Clues and development stages of China's cultural history The cultural history of China is a magnificent landscape painting. When describing this kind of landscape, people will have different classifications because of their different grasp of its scope and clues. Referring to the existing classification of cultural history and considering the convenience of practical teaching, this book captures six main clues, such as social material culture, academic thought, science and technology, literature and art, history, system, religion and customs, and forms the "Cultural History of China". Institutional culture focuses on administrative division, administration, education system, election system, military system, legal system and service system. Customs and culture take the Han nationality as the main body, taking into account the main ethnic minorities and representative regional customs in each period; Social ideology and culture, which focuses on academic thought, science and technology, literature and art, history and religion, is the main content of spiritual culture and the focus of this book. Regarding the development stages of China's cultural history, according to the symbolic cultural creation and characteristics of our ancestors in the process of civilization, we divide the historical process of China's cultural development into eight stages: 1. From ancient times to the establishment of Xia Dynasty, it is the origin stage of China culture. The achievements of China ancestors in material culture, spiritual culture and social organization form are the origin of China traditional culture. 2. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the appearance of bronzes, ironware and Niu Geng, the establishment of patriarchal clan system and the compilation of Six Classics marked the formation stage of China culture. 3. During the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, the social material life was more abundant. A large number of scientific and technological achievements represented by papermaking, literary works represented by essays and Han Fu of various schools, historical works represented by Zuo Zhuan, Guoyu, Warring States Policy, Historical Records and Han Shu appeared one after another, and Taoism came into being and Buddhism was introduced. This is the development stage of China culture. It promoted the development of the southern culture, and then the southern culture returned to the north, realizing the north-south exchange. At the same time, metaphysics was born in the dispute between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, and the cultural customs of all ethnic groups were passed down from generation to generation in the war, which can be described as the stage of internal conflict and integration of Chinese culture. During the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, people's material living conditions were further improved due to the improvement of productivity. Tang poetry, architecture, Buddha statue, textiles. Various forms of administrative management system adapted to local conditions in the vast territory and social customs and habits characterized by "Hu Hua" all indicate that this is the flourishing stage of China culture. 6. During the Song, Liao, Xia, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the northern and southern cities rose and the commodity economy was unprecedentedly active; In the trend of the times of the integration of the three religions, a new Confucianism led by Neo-Confucianism was formed; The emergence of literary forms such as Song Ci and Yuan Qu catered to the tastes of literati and citizens, and historical masterpieces such as Zi Tong Zhi Jian also came out one after another. This period is the third period of the "Four Great Inventions" in the history of China. There are indications that this is the peak stage of the development of ancient civilization in China. 7. In the early Ming and Qing Dynasties, the commodity economy continued to develop, and the maritime "Silk Road" got rid of the shackles and restrictions of feudal rulers and led to the major capitalist countries in the world, and the social and economic life fields continued to expand; Modern enlightenment thought and textual research originated from feudal totalitarian politics and played a great role in anti-feudal propaganda, historical and cultural collation, summary and research; Science and technology have made remarkable achievements. Zhang Hui's novels, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Journey to the West, The Water Margin, A Dream of Red Mansions, Local Records of the World, Yongle Grand Ceremony and Sikuquanshu, are all brilliant achievements in the cultural field and symbols of the sustainable development of Chinese culture. However, with the influx of western capitalist culture, China culture is facing a comparative disadvantage to some extent. From the Opium War to the Republic of China, with the invasion of capitalist powers, western culture flooded into China. At the same time of the national and ethnic crisis, China culture also encountered severe tests and crises for the first time. As a result, advanced China people began to face up to the reality, took the initiative to learn technology, system and concept culture from western countries, and successively set off the Westernization Movement, the Reform and Reform Movement and the New Culture Movement. The democratic republic system and modern sciences such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology and medicine were introduced into China. The cultural achievements of China people's learning from the West have also appeared one after another. Under the impact of western civilization, China culture began to step onto the stage of modernization. According to the overall situation of China's cultural development, the above stages can be summarized as two different stages: from the formation of Chinese culture to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, it is a stage of continuous development and prosperity; From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the late Republic of China, under the challenge of western capitalist civilization, China culture began to reflect on itself, get rid of the predicament and embark on the road of modernization. According to different perspectives and principles, there will be completely different ways to divide the stages of cultural development. The above division based on the characteristics of China's cultural development and the convenience of teaching is just an attempt, and I dare not think it is the most scientific.