China, as one of the ancient civilizations (the above picture shows five ancient civilizations: Egyptian civilization, Sumerian civilization in the two river basins, Halaba civilization in India, Mycenae civilization in Crete, and Chinese civilization), is the only one that has survived to this day, so why can Chinese civilization be like this?
To answer this question, we must first answer that China is the only ancient civilization without fracture. What is the basis of this statement? Why do you say that?
One of the most obvious signs of the continuation of Chinese civilization is the continuation of words. We can now understand Oracle Bone Inscriptions thousands of years ago. Chinese characters are hieroglyphics that have been used to this day. It is a great contribution that writing can record the clear history of civilization and inherit its tradition.
On the other hand, the characters of several other ancient civilizations are already extinct language, which has long been abandoned. This is the biggest difference between China and them.
Confucius, the most sacred teacher.
Of course, in addition to writing, China also retained his traditional culture in ancestor worship, Confucian etiquette culture, customs and habits.
Shaving and changing clothes in Qing dynasty
Although, in history, the Central Plains is also a battleground for military strategists, and dynasties change frequently, no matter which dynasty, the foundation of Chinese culture has not been destroyed, but it has been specially preserved by various dynasties. This is because of the superiority of China culture, with strong assimilation and centripetal force, which is beyond the reach of military force.
In the history of China, all ethnic groups learned from each other and oppressed each other endlessly, including riding and shooting of Zhao Wuling, Wang and Yuan Dynasties, racial classification, shaving and changing clothes after the Qing army entered the customs, but the only constant was the orthodox position of Confucian culture. Facts have proved that this advanced culture conforms to the governance reality of such a multi-ethnic country.
Female images in Tang dynasty
Its advanced nature spread to neighboring countries in East Asia and followed suit in succession, and there is still a strong legacy in Japan and South Korea today. This shows the great vitality of advanced culture.
Japanese geisha
The five ancient civilizations mentioned at the beginning, except Huaxia civilization, have no such strong culture to maintain their civilized life. In other words, these civilizations have not established their own advantages over the surrounding civilizations, and the irreplaceable advantages of civilization. At the same time, China undoubtedly has the advantage of civilization that the surrounding barbarians can't match.
Another objective reason for the different fate of Chinese civilization and other ancient civilizations is the geographical environment. China's geographical position is the Siberian ice sheet in the north, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Himalayas in the west and southwest, and the sea in the east and south. This is an excellent geographical environment, which is difficult to overcome in the cold weapon era. In fact, Chinese civilization has also expanded to the extreme scale of its geographical environment in the later development.
chinese terrain
The Nile Valley, the Two Rivers Valley, the Indus Valley and the Aegean Sea, where several other ancient civilizations are located, are all open and cannot provide safe barrier protection. Before the emergence of relatively stable regional forces in these areas, regime change and national rise and fall frequently, which is objectively not conducive to the stable development of ancient civilization in these areas.
To sum up, cultural advantages and objective geographical environment have promoted the continuation and stability of ancient civilization in China.