Confucianism is the official philosophy that runs through most of the history of the Chinese empire, and mastering Confucian classics is the primary criterion for entering the imperial bureaucracy. China's traditional values are derived from various versions of Confucianism. Some more authoritarian ideas also have an influence, such as legalism.
Art, scholarship, literature:
Throughout the history of China, there are many variations and styles of Chinese characters. Thousands of ancient written documents still exist, from Oracle Bone Inscriptions to Qing Dynasty decrees. This emphasis on literature has influenced people's general views on the elegance of China culture, such as that calligraphy is a more advanced art form than painting or drama. Manuscripts of classic and religious documents (mainly Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism) are written by hand with a brush.
Calligraphy later became commercialized, and the works of famous artists became precious wealth. China literature has a long history; The earliest Chinese classic Book of Changes can be traced back to around 1000 BC. The prosperity of philosophy in the Warring States period produced such noteworthy works as Confucius' Analects of Confucius and Laozi's Tao Te Ching. (See also: China Classics. The dynastic history usually begins with Sima Qian's groundbreaking work Historical Records, which was written from 109 BC to 9 1 year BC.
The Tang Dynasty was the prosperous period of poetry, and the four classic novels of China literature were written in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Movable type printing developed in Song Dynasty. An academic group composed of scholars sponsored by the empire comments on printed and handwritten classic works. Members of the royal family often participate in these discussions.
The Song Dynasty was also a great period of scientific literature, with the emergence of Su Song's New Directions and Different Methods and Shen Kuo's Dream Pool Prose. There are also a large number of historical works and large-scale encyclopedias, such as Zi Zhi Tong Jian by Sima Guang or The Four Great Books of Song Dynasty compiled in1084th century.
Philosophers, writers and poets in China were highly respected and played a key role in preserving and promoting imperial culture. However, some classical scholars are famous for their bold descriptions of ordinary people's lives, which often displeases the authorities. China people invented many musical instruments, such as Zheng (with movable piano bridge), Qin (bridgeless piano), Sheng (free reed flute) and Xiao (clarinet), and adopted and developed other musical instruments, such as erhu (alto piano) and pipa (pear-shaped plucked pipa), many of which later spread to East and Southeast Asia, especially Japan, North Korea and Vietnam.
Music:
China's music can be traced back to the beginning of China civilization. Documents and cultural relics prove that there was a developed music culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty (BC 1 122- 256 BC). Today, this kind of music continues the rich tradition in one respect, and at the same time appears in a more modern form.