China.
Industry/agriculture: food and luxury goods
rice, silk, porcelain, spices, jade.
Religion: based on philosophy
also Buddhism, which is based on enlightenment and ones
connected to all.
Philosophy: Confucianism and Daoism
Confucianism based on hierarchy of respect and family structure; the
structure of state mirrors that of the family. Daoism emphasizes the
role of the individual within nature and all life. Also yin-yang: the idea
that yang (brightness, activity, masculinity) is balanced by yin (darkness,
passivity, femininity).
Mentality: collective, based on all Chinese cooperating.
Historical thinking: cyclical
focused on the rise and fall of dynasties which usually last hundreds of
years; dynasties which fulfill the Mandate of Heaven rule, then decline of
dynasty and takeover of a new one indicate that Mandate has been taken
away; continuity valued.
Social structure: highly hierarchical
class system, merchants at the bottom and emperor at the top.
Gender relations: based on yin-yang
men dominant and women submissive; male children valued because
son's wife moves in and raises family in husband's parents' house,
providing old age security for them.
View of other cultures: disdainful
China is center of the universe, has all she needs, barbarians from
outside possess little worth having.
Desirable imports: clockwork and mechanical .