connect a culture distinguished by such contributions
as Confucianism and Taoism. Confucianism was the official
philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and
traditional Chinese culture is heavily influenced by it.
With the rise of Western economic and military power over
China beginning in the mid-19th century, however, non-Chinese
systems of social and political organization gained adherents
in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected
China's cultural legacy, while others sought to combine the
strengths of Chinese and Western cultures.
In essence, the history of 20th century China is one of experimentation
to find a new system of social, political, and economic organization
that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the
wake of dynastic collapse.
The history of China is told in traditional historical records
that go back to the Three sovereigns and five emperors about
5,000 years ago, supplemented by archaeological records dating
to the 16th century BC. China is one of the world's oldest
continuous civilizations. Turtle shells with markings reminiscent
of ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty (??) have
been carbon dated to around 1500 BC. Chinese civilization
originated with city-states in the Yellow River valley.
221 BC is the commonly accepted year when China became unified
under a large kingdom or empire. Successive dynasties in Chinese
history developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the Emperor
of China to control the large territory.
The foundations of Chinese civilization were the Qin Dynasty
(?) Emperor's imposition of a common system of writing in
the 3rd century BC and the development of a state ideology
based on Confucianism in the 2nd century BC.
China alternated between periods of political unity and disunity,
with occasionally conquests by foreign peoples, some of whom
were assimilated into the Chinese population.
Cultural and political influences from many parts of Asia,
carried by successive waves of immigration, expansion, and
assimilation, merged to create Chinese culture.
