Q: Why does China seem to be more obsessed with its ancient history than any other once-great nation?
A:
Obsess is not a proper word to describe the attitude of China towards history. In Chinese culture, history is a very solemn subject. It is part of the governance art. All emperors in Chinese history are supposed to learn history. The historical recording has been an official position in China for more than two thousand years. The officer of historical recording was supposed to be the one with integrity and principle. He would record history insisting on accuracy, and would not yield to the will of the emperor when recording the bad things about the emperor. A famous story is that a historical officer was killed because he wrote down the wrongdoing of the emperor, the successor kept the same writing and was killed again, and the third one kept the same writing, so the emperor had to let the stain of his wrongdoing in the historical record.
China has the earliest chronicle history book of human history. China has a chronicled history dating from 722 BC. By comparison, the earliest Western chronicle is the Chronicle of Ireland dating from 431 to 911 AD. For example, Chinese history recorded the explosion of a supernova in 1054 AD its remain is recognized as the Crab Nebula today. The modern astronomy verified the accuracy of the Chinese history.
History is so important in Chinese culture that four of the Thirteen Confucian Classics are chronicle history books. In Chinese philosophy, history is the fundamental cornerstone for making important political decisions. Policy making is half based on the problem to be solved, and another half is based on historical experience.
Since 722 BC, history in China is not only about recorded facts, it is also the literature of the art of writing, and the philosophy advocating moral justice. Reading history books in Chinese culture is being educated on political science, psychology, philosophy, moral judgment, literature, the military, and the economy. That’s why history is such an important part of the Thirteen Confucian Classics. Unearthed cultural relics repeatedly verify the accuracy of Chinese history about the time, the places, the people, and the events.
Now both China and the US are facing great challenges. Who can come out with the most viable solutions for the problems they are facing? China has rich cultural resources for political decisions because of its two thousand years of chronicle history, while the US has only two hundred years of history.
Political wisdom comes from historical knowledge. Judgment of present events and future predictions is more reliable based on historical experience. This is called extrapolation. China cherries history because history knowledge nourishes great statesmen. Moa is a great statesman because he read many histories and was inspired by Chinese history. He changed the world because he knew how the world had changed in history.
A person gets smart by accumulating experience. A country gets smart by reading its history. Chinese ancient history is a rich cultural resource that can be applied to present-day decision-making, for individuals, and the government. By reading ancient history, the Chinese know how great they were, are, and will be.
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