As we all know, the four ancient civilizations recognized by historians are ancient Egypt, ancient India, ancient Babylon and China. Here readers may wonder why the author deliberately does not say "ancient China" when talking about China. Because of these four ancient civilizations, only China still exists.
Not to mention ancient Babylon, which was completely wiped out by the Hittites in 1595 BC, the other two ancient civilizations, Ancient Egypt and Ancient India, and today's Egypt and India are completely two countries. The only thing they have in common is that they all once lived on a piece of land. In China alone, there are no faults in culture and history, and they are passed down in the same vein. Therefore, ancient China and today's China are one concept.
Why is there only China left in the four ancient civilizations? Could it be that the civilization of ancient China was the most prosperous at that time? In fact, the formation time of ancient Egyptian civilization is exactly 3,000 years earlier than that of The Chinese civilization, and their prosperity in that year was also the highest among the four ancient civilizations, and there was ancient Babylon in the Two Rivers Valley, under the pen of the Jews and Greeks, here is a paradise that everyone yearns for, and even the Human Eden depicted in the Bible is in ancient Babylon. In terms of prosperity, ancient China and these two are incomparable.
So, what is the reason why Chinese culture has lasted so long? The author believes that there are no more than the following 7 reasons.
First, it lies in our country's strategic position. It is not difficult to find that China is a country facing the ocean and backed by the foothills. This terrain is quite characteristic, at the beginning of the birth of human civilization, there must be no enemy on the sea to invade, and the tall mountains and dense primeval forests in the west also block the invasion of foreign civilizations.
The only threat came from the north, but the north had not yet given birth to civilization, let alone foreign tribes. Even if nomadic peoples such as the Xiongnu were born later, our country had already built the Great Wall and intercepted them outside the Pass. Therefore, China's geographical location is quite closed and safe, ensuring that the early civilization was not disturbed by the outside world and multiplied and developed smoothly.
Second, China's ancient military strength was second to none in the world, and if foreign civilizations wanted to invade, they must first be able to defeat us. From the Battle of Zhuolu by the Yellow Emperor and Xuan You, to the chaotic Spring and Autumn period in the later Warring States period. The early Chinese civilization was in a state of combat almost all the time, and naturally it was also a strong soldier and a strong horse, such a strong military strength, I would like to ask which foreign nation dares to destroy the Chinese civilization.
Third, China's culture has a strong assimilation force, especially after the birth of Confucius's Confucianism in the Spring and Autumn Period. Confucianism pays attention to tolerance and benevolence, and does not reject various cultures, and absorbs and assimilates them together, which invisibly strengthens the influence and depth of Chinese culture. Throughout history, various foreign tribes have invaded Our country, such as the Mongols represented by Kublai Khan during the Yuan Dynasty, or the Jurchens in the Qing Dynasty. After they entered the Central Plains, they were all assimilated by the Chinese Han culture, and eventually they all became part of the big Huaxia family.
Fourth, China's agricultural roots are quite deep, the so-called scholars, farmers, industrialists, and merchants, in ancient times, the ruling class attached great importance to agriculture, and the peasants only ranked behind the officials, which shows its importance. Countries with developed agriculture can not only be self-sufficient, but also effectively combat the effects of natural disasters and famine. It can also show strong resilience and buffer rebound ability in the face of foreign invasions. That is to say, no matter how tense the war is and how chaotic the world is, as long as we give our people an acre and a third of land, we can live tenaciously. Viewed in this way, it is difficult for civilization to extinguish.
Fifth, China's population has always been at the forefront of the world. The country is people-oriented, and if it wants to be strong, people are the most important core. Due to the vast land, China has been a country with a large population since ancient times, as early as the Song Dynasty, the population exceeded 100 million, and it is also the country with the earliest population in the world to exceed 100 million, and those foreign tribes who want to let China's civilization die out, the population is not as large as the Han people, where is the confidence?
Sixth, the political situation in our country is stable, and since Qin Shi Huang established the feudal dynasty, our country has ended the turbulent and chaotic situation in ancient times. The centralization of power was strengthened in every dynasty, and although it seems rather backward now, at that time it was undoubtedly an advanced political system that promoted unity and national cohesion. A stable political environment naturally allows the whole country to be uniform and further promotes the stability of civilization.
Seventh, there is the inheritance of Chinese characters. As the most important carrier of culture, the importance of writing to human civilization is self-evident. Looking at the disappearance of the other three ancient civilizations, the first is the loss of writing, the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt have been deciphered very little so far, and the cuneiform script of ancient Babylon, although according to its branch ancient Persian, deciphered a lot, but the country no longer exists. As for the ancient Indian seal script, its meaning is still an unsolved mystery to this day, which is also the fundamental reason for the cultural faults of these ancient civilizations.
And China's script, since Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, the small seal has become the official script of China, although after thousands of years of evolution and development, has become today's simplified characters, but its small seal is essentially the same line. For today's historians and linguists, the small seal is not a laborious task to translate. That's why. Many historical books unearthed in the later qin dynasty and even in the pre-Qin period can still be read through to this day. Only through these written records can the ancient Chinese civilization be passed down to the present day.
These 7 points are the reason why our country can become the only survivor in the four ancient civilizations, and all of them make the Chinese people extremely proud. Readers, do you have any other insights?