China ( traditional sinograms , in simplified system ; in pinyin is a country in East Asia which currently hold two states claim the sovereignty : the People's Republic of China , which controls 99.6% of its territory and the Republic of China , which essentially controls Taiwan. It stretches from the shores of the Pacific Ocean to the Pamir and Tian Shan and Gobi desert to the Himalayas and the borders of the Indochinese peninsula , covering 9,677,009 square kilometers. Its population of over 1 350 million (over 1 330 million for the PRC in 2010 (estimate), and more than 20 million for the Republic of China , outperforming the rest of the world in many fields such as science , the medicine or the arts . It was at the origin of many major inventions : one can cite for example the compass , the printing , the paper , the bank note , the pasta or the gunpowder . Chinese civilization has strongly influenced the whole of East Asia , particularly at religion ( Confucianism and Taoism ) and linguistic (the sinograms were used throughout the region and many words Chinese are present in languages that are spoken ).

Chinese civilization, which lasted for nearly five thousand years, is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and is sometimes cited as the oldest continuous civilization . It originated in the valley of Huang He then spread southward (conquest of the territories south of the Yangtze from the Han Dynasty ), west (first incursions into Central Asia under the Han, temporary extension until 'to the Caspian Sea in the Tang , the conquest of Xinjiang and Tibet in the Qing ) and north (the Qing Dynasty, the original Manchurian brought to China's Manchuria and Mongolia ). During its history China has been repeatedly divided and then reunited and has twice been completely conquered by foreigners (by the Mongols in the ^thirteenth century and the Manchus in the ^seventeenth century ), although that they have finally adopted the customs and the Chinese administrative system to govern the empire. The last imperial dynasty , the Qing (Manchu Dynasty origin who ruled the country since 1644), has experienced a period of decline during the phase of colonial expansion of Western countries, leading the country from defeat to defeat from Opium Wars. Only after the victory against the Japanese army in 1945 that China was able to break free from foreign intervention.

Politically, the two states today who claim to have sovereignty over China are:

• the People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, has more than 98% of the population and 99.6% of the total area, it was founded by the Communist leader Mao Zedong in 1949 in Beijing. It includes mainland China , Hong Kong and Macao. Today, its economic development , initiated in 1978 by the reforms of Deng Xiaoping and his successors, is a leading economic and geopolitical world;
• the Republic of China represents less than 2% of the population and 0.4% of the total area. It is commonly known as Taiwan, whose government long led by the nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek is established on the island of Taiwan since the Chinese communist victory. The "first" Republic of China was founded in 1912 in Nanking (which is still officially the capital) by Sun Yat-sen on the rubble of the Chinese empire of the Qing dynasty.

Summary 1 Overview 2 Etymology 3 History 3.1 Changes in dynastic China 3.2 Principal Dynasties 3.3 Birth of Modern China 4 Chinese Territory 4.1 Overview History 4.2 Division historical political 4.3 Geography and Climate 5 Economy 5.1 Overview History 5.2 Situation today 6 Environment and Global Warming 7 Demographics 7.1 Evolution of the Chinese population 7.2 Fifty-six "nationalities" 7.2.1 The nationality "Han" 7.2.2 The fifty-five nationalities 8 Religions, philosophies, rituals 8.1 Yi Jing 8.2 Taoism 8.3 Confucianism 8.4 Buddhism 8.5 Chan 8.6 Chinese Popular Religion 8.7 Other religions 9 Culture 9.1 Language and Writing 9.2 Literature 9.3 Education in China 9.4 Traditional festivals 9.5 Other important cultural aspects 10 Science and Invention 10.1 The "Four Great Inventions" 10.1.1 Compass 10.1.2 Printing 10.1.3 Paper 10.1.4 Gunpowder 10.2 Medicine and Acupuncture 10.3 Administration of the State 10.4 Porcelain 10.5 Silk 10.6 Pasta 10.7 Innovations various 11 Influence of Chinese civilization 12 Notes 13 References 14 See also 14.1 Bibliography 14.2 Related Articles 3.14 External Links

Presentation

The country is primarily characterized by the long history of a people, its rich culture , its language and its writing so special, his thought. The "real Chinese" eludes many Western observers, today as at the time of its discovery by early missionaries. In the second half of the twentieth ^century, many around the ideological quarrels Maoism and the Cultural Revolution have not helped to clarify the debate. Today China is in a period of openness and economic development accelerated. Although many challenges remain, it seems that the current reforms have enabled the Chinese people to deploy its industry and its power is now comparable to that of major Western countries. It is now often described as "world factory" and studies have shown that the basket of a French household in its non-food portion, contained half of the products manufactured in China.

Geographically , China has gradually reached since the dynasty founder of the Qin in 221 BC. AD proportions of a continent. Its history is punctuated by movements of unification followed by disintegration, long periods of stability corresponding to the major dynasties are interspersed and connected by periods of division and chaos. But it is the continuity of its culture and its relative political unity which said today it would be the oldest civilization of the world alive. One of its features is probably the founding of worship the written word, which can be traced to the practices of the oracular scapulimancy and the Book of Changes , which irrigates the whole intellectual activity. On the thought of Confucius (551 BC. - 479 BC.) Master educator and that of his disciples Mencius and Xun Zi , the Confucianism was founded, then used as a doctrine of state by most of the emperors who succeeded to the throne. Other currents of thought and other characters helped form the Chinese culture, and Lao Tzu and Taoism , the Buddhism , the Neo-Confucianism and to Marxism more recently. The large inflows of external Buddhism or Marxism shows that, contrary to popular belief, China has not isolated from the rest of the world for a short part of its history.

Etymology

Throughout their history the Chinese have used several names for their country. Today the most used of them is traditional sinograms , in simplified system ; in Pinyin Zhongguo (pronounced / djongkwo /). One is tempted to believe that "Zhongguo" means "middle country" or by abuse of language in France "middle kingdom". It is quite otherwise. The following discussion attempts to provide some answers to the origins and meaning of "Zhongguo".

When envisagrent the establishment of a republic , Sun Yat-sen and his companions would not use the term "Zhongguo", yet informed, because he was employed by the Western imperialist powers, they wanted even less "Shina" (), narrow term used by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese wars , steeped in colonialism, which is found in the transcript Chinese Indochina (). They chose to combine the character "Zhong" ( chin.trad. chin.simpl.) And "Hua" ( chin.trad. chin.simpl.). The Chinese character "Zhong" comes from "Zhongyuan" (chin.trad. and chin.simpl.) which means "central plains" in reference to the cradle of Chinese civilization first located somewhere between the Yellow River and Yangtze. As for the sinogram Hua, who can take today to mean "in bloom", "beautiful" or "shows", is one element of Huaxia , a term that refers to the writings of the Warring the first Chinese " Tribes of Huang Di and Yandi. " Qian Mu (), historian, believes it is the name of their territory, Hua is a mountain of Henan , Xia former name of the Han River (). Other historians believe that ethnicity Xia, who gave his name to the first dynasty in Chinese history, was characterized hua, one of whose meaning is "painted", because its members are tattooed. The term zhonghua was mentioned for the first time in 1894 by Sun Yat-sen in Hawaii in a speech. It is now included in the designations of the Republic of China (Zhonghua Minguo;/) and the People's Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo;/).

The word "Zhongguo" (China), having originally a limited number of senses, took a broader meaning and now refers to the entire Chinese territory. Today, this word usually refers to mainland China (, Zhongguo Dal Mandarin), or as the People's Republic of China , Hong Kong and Macau included, still more rarely to the assembly formed by the CPP and the Republic of China (whose territory includes mainly the island of Taiwan ), which corresponds to the area's economic "Greater China" ().

History

,"The China united will divide, disperse and recomposition. " ( History of Three Kingdoms )

From the Neolithic existed in China organized societies which practiced sedentary agriculture and animal husbandry. The cultivation of rice appears to 5000 BC. Although BC bronze objects were found at the site of the culture of Majiayao (between 2300 and 2700 BC.), it is generally accepted that the Bronze Age in China began around 2100 BC. AD, during the dynasty of Xia ^, . But it was under the dynasty of Shang (from 1766 to 1122 BC.) that the bronze work reached its full development.

China is a major focus of civilization. It soon became the foundation of the empire by the Qin dynasty unified a large area relatively politically and linguistically, with an advanced culture, beating the world in many fields such as arts , the medical and technical.

Dynastic change in China

For two millennia, China has been influenced by alternating centrifugal and centripetal forces. When the central power of the dynasty imperial court offense and that was the prey of rival factions and intrigues, that the administration could no longer deal with famines and natural disasters and that it could no longer contain the pressure "barbarians" who operated extensive raids in the border regions, movements of revolt starving peasants tore the country, sects were heeded, and the distant provinces found themselves under the sway of warlords no longer recognizing the authority of the emperor. Finally, they proclaimed themselves themselves the Son of Heaven, dividing the empire into rival kingdoms engaged in incessant wars and showing that the emperor had lost the Mandate of Heaven (Tianming).

When a warlord, sometimes from the peasantry as Zhu Yuanzhang , the founder of the Ming Dynasty , proved more able than others and managed to regain control of the entire country, it was thought that he had received New Mandate of Heaven and it was legitimate, he founded a new dynasty. In nearly two millennia, several kingdoms were founded on Chinese territory by non-ethnic Han or mixed, such as Liao or Jurchen. Finally, two great dynasties have ruled the whole of China, although foreign-born: that of the Yuan , Mongol, and that of the Qing Dynasty , Manchu.

Major dynasties

After the first dynasties, such as those of the Shang and Zhou , who occupy the most central part of the country, the great unifier of China Emperor Qin Shi Huang , founder of the Qin dynasty (which gave its name to China) in -221 BC. AD, and the Great Wall of China . The buried army which still retains his mausoleum near Xi'an was found in 1974.

Under the Han (from -206 BC. to 220 AD.), the Tang (618 to 907), then the Song (960 to 1279), the country known for long periods peace, during which China can be counted first among the nations of the world's largest by population, roughly equal to that of Europe, but also by its innovations under the Tang and the Song in particular.

Between these brilliant dynasties, however, China knows troubled times, with periods of civil war during which it loses its unity. This is particularly true of the period between the fall of the Han in 220 AD. AD with the appearance of the Three Kingdoms , until 581, when the Sui Dynasty reunified China, paving the advent of Tang. Similarly, a period of unrest, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms , Tang separates the Song Dynasty , which flourished during the Chinese culture at its peak.

After the trauma of the Mongol invasion made by the heirs of Genghis Khan , the Yuan dynasty , it takes power in northern China from 1234, and claims sovereignty over China in 1271, despite the fierce resistance of the Song Dynasty in southern China until 1279.

A new dynasty of ethnic Han finally regains power in 1368 and is the Ming Dynasty , which seek to regain its past glory, but still find the strength.

In 1644, a new dynasty "non-Han, Manchu, this time, seizes the throne of China and founded the Qing dynasty , the culmination of the work of Nurhachi , the real founder of this line which was not completed that 'with the Emperor Pu Yi , " The Last Emperor. "

Even during periods of unity, Chinese culture has always been a very composite tissue, and the variety of cuisines, dialects, habits and lifestyles should not be overshadowed by the astonishing cultural unity, and administrative policy of this country across a continent. This unity and continuity are not unrelated to the use of a writing relatively detached from phonetics, which appraises the same languages and dialects are very different.

Birth of Modern China

During the Industrial Revolution opened in England , China and Qing was closed to foreign influence: that no doubt contributed in a context of internationalization of trade and colonialism, economic decline and technology. Following the Opium Wars , the unequal treaties forced the Qing Empire to divide its territory into spheres of influence assigned to eight foreign armies allied unconditionally open to foreign trade: Germany, for example, dominated the Shandong , France on Yunnan. The economy, based on the opium trade was ruined, his de facto political autonomy abolished.

In 1851 began the Taiping rebellion , fueled by the beliefs of the secret societies of southern China, and advocated a radical reform movement. Poorly organized, the Taiping army was defeated in 1864 , with the support of British and French troops.

At the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the Japanese defeated the imperial troops, and obtained the island of Taiwan and Penghu islands through the Treaty of Shimonoseki. In 1898, the United Kingdom obtained a concession of 99 years on the New Territories (including New Kowloon and Lantau). The United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, France, Germany and Belgium took advantage of the growing state of dereliction of each country to expand its sphere of influence.

Under pressure from intellectuals and progressive politicians, the choice of a republican regime was agreed in 1911 and the Republic was proclaimed in 1912 by Sun Yat-sen , the last emperor, Pu Yi , abdicated. Yuan Shikai , who became president proclaims the restoration of the monarchy in 1915. His death in 1916, contributes to economic and political chaos in the country: the Paris Conference in 1919, attributes the Shandong claimed recently defeated by Germany, Japan. The movement of May 4, 1919 erupted in protest.

In 1921, the Chinese Communist Party is established in Shanghai. Meanwhile, Sun Yat-sen has increased its contacts and requests for assistance from the young Soviet Union. In 1923, he founded in Canton the Huangpu Military Academy , designed to form a modern Chinese army: Chiang Kai-shek became manager. On the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925, Chiang Kai-shek led successfully the Northern Expedition , taking the warlords in the northern half of the country. In April 1927, he proclaimed the establishment of the capital to Nanjing , establishing the period known as the Nanjing decade. The Communist capital, Wuhan , and resumed in 1928 by the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang : Nationalist Party has nominal control of the entire country and gained international recognition.

Late 1931, Mao Zedong proclaimed the Chinese Soviet Republic. End of 1934, driven by the army of Chiang Kai-shek, he began the Long March (12,500 kilometers), fleeing to the North with 100,000 troops, including 86,000 soldiers of the Red Army. Late 1935, he settled with tens of thousands of survivors at Yan'an. In 1932, the kingdom puppet Manchukuo which Pu Yi was the nominal ruler had been established by the Japanese in Manchuria, greatly reducing the industrial support of the Kuomintang. In the summer of 1937, the massive invasion of eastern China by Japan triggered the Second Sino-Japanese. Threatened by the Japanese occupation and the mutiny of his troops, the nationalist party allied with the communists against the invader. Exacerbated by the Nanjing Massacre in December 1937 and the many abuses against civilians , the anti-Japanese alliance strengthened until 1940, where conflicts between Communists and Nationalists resumed sporadically.

During the Second World War , the United States accordrent massive financial aid to the Kuomintang in the context of the anti-Japanese war effort; unequal treaties were abolished by the Americans and British in 1943. In February 1945, the Yalta Conference authorized the Soviet Union, with the tacit approval of the Chinese Communist Party to expel the Japanese army in Manchuria.

In 1947, U.S. aid, proving ineffective, ended. In 1948, the Kuomintang troops were demoralized, depleted by the anti-Japanese war and the corruption of the Nationalist Party. From the Chinese Soviet Republic in Jiangxi and especially after his move to Yan'an, Mao Zedong had broken with the traditional Marxist-Leninist principles, based on the revolutions in urban working-class base. In the territories it occupied, he pushed agrarian reform, leading a guerrilla peasant and rallying the rural masses. In January 1949, his movement had rallied most of the country and Beijing was captured without resistance by the People's Liberation Army, she became the capital of China under the name Beijing International. Between April and November, most other cities fell without resistance into the hands of the Communists.

On ¹ October 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China in Beijing. In December, Chiang Kai-shek declared Taipei the provisional capital of the Republic of China.

Desired modernization of the Chinese economy was realized with the economic policy of the Great Leap Forward , irrational policy conducted in the late 50s and which provoked an unprecedented famine , responsible for 15 to 30 million deaths.

But China's modernization, and winning back his place in the world, were far from complete. A new revolution, economic as this, has indeed drawn in December 1978 at the Third Plenary Session of the ^11th a href = "% C3% Comit A9_central_du_Parti_communiste_chinois" title = "Central Committee of Communist Party of China"> party's central committee, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping , the new concept of " socialist market economy " . However, the name "Republic of China" should not be abused: the American worker is better protected than his Chinese colleague. However, they are not legion, progress is unmistakable.

Chinese territory

Historical Overview

Dynasties Shang especially Zhou , raw geopolitical entities in the origin of the future Chinese empire founded by Qin Shi Huangdi , were located in the region of the Yellow River. Since then the territory has expanded in all directions, with periods of contraction or divisions, reaching its peak during the Han Dynasty and the Tang dynasty - who labored much for the westward expansion of China, with the development of the Silk Road - and with the Qing dynasty. China Qing territories now included in the Russian Far East , Central Asia and Mongolia.

In -822, the peace treaty between China and Tibet was signed between the Emperor of Tibet, Tri Ralpachen and the Chinese emperor Muzong (820-824) of Tang Dynasty. The treaty allowed to stabilize the political, military and trade relations between Tibet and China. Thus the line forming the border between the two empires .

The Emperor of China is widely regarded as the suzerain of the surrounding regions. Many ethnic groups called "barbarians" were subject to tribute. Embassies and gifts sent by foreign rulers were also sometimes interpreted as signs of allegiance.

The territorial scope of the Great Wall of China was reduced with the accession to power of the Qing dynasty, which includes Manchuria , north of the wall in its territory.

In 1683 , with the surrender of the Kingdom of Tungning brief prepared by Koxinga to Taiwan where implantation Han had just begun, the island became part of the Qing Empire, the Penghu archipelago included. A seat, and two provincial prefectures, Taiwan was ceded to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. In 1945 , at the end of the second Sino-Japanese war , Japan abandoned its claim to the island by the Treaty of Peace of San Francisco and the Republic of China took control, then seek refuge in 1949 after the takeover by the Chinese Communist Party. Since then, the sovereignty of the territory is the subject of an unresolved conflict between the PRC and the Republic of China (Taiwan) , whereas the first Taiwan as a province with special status led by a pseudo "government" (the quotation marks are mandatory in the official newspapers), and the second continuing to assert the legitimate government of all China. The rise of Taiwanese independence movement, which challenges not only the authority of the People's Republic of China, but the very principle of the unification of Taiwan with China, makes the problem even more complex.

Historical political divisions

The administrative division of China has varied according to changes of administrations. The first level of division was the provinces and prefectures, sub-prefectures, departments, command posts, districts and townships finally. The divisions have added the most recent status of prefecture-level city, town, township, city and urban areas.

Historically, most Chinese dynasties took off in the heart of China, from one of two major rivers, the Yellow River and Yangtze. Several dynasties have had expansionist intentions, engaging in regions such as Inner Mongolia , the Manchuria , the Xinjiang , and Tibet. The dynasty Manchu Qing and his successors, the ROC and the PRC, have cemented the incorporation of these territories. These territories were delimited files instead of rigid boundaries, so well known in industrialized countries. This problem of definition has led to a series of criticisms on the integration of certain territories in the PRC, including that of Tibet and Xinjiang (, pinyin Xinjiang, which means "new frontier" or "new territory" in Chinese).

Geography and climate

China has a huge variety of landscapes, with plateaus and mountains in the west and plains in the east. Thus, the main rivers flow from west to east, with the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang or "Long River"), the Yellow River (east central), the Amur (northeast), some flowing south (Pearl River, Mekong , Brahmaputra ...). Most of these rivers flow into the South China Sea or the East China Sea.

Most of China's arable land are located around the two main rivers, the Yangtze and the Yellow River, which are also the main foci of the ancient Chinese civilizations.

To the east, on the coast of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, are vast floodplains still densely populated coast of the South China Sea is more mountainous.

To the west are large alluvial plains, with large plateaus in the Tibetan region, where Mount Everest stands. To the northwest lie the deserts of Takla Makan and Gobi, who won in size, probably because of drought and the impact of agriculture.

During many dynasties, the southwestern border of China was bounded by high mountains and deep valleys of Yunnan, which separate modern China from Myanmar (formerly Burma ), the Laos and Vietnam.

China has many climates, the north, a dry climate with severe winters in the center, a more temperate south, a subtropical climate.

The Paleozoic formations of China are mostly marine deposits of Mesozoic and Tertiary from estuarine and freshwater or land. Groups comprise volcanic parts of the northern Great Plains. In the Liaodong peninsulas and Shandong are basaltic plateaus.

The consequences of industrialization and deforestation are considered the source of sandstorms from the Gobi Desert that hit the capital, and the increase in violent typhoons that hit the southern region. The country has lost 1.6 billion tons of soil in 2004 , 800,300 hectares of arable land have been lost, including 145,000 hectares due to building construction and 63 700 in the wake of natural disasters. From 1997 to 2004, the area of arable land decreased by 5.7%, a net loss of 7.46 million hectares over the period.

Economy

Historical Overview

It is estimated that China was the world's largest economy for much of the last twenty centuries ^{, , ,} . Until the eighteenth ^century and the industrial revolution , China is also found that the standard of living highest in the world .

China, the first civilization to use paper money , has a long history of international economic relations. We note some useful benchmarks:

• The Yuan Dynasty organized a system of roads and post efficient, contributing to the modernization of the Chinese economy.
• Early in the Ming era , the fleets of Admiral Zheng He strengthened the links already on the spice route between India, the East African coast, the Indonesia and Australia, and allegedly the Americas (before the Europeans, cf. Admiral cards this time).
• Following a downturn in the Ming , the Qing dynasty had its economic deficit increase with the arrival of Western colonizers. In the mid-nineteenth ^century, the Chinese economy has been in his most subservient to the commerce of opium for the interests of the colonizers, throwing the country into economic chaos and political.
• The reign of Mao Zedong has been synonymous with a new period of quasi-economic autarky, apart from some trade with the Communist sphere.
• Deng Xiaoping has endorsed from December 1978 a gradual economic opening, which is now a "socialist market economy", combining an open economy in the world and the market economy, with a willingness to finance development office.

Current Situation

In 2010, China is ^the 2nd largest economy behind the United States and ahead of Japan . Expressed in purchasing power parity , China is the second largest economy behind the United States. Taiwan for its part is the ^24th largest economy (the ^19th but if we think in purchasing power parity ).

China and Taiwan are members of the World Trade Organization since respectively 2001 and 2002 , allowing them to benefit fully from the opportunities offered by globalization of the economy. China also seeks to manage its integration into the WTO in its best interests, and transparency and the evolution of its law are closely monitored by the United States and the European Union .

The economic development of China today is one of the world's fastest, since it will record a growth medium which, for nearly twenty years, is around ten percent. Between 1980 and 2007, GDP has increased by 12.7 . This growth is mainly driven by investment and exports. China is now the world's largest exporter, with exports amounting to 1,435 billion in 2008. The bulk of this trade is with the European Union (20.4%), the United States (17.7%), Hong Kong (13.4%) and Japan (8.1%). The strengths of Chinese exports are the tractors , the watches and toys (85% world market), the cameras and laptops (55% of the market), televisions and washing machines (30%), 15 % for steel .

China also has the largest reserves of rare metals in the world and whose main use is detailed below in brackets: 95% of REE ( nanotechnology ), 87% of the antimony ( semiconductors ), 84% of tungsten ( semiconductors ), 83% of gallium ( PV ), 79% of germanium ( optical fiber ), 60% of indium ( PV ) and 51% of the fluorite ( metallurgy ). The increasing use of these metals in new technology and industry, faced with a concentrated and limited production, raising the risk of shortages in the longer term .

The presence of foreign firms on Chinese soil is largely responsible for the sharp acceleration in export growth. They attracted the workforce qualified in coastal areas where they are located. Only 41% of Chinese exports come from enterprises fully Chinese. Today, 39% of exports from China are made by companies whose capital is one hundred percent foreign and 20% are the result of partnerships between foreign companies and Chinese companies . Mainland China maintains its attractiveness for companies with a workforce cheap and docile. A worker unqualified in China costs about one U.S. dollar per hour, which is well below the minimum of industrialized countries. In addition, we must add that the country has the largest workforce in the world with 813.5 million of available workers .

Another aspect of the Chinese economy for the future: the low prices of items not from the workforce. This is due in part to the existence of price controls and the security of supply sources inherited from the previous type economy Soviet : SOEs continue to be dismantled and returned to their workers in areas of increased competitiveness The effect deflationary induces continues to put pressure on prices in the economy.

Here are the numbers represented by the various economic sectors .

In 2010, China became the second world power: the GDP of China amounted to 5 878.6 billion dollars in 2010, against 5.472 trillion in Japan. .

Environment and global warming

• The People's Republic of China ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002 .

• Taiwan , meanwhile, has signed the Kyoto Protocol, but had still not ratified in late 2007.

China is experiencing major environmental problems. The forest had already fallen sharply eight thousand years ago, which has created problems of desertification , of erosion and soil degradation, as well as floods , which have worsened with the industrialization and population growth especially in the coast and in the basin of the Pearl River. The country has roughly the same amount of water that the United States, but its population is five times greater. Water shortage is particularly acute in the north, very dry, where nearly half the population of China, where demand for water far exceeds the natural supply. The global warming accelerates the retreat of glaciers that feed the major rivers of China, while hastening the spread of deserts, which currently absorb more than 300 000 ha of grassland each year. However, no further precipitate the water crisis that three decades of growth in industrial unbridled. In its race to become the next superpower, China is not content to pump unlimited rivers and groundwater, and it also pollutes the water it is irreversible manner so that the World Bank has sounded the alarm citing "dramatic consequences for future generations." The massive use of oil and especially coal is a source of pollution significant. The explosion of economic growth has resulted in new pressures on non-renewable resources. Many cities are permanently covered with a cloud of pollution. China is one of seventeen mega-diverse countries , that is to say, identified by the Centre for Monitoring the conservation of the UN program for the environment as one of the richest in the world terms of biodiversity. However it is also one of the four countries where a large number of species of mammals are threatened with extinction due to habitat destruction. The most emblematic case is probably the giant panda , which was chosen as a symbol by the World Wide Fund for Nature.

China initially refused the Kyoto protocol but in 2007, Wen Jiabao announced in 2010 will achieve the objectives of the Eleventh Five Year Plan : 20% reduction in energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product and 10% of the major pollutants emission. Programs for reforestation , protection of nature, suppression of filament bulbs , the development of dry toilets , the multiplication of solar panels on the Tibetan plateau , a wind farm and an important city project " high environmental quality 'reflect the efforts. The fishing fleet in China took an increasing share cons on overfishing.

Yet, despite official rhetoric, China has delighted in 2007 to the United States the title of largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions . In twenty-five years, China could produce alone twice as much as all the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development combined. What is not so surprising since it was built in 2006, five coal plants per week . Since 2005, it is the country that produces the most industrial and municipal waste with 300 million tons per year .

This pollution poses risks to term health of the population who were assessed at a figure of 750,000 deaths per year (cancer, pulmonary diseases ...), the subject is so sensitive, and yet so difficult to quantify that China asked the World Bank now estimates omit .

The annual economic cost of these environmental problems could be enormous, about 160 billion dollars per year compares with a record trade surplus of China, which in 2006 was 177 billion per year .

These environmental problems are overcrowding with the great challenge of modern China.

Demography

"China is a vast country, which is populated by Chinaman"

- Charles de Gaulle

The population of China includes:

• the population of the People's Republic of China which, with 1.333 billion people, representing over 98% of the total;

cf. population estimate in real time: :

• 0-14 years: 19.8% (men: 140 877 745 - women: 124290090)
• 15-64 years: 72.1% (men: 495 724 889 - women: 469182087)
• 65 years and over: 8.1% (men: 51774115 - women: 56764042) (estimate 2010)

Changing demographics Chinese

Today companies are struggling to gain access to its market held huge potential, whereas yesterday with the "yellow peril" was feared surge in the West Asian. Countries traditionally prosperous agriculture, China has been able to develop very early a rural population density and major conurbations. Under the Song , cities such as Guangzhou (Canton) experienced a population density and an administrative organization unparalleled at the time.

Over a hundred ethnic groups have existed in China, the Han majority still remaining. This ethnic group, composed of a pattern of similar people, do not resist, however, the concept of a homogeneous ethnic Han, and could be further divided into subcategories with similar cultural traits. Many Han maintained their traditions, especially their language, continuing to identify with the ethnic Han. The term Zhonghua minzu (in simplified system / in sinograms traditional ) is used as a notion of "Chineseness" that transcends ethnic divisions in China.

The PRC government currently recognizes 55 official ethnic minorities, most ethnic Han. Its population is the largest in the world, surpassing the 1.36 billion people (2008), approximately 20% of the 6.8 billion people living in the world according to estimates by the WHO.

The rapid decline in mortality and delay of the birth control under Mao Zedong , encouraging instead a time the Chinese to procreate an army of "little soldiers" have contributed to rapid population growth. In the late 1970s, the one-child policy, enforced in cities, was the response to this explosion, hampering the country's demographic development. "The goal was that the population does not exceed one billion two hundred million people. But this stern purpose, by a gear atrocious, triggered other tragedies: they came to drown the newborn if they were girls (...). These are defense mechanisms, but tragic elementary that inevitably engage in any population struggling for its survival. And these atrocities, which seemed to belong to the distant past, replaying the moment when China made its sensational debut in the modern world . The new age structure of the population has increased significantly the employment rate is now one of the highest in the world, which helps explain the high rates of investment, savings and economic growth observed since 1980. But this one-child policy is not without its problems and sociological problems in the future with a rapidly aging population expected by 2030.

On 28 February 2006 , the State Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that the Chinese population of the People's Republic of China had increased from 7.68 million in 2005 , representing a natural growth of 5.89 per thousand, against 5.87 per thousand in 2004. The life expectancy from 41 years in 1952 to 73 years in 2011. At 31 December 2005 , 562 million people live in cities and 745 million in rural areas. Of this total, there are 674 million men (51.5%) and 634 million women (48.5%). In 2005, the PRC has recorded more than 16 million births and about 8.49 million deaths.

As for the Republic of China (Taiwan) , it has its side more than 22 million people.

Fifty-six "nationalities"

The People's Republic of China is a nation-state consisting of fifty-six "nationalities" (defining ethnic identity and / or cultural, not a nation in the Western sense) which together form the "Chinese nation" (zhonghua minzu). Equality in rights and duties of all these nationalities is included in the constitutional law of the PRC ^, .

Nationality "Han"

The Han nationality , a large majority (92% of the population) is itself quite heterogeneous, and can also be understood as a broad set of customs that share close cultural and linguistic characteristics (especially the grammar and writing ). The differences between the languages as Mandarin , the Cantonese or Shanghainese , are very strong.

The fifty-five nationalities

The People's Republic of China recognizes the existence of fifty-five Han nationalities in addition within the Chinese nation. They are composed of Chinese citizens with a mother tongue or culture non-Han . According to the constitution of the People's Republic of China , whatever the nationalities enjoy the right "to develop their own language spoken, written and to preserve or reform their own customs " and a priority in recruiting companies or establishments of a autonomous region . In addition, the law on birth control allows certain nationalities, especially in sparsely populated West, to have more than one child per couple, unlike Hans who have allowed only one child .

However, some minorities who lived with the Han people complain about differences between what they feel provides the Chinese law and the actual situation as it can be experienced on the ground. Westerners complain indeed discriminatory measures, including violations of freedom of worship , a cultural marginalization leading to economic marginalization, or authoritarian rule on birth control (although the specific arrangements) ^, .

Although less publicized, a similar sentiment has long existed among populations Muslim Uighur from Xinjiang. And broke the ^nineteenth century a very serious insurgency "Muslim" , the Dungan revolt , which, between 1862 and 1877 probably caused more than a million deaths . Today, these same people of Xinjiang are victim of Han domination , and little tolerance law on birth control (although the specific arrangements) and the procedure of abortion in cases of infringement law, violations of religious freedom and cultural and political settlement to the West that they see as a colonization Han .

According to the Government of the People's Republic of China, this type of assertion is the result of movements he describes as " separatists. " He denounces the Tibetan government in exile headed by the ^14th Dalai Lama , and the Uighur separatist movement in Xinjiang (called " East Turkistan "by them), some of them, like the Islamic Movement East Turkistan , are even accused of having used means terrorists and violent and provide the Chinese who were training in camps of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan among others to participate in a jihad , refuted by this movement ..

The fifty-five non-Han groups total, in 2008, over 100 million citizens, the equivalent of Mexico's population.

Religions, philosophies, rituals

China was a single center of religious influence: most of the major world religions have gone through or that have arisen: the very notion of religion has been questioned several times, notably in respect of Confucianism, but it is now no doubt that the etymology of the word (religion as a "link") there is more than verified through interpretation, the transfiguration or acclimatization that China has made in several millennia.

Yi Jing

Many religious lines specifically Chinese were canonized through the Yi Jing / I>, or Chinese Classic of Changes. Deriving the interpretation of signs or scapulimancy naturally, this book has created generations of interpretive traditions. The reign of complementary elements, yin and Yng , are broken down through its chapters, such as sealed. Intrinsically linked to the rituals of divination, is a shamanic interpretation manual, where the virtues of the Chinese characters are metaphysical birth academic.

Taoism

The Taoism , Taoist or more currents, appeared from the ^second century , inspired by the currents of the Yin-Yang and Five Elements , and by the writings of philosopher Lo Zi (or Lao-tzu) () including the famous Book of the Way and Virtue ( Daode Jng ) is, with the Book of Changes ( Yi Jing ), sources of the esoteric Chinese. These currents are constantly enriched with new influences and provided to all Chinese religion many of its concepts and practices and a number of deities. Taoist masters support many specialized rites. Today there are over 1,500 Taoist temples in China.

Confucianism

Based on the teaching of the life of Confucius , notably through his interviews and books of his disciples such as Mencius , the Confucian doctrine was established as a state, finding its climax in the Song Dynasty. Naturally devoted to interpretations of the ruling dynasties, the original doctrine of Confucius is not necessarily synonymous with submission to the institutions, as some contemporaries observe. Historically, however, Confucianism has contributed to impose the ideology of the "five relations" between subjects, designed to strengthen the social order and the link between cosmic hierarchy and celestial virtue.

Buddhism

Emerged from the first century AD, the Buddhism has profoundly influenced the religious beliefs in China, causing sometimes violent waves of anti-Buddhist. China was a major center of Buddhist civilization in the world by his work of translation and expansion of the religion across many parts of Asia. Japan and Korea in particular have benefited greatly from the richness of transmission of Buddhist traditions in China. Chinese Buddhism belongs to the current majority Mahayana. One of its forms, Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism or), prevalent especially in Tibet and Inner Mongolia , is recruiting more and more popular among the Hans in recent decades. Buddhism Hinayana is also present, but clearly a minority. It is estimated that there are about 13,000 Buddhist temples in China.

Chan

The chan () results from the synthesis between Taoism and Buddhism. According to legend, the founder of this doctrine would Bodhidharma the ^28th patriarch of Indian Buddhism, which came from the India , traveled between 520 and 526 at Shaolin in China to establish the monastery of the same name. According to tradition, there he would have developed the foundations of a Chinese martial art: the Shaolin quan , martial arts based on a detailed knowledge of the rules of initiation from the meeting of Taoism and Buddhism. The lesson's conceptual Chan is communicated by Koan , short aphorisms that look innocuous but poems that summarize the most archetypes and the codification of the lesson conveyed by the monks of this monastery. The journey of Bodhidharma is the subject of numerous publications. Chan is from the Zen , in Japan.

Chinese folk religion

Religious practice of the majority of the population (before 1949 for mainland China) is actually a mixture of Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism and local traditions, often called popular religion.

Other religions

Islam

From ^the seventh century , Islam was another vehicle for cultural exchange is particularly rich in China, particularly through the silk route , where multi-cultural crops have emerged for example in the Tarim region, yet alive today. The Yunnan has also been one of those points of Sino-Islamic, the famous navigator Zheng He was a Muslim from Yunnan. Members of the Hui ethnic group, at any point culturally similar to Han existing outside their religion, are converted from Hans have absorbed non-Muslim Chinese.

Islam had its greatest expansion under the dynasty of the Yuan () ( 1271 - 1368 ). Today there are nearly 30,000 mosques in the country.

Christianity

The earliest traces of Christian culture in China goes back steles Nestorian ^seventh century. Then came the thirteenth ^century the Franciscans , whose missionary activity was interrupted a century later on the orders of the emperor. It is from missionary Jesuits , first Portuguese, regular contacts were maintained between Chinese and Western worlds, China remains relatively impervious to Christian expansionist ambitions. In 1601 Matteo Ricci and his companions were admitted to Beijing, but the Catholic mission was almost immediately inwardly troubled by the Rites which led the emperor to prohibit conversions by 1724. The suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773 by Pope ended the mission.

Protestantism was introduced from the Opium War through British and American missionaries.

There are currently over 4,600 churches and meeting sites and 12,000 Catholic churches and over 25,000 Protestant places of worship. There is an official Catholic church, not recognized by the Vatican and Roman Catholic church essentially illegal. The Orthodox Church is present to meet the needs of the Chinese of Russian origin, settled in northern and western borders of the country, but still very marginal.

Judaism

Like Christians, Jews had to arrive in China for the first time in the ^seventh century along the Silk Road. Four Jewish communities exist in China, Harbin , Shanghai , Guangzhou and Kaifeng , the latter discovered by Matteo Ricci in the ^seventeenth century , dates back to the Song Dynasty. A more recent community exists in Hong Kong.

Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism

The Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism in China have also penetrated and influenced the popular religion, especially the second.

In the early twentieth ^century, many syncretistic movements (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism or Christianity or Islam) emerged, but were quickly eliminated because of the political choices of their leaders. More recently, despite the distrust of CPC vis--vis civilian organizations or movements of large-scale, a new religion - or cult - syncretistic, Falun Gong , emerged in 1992. According to the Ministry of Public Security (1998), it had 80 million supporters.

The shamanism is practiced mainly by Chinese minorities and the Dongba is a kind of paganism lamas, survival of an ancient religion of the Naxi , one of many ethnic minorities of China, originally Tibetan , living in Yunnan.

Culture

Language and Writing

As a separate language and culture, whose longevity surprised (and upset the theories of the decline of civilizations necessary), China has developed a unique culture and immense, who has explored almost all the known modes of expression: literature , calligraphy , painting , music , etc..

She also invented calligraphy , art considered as the noblest and most refined. Its economy of means (brush, black ink, a sheet of paper towel) and very restrictive framework (the order and arrangement of features are identified) makes, paradoxically, a way in which expressiveness is at its height: the brush takes the place of "seismograph of the soul."

Literature

A small part of the written production of Chinese civilization is available in Western languages and few works are known to the general public. Given the particular context of this country, its literature at large has developed differently from that of other regions. The epic, for example, is conspicuously absent. However, anecdotes, stories, news items, short biographies and essays, reviews of classical treatises, compilations are teeming genres.

Among the Chinese books and authors that have been translated and read in the West, we can note: The Journey to the West (Journey to the West), At the water's edge , A Dream of Red Mansions , the poetry of Du Fu and Li Bai , and what the major modern writer Lu Xun.

Education in China

In 1986 , China has defined as long-term objective the establishment of a nine-year compulsory education for all children. In 1997 , the People's Republic had 628,840 primary schools, 78,642 high schools and 1,020 higher education institutions . In 2002 , the proportion of Chinese who can read and write was 90.9%, including 95.1% of men and 86.5% female , the Chinese youth (15 to 24 years), respectively 98.9%, 99.2% and 98.5% in 2000 . In March 2007 , China announced the decision to make education a "strategic priority" national, with a national budget tripled in two years and an additional 223.5 billion yuan (about 22 billion euros) provided over five years to improve compulsory education in rural areas .

The quality of Chinese universities varies considerably across the country. Most listed Chinese mainland are the University of Beijing , the People's University of China (Renmin University of China) and Tsinghua University in Beijing , the Tongji University , the Fudan University , the University Jiao- tong Shanghai and China Normal University East to Shanghai ; the Xi'an Jiaotong University in Xi'an , the Nanjing University in Nanjing , the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei ; the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou , the Wuhan University in Wuhan ^, .

Many parents are very involved in their children's education, investing much of their income. Private tutoring and recreational activities, such as foreign languages and music are very popular among middle class families who can afford .

Many Chinese parents hope their children will go abroad to complete their training and / or start their careers. The French language is increasingly studied in China, which needs, in its quest for raw materials, resources to conquer the French-speaking Africa.

Traditional festivals

Traditional festivals

Date	French name	Local Name	Notes
1st day of 1st lunar month (between January 21 and February 20 )	Chinese New Year or Spring festival	Yun dn or Chunjie	Based on the Chinese calendar. Much of the population goes on vacation to find his family that week.
15th day of a lunar month	Lantern Festival	Yunxioji	Based on the Chinese calendar
Early April (April 5 or rarely 4 April)	Qingming , Pure Light	Qingming	see Chinese calendar. About 15 days after the Spring equinox Day visiting cemeteries
5 th day of the 5th lunar month	Dragon Boat Festival (Dragon Festival)	Dunwji	Based on the Chinese calendar
7th day of the 7th lunar month	Chinese festival for lovers	Qxji	Based on the Chinese calendar
14th day of the 7th lunar month	Hungry Ghost Festival	Zhngyunji	Based on the Chinese calendar
15th day of the 8th lunar month	Celebration of Mid-Autumn (Moon Festival)	Zhngqiuji	Based on the Chinese calendar
9th day of the 9th lunar month	Day nine double	Chngyngji	Based on the Chinese calendar

Other important cultural aspects

• Mandarin
• Chinese characters
• Chinese Theater
• Chinese literature
• Chinese music
• Chinese painting
• Lianhuanhua (Chinese comics)
• Chinese cinema
• Peking Opera
• Sports
• Contemporary Chinese Art
• Chinese cuisine
• Tea
• Feng shui
• Chinese game

Science and Invention

See also (in English): List of Chinese inventions

One of the most remarkable aspects of Chinese civilization is the invention of technologies, often several centuries before their appearance or their transfer elsewhere. Among the major Chinese inventions include matches , the compass , the wheelbarrow , the abacus , the horse harness , the stirrup , the clock , the iron , the steel , the paper , the pulp , the types of removable (printing) , the paper money , the gunpowder and the stern rudder.

The "Four Great Inventions"

Conventional wisdom has it that the compass , the printing , the paper and gunpowder are the "Four Great Inventions" in China ^, . In the early ^seventeenth century , the English philosopher Francis Bacon , without knowing the origin of these inventions, note that three of them: printing, gunpowder and the compass, "have changed the world" . "The paper, with printing, the compass and gunpowder, one of four major Chinese inventions that have helped build the modern West "

Compass

The compass can locate the direction: north, south, east and west. It was an essential instrument for orientation and travel.

There is some disagreement on the precise date on which the compass was invented. There are literary references noteworthy that emphasize its antiquity:

• the first Chinese literary reference citing the "magnetism" is a work in ^the fourth century BC. BC Paper entitled the master of the valley of the devil (): magnetite iron brought to him, or draw " . Pierre Germa says in the dictionary inventions:

"The compass comes from China in the first century BC, the Chinese used an instrument capable of indicating the direction of the South: the spoon-watch-south . "

• the first mention of "the attraction of a needle by a magnet" is in a Chinese work composed between 70 and 80 AD ( Lunheng ch. 47): "Magnetite attracts a needle" (Iron ). This passage of Lun-heng is the first Chinese text mentioning the attraction of a needle by a magnet . In 1948, the scholar Wang Chen Tuo built a "compass" in the form of a spoon showing the south on the basis of this text. However, "we find no explicit mention of a magnet in the Lun-heng" .
• The first reference to a "policy instrument" specific magnetic is in a book written in the Song Dynasty and dated 1040-1044. There is the description of a "fish showing the south" iron floating in a bowl of water, and heading south. This instrument is described as a way to move "in the dark of night."

The Wujing Zongyao (, "Meeting of the largest military technology") states: When the troops are facing in the wrong time, or late at night, and we can no longer move (...) they were using a mechanical instrument pointing south, also called "fish showing the south" . It achieves this by heating the metal (especially if it's steel), according to the method known today as the "thermo-remanence, and would have been capable of causing a slight state of magnetization . The first reference of its kind in Europe appears only around 1600, when William Gilbert published his book De Magnete .

Printing

Before being an invention of Johannes Gutenberg , China had already experienced the printing with movable type (the ^ninth century ) long before Korea and the West do not discover it (the XV ^century ). However, this technique has been abandoned by the Chinese at the time because the system was not suited to Chinese (the ideograms ) whereas in the West, the alphabet , by the very small number of signs to which he appeal, lends itself beautifully to printing. China has also invented the screen.

The first traces of printed paper found were those of Dharana , in Chinese, of the Empress Shtoku in Japan, dating from the ^eighth century AD. The first printing of these texts is generally regarded as falling under Chinese influence is very strong in this time of penetration of the Chinese culture and Buddhism in Japan ^, .

"According to Chinese authors, we have started practicing printing tabular or fixed on wooden boards in the late ^sixth century AD. From 1317 , a Korean book is printed with said character cast, but unfortunately we lack concrete evidence to support it. In 1403 , a royal decree prescribes HTAi Tjong-extension process, but the West does not know anything . "

Paper

The paper carried a message the oldest known so far discovered in China, is dated -8 under the Han Dynasty of the West ( -206 , 25 ). This is a fragment of a letter which paper is made from fibers of flax on which a score of sinograms elders have been deciphered. It was found in 2006 in Dunhuang , in the province of Gansu , and was dated in terms of other written documents found in the same location of the search .

According to Chinese tradition, it was thought that the paper had appeared in the ^third century BC. AD in China during the reign of Qin Shi Huang (founder of the Qin Dynasty). Telling a story that people would then have spotted the white deposits of foam on the rocks following the floods and have tried to reproduce it.

According to another Chinese tradition, it would Cai Lun ^, , Minister of Agriculture who, in 105 , would have codified for the first time the art of manufacturing paper and would have improved the technique to to mass produce.

Gunpowder

The gunpowder is generally recognized as having been invented in China around the ^ninth century during the Tang Dynasty ( 618 - 907 ). The discovery seems to have originated from research done in Taoist circles of the Tang period, but was soon followed by a military application in the years 904-906. It was so incendiary projectiles called 'flying fires' (fihu).

The first mention of the formula for gunpowder (charcoal, saltpeter and sulfur) appears in the Wjng zngyoof 1044, nearly 250 years before a European text alludes, in 1285.

Gunpowder was a major invention because it then allowed the invention of the rocket , the flamethrower , the fireworks , of landmines and marines , the first gun , the barrel or the mortar.

Medicine and Acupuncture

The traditional Chinese medicine is one of the most fascinating aspects of Chinese civilization. The different approaches to the treatment of diseases (diagnosis from the pulse , the complexion of the face) include active participation of the patient, who is called to change his diet if necessary.

Decoctions of traditional medicine prescribed at the end of a consultation, are intended to "rebalance the vital principles" counterbalance the movement of hot and cold, like medicines Presocratics in the West.

Another mode of intervention is the Chinese doctor of acupuncture : following the meridians or lines of vital flow through the body, needles are planted through the skin to restore optimal flow of vital breath or qi. In China, it is often combined with the use of traditional medicines.

The Chinese also treat muscle pain using the Gua Sha , a technique that is "out" toxins by scraping the skin, especially on the back.

One can consider traditional Chinese medicine as essentially indirect in its means and its preventive purpose. The Chinese tend to be constantly attentive to their condition, on the lookout for signs of imbalance they seek to correct through diet or the use of traditional medicine or "alternative". This explains the huge demand for natural products or dietary supplements, particularly visible in the field of products intended to enhance sexual performance, which are, in fact just the tip of the iceberg. Lotions, ointments, potions and various remedies are often brought back as souvenirs by the Chinese.

State administration

Under the influence of Confucian thought, China has tried very early to build the best possible administration, chosen on the basis of criteria of competence. This is the system of mandarins , selected through imperial examinations.

"Mandarin" is a Western term used to designate a senior scholar and educated in the tradition of Confucius, in the service of the Emperor of China, following a rigorous selection and very narrow field of candidates.

For 1300 years, between the years 605 and 1905, the high imperial administration, both central and provincial levels, but also the administration of Vietnam under Chinese occupation, is bound by a caste recruited on a competitive basis extremely difficult: the imperial examinations. The Mandarins and the model they have created, the mandarin, appear as the paragon of all systems of state bureaucracies, the head of which are senior career civil servants, recruited on merit and literary intellectual, technically trained Administration and state elites constituted reproduced and closed. The current system replaced by the mandarin Chinese Communist Party cadres. If the name differs, content to keep some continuity. The great fear of China is to relive the breakup of his country. To this end, the totalitarian state censorship on all media and internet on the country to change the historical reality to his liking, raising doubts even the new generations ignore the existence of such massacres in 1989. The protesters were arrested, sent to prison or forced labor camps. Thus the country's collective identity is preserved, in perfect harmony, and his nationalism, exacerbated.

China

The Chinese are the first people in the world (and for over a millennium, only ) to have mastered the techniques of manufacture of porcelain from the dynasty of the Eastern Han ( ^I. or II ^e century ).

From that date, the art of porcelain will not cease to grow and grow in China, through the dynasties Tang ( porcelain Xing ), then under the Song with porcelain Qingbai the Yuan with porcelain Blue and white " , and finally under the dynasty of Qing , with the proliferation of types of the finest porcelain, while also reaching the top exports to Europe, with the Qing porcelains of Blue and White Kangxi of the "famille rose", or "green family".

Not until the early eighteenth ^century that Europe will master the technique in turn, is thanks in part to the revelations made by the father of Entrecolles in 1712 on the techniques used in China's capital of porcelain, Jingdezhen.

Silk

Pasta

The Chinese cuisine uses many varieties of noodles (traditional,simplified, Pinyin mian). Mian noodles are wheat whileor window are those of rice. There are in China on local restaurants specializing in fresh pasta, handmade without cutting tool. These pulps are called MIANS which means "pulled pasta. The restaurants MIANS / I> are run by Hui, Chinese Muslims from western China. They do not sell dishes based on pork , but they often sell alcohol. The pasta is made from a dough of wheat flour very flexible, stretched and folded about seven times until a single fresh dough, long and thin, which is then thrown into a broth flavored to be then eaten in a bowl with various ingredients such as dried meat, peanuts and spices.

The nomenclature of Chinese noodles is difficult to establish due to their large number and different dialects of Chinese. Each type of noodles can be written in pinyin and Mandarin , but Hong Kong and in Guangdong will be known by its pronunciation Cantonese , while in Taiwan , in Malaysia , in Singapore and overseas using the Hokkien instead.

A persistent legend wanted the pasta were reported by Marco Polo in Italy , when he returned from his trip 17 years in China, 1291. Yet, himself wrote in Travels in the world , about lasagne made in China, they are "... good, as far as I ate so many times in Italy."

Various innovations

Bonsai

The Chinese have created landscapes in pots, said in Mandarin penjing (), which later becomes thought (Penza). These characters are pronounced in Japanese bonsai.

Kite

The kite was the first invention to harness the wind and airspace.

Match

The match would have required for its production of knowledge in chemistry, mechanics, wood, etc..

Influence of Chinese civilization