Three Minutes on Culture This is the fourth article in the I Ching series. The Book of Changes was called the Book of Changes in ancient times, and in the first article in this series, I describe the process of writing the Book of Changes. Literally, Yi is trading, and Yi was born to facilitate people of different ethnic groups to trade various commodities smoothly in the market.
In ancient times, there were many clans and tribes living on the land of Shenzhou, and the languages of the tribes did not understand each other, and it was very inconvenient to communicate with each other. Since the advent of the market, the exchange of goods between each other often requires the creation of deeds, which has given rise to writing and gradually formed a more unified language.
The spread of civilization requires exchanges between each other, and market transactions provide a good environment for the spread of civilization. "Yi" is the summary of the experience of our ancestors in the long-term production practice, and is the crystallization of civilization.
So, what is civilization?
Human society has developed to this day, and the society has become highly civilized. However, the concept of civilization remains vague and people in different regions or countries have different understandings of civilization.
The Chinese nation has a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization, our ancestors have a unique view on the origin and development of human civilization, in the ancient books and documents more than 3,000 years ago, you can see the name of "civilization", such as the "Book of Changes" in the "see the dragon in the field, the world civilization." ”
It is generally believed that the origin of human civilization began with the creation of Bagua by Bao Xi, "Yi" Yun: ".Looking up is to look at the sky, looking down is to look at the law on the ground, watching birds and beasts and the text of the earth is appropriate, close to the body, far from all things, so the beginning of gossip ......
Please pay special attention to the word "Wen" of "Watching Birds and Beasts", which refers to the texture of birds and beasts, according to the current prevailing language expression habits, the texture of birds and beasts should be "lines", and "text" is a typo.
Could it be that the ancients used the wrong word?
In fact, writing was originally created by the ancients, and how the predecessors used it, the future generations will follow suit. Before the birth of writing, the ancients generally used graphics to represent the itself or characteristics of a certain thing, or to represent a certain unique meaning, these graphics were called "Wen" in ancient times, different things were represented by different "Wen", and "civilization" was to distinguish and distinguish different things by observing different textures.
The fish pattern on the painted pottery pot in the Yangshao period is "Wen", which can express a specific meaning.
The early writing evolved from this kind of "writing", otherwise why would it be called writing?
In ancient times, the Bao clan was to observe the texture of birds and beasts to understand the characteristics of various animals, so as to improve the success rate of hunting and avoid danger as much as possible. For example, sheep, deer and other animals are relatively docile and suitable for human capture, while jackals, tigers and leopards have a temperament**, and after seeing the characteristic textures of these animals, although they have not been harmed, they also know to stay away.
Understanding the characteristics of various animals by observing the textures of birds and beasts was undoubtedly a simple and very effective method for the ancients. Bao Xishi extended this experience to various fields, further systematized and theorized, and created gossip. The establishment of gossip enabled human beings to classify and understand everything in the world, marking the transition of human beings from ignorance to civilized society.
How do humans understand nature?It started by looking at the texture, which is the basic meaning of "civilization" in ancient books. Of course, understanding the characteristics of animals by observing the texture of animals is only the initial stage of civilization, and applying this method to the scientific management of the country and society is the ultimate goal, and human civilization will enter a more advanced stage.
Civilization is so simple, yet unpredictable, are you surprised?
Of course, due to the impact of Western culture, our understanding of "civilization" has unconsciously moved closer to the concept of the West, and we are accustomed to using Western standards to measure Chinese civilization. Our ancestors not only created a brilliant civilization, but also had a unique view of the connotation of civilization, ignoring this, it is difficult to understand the ideas expressed in ancient books, and it is difficult to understand the broad and profound Chinese culture.
The second chapter of the second part of the Book of Changes systematically describes the origin of human civilization and an important link in its development processTo sum it up, there are three points:
First, civilization is the ability of human beings to classify and understand the natural world.
The creation of Bagua is the beginning of human civilization, and the role of Bagua is: ".With the virtue of the gods, with the love of all things.
Understanding nature is only the initial stage of civilization, and the advanced stage is the effective management of society and the state. "Yi" cloud:"The Yellow Emperor, Yao, and Shun hung their clothes and ruled the world, covering all the world.
The world is governed"It is the efficient management of society and the country. The Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun and other sages were able to govern the world in an orderly, well-organized and well-defined manner, indicating that the Chinese nation had entered a highly civilized society 5,000 years ago.
Second, the ability to make and use tools.
The fundamental difference between humans and animals is that humans are able to make and use tools, and the Book of Changes pays special attention to this aspect when talking about the origins of civilization, for example, when talking about Bao Xi's family, it emphasizes their contribution to the progress of human civilization: the creation of gossip and the hunting of knotted ropes and nets.
Gossip is a tool, a tool for ancient humans to exchange information with each other. Animals of the same kind can also exchange information with each other, but only very simply. As an ancient tool for information exchange, gossip can not only meet the needs of information exchange between each other, but also preserve information, record and preserve the rich experience obtained by people in production practice, and pass it on to future generations.
Another major contribution of the Bao clan was the hunting of knotted ropes and nets. In ancient times, productivity was extremely low, and relying on their own abilities, humans did not have a clear advantage when fighting fierce beasts such as tigers and leopards, but on the contrary, were more likely to become food for these beasts. However, no matter how best the beast is, once it is bound by the rope net, it can only be slaughtered. Since mastering the art of hunting with knotted ropes and nets, humans have been able to defeat all beasts of prey and become the true masters of nature.
The rope nets used for hunting may not have been the first tool invented by man, but they are an iconic tool that marks the official emergence of man as the master of nature. Even the familiar bow or shotgun may not be more effective than rope and net hunting, at least not when fishing.
The rope and net hunting method may seem simple, but it is a test of human intelligence, and in order to hunt successfully, one must consider how to get the prey into the net that he has laid. The emergence of this type of hunting fully reflects the superior wisdom of our ancestors. Moreover, rope and net hunting also has a very significant advantage, that is, it catches prey without harming the prey, providing prerequisites for human domestication of animals, which is incomparable to other hunting methods.
In addition to the rope nets invented by Bao Xi, the agricultural tools invented by Shennong and the pottery refined by Nuwa are also symbols*** China's silk and ceramics are world-famous, and Bao Xi and Nuwa have made great contributions.
Clause.
Third, there is another very important condition for judging whether human beings have entered a civilized society, that is, they must have the most basic moral concepts.
Our ancestors attached great importance to social morality, and the core idea of the I Ching is morality, which is described in the third article of this series.