BRIEF NO 11
PRIME MINISTER'S VISIT TO CHINA AND HONG KONG, 18-21 DEC 198 CHINESE HISTORY: BACKGROUND NOTE
1. The Chinese are justly proud of the long and unbroken history
of their civilisation and have a highly developed sense of the past.
As is the case with many Peoples, China's recorded history is preceded by a mythical period populated by semi-divine figures, such
as Shen Nong the inventor of agriculture and Yu restrainer of flood
waters. The first dynasty which can be verified through
archeological findings is the Shang dynasty which lasted from around
1480 to 1050 BC. An extensive area of China was unified for the
first time in 221BC, by the first Qin Emperor. By this time Chinese
civilisation had made significant advances: cities and commerce had
emerged; civil administration was advanced enough to undertake large
scale drainage and irrigation projects; agricultural and basic
industrial techniques were well developed; and the basis of Chinese
thought Confucianism, Daoism (or Taoism) and Legalism had been
established. The teachings of Confucius who was born in 551BC, with
their emphasis on harmony, benevolence, and order built on a rigid
hierarchy of relationships and obedience between senior and
subordinate have had a great influence on subsequent Chinese thought and practice.
2.
The personality of Zheng, the first Qin Emperor, dominates Chinese history. It is his tomb that is guarded by the terracotta
army of Xian. He is remembered mainly for having unified China by the ruthless exercise of military power and for the great demands that his building programme (he caused the Great Wall to be built) imposed on the people. He also pursued the policy of "burning of the books and burying of the scholars" in an attempt to eliminate ideological opposition to his authoritarian regime. The succeeding dynasty, the Han, built on the foundations which Zheng had laid and
China flourished during the 400 years which it lasted.
The Han period witnessed a burgeoning of Chinese culture and the foundation of the Chinese system of government informed by Confucian values which was later refined in the Tang (618 - 905) and Song (960 1126) dynasties and reached its a pogee
under the Ming (1368-1644).
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