Origin of Life (Caste hatred: Part 2)

Civilization of China and Greece

Civilization of China: Soon after the founding of the People's Republic of China, 39 ethnic groups were recognized by the first national census in 1954. This increased to 54 in the second national census in 1964, with the Lhoba group added in 1965. The last change was the addition of the Jin people in 1979, bringing the number of recognized ethnic groups to 56 at present.
Chinese civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, which flourished in the valley of the Huangho and Yangtze rivers. It is one of the few civilizations that developed its own independent writing system in ancient times. Things like printing press, paper making, ammunition, playing cards, silkworm rearing, porcelain pottery, kite flying, writing time and compass are the gifts of this civilization. Archaeological evidence dates human settlement in China back about 225,000 years. The remains found in Zhoukoudian Cave are 3 to 550,000 years old and belong to Peking man, a Homo erectus who used fire. Remains of modern humans in China have been found in the Liujiang region of Guangxi, including part of a skull that is 67,000 years old. Although the age of the remains from Liujiang is controversial, a skeleton from Minatogawa, Okinawa, Japan has been dated to between 18,250+650 and 16,600+300 years, meaning modern humans had arrived in China before that time. The first unified Chinese state was established by the Qin dynasty in 221 BC, when the court of the Chinese emperor was established and the Chinese language was forcibly standardized. Historically, there has been no concept or overarching name for "religion" in the Chinese language. In English, the terms "popular religion" or "folk religion" have long been used to describe local religious life. In Chinese academic literature and common usage "folk religion" (Chinese: 民間宗教; pinyin: mínjiān zōngjiāo) refers to specific organized folk religious sects. Religion in China is diverse, and most Chinese people are either non-religious or practice a combination of Buddhism and Shamanism with a worldview collectively called Chinese folk religion. Chinese folk religion is the ancient and original or local religion of China. This religion worships nature, the universe, planets, etc., as well as mountain gods, village local gods, ancestors, ghosts, and the ruling god of the universe. This religion shows considerable influence of Indian philosophy, Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. From 220 BC to 206 AD, Han dynasty rulers extended the borders of their empire through military expeditions that extended into present-day Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Central Asia, and helped establish the Silk Road across Central Asia, leaving an indelible mark on Chinese culture. After the fall of the Han, China was plunged back into anarchy and another era of diversification began. Independent Chinese states established diplomatic relations with Japan during this period, bringing Chinese writing skills there. In 580 AD, China was once again unified under the rule of the Sui dynasty, which lasted until 614 AD, when the Sui dynasty collapsed after defeat in the Goguryeo-Sui Wars. Chinese culture and technology reached their peak under the subsequent Tang and Song dynasties. The Song dynasty was the first government in world history to issue paper currency and the first Chinese civil administration to establish a standing navy. In the 10th and 11th centuries, China's population doubled, mainly due to the spread of rice cultivation to central and southern China and the production of abundant food items. 100 million people lived within the boundaries of the Northern Song dynasty. The Song dynasty was China's cultural golden age when art, literature and social life in China progressed greatly. From the seventh to the twelfth century, China became the most cultured country in the world. In 1271, the Mongol chieftain Kublai Khan founded the Yuan dynasty and by 1279 had established his supremacy by removing the Song dynasty from power. At the same time, Marcopolo, a famous European traveler and merchant, reached China from Venice with his father and uncle and worked in Kublai Khan's court, the details of which he described in his diary and made public on his return, as a result of which the attention of Western countries turned towards China and many travelers from Italian cities also came to China in connection with their travels to the Near East. Apart from this, Roman Catholics also tried to establish relations with China. A peasant drove out the Mongols in 1368 and founded the Ming Dynasty, which lasted until 1664. The Qing Dynasty, founded by the Manchus, ruled China until 1911, and was the last dynasty in China.

Many trade difficulties arose due to inconvenience in transportation while travelling from western countries to China. All the traders of Europe and Asia used to cross the Red Sea with their trading ships first and then after circumnavigating Egypt they used to reach the Mediterranean Sea. There was another route for trade. They used to start their trade journey from the Gulf of Iran. In the course of the journey, they used to leave from the Gulf of Iran and reach Asia Minor after travelling to countries like Basra, Baghdad, Mecca etc., where they had to waste a lot of time and the traders could not establish economic relations with some countries. Due to this reason, western countries could not establish relations with eastern countries in those days. Not only this, later on in the latter half of the fifteenth century, their remaining trade routes also got blocked. In 1453 AD, Muhammad II of the Turk race captured Constantinople and closed their trade route. As long as the Mongol ruler Yuan was alive, some contact of foreigners with China was maintained. But as soon as he died, it seemed that their mutual relations would end. But the Ming emperors revived this relation and turned towards the western countries. With the passage of time, the traders of western countries could not forget the economic prosperity of eastern countries (especially China). Marcopolo's diary became a source of inspiration for them. As a result, between the end of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the sixteenth century, the travel of these travellers started again and their travel also started expanding. At this time, the Spanish, Dutch and Russian communities helped in furthering the relations towards the eastern and northern regions of Asia. Inspired by Spain and Portugal, a traveller named Columbus along with his fellow travellers reached Portuguese Macau (China) in 1511 AD and started living permanently in Macau. The Chinese considered these Portuguese as uncivilized and troublesome. At this time, the British also came to China. When the rule of the Ming dynasty was ending and the rule of the Manchu emperor was about to begin, the British arrived in China. Later on, they became the most influential in China and got the credit for opening the doors of China for trade with the western countries.
The first race that arrived in East Asia during the rule of the Ming dynasty was the Portuguese. In 1498 AD, Vasco da Gama set foot on Indian soil while travelling along the coastal areas of Africa. The Portuguese traveller Vasco da Gama benefited from this journey as the people of the western countries, mainly the Portuguese, came to know the route to reach the eastern countries immediately. Therefore, their departure and expansion started happening in other countries as well. They reached China at the beginning of the 16th century when they captured Malacca. They reached China in 1514 AD. As soon as they reached China, they got involved in business activities. The traders here started buying luxury items from China and started selling them in western countries where there was a demand for cosmetics. By now many western races had come to China. The Portuguese had come in 1516 AD, the Spanish had come in 1575 AD; the Dutch had come in 1604 AD and the English had come in 1637 AD. But till then the Americans and Russians had not been able to come. They also came to China during the Ching rule.
The Portuguese could not please the Chinese with their behavior. Their behavior and habits were not good. Not only the Portuguese were bad, other races also had similar habits. When the Spaniards reached America, the life of the indigenous races there also became very painful because of them. Despite the opposition of the Spanish people, they did not leave America and built colonies there and settled down regularly. As soon as they settled down regularly, they started interfering in the religion, culture, lifestyle etc. of the American people. Not only this, along with the construction of settlements, they also gradually turned towards the construction of colonies. In this connection, the Spaniards also reached China. After the Portuguese, the Spanish came to China. The Chinese were already familiar with the kind of activities this race had done in America. Therefore, as soon as this race arrived in China with the seeds of colony-building, the Chinese started opposing them. The Ming government even started a strong movement against this race. This was the reason that the Spaniards could not succeed in China like in America. They could neither establish their existence in China nor could they build the desired settlements. Trade relations had been established with the Portuguese as well. This relationship could not be established with them as well. Still the Spanish were adamant. Just as they had started living forcefully in America, they tried to live in China in the same way. A group of them stayed in Canton, the famous port of China, and tried to establish trade relations with China. Finally, in the latter half of the eighteenth century (1557 AD) they got success in their work and started living in Macau by building their own colony.
At the same time, many religious missionaries from the West also came to China. These missionaries started preaching religion in China. Initially, the behavior of these missionaries was good, but later the people of China became aware of their selfish policies. At the same time, the British and the Dutch also arrived in China. But here it should be remembered that during the rule of the Ming Dynasty, China established two types of relations with the Western countries - one was trade relations and the other was religious relations. The Western countries used to trade the southern lands with Macau and Canton. The Western traders brought many grain-related plants and tobacco from their countries to China. These people promoted tobacco a lot. Due to them, most of the people of China started consuming tobacco. Similarly, their religious relations with China were also established. Missionaries from Western countries used to preach religion in the inner areas of China. After the rule of the Mongols, the Christians in China started coming to an end and their influence started decreasing. But in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the Roman Catholics revived these Christians and their missionaries. At the same time, people from many religious sects like Franciscan, Augustinian, Jesuit, Dominican etc. reached China from Britain, France etc. In the early years of the sixteenth century, the dominance of the Jesuit sect started to be established in China. The popular propagator of this sect was Francis Xavier who tirelessly and tirelessly tried to make this sect popular in South and East Asia. This same propagator also propagated this sect in China. In fact, it was only because of Xavier that this sect could be revived in China. Xavier had not yet achieved complete success in his work when he passed away in 1556 AD. After his death, Mathar Ricci took the responsibility of his work on his shoulders. Ricci was a resident of Italy. He put in all his effort to increase the popularity of the Jesuit sect. Ricci's talent was versatile. He was a great scholar of astrology and mathematics. Historians estimate that at present there was no scholar of astrology and mathematics in China who could match Ricci. Due to his talent, he also studied Chinese literature. This Chinese literature was a completely new subject for Ricci, yet due to his perseverance and talent he gained a lot of respect among Chinese litterateurs. Apart from studying his own religion, he also studied the religion of Confucius and Christianity in great depth and tried to keep the similarities and differences of both the religions as a scholar. He made his residence in Beijing, the capital of China. At the same time, a Spaniard also came to China from the Philippines.
The rule of the Ming dynasty ended in 1644 AD. The conquerors named Manchus defeated the Ming in the north. The Manchus were residents of Manchuria. In the latter half of the sixteenth century and the early years of the seventeenth century, they made themselves powerful and snatched Mukden from the Ming, which was also their capital. They also made Mukden their capital. The Mongols living in China also willingly or unwillingly accepted the rule of the Manchus. The Manchus tried to extend their state boundary till the southern wall of China. At the same time, when a feeling of discontent against the Ming arose in China, the Manchus took the opportunity and took control of Peking and from then on they started ruling China. Kanghsi (1661-1728 AD) and Chin Lung (1736-1796 AD) were the most glorious kings of this dynasty. The Manchus ruled China for a long time.

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