How has Ancient China influenced China, today?
Ancient China has influenced Modern China in many ways. Among them are cultural influence, tourism, and the heritage of ancient China.
As a people the Chinese has a history of building the impossible, like the terracotta warriors with rivers of mercury, or the Great Wall of China, that could be seen from space. This has instilled into the Chinese culture of productivity and industrialisation, as they would pour vast amounts of effort and time to do anything.
Culturally the Chinese is very tolerant of other religions as their three main religions all encourage tolerance, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The latter is not a religion, but is classified as such, instead it is a set of ideals, goals of how you should behave for a harmonious society. The majority of the population believe in Confucianism, and those who don't believe in Buddhism or Taoism, which have very similar ideals and principals, so Confucianism plays a large role in Chinese culture. Buddhism and Taoism developed side by side with Confucianism, and over time their attributes has slowly bled into each other and merged, now Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are all very similar in China.
China has many geographical and cultural features that attract people from all over the world, some of these features are the terracotta warriors, the Great Wall, Mt Everest, and the forbidden city, Which has impacted the Chinese economy very strongly and in a positive way.
China is the source of many great inventions, the four considered most influential are the invention of paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing. Without these inventions we would be no where near where we are today. Paper has speeded communication of long distances, and the accuracy of it by unimaginable amounts. It also allowed knowledge to be passed from generation to generation, knowledge that would've taken a lifetime to learn in books. Gunpowder revolutionized warfare, and would eventually lead to space exploration. The compass allowed us to sail the seas without fear of never seeing the shore again, which enabled ancient civilisations to discover other civilisations and set up trade routes. Printing allowed the mass production of books and the education of the masses.
As a people the Chinese has a history of building the impossible, like the terracotta warriors with rivers of mercury, or the Great Wall of China, that could be seen from space. This has instilled into the Chinese culture of productivity and industrialisation, as they would pour vast amounts of effort and time to do anything.
Culturally the Chinese is very tolerant of other religions as their three main religions all encourage tolerance, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. The latter is not a religion, but is classified as such, instead it is a set of ideals, goals of how you should behave for a harmonious society. The majority of the population believe in Confucianism, and those who don't believe in Buddhism or Taoism, which have very similar ideals and principals, so Confucianism plays a large role in Chinese culture. Buddhism and Taoism developed side by side with Confucianism, and over time their attributes has slowly bled into each other and merged, now Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are all very similar in China.
China has many geographical and cultural features that attract people from all over the world, some of these features are the terracotta warriors, the Great Wall, Mt Everest, and the forbidden city, Which has impacted the Chinese economy very strongly and in a positive way.
China is the source of many great inventions, the four considered most influential are the invention of paper, gunpowder, the compass and printing. Without these inventions we would be no where near where we are today. Paper has speeded communication of long distances, and the accuracy of it by unimaginable amounts. It also allowed knowledge to be passed from generation to generation, knowledge that would've taken a lifetime to learn in books. Gunpowder revolutionized warfare, and would eventually lead to space exploration. The compass allowed us to sail the seas without fear of never seeing the shore again, which enabled ancient civilisations to discover other civilisations and set up trade routes. Printing allowed the mass production of books and the education of the masses.
(Smithsonian, 2016)
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CultureWork began on the terracotta warrior in 246 BC, it was finished in 206 BC. There are over 8,000 warriors in the dig site. The terracotta warriors were built to show the glory of his glory, to remember that his army triumphed, which symbolises the mighty Chinese army, but most of all to guard his tomb into the afterlife. The Great Wall of China was originally a series of fortress and small walls to defend against the other states and the
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(Wikipedia, 2016)
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Physical FeaturesMt Everest's height was first determined in the 19th century. However it was first accurately determined in the 183s by Sir George Everest, hence the name. The mountain has benefitted China by providing a natural defensive barrier, and provided tourism for the economy. The Gobi desert is formed because rain clouds are blocked by the Himalayan mountains, depriving the area of water and forming a desert. The Gobi desert is the 4th coldest desert in the world. A large part of the Silk Road was based in the Gobi desert.
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(Mazumdar, 2015)
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ReligionBuddhism was founded in the 6th century BC by Siddhartha Gautama, who later called himself the Buddha. Buddhists believe that suffering is caused by desire. Taoism is supposedly founded by Laozi, however we have no evidence of his existence. Taoists believe that nature works in harmony and that we should see ourselves as part of nature to find happiness. They also believed that you could become immortal and the idea of Yin and Yang, two opposing yet complementary forces that bring harmony and balance. Confucianism is founded by Confucius in the second half of the Zhou dynasty. He taught the ideals of family duty, superior people act humanely and the government should exist for the good of the people.
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(Wikipedia, 2016)
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Heritage of Ancient ChinaChina has invented many inventions that has revolutionise the world, among them are the invention of Paper, gunpowder, the compass, iron and steel smelting, deep drilling and many more. The compass was invented in the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. The device was originally meant to tell the future, however since it always pointed north, fortune tellers abandoned it, but navigators saw use in it and the compass was born. In 105 AD, Paper as we know it was invented by an eunuch. Previous paper were unwieldy and expensive, the new paper was cheap and much higher in quality than the old. The ancient Chinese was always looking for the elixir of immortality, none of them succeeded but gunpowder was discovered in the search in the 9th century AD. In the beginning gunpowder was just used for entertainment as fireworks, however the military soon found this material incredibly useful, the multistage rocket, mine, flame thrower and hand grenades were all invented because of this.
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(Connors history, 2016)
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Social ClassesIn ancient China the social hierarchy begins with the emperor at the very top and controls the entire country, his word is law. The gentry and/or government officials came next and controlled states and owned land. The peasants were below the gentry and rented land from them to farm and produce food to sell. Craftsmen and artisans were considered higher than merchants even though they were less wealthy because they still produced their own goods to sell. Merchants are on the second lowest level on the social hierarchy because they sold someone else's goods, and thus not considered respectable members of society. The slaves were considered lowest on the hierarchy, slaves were either captured soldiers or people sold into slavery to pay off debts.
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