Discussion Of The Core Values System Of Chinese Traditional Culture On Its Early Stage

The Chinese civilization has already flourished 4000 years. As one of the most ancient civil systems around the world, she derived naturally, developed individually and continued gloriously. She also owned great vitality and cohesiveness and she is the only country that could save traditional culture and let it prosper among other three ancient civilizations. However, tracing Chinese history, we can find that those dynasties in its history almost present a progress:foundation—prospering—descending—death and the consistency is amazing. Like those dynasties,the Chinese culture also undertakes a rigid progress: rising—flourishing—integration—ossifying. Why does Chinese culture run into a round and round dilemma after a flourishing start? The answer has a tight connection with the substance of the Chinese culture—the core value system of the Chinese culture.The core value system of the Chinese culture is a system which deems patriarchal clan as the base, morality as the domination and harmony as the ideal. It is because as the main nation, the ancient Chinese people reside around the valley of Yellow River and the Yangzi River which have an occluded situation and agriculture is the dominant activity. Hence, serious circumstance compels our ancestors produce a habit that is one hate to leave a place where one has lived long and a moral concept which bases on patriarchal clan system. It also precipitates a social culture mind which encourages people to pursue harmony and middlebrow. Such concepts evolve gradually to the core value system of the Chinese culture.China runs into the civil era in the Xia dynasty and engenders definite concepts including patriarchal clan, virtue, cause and contribution and harmony after the developing of the Shang dynasty and the Zhou dynasty. The warring state period is a special era when the culture prospers of China. The core value system of the Chinese culture has both inheritance and creation and experiences an attempt of integration from the warring state period to the Qin dynasty and Han dynasty. The centralization of imperialism has been foundered and solidified in Han dynasty and China needs a high degree of unity of the value system. Dong Zhong Shu, a scholar in Han, put forward a suit of ideological system adjusted to the imperialism, which is based on the Confucian ideology and absorbs Taoist, Legalist and the Yin-Yang School. Dong also submits them to the emperor and makes them effective, and henceforth he establishes the patriarchal clan system in the imperialism and extend the Confucian moral system to every aspect of the society. The core value system of the Chinese culture forms under this cultural situation. Although in special period the social ideology, more or less, change somewhat, the core value system of the Chinese culture remains its domination and plays an indispensible influence upon our nation.The Chinese people radicate a value system which is based on the Zhong Xiao thought and uses the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues as the criterion, chasing cause and contribution as its characteristic and the sublimation of personal virtue as the ideal under the core value system of the Chinese culture. This system profoundly sways every aspect of Chinese culture, technology, politics and economy after its foundation in Han dynasty. The order of feudal ethics demanded by it has impress Chinese society for thousands years.