12.6 The far east: 300 to 201 b.c.

The far east

Back to The Far East: 400 to 301 B.C.

China and manchuria (warring states period of chou until 221, ch'in to 207 then han from 202 b.c. on)

Two fundamental Chinese social aspects had become apparent by the end of this Formative Age of the early dynasties:

(l) The concept of the patrilineal family as the basic unit in society, with blood kinships of the highest importance and (2) the concept of natural differentiation into classes, each regarded in proportion to their contributions to the whole society.

In Shang times slavery had been common with the slaves being war captives or criminals, but this decreased with the Chou Dynasty and finally disappeared as social status became more fluid and transitory. With the disappearance of the early feudalism, free-hold farming became the dominant food support in the small amount of arable land available.

As population had greatly increased, there was no longer room for grazing herds and the Chinese had settled for scavenger-breeding animal husbandry consisting of plow oxen, pigs, chickens and occasionally dogs. Nomads first started bothering northern China in earnest in this century. The nomads were all milk-drinkers and still had the necessary lactose for digesting that in their physiological make-up, while most Chinese didn't have that enzyme after infancy because of the long scarcity of milk-giving animals. Yet today, Chinese as a whole find milk indigestible because of this lack of lactose and the classical Chinese have considered milk products unclean or tainted since 2,000 B.C. Yogurt, curds or cheese can be eaten, however, because the lactose sugar has been broken down. Stir fry cooking developed on the flood plains as a result of the very limited fuel supply, using wafer thin fragments of meat and vegetables which cook in minutes. Another innovation can be seen when a basic bean is taken through several processes and allowed to ferment in a loaf in a dark area over winter - then the fungus is scraped off and the leaves are soaked in brine. The briny liquid, when strained off, is "soy sauce". The debris of the loaves is made into a thick "cheese", now partially blamed for the high incidence of stomach cancer in Asia. (Ref. 101 , 211 )

Early in this century (as continued from the last) the Confucian principles were kept alive and elaborated for posterity by Master Meng K'o, Meng-tzu (Latinized - "Mencius") an extravagant, arrogant aristocrat who nevertheless recognized that public morale should be the first concern of every ruler and he did not hesitate to tell them so. But perhaps the greatest Confucian thinker of the century was Hsu~n-tzu. a ruthlessly tough-minded rationalist who set down his philosophy in a well organized book. In addition, the present form of the Lao-tzu, the Taoist philosophy, was made in this century with authorship really unknown. It has been called the most profound and beautiful book ever produced by the Chinese and has been translated into English more of ten than any book except the Bible. Its meanings, however, can still be elusive and debatable. (Ref. 101 )