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Q: Do Chinese really have Five Thousand Year History?
If so, what happened five thousand years ago to get this history started?
Open-ended question here. Genuinely curious.
Yes, they do. Just like the Kindom of Siam (what today is Thailand, Cambodia and Laos) has 6,000 years of history too. They have both being around that much. I do not think it started like for example the USA, when due to religious persecution back in UK, some decided to go to a new land and practice freedom of religion, and thus the Pilgreem phenomena occurred. Wilkepidia has a short and condensed story that covers most of those 5,000 years if interested, with some information on Marco Polo and the different dynasties.
The so-called "5000 year heritage or history" claim started to be heard often at the start of the PRC to whip up patriotism. So why does China cling so stubbornly to its historical lineage? The ‘5000 years’ timescale was apparently promulgated to compare this to Korea’s jingoistic blusterings about their own 8000 years of history, and a certain cultural rivalry becomes apparent The effects of the Cultural Revolution still weigh heavily. It is difficult to imagine a nation's history and culture being wiped out so thoroughly, but the longstanding hangover of 1966 - 1976 is probably what is to blame for the 5000 years claim. That, and a generous dose of national pride bolstered by China's economic boom.
Since it is impossible to date the dawn of China's history exactly, we are able only to speculate. This, in itself, is a source of lively debate.
Technically, anyone can claim any amount of history. For instance, America is only hundreds of years old, but our heritage is as old as the European countries our ancestors came from. To me, it doesn't really matter if they have a 5,000 year history or not. Indeed, they do have a long history. And it doesn't matter what you do, they will keep claiming that they have a 5,000 year history. You can try to disprove it to their faces, but it won't change anything. Everyone is allowed to be proud of something, even if it you think it is wrong or it pisses you off. At least that sounds like something worth being proud of.
kchur:
I'm proud of my stamp collection, but when I see someone of a different race walking down the sidewalk, minding their own business, I don't consider my stamp collection an excuse to start screaming swearwords and racial slurs.
Jnusb416:
I understand. I'm not excusing their behavior, either. Sometimes I try to think of why they would do that. Maybe you inspire some jealousy and trigger their inferiority complex?
kchur:
If I did that to a Chinese person in Canada, ain't no one would care about why. Not the lawyers, not the civil rights groups, not the dozens of white guys who would beat my ass.
xinyuren:
It is easy to get offended, Kchur, but it takes a better person to consider why. Sometimes...no, it is always best to try to be the better man and understand their point of view.
Australian aborigines have a 40,000 year history... why doesn't that seem to pale the Chinese comparison??
As Jnus basically said, any place can claim a long history - as long as there were humans there who didn't get wiped out (repeatedly 
).
Sort of funny how north Africa, being the apparent birthplace of humanity, doesn't get kudos for the... how long has it been since Homo Sapiens came about??
Yeah, 5000 isn't really all that long at all.
Traveler:
There is also recent evidence from Australian Geographic that the ancestors of the Australian Aboriginals probably passed through Asia more than 40,000 years ago, on their trek from Africa. So perhaps the Australian Aboriginals were the first people in China, and have a claim to the entire country? http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/Aboriginal-Australians-the-oldest-culture-on-Earth.htm
Why are you letting it bother you? You aren't in Canada, you aren't even in a country that's been westernized civilly. You have elected to be in China of your own free will. I know your wife is happier there, but it's still your choice.
I have not spoken to anyone who has had people screaming anything at them as much as you have claimed, and I talk to lots of expats all over China, not just on this forum. I've even brought it up as a concern, and yes.. they say they run across some racism... but not nearly as much as you spout. So maybe you've just pissed someone off and they are out to get you.
You are in a different world. You are there by choice. No guns are held to your head, not that you've mentioned. So either... man up and ignore it or move on to an environment more conducive to your palate.
kchur:
Oh, no, Chinese scream at expats everywhere, but 外国佬听不懂. Where you around when Njord was posting? He understood Chinese and was more militant than me.
Anyway, I could leave China and go to some country that doesn't have a significant Chinese population, but which one would that be? Last time I visited my country, I noticed Chinese people loudly talking shit, in Chinese, about every non-Chinese surrounding them, and about how whites are this, and blacks are that, and east Indians are so forth. Something I wouldn't have noticed ten years ago.
There's no where in the world you can get away from Chinese racism. They are trained from birth to hate all foreigners, and to think they are the master race, and to consider themselves the rightful lords of the planet, and they are occupying every corner of the earth. Look at Malaysia, which has basically become a Chinese colony where the locals have no rights. They're going to keep migrating, and keep hating everyone, till finally the overseas Chinese population is a huge fifth column and when they treat you like Teabeatans and Uygars in your own country, they wont care about all your hippy philosophizing.
kchur:
Oh, and I didn't piss someone off by anything I did. I only leave my apartment to work and eat, and I do both things less within about a two block radius of where I live. I don't talk to strangers and when I'm in public I look straight down and go as quickly as I can to wherever I'm going. I also try to avoid going out in the daylight so people notice me less. In the winter I intentionally wear too many winter clothes to hide my foreign features. Every foreigner I've met who understands Chinese is the same. I just walk down the street and they all stare and talk about me. Let's say some Romanian alderman said something that "hurt China's feelings and insulted five thousand years history" this week. Then, they see me all start saying, "Look at that Romanian who should die. Romanians who should die are jealous of China's five thousand year history, etc etc." And discuss how genocide would be better than sharing the world with any non-Chinese
Now, to all these hippy apologists, that just sounds like "ching chong bing bong" so they can be all self-righteous on the internet and scold me for not giving due respect to such a humble and tolerant people. And they have armies of Chinese friends. I know how the Chinese friends thing works. I see outgoing foreigners with their Chinese bffs all the time and it goes something like this:
In English, "Foreigner friend, you are so handsome and clever. I really value our friendship."
In Chinese, "Foreign clowns that should die are so entertaining like monkeys. How could ocean ghosts who should die not realize their inferiority to the Chinese?"
Traveler:
HugAPanda: Guns pointed at heads is not a good metaphor to use with some posters here :-)
kchur:
Yes, Traveller, you would never be so sensitive about a gun comment.
HugAPanda:
@Trav.. get over it. He called me a silly cunt once... he is who he is. Accept it or ignore it. @Kchur. I live in NY. I've spent lots of time in China Town in both NYC and SF. I've never had an issue with Chinese racism. You said, "There's no where in the world you can get away from Chinese racism." If you can't handle it , what the hell are you doing in the middle of their home turf? About Njord. I remember Njord well. You two were like 2 peas in a pod... I think he wised up and went on to greener pastures.
PS.. where I live.. not a huge population of Chinese. And the ones I've come across... very pleasant interactions. There are places out there. TBH, kchur. You are the one acting racist. If you were a guest in my house, and you didn't feel I was treating you fairly/decently/respectfully, if you thought all I was doing was yelling at you... I would hold the door open for you as you left. It seems noone... anywhere... can do any right in your eyes. It's a shame, really.
xinyuren:
Kchur, you're coming off as a bigger racist than the people you're accusing.
I tend to get the 5,000 year history spiel only in English corner. My regular friends rarely bring it up an donly if it has to do with what we are talking about.
I suspect the "5000 year history" line comes from the same source as the other mantras you hear from Chinese everywhere. I recognize the pattern. In English class everyone is taught, "Hello, how are you? I'm fine, thank you." It's the only English line every chinese student knows. Every Chinese person "knows" they have 5000 year history because it is constantly crammed down their throats in school. Getting angry with students who repeat their programming is useless. They don't know any better. They are innocent. Chinese are people just like us, but they cannot help their circumstances. They have inherited historical paranoia, inferiority and pride with no point of reference to correct their errant beliefs. Do you blame children for imitating their parents? Only if the children have grown and been outside their homes to learn proper behaviour! It is unthinkable that we should come to their country and scold them for being Chinese.
GuilinRaf:
Thanks for bringing in some perspective! I do find myself getting annoyed in English cornner especially after hearing it upteen times in a couple of hours. And you are right, it is just they way they are raised. thanks!
yes but not a proper history and egypt has a longer one so who cares
The "5000 years" claim stems from what some people consider the birth of Chinese civilization, which would be from the time of the Yellow Emperor Huangdi, which is thought to be about 3000BC. Of course, this information is from oral traditions that were not even written down until a few thousand years after that, and there has not been ANY evidence found to support that this is nothing more than a myth or legend.
The first real records of what could be counted as proof date from the reign of Pan Geng, when he moved his capital to Yin in 1300BC. Please note that these are the earliest surviving records found. This can easily say 3500 years or so because this feudal type society lasted for a long time period in China.
There has also been archaeoligical evidence found at Erlitou which dates back to 2000BC and the evidence is clearly Chinese in origin and often attributed to the Xia dynasty (although very little evidence supports this, but it fits with traditional stories so might be accurate. So again, using this as a base, you could easily say 4000 years.
But then, "China" as it is known didn't really come about until 221BC during the Qin unification, so maybe China has 2233 years of history.
Either way, 5000 years ago there were humans living in this region, and that's when the first town like settlements began to develop. Of course, these greatly varied by region (as still can be seen by the different ethnic groups in China today) so I think the real answer here is to base the actual results on when did large areas of what is now China become unified and have a shared culture among a large number of people - language, writing, art, money, etc.
This would be the Qin unification, where all Chinese writing was standardized (even though spoken languages were different) and the great philosophies are China were implemented into society and law - Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism. This to me represents some of the strongest pieces of Chinese culture which still survive today. So in my opinion, China has 2233 years of culture that is distinctively Chinese and still surviving in one form or another to this day.
i suggest you go to Xian Shanxi province for a trip , you will find good answers for yourself . and you will find how amazing the chinese history is
