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Author: Chasing History and Exploring the Present
Editor: Tracing the Past and Exploring the Present
Some scholars say: "Human beings have developed to this day with one foot on the earth and the other on the ocean."
Human civilization was born from the sea and from the land, and human societies in different regions have embarked on different paths due to different climate and geographical conditions.
Western European countries are mostly maritime civilizations, while East Asian countries are mostly agricultural civilizations.
China has a vast territory, both sea and land, why in the process of development towards agricultural civilization, and has persisted to this day, what is the difference between maritime civilization and agricultural civilization?
The formation of maritime civilizations
The origin of civilization is closely related to the geographical environment and climatic conditions, and the development of each civilization is closely related to the external environment.
The natural environment provides a rich material basis for human development, but at the same time limits the diversity of human civilization.
There is a fundamental difference between agricultural civilization and maritime civilization, one of which was formed thanks to the land and the other from the sea.
Most of the countries that can form agricultural civilizations have vast hinterlands suitable for the growth of crops, while the citizens of maritime civilizations rely on seafood and navigation for their livelihoods and pursuit of innovation and stimulation.
The source of maritime civilization is in the Mediterranean region, mainly including ancient Greece.
The Mediterranean Sea is an important sea originating in European countries, and due to climatic reasons, the rivers along the Mediterranean coast can only form a small alluvial plain, so Europe lacks deep and vast land.
Ancient Greece was a typical maritime civilization, and its territory was divided into small blocks due to its topography.
This special geographical environment made ancient Greece form a typical city-state system of small states and widows.
Due to the small area of the plains of ancient Greece, the inconvenient transportation of the people between the various city-states, and the limited carrying capacity of the small plains, the ancient Greek people pursued excitement, loved long-distance sailing, and liked to carry out overseas trade.
As the cradle of Western civilization, ancient Greece also directly influenced the development of Western culture, and its civilization, art and system were absorbed and used by Westerners in later generations.
If you open the map, you will find that European countries have a typical feature, although they have both land and sea, but the plains are mostly blocked by rivers and mountains, and the powerful United States is also blocked into multiple city-states due to the terrain.
Due to the limitations of the terrain, it is difficult for them to give birth to agricultural civilization and cannot maintain the stability of agricultural civilization.
Under the influence of a specific environment, Westerners can only choose maritime civilization, but cannot develop agricultural civilization.
One side of the water and soil to support the other side
China's national conditions and geographical environment are quite special, China has a vast territory, diverse natural environment, long land depth, and towering Himalayas and Changbai Mountains in the north, which effectively block the invasion of foreign enemies.
With the vast sea to the east, the plateau desert to the west, and the vast rainforest to the south, the special geographical environment restricts China's communication with the outside world.
China has vast plains and a monsoon climate suitable for crop growth, which dooms the Chinese to be based on agriculture rather than commerce.
The Chinese rely on the mountains to eat the mountains, rely on the water to eat the water, obey the mandate of heaven, and watch over the countryside.
It has developed agriculture, commerce, economy, and culture on a vast land, and has been passed down to this day, becoming the only surviving country of the four ancient civilizations.
Chinese believe that all things cannot be born beyond the soil, man is also a thing in all things, Chinese love the land more than any country in the world, we rely on the land to eat, rely on the land to live, love the land, protect the land.
The Chinese see the land not only as the mother of life, but also as the home of death and soul.
Since ancient times, China has a saying that the land is safe, and a person's life, from birth to death, is closely related to the land.
Land brings not only wealth and food to the people, but also a sense of security and stability, and this love for the land deeply affects the Chinese's ideological concepts and inheritance concepts.
From the national character, mythological beliefs, behavioral Xi habits, and local folk customs of the Chinese, it can be seen that the Chinese have a different kind of dependence on the land in their bones.
From ancient times to the present, from the emperor to the common people, there is no one who does not respect the land, we rely on the land for food, and we also love the place under our feet.
Chinese are content to defend the land, pay attention to inheritance, attach importance to history, and like to tell the ins and outs.
We love our history and the past of this land, and it is this love of the land that has allowed China to continue to this day, becoming the only surviving country among the four ancient civilizations.
The historical inheritance of agricultural civilization has endowed Chinese culture with distinctive characteristics, which is an important reason why Chinese culture has continued to this day.
The difference between an agrarian civilization and a maritime civilization
Different geographical environments have created different civilizations, and the thinking patterns of the people bred in different civilizations are also very different.
In ancient times, the Chinese people longed to establish a stable dynasty, to produce and work in a stable environment, and to live and work in peace and contentment.
Ancient rulers also attached great importance to unification when establishing political power, and China was divided internally, and various forces were constantly fighting each other, with the ultimate goal of establishing a unified dynasty.
In contrast, in Western countries, their attitude towards war is very different from that of China, where city-states are scattered.
Xi to the idea of small countries and widows, they allow different groups and cultures in the same land, they are thrill-seeking, they love adventure, and they often take the initiative to wage war.
From the perspective of cultural core and foreign policy, there are also fundamental differences between agrarian civilization and maritime civilization countries.
Chinese pursue stability, etiquette, and continuity, while Western countries emphasize individual independence and communication.
Agrarian civilization is a civilization that has been passed down from generation to generation, and the ancient Chinese rulers mainly exported to the outside world when communicating with foreign countries, and liked to emphasize China's noble status in diplomacy and promote the idea of a great power in the Celestial Empire.
Maritime civilizations, on the other hand, pay attention to learning, and they continue to absorb foreign cultures in the process of diplomacy.
They continue to colonize abroad in diplomacy, and they continue to introduce foreign cultures in diplomacy, and they are open-minded and advocate freedom, and this spirit of openness has made them form a unique multiculturalism.
Agrarian civilization and maritime civilization focus on centralization, freedom, introvertedness, and decentralization, while centralization and cultural pluralism are pursued.
Geography, culture, and politics have never been separated, different geographical environments will create different civilizations, and different people will turn around to affect the environment, whether it is a maritime civilization or an agricultural civilization, they all have their own advantages and disadvantages.
How to give full play to our own subjective initiative and avoid weaknesses is the issue we should pay the most attention to.
Nowadays, with the development of technology, there are more and more exchanges between countries, and all countries are steadily moving towards the path of globalization, and the differences between different civilizations are getting smaller and smaller.
There are pros and cons to marine civilization and agricultural civilization, and how to learn from foreign culture while keeping its own culture, and how to do a good job in introducing foreign culture in the process Xi of going out are issues that every country should pay attention to.
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