FREE ESSAY ON THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CHINESE HISTORY AND BELIEFS

THE CORRELATION BETWEEN CHINESE HISTORY AND BELIEFS

The Correlation Between Chinese History And Beliefs
The numerous cultures of Mainland China are both intricate with their systems of deities
and traditions, and yet humble with their ways of life and survival. China is located in
the midst of high lands, plateaus, canyons and numerous river systems. In coinciding with
the difficult landscapes in which they live, the Chinese people have managed to generally
abide by the natural protocols of the land. Throughout their approximately five thousand
years of civilization the Chinese have concocted many traditions which are based upon
their thriving in their environment. These traditions are what produce the intricate
social structures of most of China. Every aspect of the Chinese culture is interrelated
and therefore necessary for the continuance of the civilization. These qualities are what
have confirmed China as not only a grand civilization but also one of great integrity. 
The area in which China is contained is within the continent of Asia surrounded by the
countries of Mongolia, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and both North and South
Korea. With these various surrounding civilizations China has been susceptible to
multiple altercations with encroaching empires and inflictions from outside cultures.
Most disputes were over jealousy fueled by the captivating land in which China is
located. However, the Chinese people, in accordance with their cultural beliefs, felt it
dishonorable to claim ownership of any parcel of land. 
The Chinese people carry much pride for their vast existence as a mainly undivided
civilization. However, their earliest of history was not thoroughly documented until the
Qin dynasty (approximately 200 B.C.E.) Before that specific era Chinese history was
preserved through stories by mouth rather than by quill. Though it is impossible to be
assured of the validity of any oral tradition the Chinese people still regard them as
written history. Many of the beliefs in current Chinese culture still heavily rely on the
precepts of these stories as their basis. 
The unwritten history of China began nearly five thousand years ago with two rulers of
primordial Asia. The first of the rulers was known as Huang Di, also referred to as the
Yellow Emperor, and ruled part of the Yellow River Valley of central Asia. The second of
rulers was known as Yan Di, often referred to as the Fiery Emperor, to whom an unknown
area of outer Asia had belonged. The importance of these two rulers is said to be in
cause of their extensive attributes to early civilization in China. The invention of the
cart, the boat, clothes, script and medicine is attributed to the genius of Huang Di.
Whereas the necessity of cultivating the land through the use of a plow is attributed to
Yan Di. 
`Perhaps, hundreds of years thereafter the attributions of Huang Di and Yan Di, the
leaders known as Yao, Shun and Yu had led the people one after another. Yu was a
prestigious and popular leader who supposedly gained the respect of his followers by
taming two flooding rivers by redirecting their currents towards the sea. Upon the death
of Yu his son, Qi. had succeeded as ruler. With this first exchange in rule the first
dynasty in Chinese history had been founded. It was called the Xia dynasty. With the
establishment of its first dynasty China had been transformed from a primitive society,
consisting of no family structure, private property, or class distinction, to a society
based mainly on family and private ownership. Little is known about the Xia dynasty
except for that it had lasted four hundred years and was ultimately overthrown by the
Shang,a state that was east of the Chinese establishment. 
All history before the Shang dynasty is largely legendary with very little or no material
evidence of neither the Xia dynasty nor the rulers Yu, Huang Di or Yao Di. However, the
Shang dynasty is assured to have existed in some manner as it is proven by numerous
burial chambers and oracle bones unearthed one-hundred years ago in Anyang County, Henan
Province. Anyang is believed to be one of the various capitals during the Shang Dynasty.
The nearly one hundred thousand bones with nearly three thousand different ideograms on
them concluded this assessment. The findings of the many scriptures on the bones
represent the existence of the Chinese written language for more than three thousand
years. 
Within the capital the Shang rulers carried on superstitious traditions to determine how
they would rule the land. At many times the rulers would summon the court diviner to
assist in their decision. The court diviner would then take either a tortoise shell or
the bone of an ox, drill a hole through it, and place it overtop of a fire until cracks
developed. Then the court diviner would study the cracks as to determine the outcome of a
decision and then they would record it onto a bone or piece of stone. These scribed bones
were referred to as the oracle bones. In this manner many of the accounts of the Shang
dynasty is assured to be valid. 
Though the Chinese civilization had been much revised and advanced since the Xia dynasty.
It had nonetheless still maintained its one notorious trait of slavery. The slaves of the
Shang dynasty had been mainly that of the captured nations through acts of battles
amongst other states and tribes. Slaves were used primarily to till the land and to
conduct the household work of their masters. In more dire circumstances the slaves may be
bought only for sacrifice to the gods and their masters' ancestors, or even to be buried
alive with the corpse of their master. 
During the 11th century B.C.E., more than likely in the exact year of 1066, Zhou, a state
in the Wei River valley in present-day Shaanxi Province, conquered the Shang dynasty.
Before the conquest of the Shang Empire, King Wen of the Zhou Empire had made his state
strong and planned the conquest. King Wen had died before his conquest had been
victorious so his son, King Wu, had assumed the conquest. King Wu had become the founder
of the Zhou dynasty, but had died two years later during an intense battle with the last
of the Shang family. His son was too young to succeed the throne so his younger brother
of King Wu, Duke of Zhou, had instead taken care of state affairs. These three rulers had
been the designers of the political and social structures of the Zhou dynasty. 
Each ruler attributed to the establishment of the feudal belief system in China. 
Through this system the country of China had been divided into several sections assigned
to individual members of the Zhou family. Each person in a specific area ruled by a
specific member of the Zhou family had become property of that member and that members'
descendants. This method of organization gave land and people to the members of the upper
class. The exact number of classes and divisions thereof are unknown as factual evidence.
The number of classes is thought to lie between ten and twelve with numerous
subdivisions. 
Of the known classes there are the king, master of all, people and land alike. At the
bottom is the common serf, bound to the land either by extreme adversity or because of
his birthright. The serf had first attend his masters' land and then was allowed to tend
to his own. The common serf was not allowed to ever leave his masters' fief. Also if the
lord of the land was in need of a women then the serfs' daughters or wife may be subject.

The life of a serf was better than a slave in that he was allowed the right of a family,
tools and land of his own. 
The Zhou rulers used two methods of maintaining law and order within the kingdom. The
first method, and most often used, was through acts of severe punishment or torture. The
second was through the use of rites to adjust relations among the nobles. The rites were
a series of rules and regulations concerning behavior, conduct and social institutions.
These systems and institutions suited the social conditions very well and the Zhou
enjoyed peace and stability for about 300 years. 
In 771 B.C., a mixture of natural calamities, internal struggles in the court and attacks
by bordering tribes brought the Zhou family's rule to the brink of collapse. However, in
the following year the Zhou moved their capital from the Haojing area in the west to the
Luoyi area in the eastern side of China. The dynasty name changed to mark the beginning
of a new empire. The new dynasty was referred to as the East Zhou dynasty and the earlier
dynasty was now known as the West Zhou dynasty. The new dynasty was then once again
divided into yet two more periods called the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring
States Period. 
The Spring and Autumn Period had taken place between the years 770 B.C. and 476 B.C. The
namesake for this era was simply the result of the many important events that had taken
place during this period. Which coincidentally had been recorded in an archive entitled
the "The Spring and Autumn Annuals." Much like the namesake for its counterpart, The
Warring States Period, had been named literally because there were warring states within
the kingdom during the times between 475 B.C. and 221 B.C. During these periods the king
had only the power of ownership to his title and the name of his country. That is, he was
weak in every way and unable to control the acts of any nobles that may have gained more
land and power than he. The land under his direct rule had continually gotten smaller as
a result of invasions by rebelling nobles. 
In effect of the extinguishing kingdom, the number of states decreased from 1,000 during
the Western Zhou to a mere 100 during the Spring and Autumn Period and finally to the
minute amount of twenty during the Warring States Period. There were many social
renovations that had taken place during this period as well. Through the increasing usage
of iron tools, agriculture had developed furthermore. Lords had learned that they may
receive more money if they were to rent their lands to the serfs. So, in effect, there
was the establishment of landowners and tenants. 
Along with this development of agriculture, handicrafts and commerce also grew, and there
appeared a new merchant class. Many merchants were rich enough to visit and bribe princes
and dukes. Another group of people, scholars, also developed. These came from different
classes. Before the Spring and Autumn Period, what learning there was had been
monopolized by the nobles; they alone could use the books and documents stored by the
government, and other people could not share this right. The great political and social
changes during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods broke the monopoly of
learning by the nobles. At all levels of society ;declining nobles, new landlords, free
citizens, even poor people ;there were people who made an effort to study and turn
themselves into scholars. When rulers of states wanted wise advice that would help them
to make their states rich and strong, they turned to scholars for such help and often put
them into important positions. Which represented the incorporation of more logical
thinking, unlike the use of a court diviner during the Xian and Shang dynasties. 
The Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods were thus a time of change. States
expanded or were conquered. The old systems and institutions established in the Western
Zhou were no longer observed. The rites and original social order were broken.Old beliefs
collapsed and new ideas spread. This turbulent situation urged scholars of the day to
think of ways to bring about peace and stability, or to make a state rich and strong.
Some of them went a step further to study fundamental principles of the universe and
human life. Therefore these two periods, especially the Warring States Period, saw the
rise of many different schools of philosophy.