ABSTRACT
Elements of Chinese civilization can be traced back at least as far as 6,000 years, and perhaps considerably further.1 By the time of the Shang dynasty (roughly 1700 B.C.E. to 1100 B.C.E.; see Fig. 6.1), schools and other social institutions of a complex culture had developed, as had the foundations for the examination system that would serve throughout the history of imperial China to select government officials.2 Although Chinese civilization evolved, developed, and changed throughout its history, it nevertheless retained a core set of features that characterize it as a single cultural tradition. Although much of the Chinese cultural heritage has been rejected in contemporary China, much remains as well. In other words, much of the culture of China that still thrives has a direct link to the civilization that emerged nearly as long ago as those of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.3 The difference, of course, is that although the civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia may be fascinating for us to study, the ties that bind modern people to them are, at best, very distant indeed, whereas the ties that
FIG. 6.1. Chinese Dynasties.
