Category China History

The history of human development, because of the different geographical, cultural, political and economic patterns are different from. Of course, cultural differences also include religion as a cultural difference. Specific performance in three aspects.

First: the origin of Chinese and Western religions are different.

Oriental religious culture is in at that time the nobles of the jealous Shemi the pursuit of material desires expansion; the Western religious culture, on the contrary, he is in the bloody political struggle, people in the spirit of sustenance, the faith.

Second: the religious beliefs of the East and West are different.

In China, religion has a large part of people’s desire for material.

The west, no matter what religion, people’s beliefs are spiritual. Will not pray for material prosperity, the pursuit of spiritual liberation.

Pure faith and non pure faith are the essential differences between the eastern and Western religions.

Third: the differences between Chinese and Western religious and political relations.

The history of the development of religions in the East and the west, we can clearly separate: strong political color of the religions of the East, indelible, in modern still exist; Westerners of the spirit of God is not politics.

Eastern and Western religious differences, there are a lot of differences, for example, religious elements, function, teaching, characteristics and so on, existed more or less difference, I believe with the development of society, the religious exchanges will continue to strengthen mutual integration of different religions, take the essence, common development. At the same time, because of differences in political, economic, cultural, geographical, religious in many aspects is still not the same. In the history of western culture, although there are tens of thousands of religious differences, religious culture still is immortal, has a long history.

The imperial examination system became a way for talents to be recognized and selected for future civil service positions. It was implemented in the sui dynasty and lasted for more than 1,300 years until the last examination in the qing dynasty. Therefore, it occupies a long-term dominant position in the history of ancient Chinese education.

The imperial examination consisted of two parts, the art examination and the martial arts examination. The examination of fine arts includes composition, books, law, calligraphy, painting, etc. The examination of martial arts is to select military officials, but it is not as important as the examination of fine arts.

In ancient societies, class consciousness was so strong that many of the lower classes had little chance of rising to high positions, let alone positions in the imperial court. But since the introduction of the “imperial examination” evaluation system, children from poor families have been given the chance to take government exams, enabling them to bring honor to their families. In addition, there was a special test for bright children, “child sentences,” which in many ways resembled today’s special classes for gifted children. Therefore, almost all men, regardless of birth or age, are entitled to self-development.

While the spread of Confucian culture and education had a huge impact, it also influenced the educational systems of many other countries, such as South Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Today’s education system is its undisputed successor.

During the Sui dynasty, many independent countries were unified as one. To centralize power, the emperor realized the need for a strong, well-educated administration, one that would employ the best people in the country. In order to achieve this goal, the most influential institutions came into being, and replaced the previous old system – the middle of the nine. Although it is immature from the very beginning, it closely interweaves the three elements of study, examination and management. It has proved fairer and more far-reaching than any previous system.

Compared with Chinese and western students, Chinese students learn more but have less understanding, while western students learn less but have more understanding. Most of the Chinese students show a solid foundation, ideological attachment, only from the teacher, only from the book, lack of innovative spirit of the general phenomenon; Most students in the west show that they dare to think, dare to do and are full of competition. As is known to all, for thousands of years, Chinese education has a remarkable feature, that is, pay attention to the foundation, pay attention to the basic education. But unfortunately, too much emphasis is placed on “basics,” “learning from the basics that are not needed by everyone as the basics that are needed by everyone.” The primary education adopted by Chinese education lays the foundation, attaches great importance to basic knowledge, attaches great importance to inculcate knowledge to students, and emphasizes the inheritance and mastery of previous knowledge. Only in the advanced stage of learning, to the university began to learn to do research, and at this time, because the creative consciousness, creative ability has not been cultivated since childhood, lack of creativity, no wonder “less awareness”. However, western education focuses on the consistent cultivation of creative consciousness and creative ability and ignores the imparting of basic education knowledge. The foundation is not solid, “learn little”, but the west pays attention to children’s imagination, creativity inspiration, pay attention to non-intellectual factors or personality training, “understand much”.

Compared with the western education, Chinese education attaches importance to the commonality but ignores the cultivation of individuality. In China, Chinese teachers believe that good classroom discipline requires students to be orderly and keep quiet. Chinese children see sitting upright as a sign of respect for their teachers, while western children see sitting upright as a way to communicate better with their teachers. Indeed, in a relaxed and free educational atmosphere, students feel, dare to say and do, their personalities develop freely, their talents are fully displayed, and their creativity is cultivated. However, whether in class or after class, Chinese students spend their time in the infinite care of teachers and parents and in a variety of designed homework. It is this kind of care that makes children lose their individuality, limit their free space, block their free dreams, and suppress their imagination and creativity.

Traditional Chinese education emphasizes the imparting of knowledge, while western education emphasizes the cultivation of students’ ability. The two need to communicate and complement each other. Therefore, we should learn from western school education to give them broad space for thinking and encourage them to think independently, question boldly and explore bravely.

The culture of filial piety has permeated and flowed through every aspect of Chinese social life. Many places are famous for “filial piety”, filial sons will be respected by the whole society. Dong yong is one of the famous “twenty-four filial piety” in ancient China. The story of his “filial piety, family poverty, death of his father, selling his body to borrow money and being buried” moved heaven and earth. However, the western filial piety culture is far from so developed, not only there is no place known for “filial piety”, there is no place proud of “filial piety”, there is no “twenty-four filial piety” such famous people. There are many proverbs about “filial piety” in China, such as “filial piety is the first of all virtues; filial piety should be done in a timely manner”, “filial piety to parents-in-law and their own blessings, and diligent planting of heaven and earth and their own valley”, “filial piety at home is better than burning incense far away”, “there are three unfilial, no later is greater” and so on. However, in the west, there are very few proverbs in this respect. Among the proverbs included in the dictionary of applied English proverbs with an english-chinese double interpretation, there is none.

The culture of filial piety in China has dual meaning, that is, family meaning and social meaning. “Filial piety” in the family is mainly reflected in the behavior and attitude of children to their parents. In the traditional Chinese culture of filial piety, parents are the absolute authority in the family, and obedience to parents is regarded as a manifestation of filial piety. Confucius thought: “the matter parents a few admonition, see different ambition, but respect not violate, but not complain.” That is, when children serve their parents, they should gently remonstrate with their parents about their faults. If their own opinions are not accepted, they should remain respectful, not get angry, and not offend them. Even though they feel depressed, they should not complain. The social significance of “filial piety” is to maintain a kind of social harmony, that is, the reverence for elders and the ruling order and the reverence based obedience. In the west, “filial piety” is not mainly reflected in the behavior of children towards their parents, but more in the religious culture. The western culture of filial piety also has little social significance, while its family significance only shows respect for parents. This respect did not lead to obedience to parents, but more emphasis on independence and equality among family members.

The traditional mode of providing for the aged has greatly enriched the culture of filial piety in China. In China, for thousands of years, the duty of supporting was mainly done by children. However, in the west, it is not emphasized that children have the duty to support the elderly. When their parents grow old, the duty to support them mainly depends on the state through the social security system. Therefore, the culture of filial piety in China contains the obligation to support, while the culture of filial piety in the west does not. In China, the duty to support is like “feedback” in nature. In the west, the duty to support is “passed on” to the children or parents themselves.

The Chinese people have a strong sense of family, and parents give the most to their children, which is beyond the imagination of westerners. In the west, once you reach adulthood, you can earn your own living without too much effort from your parents. Chinese people usually live close to their parents, even if they work in other places, they usually bring their parents to them. Confucius thought: “parents, do not travel far, travel must have a way.” Confucius did not approve of sons traveling far away from home when their parents were still alive. Confucius was afraid that his son would travel far away and the old man would not be taken care of. Westerners usually don’t do that. They don’t think too much about their parents for their career. They don’t have to think about them. Moreover, unlike Chinese people, westerners do not have a deep attachment to their homeland. On the contrary, they like to change their residence constantly, especially americans, who usually move several times in their lifetime. This difference in the mutual contribution of parents and children partly explains the differences in property inheritance between China and the west. In China, there is no doubt that the parents’ property is inherited by the children, no written proof is required, and the children take it for granted. Westerners, on the other hand, decide the ownership of property through wills. They can give their property to any person or institution they want, even to their pets, without their children finding it unacceptable.

Old Shanghai style furniture refers to the eastern and western style furniture produced in Shanghai from 1843 to 1949. Shanghai archaize the image of furniture is a kind of Chinese and western goods. Among them: western furniture imported from Shanghai, modern furniture produced in Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s, and Atiq style furniture produced in Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s.

Most of Shanghai, especially the area of the bund and xujiahu, was once the concession of Britain, America and France. As foreign managers built in these areas, more and more western goods were imported into the city. Furniture was one of the representatives. From 1910 to 1920, the new culture movement (around the time of the May 4th movement in 1919) arose. The movement calls on people to accept the advanced knowledge of western countries. The Chinese are gradually accepting western-style suites. Accompanying this tide, furniture market also produced revolution. Many shanghainese have become collectors of western furniture. In the absence of supporting facilities, a growing number of Chinese and western furniture makers are moving their factories to China, especially Shanghai. Also made in Shanghai, the furniture is still western style to meet people’s preferences.

And in 20 centuries 30 time, Chinese tradition furniture also accepted western-style furniture gradually. The upper classes liked to make furniture out of mahogany. Chinese traditional furniture craftsmen use the characteristics of western furniture to improve the structure of Chinese traditional furniture. Under this kind of improvement, Shanghai classic furniture arises at the historic moment.

Shanghai furniture in the use of the city’s unique resources at the same time, followed the pattern of the combination of the two. The ancestral art of Chinese wood carving was used to create modern works after the art deco design. Because labor is cheap and plentiful, Shanghai’s furniture is the same as France’s, but with less precious materials and made on the big schale. In furniture decoration, wood carvings replace precious wood inlays, creating highly modern and affordable decorative works. The result is a unique combination of craft and industry.

As a symbol of modernization, shanghai-style furniture was widely adopted by the rapidly developing Shanghai upper-middle class in the 1920s and early 1930s. They follow the art deco movement in style, but often adapt to local traditions. The best example is a pair of seats separated by a tea table or a unique Chinese mahjong table. Like traditional Chinese furniture, they are more decorative than practical.

In Shanghai, such as radios, electric fans and other items related to Shanghai furniture can be seen everywhere. In a city obsessed with modernity, shanghai-style furniture is almost mainstream. The styles faded in the 1950s, but Shanghai residents kept them for a long time because of a lack of replacements. There are many new choices in the 1990s, and these old clothes are often discarded and replaced with new and shiny ones. They are now often used by Shanghai designers to create a sense of old Shanghai indoors.