A History of Chinese Civilization (Vols. 1 & 2) (eBook/Audio/Video)

Book Title : A History of Chinese Civilization (Vols. 1 & 2) Ebook - Traditional Chinese Characters
Author : Dr. Zhang Tianliang

Book Introduction

Faith shapes civilization. Just as we cannot deny the influence of Catholicism on European civilization and Protestantism on American civilization, we cannot deny the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism on Chinese civilization. This is key to understanding Chinese civilization, and therefore this book devotes considerable space to exploring the essence of the Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist belief systems, including clarifying some common misunderstandings.

Today, traditional beliefs have declined in many countries. People tend to use science to solve the relationship between humanity and nature, and law to solve the relationship between people. Essentially, this is a lingering effect of the Enlightenment—a belief in one's own reason, the conviction that humans can solve all problems through reason, even discovering the truth of the universe, the mysteries of life, conquering nature, and achieving immortality. At this point, civilization has gone astray. While humans should possess and promote reason, it must be reason within the framework of faith. Humans need to maintain humility towards God and uphold the morals prescribed by God. When faith in God is absent, civilization will inevitably not go far, and social chaos will follow. In fact, we are already seeing its negative consequences manifesting and spreading.

Therefore, in addition to exploring the essence of Chinese civilization and the real reasons for its five thousand years of continuity, this book also aims to find the key points for reviving Chinese civilization after the CCP's devastating destruction of Chinese culture.

About the Author

Dr. Zhang Tianliang is a highly accomplished scholar with expertise in both the humanities and sciences, as well as Chinese and Western learning. He possesses profound insights into many affairs in ancient and modern China and contemporary international affairs.
He is currently an associate professor in the Department of Humanities and Sciences at Fei Tian University and the host of the YouTube political commentary channel, "Dawn."
Dr. Zhang has also served as a visiting professor at George Mason University, a senior writer for The Epoch Times, a senior commentator for NTD Television, and a guest commentator for Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.
【Dawn】Premiered in April 2019, and as of April 2022, it has 380,000 subscribers and more than 100 million views.
Dr. Zhang Tianliang's major works include:
In 2003, he published the full-length documentary novel "Leaving the Dust";
In 2006, the DVD "A Casual Talk on Party Culture," which he helped plan and present, was distributed to tens of millions of people in mainland China.
In 2009, he published a collection of political essays entitled "China's Path of Peaceful Transition";
In 2010, he wrote and produced the film "Chance Encounter";
From 2011 to 2020, we co-produced a large-scale historical series called "Laughing and Talking about the Times" with NTDTV. The series consists of 192 episodes and about 1.5 million words, covering important figures and events from the pre-Qin period to the end of the Ming Dynasty.
In 2015, he co-authored "Unprecedented Evil Persecution" with scholars including the former Vice-President of the European Parliament;
In 2020, I taught "History of Chinese Civilization" at the City of Hope, where I systematically explained the three spiritual pillars that shaped Chinese civilization and clarified many misleading concepts.

sequence

In 1787, representatives from the newly independent thirteen states gathered in Philadelphia for the Constitutional Convention. Prior to this, no written constitution had ever existed in human society. Therefore, the constitution-making process not only established the framework for future American politics and the highest principles to be followed, but also set a precedent: that humanity, through reason and goodwill, could negotiate principles for resolving future conflicts of interest, and that these principles would become permanent.

Despite the noble intentions, in practice, conflicts of interest repeatedly led to deadlocks at the conference. The simplest solution, of course, would have been for the states to walk away, continuing their independent rule and forming a loose confederation—in which case there would be no United States or its Constitution today. Just as everyone was feeling angry and desperate, Benjamin Franklin stood up and addressed the conference chairman, General Washington, saying: “Mr. Chairman, I propose that before our recess, we nominate and appoint a pastor whose duty is to lead us in prayer to the Creator before each of our meetings, for He is the King of all nations. We implore him to preside over our meetings, to enlighten us with divine wisdom, to fill our hearts with love for truth and justice, and to bless our ultimate success.”

According to General Dayton, the later Speaker of the House, Franklin's words deeply moved General Washington and almost all the delegates, who expressed their approval with admiration and silence. The meeting was thus able to proceed and ultimately pass the Constitution.

Although the Constitution has been passed, whether the United States can maintain constitutional government under the Constitution is another question. Founding Father John Adams said, "Our Constitution is made for people of faith and morality. If people lose their faith and morality, the Constitution will become a dead letter."

Looking back at this history is to illustrate that if humanity wants to create civilization, it is clearly impossible to do so through the power of individuals alone. Large-scale division of labor and cooperation involves social organization and management, and morally corrupt individuals are neither capable of self-management nor of cooperation with others. Therefore, civilization can only be created by morally upright individuals. Historically, when a society's morality has declined, we have witnessed natural disasters, man-made calamities, national disintegration, dynastic changes, and even the decline and demise of civilization. Conversely, if Chinese civilization has continued for five thousand years, then there must have been a powerful force maintaining morality behind it. Therefore, I absolutely disagree with the prejudice that "China has no civilization" or "Chinese history is a complete mess." Those who hold such prejudices often fail to realize that this is the result of deliberate misleading by the Communist Party.

The next question is, who possesses the power to define morality and uphold it? The answer can only be God. The Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai are moral commandments. China's ethical system, however, originates from Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

Humans must manage three relationships effectively in life: First, the relationship between humanity and nature, which we can call "material civilization," the basic material guarantee for individual survival; second, the relationship between people, that is, how to build a community, and what rules should be followed within and between communities, which we can call "political civilization"; third, the relationship between humanity and God, which is the only way to maintain morality and the premise and foundation for the continuation of civilization, which we can call "spiritual civilization." When people turn away from God, they become moral relativists, that is, they have no concept of right and wrong, good and evil, and they will regard bad things as good things. At this time, people with different moral standards lose the basis for mutual communication and reaching a reliable consensus, and society collapses.

Among the three levels of civilization—material, political, and spiritual—materialists tend to believe that matter determines consciousness. Therefore, in narrating the history of civilization, they focus on, or even center on, material civilization, and their explanations of political civilization often take material civilization as their starting point. This is what I often find lacking when reading various books or articles on the history of civilization.

Indeed, faith shapes civilization. Just as we cannot deny the influence of Catholicism on European civilization and Protestantism on American civilization, we cannot deny the influence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism on Chinese civilization. Therefore, in discussing the history of Chinese civilization, this book devotes considerable space to exploring the essence of the Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist belief systems, including clarifying some common misunderstandings.

Today, traditional beliefs have declined in many countries. People tend to use science to solve the relationship between humanity and nature, and law to solve the relationship between people. Essentially, this is a lingering effect of the Enlightenment—a belief in one's own reason, the conviction that humans can solve all problems through reason, even discovering the truth of the universe, the mysteries of life, conquering nature, and achieving immortality. At this point, civilization has gone astray. While humans should possess and promote reason, it must be reason within the framework of faith. Humans need to maintain humility towards God and uphold the morals prescribed by God. When faith in God is absent, civilization will inevitably not go far, and social chaos will follow. In fact, we are already seeing its negative consequences manifesting and spreading.

Therefore, in addition to exploring the essence of Chinese civilization and the real reasons for its five thousand years of continuity, this book also aims to find the key points for reviving Chinese civilization after the CCP's devastating destruction of Chinese culture.

"A History of Chinese Civilization" is compiled based on my lecture notes from Fei Tian University and is divided into five parts: Lectures 1 to 7 provide an overview of Chinese civilization; Lectures 8 to 18 provide a concise history of China; Lectures 19 to 55 cover the history of Chinese philosophy, focusing on the Daoist, Confucian, Military, and Legalist schools of thought in the pre-Qin period, a brief history of the introduction and development of Buddhism in China, and the evolution of Chinese philosophical thought; Lectures 56 to 64 cover the history of political systems; and Lectures 65 to 72 provide a concise history of Chinese literature.

Limited by my own understanding and experience of faith, as well as the completeness of my personal knowledge system, errors and inconsistencies are inevitable in this book. This is just one person's opinion and is for reference only.

Zhang Tianliang

April 19, 2022, at Fei Tian University, New York

Table of contents

A History of Chinese Civilization (Volume 1)

[Lecture 1] Overview

[Lecture 2] Remains of Prehistoric Civilization (Part 1)

[Lecture 3] Remains of Prehistoric Civilization (Part 2)

[Lecture 4] Evolution and Pseudoscience

[Lecture 5] Historical Coincidences

[Lecture 6] The Core of Chinese Civilization

[Lecture 7] Characteristics of Chinese Civilization

[Lecture 8] How was Chinese history recorded?

[Lecture 9] Periodization of Chinese History and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors

[Lecture 10] Overview of Chinese History (1) Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties

[Lecture 11] Overview of Chinese History (2) From the Eastern Zhou Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms

[Lecture 12] Overview of Chinese History (3) From the Western Jin Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties

[Lecture 13] Overview of Chinese History (4) Sui Dynasty

[Lecture 14] Overview of Chinese History (5) Tang Dynasty

[Lecture 15] Overview of Chinese History (6) The Song Dynasty

[Lecture 16] An Overview of Chinese History (7) Yuan Dynasty

[Lecture 17] Overview of Chinese History (8) Ming Dynasty

[Lecture 18] Overview of Chinese History (9) Qing Dynasty

[Lecture 19] Taoist Thought (1) Lao Tzu's Life

[Lecture 20] Taoist Thought (2) The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao.

[Lecture 21] Taoist Thought (3) Mutual Generation and Mutual Restraint

[Lecture 22] Taoist Thought (4): Reverse Thinking and Non-Action

[Lecture 23] Taoist Thought (5) Taoism and Other Philosophers, Zhuangzi

[Lecture 24] Confucianism (1) The Life of Confucius (Part 1)

[Lecture 25] Confucianism (2) The Life of Confucius (Part 2)

[Lecture 26] Confucianism (3) The Doctrine of the Mean

[Lecture 27] Confucianism (4) Patriarchal System, Hierarchical System, Feudal System, and the Cultivation of Scholars

[Lecture 28] Confucianism (5) Family Ethics: Moderation and Harmony

[Lecture 29] Confucianism (6): Ritual and Music, Rectification of Names, and Benevolence

[Lecture 30] Confucianism (7) Righteousness and Knowing One's Fate

[Lecture 31] Confucianism (8) The Goodness and Evil of Human Nature

[Lecture 32] Military Thought (1) Sun Tzu's Life

[Lecture 33] Military Strategy (2) The Must Be Completed to Win the World

[Lecture 34] Military Thought (3): Chapters and Battle Examples of Sun Tzu's Art of War (Part 1)

[Lecture 35] Military Thought (4) Chapters and Battle Examples of Sun Tzu's Art of War (Part 2)

A History of Chinese Civilization (Volume 2)

[Lecture 36] Legalist Thought (1) Historical Background and Influence of Legalism

[Lecture 37] Legalist Thought (2) Shang Yang's Life 11

[Lecture 38] Legalist Thought (3): Han Fei's Life and the Legalist "Law" 21

[Lecture 39] Legalist Thought (4) Legalist "Techniques" and "Power" 33

[Lecture 40] Legalist Thought (5) "Marx Plus Qin Shi Huang" and "Criticize Lin Biao and Confucius" 43

[Lecture 41] Legalist Thought (6) Similarities between the CCP and Legalism 55

[Lecture 42] Legalist Thought (7) Differences between the CCP and Legalism 67

[Lecture 43] Legalist Thought (8) Why Does the CCP Destroy Traditional Culture? 79

[Lecture 44] A Brief History of Chinese Buddhism (1) The Transmission of Buddhism to the East 91

[Lecture 45] A Brief History of Chinese Buddhism (2) Kumarajiva, Buddhist Grottoes 103

[Lecture 46] A Brief History of Chinese Buddhism (3) A Brief History of Zen Buddhism 111

[Lecture 47] A Brief History of Chinese Buddhism (4) The Journey to the West to Seek the Dharma 121

[Lecture 48] A Brief History of Chinese Buddhism (5): Jianzhen's Journey to Japan and a Brief History of Tibetan Buddhism 131

[Lecture 49] A Brief History of Chinese Buddhism (6) The Four Persecutions of Buddhism in Han China 141

[Lecture 50] A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (1) On Philosophy and the History of Philosophy 151

[Lecture 51] A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (2) Characteristics of Chinese Philosophy 163

[Lecture 52] A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (3) - Wei-Jin Metaphysics 173

[Lecture 53] A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (4) The Doctrines of Buddhism 185

[Lecture 54] A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (5): Discussion of Principles and Buddhism in the Sui and Tang Dynasties 195

[Lecture 55] A Brief History of Chinese Philosophy (6) Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism and the Philosophy of Mind 205

[Lecture 56] A Brief History of China's Political System (1) - The Life and Achievements of Qin Shi Huang (1) 217

[Lecture 57] A Brief History of China's Political System (2): The Life and Achievements of Qin Shi Huang (2) 225

[Lecture 58] A Brief History of China's Political System (3): The Life and Achievements of Qin Shi Huang (3) 233

[Lecture 59] A Brief History of China's Political System (4) - The Life and Achievements of Qin Shi Huang (4) 241

[Lecture 60] A Brief History of China's Political System (5): The Coexistence of the Enfeoffment System in Chu and the Enfeoffment System of Prefectures and Counties in the Early Han Dynasty 249

[Lecture 61] A Brief History of China's Political System (6): The Strengthening of Centralized Power and the Evolution of National Ideology 257

[Lecture 62] A Brief History of China's Political System (7) The Exclusive Respect for Confucianism 265

[Lecture 63] A Brief History of China's Political System (8) The Selection and Examination System for Officials in Ancient China (1) 275

[Lecture 64] A Brief History of China's Political System (9) The Selection and Examination System for Officials in Ancient China (2) 283

[Lecture 65] History of Chinese Literature (1) Pre-Qin Period 293

[Lecture 66] History of Chinese Literature (2) Han Fu and Jian'an Literature 303

[Lecture 67] History of Chinese Literature (3): Six Dynasties Parallel Prose, Literary Theory, and Novels 311

[Lecture 68] History of Chinese Literature (4) Tang Poetry (Part 1) 321

[Lecture 69] History of Chinese Literature (5): Tang Poetry (Part 2), the Classical Prose Movement, and Legendary Novels 331

[Lecture 70] History of Chinese Literature (6) Song Ci (343)

[Lecture 71] History of Chinese Literature (7) Yuan Drama and Ming-Qing Novels (Part 1) 351

[Lecture 72] History of Chinese Literature (8) Ming and Qing Novels (Part 2)