Free Essays on Chinese

Chinese Creation Myths At the start of every civilization many stories are told to explain life and how things began. Each culture portrays the beginning of life in a different way but are similar in many ways. The themes and gods may differ by name and physical features, but the part they play in creation are all too familiar in every myth. In Chinese mythology, the basic themes of revolve around the order from chaos theme of myths. Order from chaos can be defined as giving a basic explanation to how and why things are the way they are. To deal with the more complex aspect of things, mythological creatures and characters are used to provide meaning. The many stories and gods within them all tie together to provide meaning. In Chinese myths, there is no exception. The names of the gods differ in different regions of China, but their roles are usually the same. The first story existed during the Han dynasty which lasted from 206 BC- 220 AD (Rosenberg, 359). Although religious beliefs taught by Confucius banned any religions that had to do with worshiping nature. Scholars sought ways in which they could change them around to fit the religion at the time (Rosenberg, 259). In the majority of the myths there is a divine pair that exists, meaning a balance between good and evil. The Chinese believed that for every object that existed, there was a complete and total opposite. In this particular, "The Creation of the Universe", the earth starts off as an egg that contained the whole universe (Rosenberg, 360). The first being named Pangu, dwelled within this "Cosmic Egg". After some time, Pangu decided it was time to come out from within and broke the egg open and began to bring order to the world. Since the sky and heavens were lying on top of each other, there was no way for things to separate. So Pangu lifted the top part (heaven and sky) which came to be known as Yang. The piece below became known as Yin ... Free Essays on Chinese Free Essays on Chinese Chinese Creation Myths At the start of every civilization many stories are told to explain life and how things began. Each culture portrays the beginning of life in a different way but are similar in many ways. The themes and gods may differ by name and physical features, but the part they play in creation are all too familiar in every myth. In Chinese mythology, the basic themes of revolve around the order from chaos theme of myths. Order from chaos can be defined as giving a basic explanation to how and why things are the way they are. To deal with the more complex aspect of things, mythological creatures and characters are used to provide meaning. The many stories and gods within them all tie together to provide meaning. In Chinese myths, there is no exception. The names of the gods differ in different regions of China, but their roles are usually the same. The first story existed during the Han dynasty which lasted from 206 BC- 220 AD (Rosenberg, 359). Although religious beliefs taught by Confucius banned any religions that had to do with worshiping nature. Scholars sought ways in which they could change them around to fit the religion at the time (Rosenberg, 259). In the majority of the myths there is a divine pair that exists, meaning a balance between good and evil. The Chinese believed that for every object that existed, there was a complete and total opposite. In this particular, "The Creation of the Universe", the earth starts off as an egg that contained the whole universe (Rosenberg, 360). The first being named Pangu, dwelled within this "Cosmic Egg". After some time, Pangu decided it was time to come out from within and broke the egg open and began to bring order to the world. Since the sky and heavens were lying on top of each other, there was no way for things to separate. So Pangu lifted the top part (heaven and sky) which came to be known as Yang. The piece below became known as Yin ... Free Essays on Chinese Chinese Art China has the world's oldest living civilization. It's written history goes back almost 3,500 years, and the history told by it's artifacts and artwork goes back much farther. The oldest known works of Chinese art include pottery and jade carvings from the time of 5000 BC. Jade is a general term used to describe either jadeite or nephrite, known as true jade. It's composed of several minerals. It's smooth and rich in texture, but it's also extremely tough. It can be off-white, or dark green, and sometimes has a reddish tint. Authentic jade is cool and never translucent. The philosopher Confucius described jade perfectly when he said: "It is soft, smooth and shining- like intelligence. It's edges seem sharp but do not cut- like justice. It hangs down to the ground- like humility. When struckm, it gives clear, ringing sounds- like music. The strains in it are not hidden and add to it's beauty- like truthfulness. It has brightness- like heaven. It's firm substance is born of the mountains and the waters- like the earth." The material has been used since the Shang dynasty, which lasted from 1766-1022 B.C. They see it as a sign of wealth and authority and also as an object of beauty. The chinese word for jade is yu. During the Ming dynasty, the Chinese people thought that only green or white stones were true jade, and the other colors were called fu yu, or false jade. It was classified into nine different colors during the Tsin dynasty, and has more recently been classified into many different categories. Jade is one of the touchest stones in the world, near the diamond because of overlapping fibers within the stone. Tons of pressure are needed to crush some of the larger pieces of jade. A single cut through a one foot cube of jade would take several weeks. The ancient chinese people thought that jade had special powers, and they used it in rituals and ceremonies. It wa... Free Essays on Chinese Population Disaster? The People’s Republic of China is a vastly populated country. The inhabitants of the country make up approximately twenty percent of the world’s population. For nearly 2,000 years, the population of China fluctuated between 60,000,000 and 110,000,000. When the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, the population was approximately 540,000,000. Within three decades, the population had increased to over 800,000,000. During the next three decades the population is expected to increase by over 260,000,000. Although this is not as tremendous an increase as in the first thirty years of the country, this number is equivalent to the total population of the United States. This increase is driven by the high fertility rates of the 1950’s and 1960’s, which averaged between 5.6 and 6.3 children per woman. During the 1970’s and 1980’s the fertility rate dropped to around 1.8 children per woman. Even though the fertility rate has dropped, the population will continue to experience tremendous growth because of the large number of young adults of reproductive age. The United Nations Population Division estimates that China’s population will grow to 1,490,000,000 by 2025, but will decrease slightly to 1,480,000,000 by 2050. This decline is a result of China’s government enforced one-child policy. Some 58,000 children are born every day in China, which averages out to 20,000,000 births each year. This number would be much higher if not for the one-child policy. Pregnancies must be authorized and women must obtain a birth coupon before conception. Couples who do not follow these procedures have fines imposed upon them, sometimes amounting to more than what they would earn in an entire year. This one-child policy has also resulted in the mass murder of infant girls. Many female fetuses are aborted because of the strong preference for boys in the country. Upon birth, girls are routinely...