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China




China is an ancient cultural and geographic entity in continental East Asia with some
offshore islands which since 1949 has been divided between the People's
Republic of China (governing Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau) and the
Republic of China (governing Taiwan and several outlying Fujianese islands).

The term "China" can narrowly mean China proper, or, more usually and
inclusively, China proper and Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang
(see map in Political divisions of China). In the western news media,
"China" is commonly used synonymously with the People's Republic of China or
mainland China, while "Taiwan" is used to refer to the Republic of China.

The historical capitals of China were mostly in the eastern part, and the
four most commonly designated capitals are Nanjing, Beijing, Xi'an, and
Luoyang. Official languages once included Chinese, Mongol, and Manchu.

The English word China and prefix Sino- probably came from "Qin" (pronounced
halfway between "Chin" and "Tsin"). It passed through many languages along
the Silk Road before it finally reached Europe. (See also: China in world languages)

History

China was one of the earliest centers of human civilization, and became a
large united country with an advanced culture at a very early stage,
outpacing the rest of the world in areas like art and science.

China consisted of several hundred small kingdoms since around 1000 BC. All
of which were unified under one emperor since the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC.
Over the course of centuries, China underwent periods of unity and disunity,
order and disorder.

In the 18th century, China achieved a decisive technological advantage over
the peoples of Central Asia, while simultaneously falling behind Europe
technologically. This set the stage for the 19th century, in which China
adopted a defensive posture against European imperialism while
simultaneously extending control into Central Asia.

In the early 20th century, the institution of the Emperor of China
disappeared, and China entered a period of disunion started by the Chinese
Civil War. There are now two nations which lay formal claim to the title of
"China": the People's Republic of China (also called "Mainland China") and
the pre-revolution government of the Republic of China which administers
Taiwan and several small islands of Fujian.

Politics

After the Qin Empire unification, China experienced about 13 more dynasties,
many of which includes extensive system of kingdoms, principalities,
dukedoms, earldoms, and marquisates. However, ultimately, the emperor had
the centralized authority. The emperor also consulted civil and martial
ministers, especially the prime minister. Sometimes political power,
however, fell into the hands of the officials, eunuchs, or relatives.

Political relations with dependencies (tributary kingdoms) were maintained
by international marriages, military aids, and gifts. (see section
"Geography, Political" below for examples).

Territory

Originally in the Zhou Dynasty, China was the region around the Yellow River. The
territory since then had been expanding from the West outward in all
directions, and was largest during the Tang, Yuan, and Qing Dynasties. From
the Chinese point of view, the "Chinese" Empire includes most parts of
southern Russia in and Central Asia during the strongest periods in Yuan,
although China was mere one of territories of the Mongol Empire in actuality.

Like provincial administrators, some foreign monarchs sent envoys to offer
gifts to the Emperor of China and the Emperor returned compliments to them.
The Chinese ostensibly saw that barbarians attached themselves to the virtue
of the Emperor, the foreign people had different perspectives. Since the end
of the 19th century, China has tried to interpret this relationship as
suzerainty-dependency one based on Western international law.

The Qing Empire reduced the territorial value of Great Wall as a barrier of
China proper. In 1683, Taiwan became a part of the Qing Empire, originally
as a prefecture, then two.

Top-level political divisions of China have altered as the administration
changed. Top leverls inclduded circuits and provinces. Below that, there
have been prefectures, subprefectures, departments, commandries, districts,
and townships. Recent divisions include counties and cities.

Geography

China contains a large variety in landscapes, with mostly plateaux and mountains
in the west, and lower lands on the east. As a result, principal rivers flow from 
west to east (Chang Jiang, the Huang He (of central-east), the Amur (of 
northeast), etc), sometimes to south (Xi Jiang, Mekong River, Brahmaputra, 
etc). All rivers empty into the Pacific.

In the east, along the shores of the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea are
found extensive and densely populated alluvial plains; the shore of the
South China Sea is more mountainous and southern China is dominated by hill
country and lower mountain ranges.

To the west, the north has a great alluvial plain, and the south has a vast
calcareous tableland traversed by hill ranges of moderate elevation, with
the Himalaya, containing highest point Mount Everest. The southwest also has
high plateaus feature among the more arid landscape of deserts such as the
Takla-Makan and the Gobi Desert, which has been expanding. Due to a
prolonged drought and perhaps poor agricultural practices dust storms have
become usual in the spring in China.

During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China has been the high
mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from
Burma, Laos and Vietnam.

Climate

The climate of China varies greatly. Southern China lie within the tropics.
The northern zone (in which lies Beijing), by contrast, has a climate with
winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (in which Shanghai is situated)
has a generally temperate climate.

Prehistory

The Palaeozoic formations of China, excepting only the upper part of the
Carboniferous system, are marine, while the Mesozoic and Tertiary deposits
are estuarine and freshwater or else of terrestrial origin. Groups of
volcanic cones occur in the Great Plain of north China. In the Liaodong and
Shandong Peninsulas, there are basaltic plateaux.

Demographics

Over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China. Many of them were
assimilated into neighbouring ethnicities. Some, like the Hun, have left
China and their current whereabout is unknown. Several previously distinct
ethnic groups have Sinicized into the Han, making its population increasing
dramatically. The Han, however, had been speaking several virtually
unintelligible languages.

The earliest religion are:

   * Ancestor worship: still strong today.
   * Shamanism: practised by many ethnicities, including several states
     during the Spring and Autumn Period.

Taoism, native of China; and Buddhism, native of India, have been very
popular among Chinese of all walks of life, admired by commoners, and
sponsored by the royalties. Christianity, native of the Middle-East, came to
China in 635 A.D. as documented by the Nestorian Stone in Xi'an.

Culture

Philosophy that have had extremely consequential impact on the Chinese
culture, literary or illiterate, stems from Confucianism, Taoism, and
Buddhism (in order of appearance).

Chinese literature have the longest continuous history and had been more
numerous than other cultures' for centuries because of the Chinese invention
of printmaking. Prior to that, manuscripts of the Classics and religious
texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were manually written by ink
brushes and distributed. To comment on these works, printed or written,
scholars formed numerous academies, many of which were sponsored by the
empire, and some royalties constantly participated in the discussions.

Chinese philosophers, writers, and poets have been mostly highly respected,
and considered to be those preserving and promoting the culture of the
empire. Some classical scholars, however, were noted for their daring
depictions of lives of the common people. (See List of Chinese authors, and
List of Chinese language poets).

The Chinese created numerous musical instruments, such as zheng, xiao, that
erhu, that have spread around East and Southeast Asia, especially to its
dependencies. Sheng became the mother of several Western free-reed
instruments.

The Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout the
history of China, and was "simplified" in mid-20th century in mainland China.

Bonsai is a millennia-old art that spread to Japan and Korea.

Technology and science

In addition to the above mentioned cultural inventions, technological
inventions from China include:

   * Compass
   * Printmaking
   * Eastern abacus
   * Gunpowder

Other areas of science are:

   * Chinese astrology and constellations were often used for divination
     purposes.
   * One of the main applications of mathematics in China have been
     architecture and geography.
   * Alchemy was Taoist chemistry, very different from modern chemistry.
   * Studies in biology has been extensive, and historic records are
     consulted upon today, such as pharmacopoeias of natural medicinal
     plants.
   * Traditional medicine and surgery have been advanced. A well-known
     example is acupuncture. However, autopsy was unacceptable, because of
     the belief that the corpses should not be violated. Nonetheless, there
     were several doctors who increased the understanding of internal
     anatomy by violating this autopsy taboo.

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