China

Afro-Asian Literature 2:30 – 4:00 TTh

Donasco, Katrina Ann

Dongsao, Joana Marie

Eballa, Frances Allen

Gutierrez, Rachel

Jabano, Allyssa Marie

China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in

East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity. China is one of the world’s oldest

civilizations and is regarded as the oldest continuous civilization. Prior to the 19 th

century, it possessed one of the most advanced societies and economies of the world;

but through successive dynasties it then missed the industrial revolution and began to

decline. In the 19th and 20th century, imperialism, internal weakness and civil wars

damaged the country and its economy, and led to the overthrow of imperial rule.

In 1949, after major combat ended in the Chinese Civil War, two states calling

themselves “CHINA” emerged:

  The People's Republic of China (PRC), established in 1949, commonly known as

China, has control over mainland China and the largely self-governing territories of Hong

Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999).

  The Republic of China (ROC) established in 1912 in mainland China, now

commonly known as Taiwan, has control over the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen

and Matsu.

In the 1950’s change to economic policies in Taiwan transformed the island into a

technology-oriented industrialized developed economy after a period of high growth

rates and rapid industrialization. In mainland China, in the 1970’s reforms known as the

Four Modernizations modernized the agriculture, industry, technology and defense,

vastly raising living standards and making the PRC one of the great powers.

Historically, China’s cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as whole, with

Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by

neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Through its history, China was the source

of many major inventions. It has also the one of the world’s oldest writing language
 systems. The first evidence of human presence in the region was found at

Zhoukoudian cave. It is one of the earliest known specimens of Homo erectus, now

commonly known as the Peking Man, estimated to have lived from 300,000 to 780,000

years ago.

Geography:

China ranges from mostly plateaus and mountains in the west to lower lands in the

east. Principal rivers flow from west to east, including the Yangtze (central), the Huang

He (Yellow river, north-central), and the Amur (northeast), and sometimes toward the

south (including the Pearl River, Mekong River, and Brahmaputra), with most Chinese

rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea there are

extensive and densely populated alluvial plains. On the edges of the Inner Mongolian

plateau in the north, grasslands can be seen. Southern China is dominated by hills and

low mountain ranges. In the central-east are the deltas of China's two major rivers,

the Huang He and Yangtze River. Most of China's arable lands lie along these rivers, and

they were the centers of China's major ancient civilizations. Other major rivers include

thePearl River, Mekong, Brahmaputra and Amur. Yunnan Province is considered a part of

the Greater Mekong Subregion, which also includes Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia,

and Vietnam.[45]

In the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a

vast calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, and

the Himalayas, containing Earth's highest point, Mount Everest. The northwest also has

high plateaus with more arid desert landscapes such as the Takla-Makan and the Gobi

Desert, which has been expanding. During many dynasties, the southwestern border of

China has been the high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern

China from Burma,Laos and Vietnam.
 The Paleozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of

the Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic andTertiary deposits

are estuarine and freshwater, or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of volcanic cones occur

in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and Shandong Peninsulas, there

are basaltic plateaus.

The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has summer

daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The

central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate continental climate with very hot

summers and cold winters. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has

a subtropical climate with very hot summers and mild winters.

Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become

usual in the spring in China.[46] Dust has blown to southern Mainland China and Taiwan,

and has reached the West Coast of the United States. Water, erosion, and pollution

control have become important issues in China's relations with other countries.

II. Literary History

Chinese literatures extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic

court archives to the mature fictional movies that arose during Ming Dynasty to entertain

the masses of literate Chinese. The introduction of widespread woodblock printing during

the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and the invention of the movable type printing by Bi Sheng

(990 - 1051) during the Song Dynasty rapidly spread written knowledge throughout

China. In more modern times, the author Lu Xun (1881 - 1936) is considered the founder

of baihua literature in China.

There is a wealth of early Chinese literature dating from the Hundred Schools of

Thought that occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 – 256 BC). The most

important of these include the Classics of Confucianism, of Daoism, of Mohism, of

books of poems and songs, most of this literature is philosophical and didactic; there is

little in the way of fiction. However, these texts maintained their significance through

both their ideas and their prose style.

The Confucian works in particular have been of key importance to Chinese culture

and history, as a set of works known as the Four Books and Five Classics were, in the

12th century CE, chosen as the basis for the Imperial examination for any government

post. These nine books therefore became the center of the educational system. They

have been grouped into two categories: the Five Classics, allegedly compiled

by Confucius, and the Four Books, which were compiled in the 12th century CE. The Five

Classics include:

1. The I Ching, or Book of Changes, a divination manual attributed to the mythical

emperor Fu Xi and based on eight trigrams. The I Ching is still used by adherents of folk

religion.

2. The Classic of Poetry, a collection of folk songs, festival and ceremonial songs, and

religious hymns and eulogies.

3. The Record of Rites (a recreation of the original Classic of Rites, which was lost in

the Imperial book purge), which describes ancient rites and court ceremonies.

4. The Classic of History, a collection of documents and speeches allegedly written by

rulers and officials of the early Zhou period and before. It contains the best examples of

early Chinese prose.

5. The Spring and Autumn Annals, a historical record of Confucius' native state, Lu,

from 722 to 479 BCE.

The Four Books include: the Analects of Confucius, a book of pithy sayings attributed

to Confucius and recorded by his disciples; Mencius, a collection of political dialogues; the

Doctrine of the Mean, a book that teaches the path to Confucian virtue; and the Great

Learning, a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao.

love" as both an ethical and social principle, and Hanfeizi, one of the central Legalist

texts.

Important Daoist classics include the Dao De Jing, the Zhuangzi, and the Classic of

the Perfect Emptiness. Later authors combined Daoism with Confucianism and Legalism,

such asLiu An (2nd century BCE), whose Huainanzi (The Philosophers of Huai-nan) also

added to the fields of geography and topography.

Among the classics of military science, The Art of War by Sun Tzu (6th century BCE) was

perhaps the first to outline guidelines for effective international diplomacy. It was also

the first in a tradition of Chinese military treatises, such as the Wujing

Zongyao (Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques, 1044 CE) and

the Huolongjing (Fire Dragon Manual, 14th century CE).

Two distinct traditions exist in Chinese literature: the literary and the vernacular, or

colloquial. The latter can be traced back more than a thousand years before the Christian

era and has existed almost continuously until modern times. Consisting originally of

poetry and later of drama and fiction, it grew to include histories and popular stories and

tales, as well. Folk, or vernacular, literature was long considered beneath the notice of

members of the scholar-official class, who were the arbiters of literary taste. Their own

polished and highly stylized writings set the standards for the orthodox literary tradition

that began about 2000 years ago. Not until the 20th century did colloquial literature gain

the support and esteem of the intellectual class.

Chinese literature may be divided into three major historical periods that roughly

correspond to those of Western literary history: the classical period, from the 6th century

BC through the 2nd century AD; the medieval period, from the 3rd century to the late

12th century; and the modern period, from the 13th century to the present.
 III. Literary Selections

ANALECTS of CONFUCIUS (excerpts)

The Master said, “In strolling in the company of just two other persons, I am bound to find a

teacher. Identifying their strengths, I follow them, and identifying their weaknesses, I reform

myself accordingly.”

The Master said, “Lead the people with administrative injunctions and keep them orderly with

penal law, and they will avoid punishments but will be without a sense of shame. Lead them with

excellence and keep them orderly through observing ritual propriety and they will develop a

sense of shame, and moreover, will order themselves.”

The Master said, “Exemplary persons understand what is appropriate; petty persons

understand what is of personal advantage.”

The Master said, “Exemplary persons make demands on themselves, while petty persons make

demands on others.”

The Master said, “It is a rare thing for someone who has a sense of filial and fraternal

responsibility to have a taste of defying authority. And it is unheard of for those who have no

taste for defying authority to be keen on initiating rebellion. Exemplary persons concentrate

their efforts on the root, for the root having taken hold, the way will grow therefrom. As for filial

and fraternal responsibility, it is, I suspect, the root of authoritative conduct.”

The Master said, “He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to

the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.”

The Master said, “If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be

acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others.”

The Life of Confucius

Of all eastern philosophers, Confucius, born in 550 B.C., is considered the greatest. His

teachings are foundational to Asian cultures. His writings, The Five Classics, the collection of

ancient Chinese literature, and The Four Books, a collection of Confucius' and his disciple's

teachings, was for centuries the standard curriculum for Chinese education.

Confucius' teachings and biography were written many years after his death and were edited by

his disciples. Although historians present various accounts of his life, there are some basic facts

that we are reasonably sure of, and from which we can outline the major events of his life.

Confucius was born in the province of Lu, in northern China. He was born into a family of humble

circumstance, and his father died at a young age. He began studying under the village tutor and

at the age of fifteen he devoted his life to study. At twenty, he married but soon divorced his

wife and had an aloof relationship with his son and daughter. In his twenties, he became a

teacher and gathered a group of loyal disciples.

Confucius lived during the Chou Dynasty (1100 B.C. to 256 B.C.). At this time, the land was

divided among feudal lords. The moral and social order was in a state of decay. Confucius

sought a way to restore the cultural-political order. He believed that reform would come through

educating the leaders in the classics and in his philosophy. He therefore sought a political

position of influence, from which he could implement his principles.

Tradition teaches that the Duke of Lu appointed him to a cabinet position at the age of fifty.

Several historians believe he eventually ascended to higher positions of public office. Due to

political disagreements and internal conflicts, he resigned his post at fifty-five and left the

province of Lu. He then traveled for thirteen years from state to state seeking to persuade

political leaders to adopt his teachings. Although many lords respected him, no one gave him a
position. Discouraged from the response, he devoted his final years to teaching and writing.

Before his death in 479 B.C., he expressed his discouragement and disillusionment regarding his

career.

However, his disciples were able to gain significant positions in government after his death. They

modified his teachings and added their own insights. Centuries later, Confucianism became the

official religion of China, shaping Chinese culture. The values he espoused--education, family

loyalty, work ethic, value of traditions, conformity to traditional standards, honoring of

ancestors, and unquestioning obedience to superiors--remain entrenched in Asian culture.

The Metaphysics of Confucius

Confucianism, as its founder taught, is not a religion in the traditional sense. It is an ethical

code. Chinese culture was steeped in the religion of animism, a belief that gods and spirits dwell

in natural formations. Along with an animistic world view, there was a belief in ancestor worship.

The spirits of the dead needed to be honored and cared for by the living family members.

However, in his teachings, Confucius avoided spiritual issues. He can be categorized as an

agnostic who believed in spirits and the supernatural but was not interested in them. He was

humanistic and rationalistic in his outlook. "His position on matters of faith was this: whatever

seemed contrary to common sense in popular tradition and whatever did not serve any

discoverable social purpose, he regarded coldly." The answer to the cultural and social problems

was found in humanity itself, not in anything supernatural.

Confucius occasionally mentions the "Mandate of Heaven." He appears to interpret this to mean

the natural law or moral order within things. Men must seek to live within this order. One must

be careful not to violate the will of heaven. Confucius wrote, "He who put himself in the wrong

with Heaven has no means of expiation left." (Analects 3:13)

centered and relies on self-effort. Man is sufficient to attain the ideal character through

education, self-effort, and self-reflection. The goal of life was to live a good moral life. After his

death, Confucianism evolved, combining with Chinese traditional religions and Buddhism to add

a spiritual component.

In contrast, Christianity is God-centered. It is built on a relationship with a personal God who is

involved in the world. Confucius focused on life here on this earth. Jesus focused on life in

eternity. For Jesus what happens in eternity has ramifications for life here on earth. In Matthew

6:19 Jesus stated, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust

destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasure in heaven

where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal." Here we see

the basically different perspectives of Jesus and Confucius.

The Ethics of Confucius

Three key principles are emphasized in Confucius' teachings: the principles ofLi, Jen and Chun-

Tzu. The term Li has several meanings, often translated as propriety, reverence, courtesy, ritual

or the ideal standard of conduct. It is what Confucius believed to be the ideal standard of

religious, moral, and social conduct.

The second key concept is the Principle of Jen. It is the fundamental virtue of Confucian

teaching. Jen is the virtue of goodness and benevolence. It is expressed through recognition of

value and concern for others, no matter their rank or class. In the Analects, Confucius

summarizes the principle of Jen in this statement, often called The Silver Rule: "Do not do to

others what you would not like them to do to you." (Analects 15:23) Li provides the structure for

social interaction. Jen makes it a moral system.

according to the highest ethical standards. The gentleman displays five virtues: self-respect,

generosity, sincerity, persistence, and benevolence. His relationships are described as the

following: as a son, he is always loyal; as a father, he is just and kind; as an official, he is loyal

and faithful; as a husband, he is righteous and just; and as a friend, he is faithful and tactful.

If all men would live by the principles of Li and Jen and strive to the character of the true

gentleman, justice and harmony would rule the empire.

The Christian would find himself in agreement with many of Confucius' ethical principles and

virtues. A Christian would also agree with many of the character qualities of the true gentleman

and seek to develop those qualities.

What accounts for the similarity in ethics in Confucianism and other religious systems is what

Paul states in Romans 2. Within every man there exists a God-given conscience or natural law

that guides our moral conduct. This is because we are created in the image of God, and so we

reflect His character. However, similarity in ethical codes does not mean the religions are the

same.

The key difference can be illustrated this way. Confucian law is summarized by The Silver Rule.

Jesus summarizes his teachings this way, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all

your soul, and with your entire mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the

second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:38) Confucius believed that in

order to truly achieve the principles of Li, Jen, and the character of the true gentleman, one

must look within oneself. Jesus takes his teaching a step further. All His principles revolve

around a relationship with God first. Only then can we truly love our fellow man.
IV. Critical Analysis

a. Biographical Approach
 a. Historical Approach

By: Frances Allen Eballa