Chinese history is long and exhaustive, and not easily discussed in brief essay. It is full of many interesting topics, ranging from military movements, to cultural movements, to agricultural and technological developments. Indeed, there are a plethora of topics to cover. This paper will briefly examine and discuss two disparate topics, both covered under Chinese history. The first section will look at some of the thoughts of China's intellectuals and philosophers by examining four passages. The second section will inspect some of the burial customs and archeological findings around tombs.
When the authorities draft soldiers, a cripple can walk among them confidently flapping his sleevesà. Thus one whose form is crippled can nurture his body and live out the years Heaven grants him. Think what he could do if his virtue was crippled too!
[Zhou was a king who was deposed in the past] Someone who does violence to the good we call a villain; someone who does violence to the right we call a criminal. A person who is both a villain and criminal we call a scoundrel. I have heard that a scoundrel Zhou has been killed, but have not heard that a lnrd was killed.
Do not honor the worthy, and the people will not compete. Do not value rare treasures, and the people will not stealà Keep the people always without knowledge and without desires, for then the clever will not dare act. Engage in no action and order will prevail.
Riches and honors are the things people desire, but if one obtains them by not following the Way, then one should not avoid them. If the gentleman abandons humanity, how can he live up to his name? àThey will suffer death if necessary to achieve humanity à In practicing humanity, one should not defer even to one's teacher.
The first set of lines were written by Hui Shi to Zhuangzi (Ebrey/Chinese 30). After Confucius, there was a great array of new ideas being proposed, which fell into two main categori...