Chinese civilization

The earliest Chinese civilization is the Shang civilization. The Shang dynasty was overthrown by the Chou dynasty. The Chinese script is a pictographic script. It is remarkable that the Chinese script has changed very little since the earliest times. The Chinese calender - Solar-lunar calender, was a combination of solar and lunar calender. The Chinese were the first to calculate the length of the year as 365 1/4 days. In 3rd century BC, the Chin dynasty became important. To keep out invaders from the north, he began construction of a wall known as the Great Wall. The Han dynasty followed the Chin dynasty in 202 BC and the Han emperors ruled China for almost 400 years. The political practices of the Han rulers were greatly influenced by the teachings of Confucius. During Han rule, to qualify for appointment, the youngmen had to pass through an elaborate system of examination before they were chosen. Such 'scholar-officials' came to be known as mandarins. The Chinese was the first civilization in history to have a system of selecting public officials on the basis of education and competitive examination. Under the Hans, silk was a principal item of export. Two main roads were built across the Great Wall to carry on trade with theWest. The two major religions of ancient China are Taoism (based on the teachings of Lao-tse: b. 604 BC) and Confucianism (based on the teachings of Confucius: 551 BC-479 BC). Confucius was a contemporary of Mahavira and Buddha. Buddhism was brought into China by Indian during the Han rule. The Great Wall is a mightly monument to the building skill of ancient China. This wall, built of stone and earth to a height of 6 metres and extending over 2400 km. The Chinese script was standardized by the Chin ruler. The Chinese script spread to other countries also. It influenced the Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese scripts. In the 1st century AD, paper was invented in China. The invention of paper and its importance in spreading knowledge within the outside China makes it one of the great contribution of China to the world. Some of the first historical works in the world were written in China. Each dynasty compiled its own history. The pattern of these histories was set by Ssuma Chien (1st or 2nd cent. BC), and is commonly remembered as the 'Herodotus of China'. The water clock, abacus, umbrella were invented by Chinese. In the 2nd cent. AD, Chinese invented a seismograph.