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Tian /heaven can be used in an impersonal manner but it can also be personalized as a god and worshiped with sacrafices and such.
No. Confucius said: You should not look at anything which is not appropriate.
So, if you see me naked in a glass house, it is your fault.
Apparently you're not versed in the whole "Confucius Say" joke thing... I recommend you google it.
Ignorant jokes should be discouraged.
I would like to learn how does that issue illustrate the non-factor of geography in shaping the regional culture.
Care to explain how it's an ignorant joke?
I didn't say that well, which is emblematic of my experience with Chinese history. Drazi's Razor (per Eudaimonist) seems fitting.
My point in the paper was that if geography is the key, it seems to be pointing to contradictory conclusions. As such, it couldn't all just be about geography. Further, while I agree with your comment to Eudaimonist that geography is more than just the lay of the land, one must also be careful not to use the term too broadly, or it becomes useless.
So, with respect to tea, I focused on 2 basic things. First, there are regions of China where tea grows well, and there are regions where it doesn't grow well. Even so, in the regions where it doesn't grow well, tea culture is pervasive. In fact, in those regions - some of them difficult to access - they pay a great price to ship tea in. So, in those places, it is not because of geography that tea prevails. Rather, it seems to be despite geography that it prevails. It is more the binding power of the tea culture and the political advantages that motivated the central government to use it for control.
Second, I found some small minorities in geographically unique areas that had developed a tea culture that is different than the main Chinese tea culture. Here it seems geography did play a role, but not to unify China - rather to distinguish various cultures. And what was the reaction of the Han (the majority culture)? They were pretty successful in stamping out the minority culture (though in a very interesting way (1)). Their success came from their overwhelming numbers (my army is bigger than your army), not really because of what I consider to be geography.
Again, yes geography played a role, but I think it's a reach to give it too much credit for those 2 reasons, which I would summarize as:
1) In some cases Chinese philosophy was spread by cultural insistence in spite of geographic difficulties.
2) In some cases Chinese philosophy simply came along for the ride as part of Han military might, which was used to stamp out the small pockets where geography did play a strong role in cultural development.
Footnote 1: One interesting tactic of the Han was to "celebrate" the minority cultures in China. A special day was set aside when minorities were allowed to wear their native dress, perform their native customs, etc. The interesting side effect of that is that these minorities are then implicitly relegated to a caricature of themselves. They get one day a year when all of China entertains themselves with these provincial customs, and then goes back to the "proper Chinese" way of doing things the rest of the year - they put minority culture back in the drawer and ignore it - much like the west has done with Christmas, Easter, All Saint's Day (Halloween), etc.
Why should it take Confucius to say all those junks?
Anyone interested in a comparison between modern western philosophy and the Daoist philosophy of China might like the book "The Tao of the West" by J.J. Clarke. I just finished that one not too long ago and found it a really good read.
I am afraid of being punished by our government. If they find me using this forum to express my feelings. They will absolutely put me into prison or even kill me. I never use Chinese language to share my ideas and thats why I could live longer than others.
I hope I could lead a happy life without any threat by our government.
Resha Caner said:That's sad. It sounds like China needs a strong dose of the Spirit.
I know Chinese need some one who is brave enough to express their feelings just like the nobel prize winner Liu xiaobo. But I am a college student who is less know to others. If they kill me, I will disappear, just like I never born.Nobody cares me, and my death will not bring any difference to our society.
my death will not bring any difference to our society.
I find it interesting that the west concentrates on Daoism when my understanding is that Confucianism is what actually dominates China (or did at one time), and Daoism has always been a minority.
I know China needs some one who is brave enough to express their feelings just like the nobel prize winner Liu xiaobo. But I am a college student who is less know to others. If they kill me, I will disappear, just like I never born.Nobody cares me, and my death will not bring any difference to our society.
I find it interesting that the west concentrates on Daoism when my understanding is that Confucianism is what actually dominates China (or did at one time), and Daoism has always been a minority.
... I think this is the reason ...
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