Profound understanding of the prominent continuity of Chinese civilization (academic balance) Figures | Politics | Academies

The magnificent China has a long history and a vast civilization.

The outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization is reflected in multiple aspects

The ancient Chinese civilization, along with the ancient Egyptian civilization, the Two Rivers civilization, and the Indian civilization, are collectively known as the four oldest civilizations in the world. However, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, the Two Rivers, and India declined and eventually disappeared due to various reasons. Only the Chinese civilization has been in a continuous and uninterrupted lineage for over 5000 years, and has continued to this day. By comparison, the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization can be regarded as a great wonder in the history of world civilization, and has made tremendous contributions to the development of world civilization. Regarding the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization, we can deepen our understanding from different aspects, among which the following points are crucial.

Firstly, in the history of the development of Chinese civilization, from the Xia, Shang, Zhou dynasties to the Qing dynasty, political entities were connected in an orderly manner and were not interrupted by external attacks. The latter dynasty claimed to be the successor of the previous dynasty, emphasizing how the previous dynasty lost the world and how the current dynasty gained the world. In fact, all of these emphasized the connection between the current dynasty and the previous dynasty. The superposition of these connections has become a continuous political lineage. Even during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, many separatist regimes still used the names of previous dynasties, indicating a deep-rooted sense of continuity in their lineage. The late Qing Dynasty was the connecting point between ancient Chinese history and modern Chinese history. The Xinhai Revolution overthrew the rule of the Qing Dynasty, ended the monarchical autocracy that had lasted for thousands of years in China, and established the first republic in Asia on the land of China. The CPC united and led the Chinese people to overthrow the three great mountains of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism, established the People's Republic of China where the people are the masters, and opened a new era in the history of the development and progress of the Chinese nation. Although the history of Chinese civilization, spanning over 5000 years, has gone through hardships and hardships, its political development is clear and traceable, and its cultural traditions remain fresh and have outstanding continuity.

Secondly, in the history of the development of Chinese civilization, the traditional Chinese culture has never been interrupted. During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, ancient China saw the emergence of renowned intellectual giants such as Laozi, Confucius, Zhuangzi, Mencius, Mozi, Sun Tzu, and Han Feizi. Their ideas and values shaped the traditional Chinese culture and had a profound historical impact on the political concepts, philosophy of life, and social ethics of later generations. Some of the theories of these great intellectual masters can be seen in the Warring States period's "Zhuangzi Tianxia" and "Xunzi Feitwelve Zi", followed by Sima Tan's "On the Essentials of the Six Schools", Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian", Liu Xiang and Liu Xin's father and son's "Bielu", "Qilue", and Ban Gu's "Han Shu Yiwen Zhi". They can also be found in the "Qilu", "Sui Shu Jingji Zhi", "Old Tang Shu Jingji Zhi", "New Tang Shu Yiwen Zhi", "Song Shi Yiwen Zhi", "Yongle Dadian", and "Ming Shi Yiwen Zhi". Among the bibliographic works and large-scale literature compilations such as "The Complete Library of Four Branches", it can be said that they have been passed down from generation to generation. At the same time, in the history of the development of Chinese civilization, the influence of academic activities such as the Shiquge Conference and the Baihuguan Conference, the authoritative position of academic works such as the "Five Classics and Justice" and the "Thirteen Classics Annotations", coupled with the advocacy of school education and imperial examinations, have all promoted the inheritance and transmission of Chinese cultural traditions on the land of China, which have been passed down to this day.

Thirdly, the developed Chinese historiography is a strong evidence of the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization, highlighting that the common memory of the Chinese nation has never been interrupted. Valuing history, studying history, and drawing on history is a fine tradition of the Chinese nation's more than 5000 years of civilization history. The system of Chinese historians originated from the Shang Dynasty, and the Zhou Dynasty and various vassal states had already written "national histories". Confucius wrote a chronological historical book called "Spring and Autumn Annals" based on the history of the state of Lu, which had a great influence. The chronicles after the Spring and Autumn Annals include Xun Yue's "Annals of Han", Yuan Hong's "Annals of Later Han", Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian", Li Tao's "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian Changbian", Bi Yuan's "Continuation of Zizhi Tongjian", and so on. Sima Qianzhi wrote "Records of the Grand Historian" after "Spring and Autumn Annals", using a "biographical style" to record about 3000 years of historical events from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of Han, making it the first comprehensive history in Chinese history. Ban Gu, a historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, compiled the history of the Western Han Dynasty into the Book of Han, marking the beginning of the era of chronological and chronological history. Afterwards, from the Book of Later Han to the Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, there were official histories written throughout various dynasties, and some even had more than one. These dynastic histories, together with the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, are collectively known as the "Twenty Six Histories". In addition to comprehensive historical books centered around characters, there are also historical books in the form of chronicles in the "Comprehensive Mirror of Chronicles" series, as well as a series of institutional historical books such as the "Tongdian", "Tongzhi", and "Wenxue Tongkao". These genres of historical books connect ancient and modern times, comprehensively showcasing the characteristics of the continuous development of Chinese civilization, and can be regarded as a treasure of world historiography. These historical books serve as records of the continuous development of Chinese civilization, passed down from generation to generation, and studied from generation to generation, ensuring that the common memory of the Chinese nation is never interrupted.

Fourthly, as a tool on which Chinese civilization relies for transmission, written language has never ceased. From a textual perspective, although modern Chinese characters have undergone significant changes compared to oracle bone script and bronze script, the development process from oracle bone script to bronze script, from bronze script to small seal script, from small seal script to clerical script, from clerical script to regular script, and from traditional regular script to simplified regular script is very clear and complete. Moreover, no matter how much changes have occurred in the form of characters, the construction of characters always follows the common principles of pictographic, referential, semantic, and phonetic elements. These principles are like a bridge connecting ancient and modern Chinese characters, through which modern people can recognize ancient characters. In terms of language, there are indeed significant differences between ancient and modern times, but the differences are mainly reflected in phonetics, vocabulary, and specialized terminology, and the grammatical structure has not undergone fundamental changes. More importantly, all changes in language have gradually occurred over a long period of historical development, and future generations can follow the interpretation of previous generations to understand earlier ancient books. The uninterrupted written language is an important symbol of the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization.

The prominent continuity of Chinese civilization contains rich Chinese wisdom

Why has Chinese civilization been in a continuous and uninterrupted lineage for over 5000 years, and has continued to this day? This involves many reasons. Throughout history, the Chinese people have made arduous efforts to maintain the continuous development of Chinese civilization, and the Chinese wisdom contained in it has important reference significance for the development of human civilization. For example, discussions among ancient Chinese politicians about the relationship between creation and preservation, gain and loss, safety and danger, and rise and fall mostly contain dialectical ideas, reflecting a cautious attitude towards national governance. Although its fundamental purpose is to maintain its own rule, it contains some historical laws that cannot be violated. The adherence to these historical laws is an important reason for the continuous development of Chinese civilization.

Many political figures in ancient China attached great importance to summarizing historical experience and proposing certain ideas, forming a unique political culture and philosophy. This political culture and philosophy in turn promoted political and cultural development, which is of great significance for the continuous development of Chinese civilization. The rulers of the Western Zhou Dynasty drew lessons from the decline of the Shang Dynasty, emphasizing that "I cannot ignore the existence of Xia, nor can I ignore the existence of Yin." They set aside the "mandate of heaven" and advocated for the rule of the country with "virtue." This is an early summary and reference of historical experience in the history of Chinese civilization development. Emperor Gaozu of Han demanded that Lu Jia "try to explain why I lost the world in Qin, why did I gain it, and what is the ancient country of success and failure?". Emperor Taizong of Tang often used the short reigns of Qin and Sui as examples to discuss the issue of historical reference. Chinese ancient political figures focused on summarizing and drawing on historical experience, which is of great significance for maintaining the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization.

Closely related to learning from historical experiences and lessons, some political figures often hold deep concerns about the difficulties faced by national governance, so they attach great importance to the issue of whether it is difficult to "start a business" or "maintain success". Emperor Taizong of Tang discussed this issue with his ministers. Ming Taizu also emphasized similar issues, saying to his courtiers, "Sincerely think that the great cause of the world can be achieved through difficulties, and must be defended through difficulties.". It is this sense of crisis that enabled many dynasties to strive for governance and promote the development of Chinese civilization at the beginning of their founding. As the Tang Dynasty historian Du You once said, "During the Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, the sea was unified, and people and households thrived. There were no couples in the three generations." In Chinese history, the emergence of the rule of literature and scenery, the rule of opening the emperor, the rule of Zhenguan, and the prosperous Kangxi and Qianlong periods laid an important foundation for the continuous development of Chinese civilization and its continuous advancement to new heights.

Chinese ancient historians often showed a strong historical depth in their contemplation of Chinese history, and the historical insights they embodied had a significant impact on political figures, thus profoundly influencing the development of Chinese civilization. This is particularly clear from Du You's "Tongdian" in the Tang Dynasty and Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" in the Song Dynasty. The 200 volume "Tongdian" aims to explain "the past is right and wrong, which can serve as a mirror for the present and future.". The whole book is divided into nine categories: food and goods, elections, official positions, rituals, music, military, criminal law, states and counties, and border defense, with food and goods as the main focus. It reflects the establishment of national functional departments and emphasizes the importance of the state's management of land and household registration. The 294 volume "Zizhi Tongjian" records the profound historical insight and good intentions of Sima Guang, which focuses on the rise and fall of the country, the concerns of the people, and the principles of good and evil. Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty praised this book as "a comprehensive collection of ancient and modern traditions, with a broad understanding of its essence and a concise and systematic approach to affairs. It is a collection of laws and punishments, as well as a collection of books and documents.". The book "Zhenguan Zhengyao" was highly valued by political figures during the Liao, Xia, Jin, and Yuan dynasties due to its concrete reflection of many ideas and strategies of Emperor Taizong's political discourse. It was ordered to be translated into various ethnic languages and widely circulated. It can be seen that the words of Gong Zizhen, a Qing Dynasty scholar, such as "To know the great way, one must first study history" and "If a wise person receives books from the Shi family for three thousand years, they can worry about the world with good history" have profound implications for the development of Chinese civilization, and are not exaggerated or empty words.

Making Historical Contributions to the Construction of Modern Chinese Civilization

In the history of the development of Chinese civilization, the historical works written by Chinese historians have become strong evidence of the outstanding continuity of Chinese civilization, and the historical insights demonstrated have had an important impact on the development of Chinese civilization. In the new era and new journey, historical researchers should consciously promote China's long-standing historical tradition and make historical contributions to the continuation of Chinese culture and the construction of modern civilization of the Chinese nation.

Adhere to the "two combinations" and deeply explore the excellent traditional Chinese culture.We should better refine the great spirit and rich wisdom of the Chinese nation, and effectively link the essence of Marxism with the essence of the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

Strengthen cultural confidence, summarize Chinese experience with Chinese principles, and elevate Chinese experience into Chinese theory. We need to build a strong cultural country and modern civilization of the Chinese nation, and we must achieve spiritual independence and autonomy. To achieve spiritual independence and autonomy, we must base ourselves on the great historical and contemporary practices of the Chinese nation, summarize Chinese experience with Chinese principles, and elevate Chinese experience into Chinese theory. History researchers should strengthen their cultural confidence, adhere to integrity and innovation, further summarize the concepts, experiences, and wisdom of Chinese civilization in governing the country, so that they have practical implications and can demonstrate Chinese characteristics, style, and demeanor in exchanges and mutual learning with countries around the world.

Adhere to putting the people at the center and providing spiritual strength for national rejuvenation. From "recounting the past and thinking about the future" to "recruiting personnel and implementing effective policies", all reflect the function and tradition of applying history to the world. The reason why historiography can be applied to the world is because history is closely related to reality. A new era and a new journey to comprehensively promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with Chinese path to modernization require the support of a strong spiritual force. History researchers should adhere to putting the people at the center, launch more high-quality works, and make them a powerful spiritual force to inspire the people to create a better life and promote the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.