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| The Great Wall of China |
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| Mt. Fuji |
Historically, it was said that the Chinese played an important
role in molding of Japanese civilization as many traditions of the former were
adopted by the latter throughout the centuries. In addition, and literally
speaking, the Chinese Book of Songs, said to be the beginning of Chinese epic
can be compared with Japan’s Man’yoshu. Both tell of the ways of living and the
feelings of the ancient civilizations of both countries. In a way, the history
of Chinese rulers has an evident semblance with that of the Japanese since both
countries were ruled by nobility or rulers of similar status, who were believed
to have been descendants of mythical or legendary empires.
If one is to keenly observe, there were quite a number of things, which the Japanese civilization was able to adopt from the Chinese, like the writing system, which, according to tradition, was introduced through Korea, around 405 CE. It was said that Buddhism was also introduced to Japan through Korea around the sixth century. Historical accounts also showed that in both countries, the emperor held the highest position in the land.
With a closer look, one will notice, however, the differences between the two civilizations; the Chinese being the more advanced of the two, as based on historical accounts, provided a pattern for Japan in shaping up its culture and its people’s way of life. But though it was the case, the Japanese system of ruling those times greatly differed from that of the Chinese, since the Japanese emperor of the ancient days only played as a figure head, meaning he assumed the throne but he did not hold the power to rule, and some other high-ranking officials, in the person of court nobles, regents or even the retired seniors of the dynasty performed the task for him.
The succeeding paragraphs describe the historical accounts on the Chinese tradition, where one will notice its similarities and differences with the Japanese.
The Chinese tradition has it that the predecessors of modern-day China were five mythical emperors who ruled the country in the ancient days. The first was known as Fu Xi who, according to tradition, reigned from 2852 – 2737 BC; then there was Shu, the emperor of the Northern Sea, Hu, the emperor of the Southern Sea, and Hun Dun (also known as Chaos), emperor of the Center. According to the legends, when Emperors Shu and Hu went to the land of Emperor Hun Dun, the ruler received them with great hospitality. And in return, as an expression of gratitude to their host, they put seven orifices in his body, one orifice a day for seven days, only to realize after their task was through that they had killed the emperor in the process. It was said that only after Hun Dun’s death did the orderly universe came to existence. The last of the five emperors was Huang-Ti, or otherwise known as the Yellow Emperor. He was believed to have reigned from 2697 – 2597 BC, and was the one to have been succeeded by the first dynasty known as Xia, that was said to have reigned from 2205(?) – 1570(?). But since there were no archeological proofs for the existence of the Xia Dynasty, it was considered as legendary like the five rulers who preceded it.
The first Chinese dynasty that was archeologically proven to have existed during the ancient days was the Shang Dynasty (1570(?) – 1045(?) BC). Based on archeological discoveries and through depicting the Late Shang oracle-bone inscriptions, it was found out that the Shang was an aristocratic society that was ruled by a king who had control over military nobility. It was further discovered that he appointed territorial rulers to govern the different parts of his kingdom and required them to support him in all his military undertakings.
Although there were no written accounts found relating to the final defeat of the Shang, later texts indicate that Zhou ruler King Wu defeated Shang ruler Di Xin over the Battle of Muye in the northern Henan Province around 1045 BC.
Comparisons were made between the downfalls of the Shang Dynasty and the legendary Xia Dynasty. According to Chinese traditional history, the last rulers of both dynasties were debauched and tyrants that their people revolted against them, causing their kingdoms to crumble.
After the conquest of the Shang Dynasty by the Zhou in about 1045 BC, the latter was considered to be the most powerful inChina in terms of political aspects. It was said that although the Zhou adopted many of the Shang Dynasty’s culture, it also made gradual transformations including the evolution of government from feudal state to a centralized form, which helped in developing more frequent interactions among regions. It was also during the reign of the Zhou Dynasty (1045(?) – 256(?) BC) that the teachings of Confucius began to spread all over China. Confucius (551 or 552 – 479 BC), a Chinese educator and philosopher who became one of the most important figures in Chinese history, was the founder of Confucianism. Confucius’ Analects or Assorted Sayings included the famous principle of reciprocity: “Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.”1 According to tradition, his teachings contributed to the molding of government rulers into righteous and properly educated gentlemen who could lead the people by way of examples. However, despite this scholar’s efforts, the rule of the Zhou Dynasty still came to an end when a number of states joined the non-Chinese forces in rebellion against it. According to tradition, the fall of the Zhou Dynasty marked the beginning of the Ch’in Dynasty (221 – 206 BC). Ch’in was a small state situated in what used to be ruled by the Western Zhou, but despite of its size, it was said to be the first true Chinese empire, ruled Ch’in Shih-huang-ti as its first emperor (221 – 210 BC). Tradition also has it that it was from Ch’in that the name China was derived. Many reforms were made during the reign of this dynasty, including the abolition of hereditary aristocracies wherein the territories were taken from the aristocrats and divided into provinces that were ruled by the emperor’s chosen government officials. The desire of the Ch’in to achieve cultural uniformity caused it to condemn many schools of philosophy, which developed during the late Zhou.
Several achievements were made during the Ch’in Dynasty. Besides uniting China and expanding its territory far over the boundaries of the former Zhou Dynasty, the building and completion of the Great Wall took place during this period. The achievements of this dynasty, however, did not hide the encumbrance of taxation, forced labor and military service among the commoners, which urged them to rebel against the Ch’in rule.
After the fall of the Ch’in Dynasty, there were several more dynasties that came to power, one after another. The Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), founded by Gaozu, was known as the golden age of Chinese Philosophy. Its recognition of Confucianism as the official doctrine was said to have been among its important contributions in Chinese culture. The Xin Dynasty (AD 9 – 23), which was founded by Wang Mang – its only ruler – was short-lived, due to his inability to resolve the agrarian crisis; the worsening situation even caused the Xin leader his life.
As time went on several other dynasties came to power including the T’ang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD), founded by Li Yuan. T’ang was said to be unprecedented in the history of the Chinese civilization, and Hsüan-Tsung (also known as Minghuang or Brilliant Emperor) – T’ang’ Dynasty’s sixth emperor – was said to have been one of the greatest Chinese rulers. During T’ang’s reign, many reforms were introduced and implemented for the betterment of the people’s way of life but in the end, like all the others, the T’ang Dynasty met its downfall.
According to Hsün-Tzu, a Chinese philosopher during the reign of the Zhou Dynasty, “Heaven operates with constant regularity. It does not prevail because of [a sage-king like] Yao; nor does it cease to prevail because of [a tyrant like] Jie. Respond to it with good government, and blessings will result; respond to it with misgovernment, and misfortune will result.” 2
This philosophy might prove to be true in some way, for if we are going to look back and make a careful analysis of the reasons involving the establishment and downfall of these dynasties, we will perceive that in the beginning of the reign of most of the sage kings lay the goodness of their intensions but as time went on, these intensions somehow slowly slipped away, and were replaced by ones which were no longer selfless, probably influenced by several things or people or principles. Their people grew weary and eventually turned against them because they [the people] no longer felt protected or contented, meaning that the goodness that they once found was not anymore in existence.
ENDNOTES:
1 “Analects of Confucius.” William Theodore de Bary et al., ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition. Vol. 1. CD-ROM. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
2 Hsün-tzu. “Concerning Heaven.” William Theodore de Bary et al., ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition. Vol. 1. CD-ROM. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
SOURCES:
“Analects of Confucius.” William Theodore de Bary et al., ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition. Vol. 1. CD-ROM. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
Dickey, Norma H. “China.” Ed. Norma H. Dickey. Vol. 6. Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. 1986.
Hsün-tzu.“Concerning Heaven.” William Theodore de Bary et al., ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition. Vol. 1. CD-ROM. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
“Concerning Heaven.” William Theodore de Bary et al., ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition. Vol. 1. CD-ROM. New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.
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