Cutting off the queues of China

Author: Zhang Yigong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-06-12
Features: It is easy to cut off a tangible queue, but difficult to cut off an intangible one; it is easy to cut off others' queues, but difficult to cut off one's own. This book introduces the specific and minute changes that have occurred in China over the past century—the queue—and includes some photographs, making it easy to understand.
Excerpt: From "Yi" to "Yang" — The World as Seen by Modern Chinese People Before the 20th Century: Before the 20th century, the worldview of the Chinese people was: China was at the center of the world, occupying nine-tenths of it; during the Han and Tang dynasties, the of Chinese people traveling west did not extend beyond Asia; Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Ocean in the early Ming Dynasty were a fleeting moment; the ancient Chinese once believed that the Western world was "geographically distinct," and these erroneous perceptions were passed down through generations, never corrected over millennia; the "World Map" drawn by the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci was harshly criticized by scholars of the Ming and Qing dynasties; in the early 20th century, Western theater was called "civilizing drama," and Western canes were called "civilizing sticks," as if Chinese things had nothing to do with civilization. The Chinese nation created the most brilliant agricultural civilization in human history. The rich knowledge of ancient Chinese people about geography, mountains, rivers, terrain, soil, vegetation, and climate was an important part of this civilization. However, their understanding of the Earth where humans lived, and of the entire world, was astonishingly vague and limited. This contrasted sharply with the high level of civilization. Until the mid-19th century, most Chinese still only had a concept of "the world" and not a concept of "the world." The "world" concept of ancient Chinese people was almost the same as the concept of "China" or "Jiu Zhou." The term "China" originally referred to the "capital" or "imperial city," meaning the center of the country; later, it referred to the "Central Plains" or "Zhongyuan," meaning the land where the Han ethnic group resided, which is now the Henan region. As the Han ethnic group expanded its activities, it also referred to the vast areas of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, gradually approaching the territory of the Central Plains dynasties. It was only after the 19th century that "China" came to specifically refer to the entire territory of the country (including remote ethnic minority areas). The concept of "Jiu Zhou" emerged around the Warring States period and took shape during the Qin and Han dynasties. Its scope was roughly within the activity areas of the Chinese ethnic group and neighboring ethnic groups. The names, divisions, and locations of the nine states within "Jiu Zhou" varied in different writings, as it was not a real administrative division but rather a general geographical distinction. The concept of "Jiu Zhou" provided a framework and idea for dividing administrative regions under a centralized political system. Therefore, "Jiu Zhou" became a synonym for a unified China. The concept of "the world" emerged earlier but gained a more defined meaning around the Qin and Han dynasties. In a narrow sense, "the world" referred to "China" or "Jiu Zhou"; in a broad sense, it included "barbarian" countries outside or overseas. The broad concept of "the world" was supported by two pillars. First, China was the central country, located at the center of the world, with barbarian countries at the four corners. Second, China was a vast country, occupying nine-tenths of the world, while barbarian small states only occupied one-tenth or twelve. This was the Chinese concept of the world. When the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci came to China in the late Ming Dynasty,