Ancient chinese civilization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ancient chinese civilization - Essay Example Ancient China had given the world a lot of useful inventions too, such as the use of paper, the introduction of currency and coinage, its discovery of gunpowder, a cultural heritage like the Great Wall of China built by the emperor Shih Huang Ti whose fairly-recent discovery of his impressive funerary arrangements in a big burial compound containing an impressive array of a terra-cotta army consisting of an 8,000+ life-sized warriors, 400 horses and 100 chariots had astounded archaeologists and historians alike, and the first use of a bureaucracy in the form of civil service to administer an empire. It is said Shih Huang Ti searched for an elixir of youth to attain immortality but failed. The main concern of Confucius was to attain social order and political stability. This is because the period in which he lived was marked by chaos and constant warfare among the various states and people were displaced and inconvenienced as innocent victims of ambitions of various warlords. The key to a peaceful existence, according to the analysis of Confucius, was a return to the virtues of humanity and benevolence in social relations by reciprocity. Confucius asserted that the younger generations must profess filial obedience as a form of duty, one that is forced or emphasized on them as dutiful sons and daughters, because children brought up this way will also end up as benevolent citizens when they turn into adulthood. This is what Confucius meant when he said, â€Å"a young mans duty is to be filial to his parents at home, and respectful to his elders abroad, to be circumspect and truthful . . .† [I:6] because young people who exercise filial piety also are expected to care for their parents when these parents grow old. Filial piety and benevolence translate into kindness for parents and all old people, caring for them always and sensitive to their needs, while benevolence in the larger social sphere will reduce