ABSTRACT
Millennia ago, early settlers came to central China to begin their constant struggles to survive. They soon learned from their survival experience that life and death depended on the critical relationships with the “Big Three” – Tian, the earth and fellow human beings. Rituals to develop and maintain an affable rapport with this trio became the focus of the Chinese society and were passed down through generations. The seeds of relationalism were thus planted in the needs for survival. In the subsequent thousands of years, through their communal efforts in hunting and gathering, building living quarters, and taming the wild Yellow River, the value of relationships became central to Chinese culture. Generations came and went and Chinese society became more sophisticated over time. But the hard-earned wisdom of experience – that to survive and thrive was to maintain an amiable relationship with Tian, the earth and fellow human beings – was etched in the Chinese mind. By the imperial era, this mandate, carrying the seeds of the idea of relationalism, began to send down deep roots in Chinese society.
