儒学:
Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history,and mastery of Confucian texts was the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy.China's traditional values were derived from various versions of Confucianism.A number of more authoritarian strains of thought have also been influential,such as Legalism.
艺术,学术,文学:
Chinese characters have had many variants and styles throughout Chinese history.Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still extant,from oracle bones to Qing edicts.This literary emphasis affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China,e.g.the view that calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama.Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian,Taoist,and Buddhist) were handwritten by ink brush.
Calligraphy later became commercialized,and works by famous artists became prized possessions.Chinese literature has a long past; the earliest classic work in Chinese,the I Ching or "Book of Changes" dates to around 1000 BC.A flourishing of philosophy during the Warring States Period produced such noteworthy works as Confucius's Analects and Laozi's Tao Te Ching.(See also:the Chinese classics.) Dynastic histories were often written,beginning with Sima Qian's seminal Records of the Historian,which was written from 109 BC to 91 BC.
The Tang Dynasty witnessed a poetic flowering,while the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature were written during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Printmaking in the form of movable type was developed during the Song Dynasty.Academies of scholars sponsored by the empire were formed to comment on the classics in both printed and handwritten form.Royalty frequently participated in these discussions as well.
The Song Dynasty was also a period of great scientific literature,and saw the creation of works such as Su Song's Xin Yixiang Fayao and Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Essays.There were also enormous works of historiography and large encyclopedias,such as Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian of 1084 AD or the Four Great Books of Song fully compiled and edited by the 11th century.
Chinese philosophers,writers and poets were highly respected and played key roles in preserving and promoting the culture of the empire.Some classical scholars,however,were noted for their daring depictions of the lives of the common people,often to the displeasure of authorities.The Chinese invented numerous musical instruments,such as the zheng (zither with movable bridges),qin (bridgeless zither),sheng (free reed mouth organ),and xiao (vertical flute) and adopted and developed others such the erhu (alto fiddle or bowed lute) and pipa (pear-shaped plucked lute),many of which later spread throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia,particularly to Japan,Korea,and Vietnam.
音乐:
The music of China dates back to the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BC – 256 BC).Today,the music continues a rich traditional heritage in one aspect,while emerging into a more contemporary form at the same time.
