Greatest Chinese contribution(s) to the world ?

Maciamo · 7 Oct 2005

Continuing the series of 'greatest contributions to the world', it would be har to miss China. Interestingly, many things that appear to be part of Japanese culture are in fact Chinese (fireworks, wood block printing, kanji, Confucianism, rice paper, rice cultivation, noodles, etc.).

Note that I did not include the compass in the list, as it is mostly a myth that the Chinese invented (there is no tangible evidence that they were the first).

4321go · 7 Oct 2005

If I can only choose one , I will choose "Paper & paper money" .

Hope today's China will also contrubite the great things like before.

4321go · 7 Oct 2005

and add something: I wonder that who invent "compass" first.

Kara_Nari · 7 Oct 2005

I dont think that China gets enough credit for all of their efforts.

Fireworks displays are fantastic, I just love them, and in NZ on November 5th (haha I think) we have Guy Fawkes day, and everyone rushes to buy the Chinese fireworks, 'coz they are just sooo much better!
One chinese shop sells the best of the best, and he has pre orders and huge lines outside his store right up until the evening of guy fawkes.

monrepo · 7 Oct 2005

Chinese movies, chinese opera, chinese sayings, chinese language, chinese food, feng-sui, chinese monuments and a lot more. The fact that this wonderful civilization exists is a contribution by itself.

Tsuyoiko · 7 Oct 2005

I vote for paper, although I don't care about the money. But I have to vote against two things: Chinese food, which I have never been fond of, and fireworks, which I hate, especially at this time of year when they are constantly going off every night for no reason. kashii:

Kara_Nari · 8 Oct 2005

Oh that must be annoying, having to listen to fireworks every night. Especially with animals sensitive ears!
In NZ they only sell fireworks at one time of the year. They are banned at other times of the year, aside from special occasions where people pay big bucks to have a spectacular display.

Im a little peturbed about parents that allow their kids to play with fireworks, they should be enjoyed from afar, and not just randomly for the hell of it.

During my homeless stint they had those mini rocket thingees at the beach, and they were incredibly cheap and sold to anyone and everyone, regardless of whether they were too drunk, or too young. So the beach was a little dangerous at that time, and not so quiet.

Not sure how other countries rules and regulations work, but back home you have to be over 18 (maybe its 16) and as I said before, its only for one time of the year.
Also they are very cautious of animal and child safety. Therefore its enjoyable, because its safer.

bossel · 8 Oct 2005

Tsuyoiko said:
especially at this time of year when they are constantly going off every night for no reason. kashii:

Being in China right now, I haven't heard any fireworks going off in the past 2 weeks.
Much more annoying & prevalent are alarms of motor scooters which go off when anyone comes too close or even when a car drives by. Anyway, China is pretty noisy overall. kashii:

Glenn · 8 Oct 2005

'†•¶˜ð›?H'†š "I'â—¯œƒ›õžéH
'†•¶‰ïŽÊ?H'†'"I'â—¯œƒ??H

Well, I figured I'd try, anyway. I'd do it in German, too, if I knew any.

bossel · 8 Oct 2005

Glenn said:
'†•¶˜ð›?H'†š "I'â—¯œƒ›õžéH
'†•¶‰ïŽÊ?H'†'"I'â—¯œƒ??H

Well, I figured I'd try, anyway. I'd do it in German, too, if I knew any.

German would be a good idea! Because I can't understand. Thought it was my crappy Mandarin (which is BTW much, much crappier than expected), but my girlfriend can't understand either.

What I just noticed: Confucianism, Taoism & Feng Shui are put together as one. I don't know if that is justified.

Maciamo · 8 Oct 2005

bossel said:
What I just noticed: Confucianism, Taoism & Feng Shui are put together as one. I don't know if that is justified.

Because they are all some kind of (mystical or social) philosophies that influence the typical Chinese/East Asian way of thinking, and many Chinese (or Japanese) cannot always clearly distinguish what comes from each of them. For example, ancestor worship is Taoist, but often mixed with the Confucian idea of seniority and respect for the elder, and Feng Shui may have a role in organising houses in relation to cemeteries, temples, or spiritual currents.

Index · 8 Oct 2005

How about Mao's traditional people's war, or Deng Xiaoping's guerilla nuclear warfare? Quite original strategic thought. Perhaps also Sun Tzu?

Glenn · 8 Oct 2005

bossel said:
German would be a good idea! Because I can't understand. Thought it was my crappy Mandarin (which is BTW much, much crappier than expected), but my girlfriend can't understand either.

Heh, I just noticed that I used the wrong verb in the first sentence for one. Well, I guess my Mandarin's crappier than I thought. Maybe working on that generative grammar would be a good idea....

If I had done it in German it probably would have been the same result anyway. I was trying to ask how your stay in China is going.[/OFF-TOPIC]

[Edit] By the way I realized my mistakes, especially after talking to my Mandarin-speaking roommate. I was using Japanese grammar. :shock:

Should have been more like this:
?˜ðæ¤'†•¶?H?Ý'†š ‰ß"¾œƒ›õžéH
?‰ï?'†•¶?H?Ý'†'‰ß"¾œƒ??H

Maciamo · 8 Oct 2005

Index said:
How about Mao's traditional people's war, or Deng Xiaoping's guerilla nuclear warfare? Quite original strategic thought. Perhaps also Sun Tzu?

I have listed all the great generals or strategists in other countries' "Greatest conrtribution to the world", and won't here, because war cannot really be called a "great contribution" (especially to other countries).

Index · 8 Oct 2005

War is not a great contribution, I agree. However the models of strategic thought I have mentioned are primarily defensive and aim, in the first instance, to deter or prevent conflict.

Zauriel · 13 Oct 2005

Hey, What about chopsticks?

Maciamo said:
I have listed all the great generals or strategists in other countries' "Greatest conrtribution to the world", and won't here, because war cannot really be called a "great contribution" (especially to other countries).

True but I think Sun Tzu's military strategies should be considered a contribution to the world because it should have been adopted by every modern nation's military. True, Sun Tzu's military philosophy on strategy and discipline may ruin nations but may also preserve nations as well.

After all, a military's purpose is supposed to be to defend the nation it serves, not to start wars, subjugate other nations nor kill people. But sometimes Militaries follow the orders of those political leaders who wanted to attack other countries unprovokedly and hurt innocent civilians. Especially the Burmese military or the Nazi military or the Japanese Imperial Military.

Why must a military exist to not just protect the people of their nation but also to start wars against other humans?

Tokyo-K1 · 13 Oct 2005

I think all of the above options in the poll are great contributions, which all play a part in our lives.
For my post I'm gonna be a bit original and say that China have also given us many good books and stories, the most well-known one being "Journey To The West" the story of the monkey-king Goku and his master. This book has been translated throughout the world and very popular in Japan a many films have been made about it.

Duo · 13 Oct 2005

I think for me the greatest contribution is the insight of the chinese for the human body and nature overall. The notion of chi and the flow of chi in the body... the life force inside that can help to heal and make us stronger.... the different points where it can be control... techniques to control and master it.... qigong.... along with martial arts....shaolin kung fu.... and as well accupunture and just the whole different thought that the chinese aproached the body is very very interesting and not fully exploited in this day and age.

Maciamo · 13 Oct 2005

Zauriel said:
Hey, What about chopsticks?

I don't really consider a major contribution to the world. It's mainly a contribution to Japan and Korea. There are dozens of such contributions to these 2 countries. Just have a look at How much of Japan's traditional culture comes from China

Zauriel · 13 Oct 2005

Maciamo said:
I don't really consider a major contribution to the world. It's mainly a contribution to Japan and Korea. There are dozens of such contributions to these 2 countries. Just have a look at How much of Japan's traditional culture comes from China

Excuse me. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma use chopsticks?

I don't know if any of these nations use chopsticks. As far as I recall, In most Thai restaurants I visited, they use fork and spoon. But I believe many Vietnamese restaurants use chopsticks.

Maciamo · 14 Oct 2005

Zauriel said:
Excuse me. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Burma use chopsticks?

I don't know if any of these nations use chopsticks. As far as I recall, In most Thai restaurants I visited, they use fork and spoon. But I believe many Vietnamese restaurants use chopsticks.

Spoon and fork is standard is Thailand and Cambodia. Vietnam is more chopsticks. Not sure about Laos as I haven't been there.

bossel · 18 Oct 2005

Maciamo said:
Because they are all some kind of (mystical or social) philosophies that influence the typical Chinese/East Asian way of thinking, and many Chinese (or Japanese) cannot always clearly distinguish what comes from each of them. For example, ancestor worship is Taoist, but often mixed with the Confucian idea of seniority and respect for the elder, and Feng Shui may have a role in organising houses in relation to cemeteries, temples, or spiritual currents.

True, of course. But while Taoism & Feng Shui are closely related, the connection to Confucianism is somewhat ambiguous (not to say antithetic, at least in theory). Hence I would have preferred either a bigger category "philosophy" or one category for each. That's just IMO, your reasoning does just as well, & since it is your poll...

Glenn said:
I was trying to ask how your stay in China is going.[/OFF-TOPIC]

Thanks, but at that particular time not very well (for having a cold). Now I'm back in Germany. The stay in China was definitely too short, yet too long to disrupt this thread with my experience. When I find the time (my life is utter chaos at the moment - I NEVER should have tried to organise a trip to China & a move at the same time) I'll write a response in Rock's (?) China thread.

Minty · 26 Feb 2006

Maciamo said:
Continuing the series of 'greatest contributions to the world', it would be har to miss China. Interestingly, many things that appear to be part of Japanese culture are in fact Chinese (fireworks, wood block printing, kanji, Confucianism, rice paper, rice cultivation, noodles, etc.).
Note that I did not include the compass in the list, as it is mostly a myth that the Chinese invented (there is no tangible evidence that they were the first).

Compasses were initially used in feng shui in ancient China. The first known use of Earth's magnetic field in this way occurred in ancient China as a spectacle. Arrows were cast similarly to dice. These magnetised arrows aligned themselves pointing north, impressing the audience. The earliest record of use of magnetic lodestone as a direction point was in a 4th century Chinese book: Book of the Devil Valley Master.
Dream Pool Essay written by Song Dynasty scholar Shen Kua in AD 1086 contained a detailed description of how geomancer magnetized a needle by rubbing its tip with lodestone, and hung the magnetic needle with one single strain of silk with a bit of wax attached to the center of the needle. Shen Kua pointed out that the needle prepared this way some times pointed south, some times pointed north.
The earliest record about the use of compass in navigation was Zhu Yu's book Pingzhou Ke Tan (Pingzhou Table Talks) of AD 1117.
The navigator knows the geography, he watches the stars at night, watches the sun at day; when it is dark and cloudy, he watches the compass
A pilot's compass handbook titled Shun Feng Xiang Song (Fair Winds for Escort) in the Oxford Bodleian Library contains great details about the use of compass in navigation.
Navigational mariner's compassKnowledge of the compass moved overland through the Arab countries and then to Europe sometime later in the 12th century.
This is taken from Wikipedia.

I choose fireworks by the way because that leads to the invention of gunpowder which is considered one of Chinese's greatest inventions.

nurizeko · 4 Mar 2006

I voted food because it tastes good (at least the western take on it).

I cant really vote for other things since for the most part, china evolved seperated from the rest of the world, so all their pretty little inventions were little to no use as a contribution to the world in general, though silk did keep the roman elite well dressed.

Greatest Chinese contribution(s) to the world ?

What is the greatest Chinese contribution(s) to the world ?

Paper & paper money

Block printing

Lacquer, porcelain and silk

Blackpowder, fireworks and explosives

Acupuncture

Confucianism, Taoism & Feng Shui

Martial arts (Tai Chi Chuan, Kung Fu...)

Chinese characters (ﾅ?ﾂｿﾅｽﾅ｡)

Chinese herbal medicine (ﾅ?ﾂｿ窶｢ﾃｻ)

Chinese food (including the invention of noodles)

Arched bridges and canals

Other cultural inventions (fans, kites, origami...)

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Happy

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DON'T PANIC!

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窶禿塒弯

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The Angel of Justice

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The Angel of Justice

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