The Great Mystery of History The original civilization that originated in the local area and the civilization derived from the original civilization under the influence of the original civilization constitute the richness and diversity of human history. The four ancient civilizations, ancient Egypt, ancient India, ancient Babylon and China, are outstanding representatives of the original civilization, giving birth to rich and diverse civilization achievements and exerting far-reaching influence on neighboring countries.
However, some people think that among the four ancient civilizations, India has a lower sense of presence, why is that?
From our point of view, the presence of ancient Indian civilization does not seem to be high. Among the four ancient civilizations, ancient Babylon has a lower sense of existence, although more people know the latter, but ancient Babylon is farther away from us, and that land is now called Iraq, which is more difficult to remember than adding "ancient" in front of India.
India shares a border with our country, but the presence of ancient India is still very low, which clearly shows that there were problems in ancient Indian civilization in many ways. Geography plays a key role in the development of a civilization.
Unlike Chinese civilization, Chinese civilization is inclusive and colorful, which is inseparable from the creation of Chinese people from generation to generation, and also inseparable from the courage of Chinese to travel to other places and exchanges with other civilizations.
In contrast, the ancient Indian civilization may have been deficient in these areas.
The ancient Indian civilization was very different from the Chinese civilization in terms of geographical environment. China is located on the back of the land and the sea, and has a smooth land and sea transportation network, which can easily communicate with the Eurasian continent, Southeast Asia and East Asian countries.
Ancient India, on the other hand, was surrounded by the vast Indian Ocean, and it was difficult to find large countries in the south, and even more difficult to reach distant places. In addition, there were many obstacles to the north of ancient India, such as the Tibetan Plateau and the Suleiman Mountains and the Hindu Kush Mountains, and only one Khyber Pass could be accessed.
Therefore, from the perspective of objective conditions, the exchange and development of ancient Indian civilization was greatly restricted, and it was far inferior to that of Chinese civilization.
The Tibetan Plateau's closed environment makes it a general lack of inclusiveness in neighboring countries. Today, there are still many disputes between India and its neighbors, and at the same time, there are often big fights within India over various differences, and news events such as shootouts are also a common phenomenon in this country.
For these two reasons, the presence of ancient Indian civilization was relatively low. First, although India is adjacent to our country, due to terrain restrictions, there is relatively little communication between the two.
Second, although our ideology, technology, and culture are not far behind those of ancient India, we have a longer history of development, and our traditional culture and wisdom still play an important role in the development of modernization.
Given the similarity of the conditions in all aspects of the two countries, there is no need to explain too much about whose development is superior. As a result, people pay far less attention to the ancient Indian civilization than they do to themselves.
The reason why the ancient Indian civilization had a low sense of existence was that its history was both simple and complex. The history of Chinese civilization can be clearly divided into two types, one is the rise and fall of dynasties, and the other is the period of hegemony.
During the reign of dynasties, people lived in abundance and created countless good things that were left to future generations. In the period of competition for hegemony, heroes emerge in large numbers, stories are wonderful, and all forces are working hard to unify the country.
The civilization of ancient India covered today's India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan and other countries, and there have never been many unified dynasties like China in history, and finally it was the British colonizers who unified India relatively completely.
The history of India has been briefly summarized, and some have even questioned whether there is a history in India. In the history of India, there have been constant foreign invasions, and the Indians have neither succeeded in assimilating the outsiders, nor have they been able to strongly resist the rule of the outsiders.
In addition, the southern part of India is dominated by the Deccan Plateau, which has a complex topography that contrasts sharply with the great plains of the north, making it difficult for many northern countries to easily unify the south. Therefore, in the introduction to history, we hear that a certain dynasty in ancient India is only the most powerful of those countries.
As a result of the long wars and **, India has not created civilizational achievements that attract attention, nor does it have a powerful power that attracts the pursuit and affection of other countries.
In ancient India, there was traditional Chinese medicine. Today, Indians still enjoy cow urine, Ganges baths and cow dung wiping. By comparison, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang and the pyramids of Egypt are unmatched in scale and historical depth.
Due to the history and mystery of these ancient buildings, people often find them in history books and explore their secrets in unsolved mysteries. Since generations of Chinese have been reading unsolved mysteries since childhood, they are even more impressed by these ancient buildings.
In contrast, India has experienced many foreign invasions throughout its history, including the Aryans, Persians, Macedonians, Greeks, Cypriots, Sabbats, Dayues, Huns, Arabs, Mongols, and more recent European powers.
Although the foreign cultural injection of the Taj Mahal can promote the exchange of civilizations, this invasion is also a kind of repetition and destruction to a certain extent. Looking back at the history of India, in the various periods on the map, no matter how powerful the regime in the North was, there were always a varying number of small states in the South.
The influence of these foreign peoples is mainly concentrated in the north, resulting in significant differences between the north and the south of India in all aspects. If not inclusive enough, this difference can lead to conflict.
And the history of India is like a chaotic yarn ball, full of stories of multi-ethnic invasions and multi-nation coexistence. If you are a history buff willing to explore such history?
Also, ancient India does lack some world-famous historical figures, and if you haven't studied them thoroughly, it might be difficult to name a few famous people in Indian history. However, most of the celebrities associated with the history of ancient India are foreigners, such as Alexander, Xuanzang, and Fa Xian.
The original Indian historical documents exist mainly in the form of oral literature such as"Itti Hather"It is difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake, as oral transmission is prone to problems and mixed with myths and legends.
The lack of a rich historical book has limited the study of ancient India, and many issues cannot be verified, hindering the spread of culture and history. In addition, some important inventions of ancient Indian civilization, such as numerals, although widely used, were called Arabic numerals because they were spread by the Arabs.
Moreover, the cultural center of the ancient Indian civilization was in Pakistan and there were conflicts with India, which challenged the existence of the ancient Indian civilization.
Buddhism, as an important element of transmission in ancient India and Pakistan, has had a profound impact on a global scale. More than 2,000 years ago, Shakyamuni founded Buddhism in ancient India, and gradually spread to all parts of the world, and now it is known as the world's three major religions along with Islam and religion.
However, although Buddhism is practiced by many people in China, it has not significantly elevated the status of ancient Indian civilization in the hearts of the people. Because China is different from other countries, religious beliefs in many countries have become deeply embedded in the law, daily life and culture, and have become an integral part of the lives of ordinary people.
In these countries, religious people make pilgrimages to religious shrines, and differences in ideas between different religions or denominations of the same religion often lead to conflicts and religious wars.
Not all Buddhists in China are religious, and any foreign ideas that enter China will be localized to suit the country. Any religion should promote correct values, and all activities and ideas should be in the interests of the country and the people.
Most Chinese do not believe in religion, and even those who believe in religion are not as obsessed or extreme as some countries. Therefore, after reading "Journey to the West" countless times, many people still do not know about the ancient India where the four masters and apprentices went.
It can be said that the introduction of Buddhism to China did not bring the popularity of ancient India with it.
Whether or not Indian Buddhist civilization can go global depends not only on the contributions of civilization in history, but also on the strength of today's country. Although India's economy is now one of the largest in the world, its strength in terms of population cannot be judged only by the standards of small countries such as Britain and France.
Among the large countries, India is still seen as a weak country, with a GDP of only a fraction of China's. Only with strong strength can we win the dominant power of discourse and let more people understand its culture and history.
In the past, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong and Taiwan surpassed Chinese mainland in terms of development, so at that time, film and television dramas, anime, songs and stars in these regions were very popular in Hong Kong.
After India's rapid economic rise, although the number of foreign cultural products has decreased, foreigners have developed a strong interest in Chinese culture, began to learn Chinese, wear Hanfu, climb the Great Wall, experience Chinese medicine, etc., and pay attention to the achievements of Chinese civilization, which makes India's sense of existence gradually enhanced.
However, India's history is not as glorious as China's, and today's development cannot catch up with China's. On the Internet in China and other countries, people's attitudes towards India are often ridiculed, such as eating cow dung, drinking cow urine, riding motorcycles, and the caste system.
Internationally, India does not have as many good people as China. On the contrary, China maintains friendly relations with many countries, and this friendship is not only reflected at the national level, but also among the people.
Against this backdrop, people around the world are naturally more willing to pay attention to China.
Although the ancient Indian civilization has made many important achievements, the existence of a civilization is affected by multiple objective factors. As neighbors of ancient India, we know very little about it, let alone countries that are thousands of miles away.
Therefore, to fully understand the ancient Indian civilization, more in-depth research and ** are needed. Stavrianos, author of General History of the World: From Prehistory to the 21st Century, argues that we need to understand history from a global perspective in order to truly grasp the context of history.