General Characteristics of Chinese culture:

1. Tied to highly developed agriculture which confined itself almost exclusively to the plains and valleys -- mountains are scarcely utilized;

2. A complex form of political organization which were the most highly perfected in the history of human societies;

4. Man-nature relationship: harmony with nature.

o reject the positive distinction between mind and matter

o the idea of order as an organic totality

5. Human nature: Innate goodness of human nature.

6. Past-time orientation: Ancestor worship, strong family tradition

7. Relational orientation: collectivism.

Third largest in the world (after Russia and Canada)

· The People's Republic of China (PRC)

· The Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan)

These cultures, which are today in retreat, once extended over a wide area up to the valley of the Yangtze and in South-East Asia. They combined gathering, hunting, livestock raising, forms of agriculture less developed than those of the Han Chinese, and coastal and river fishing.

o North China: Highland zone in the West mostly covered with loess (Kansu, Shensi, Shansi), lowland plain in the center(Hopei, Honan, and parts of Shantung, Anhwei, and Kiangsu), and the Shandung promontory. The largest plain in China (North China Plain)

Some topics in this essay:
South China, Yellow Emperor, Pan Ku, Characteristics Chinese, Classical Chinese, Yellow River, Han Chinese, Yang Shao, Lung Shan, Mandate Heaven, dynasty ·, chinese history, north china, han chinese, shih poetry, china proper, mandate heaven, mandate heaven rule, standard chinese, culture §, south-east asia, highly developed agriculture, people's republic china, § domesticated animals, language family eg,