Civilization in China has had a very long and glorious history. Keys to its development have been China’s great size and population and its people’s respect for rules of behavior and the customs of the past.

As a young man, Christopher Columbus read Marco Polo’s account of his overland journey to China. Columbus was inspired by Polo’s tales of China’s splendor, large population, and wealth. He set out to organize a trip westward across the Atlantic, expecting to reach China on the other side. What he found, of course, were the Americas.

China stretches from Russia in the north to Vietnam in the south and from India in the southwest to the Pacific Ocean. It is the third largest country in size – only Russia and Canada are larger. This vast territory includes many different regions, each with its own distinctive characteristics. There are mountains, deserts, grasslands and tropical forests. Each region has its own local customs, styles of cooking, dress, and dialects of spoken Chinese.

China has three major rivers. The Huang He, or Yellow River, flows through the dry northern plain. When it floods, it deposits soil called loess. Farther south are the Changjiang, or Long River, and the Xijiang, or West River. All three rivers run from west to east. Because of this communication and transportation between the north and the south have always been difficult.

A Sense of Superiority

The Chinese sense of superiority detected by Polo was well founded. From about 221 B.C to A.D 1279, no other country could match China’s accomplishments. Despite long periods of political unrest, China is the world’s oldest continuous civilization.

China’s geography isolated its people from other great civilizations. To the south and east, however, there were neighbors who appreciated Chinese culture and adopted many of its features. Countries such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam belong to this category.

As a result the Chinese came to believe that they were superior to other peoples. They called their country the Middle Kingdom. In their view, China seemed to be in the center of many rings. The rings closely surrounding China contained loyal subject peoples. The outer rings were filled with everyone else – people the Chinese called barbarians.

In spite of geographical barriers and because their goods were in demand by others, the Chinese traded with areas as far away as the Roman Empire, on the Mediterranean Sea. The world outside of China was eager to have the beautiful silk cloth and the bowls and cups crafted of fine porcelain or jade. The main route for the exchange of goods was called the Silk Road.

China’s Early Roots

China’s roots go back at least 7,000 years to the Huang He, or Yellow River valley, here, farmers using stone tools first began to cultivate the loess. Over many centuries, these farmers learned to grow crops such as millet and rice. The loess was very fertile, but rainfall was scanty. It took enormous cooperative efforts to build dikes and canals to channel and conserve the precious water.

The farmers cooked their meals in earthen pots. They trained dogs and horses and raised pigs, chickens, cows, and sheep for food. They built houses and village walls out of packed earth and made clothing out of hemp, which is a plant fiber that can be woven, and silk. Their religion was based on ancestor worship.

In time the farmers increased the area of cultivated farmland. The resulting food surplus made it possible for some people to work at other tasks. The Chinese, however, never forgot the importance of agriculture. In their social structure, farmers ranked above craft workers and merchants.

Marco Polo With Kublai Khan in China

Chinese: An Inventive People