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EastandWest:WallachsStoryofCivilization
Whatabouttodaysglobalecumene?Areweoneworldormanyworldssharingaplanet?
Metageography:TheMythofContinentsAccordingtogeographersMartinLewisandKarenWigen,metageographyisthesetofspatialstructuresthroughwhichpeopleordertheirknowledgeoftheworld:theoften
unconsciousframeworksthatorganizestudiesofhistory,sociology,anthropology,
economics,politicalscience,orevennaturalhistory.So,basicallyitisthewayweperceivetheworldandthestructurethroughwhichweseektounderstandtheworldinwhichwe
live.
Anotherwayhumancultureshavesoughttostructureunderstandingoftheworldis
throughtheconceptoforientalism,awayofthinkingabouttheworldintermsof
dichotomy.Inotherwords,itdividestheworldintotheorientandtheoccidentEastand
West.Thereis,understandably,alotofcontroversyoverthisschoolofthought.
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Atbest,itistoosimplistic,atworstitisblatantlyracist.Eitherway,itwasfordecadesthejustificationforthecolonial
empirescreatedbymajorEuropeanpowersinthe18thand19th(andsomewouldargue
20th)centuries.Andthatleadsustoanotherwayoforderingtheworld:civilization/empire.
Thisisbasedonbig-picturegeographicunitsthatorganizationourunderstandingofworldhistoryintermsofverydistinctive:OldWorldandNewWorld.
Theplacetostartislookingatideaswhatiscivilizationanyway?Whatdoesitmeanandwhyhavehumansrelegatedsomuchimportancetothisconcept?
CivilizationasHumanDevelopment
Itwasawayofthinkingaboutdifferencesinhumanculture/society.Itbecameawaytodistinguishbetweensavageryandbarbarismandawayofunderstandinghumangroupingslargerthanaband,clan,ortribe.
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AccordingtoWallach,civilizationsareclass-dividedsocietiesorsocietieswithcities.
Typicalcharacteristicsofcivilizationincludes:agriculture,cities,socialhierarchy,specializedeconomicroles(includingreligionandthearts),standardizedproducts,acentralauthoritysupportedbyinstitutionalizedtradeand/ortribute,andafixed
geographyofsettlement. Manyscholarsalsoarguethatwritingorwrittenhistoryisoneoftheimportant
marksofacivilization.
Basically,Wallach(p.48)seescivilizationintermsofcomplexsocieties.
CivilizationasaGroupingofHumanity
Civilizationisoftenunderstoodasaparticularwayofgroupingpeopleadistinctivepeople
Thiscanbeatraditionalalternative/additiontotheconceptofmodernidentities,groundedlargelyinlanguage,religion,andabroadsenseofworldhistory.Modernidentifiesinclude,forexamplerace,nationality,ethnicity.
Civilization(s)TodayAccordingtoSamuelHuntington,identitybasedonconceptsofcivilizationisasimportant
todayhasithasbeenincenturiespast.
Civilizationisseenasafundamentalgroupidentitybasedprimarilyonlanguage,religion,andideology.Thehighestculturalgroupingofpeopleandthebroadestlevelofcultural
identitypeoplehaveshortofthatwhichdistinguisheshumansfromotherspecies.
TheHistoricWesttherewerealreadyquitedistinctiveOld-WorldEcumenes.WeareprimarilytalkinghereabouttheEast(HanChina)andWest(RomanEmpire).TheEastand
WestwereconnectedbytheSilkRoad,whichwascontrolledandpatrolledbyseveral
CentralAsianpowers.Post-RomanEuroperetreatedintoasimplifiedmedievalworld
view:aEuropeanusvs.oneormoreAsian/Africanthems.Thisisalsothetimeperiod
inwhichorientalismbecametheprimarylensthroughwhichtheWestdevelopeditspeculiar(racist)understandingoftheEast.
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WorldHistoricalGeographyThestorywasverysimple:theWestandtherest.
EuropeastheWestIfyoulookatanymapofEurope,youcaneasilyseethatitisnotacontinentinanynatural
sense.Itis,instead,asub-continentalpeninsulaofpeninsulaswithaveryambiguous
easternboundary.
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TheIdeaofEuropeEuropeisthecoreorhearthoftheglobalWest.ItisthebirthplaceofHellenicdemocracy
andRomanlaw.ItwasalsoseenasthecenterofChristendomandthehomeofintellectual
theologicalthinkingseenasdivinelyinspiredethics.Europeisthebirthplaceofmodern
ideology:progressive,secularindividualism.ItisalsothecenteroftheAgeofReason:
Tremendousmaterialachievementsinarts,science,industry,andtechnology.Anever-morecomfortablelifeformany,butnotall,people. Centerofanideology(hope?)thatAllmenwillbecomebrothers. However,keepinmindWallachsambivalenceregardingprogress,whichalways
hasacostforsomeoneoreveryone.Forinstance,alienationfromnatureand
humancommunity.
Alsonotethatglobalizationhasbecomeavehicleofdiffusionformodern,westernideology.
WesternReligionTheglobalWestcametobeseenastheland(s)ofAbrahamicreligion,oftenignoringthe
factthatJudaism,Christianity,andIslamcamefromcommonroots,inthesameSemiticHolyLand.WesternChristianity(againsimilartoIslamandJudaism)ismonotheistic
withalinearconceptoftime(birth,death,afterlife)anddualism.
WorldReligions
Worldreligionsandcivilizationstodayarebasedatleastpartlyontheglobalgeographyofreligion.(Thesourceforthefollowinginformationincaseyouwanttoexploremoreis
Adherents.com.)
Christianity:2.1billion Islam:1.3billion secular/nonreligious/agnostic/atheist:1.1billion Hinduism:900million Primal-indigenous-animism:400million
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ChineseConfucianism/Taoism:394million Buddhism:376million
Smallerclassicalreligions:
Sikhism(Punjab) Judaism(Israel/US) BahaI(India/US/Iran) Jainism(India) Shinto(Japan) Zorastrianism(India,Iran)
Therearethreereligionsthatareglobalalthoughtherearemanyotherreligionsthat
dominateinsomeregionsoftheworld.Forexample,HinduismhasadistinctiveroleinSouthAsia.
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EuropeanDiversityChristianEuropeis,interestingly,theworldsprimaryhomeofsecularism.Thefollowing
pollresultsarefrom2005:
52%=IbelievethereisaGod 27%=Ibelievethereissomesortofspiritorlifeforce 18%=Idontbelievethereisanysortofspirit,God,orlifeforce 3%=dontknow
Therearealsodifferencesinreligiousbeliefs,language,andpoliticswesternandeastern
Europe.
WesternEurope
Roman(CatholicandProtestant)Christianity LatinalphabetforRomanceandGermaniclanguages NATOinthe20thcentury
EasternEurope
EasternOrthodoxChristianity(ConstantinopleandMoscowasRomes) Greek-basedCyrillicalphabetforSlaviclanguages WarsawPactinthe20thcentury
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HistoricalFoundationsoftheEastAgriculturalRoots(8000BP)
Millet,soybeans,chickens,pigsontheloessplateauandthewesternedgeoftheNorthChinaPlainoftheHuangHe(YellowRiver)HebeiandHenan
WetricealongtheYangtzeRiverHubeiandHunan Wheat,horses,chariotsfromtheWest(Gansucorridor)>>XiaandShangdynasties3-4000BP
ImperialChina
HanDynasty(206BCEto220CE)buildsonrootsplantedbyShiaHuang-TisbriefandbrutalQindynasty>>expansiveempireofabout60millionpeople
FirstConfuciandynastytouniteNorthChinacoretorichricelandsofthesouth Today,HanissynonymouswithclassicalChineseculture
CulturalFoundationsoftheEastReligion/Philosophy/Ideology
AChinesemixofConfucianism,Daoism,Buddhism Plus,Shinto,TibetanLamaistBuddhism,andIslam
Language Onedominantlinguafranca(Mandarin)andonepredominantlanguagefamily
(Sino-Tibetan/Hanyu).However,Turko-Mongol,Japanese,andKoreanlanguagesalsoimportant.
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EasternReligion/Ideology
ThreeMajorElements
Confucianism:
Secularsystemofethics,socialharmonyandgoodgovernancetiedtotheteachingsofKongFuzi(551-479BCE)theAnalects
ritualismleadingbygoodexample(virtue)andacultureofinformalshame,ratherthanformalpunishment
educationandmeritocracy(rigorousimperialexamsforgoverningmandarins) loyaltyandrespectofeldersandauthorities,butalsoreciprocalresponsibility
Daoism: TheDao(orTao)issimilartoSouthAsianconceptofDharmaaharmonious
metaphysicalorderconnectingallhumanityandnature
TheThreeJewels:compassion,moderation,andhumility Atheistic,butalsopolytheisticinananimisticsense Holismseekingbalance/harmonyintheforcesofyinandyang Feng-shui(wind-water,TheLawofHeavenandEarth)
Buddhism:
MoreexplicitinJapan,Mongolia,andTibet
EasternWrittenLanguageSinographicwriting
Severalthousanddifferentcharacters(Hanzilogographs/ideograms),complicatedfurtherbysecondaryphoneticuse(>47,000intheKangxidictionary)
MaoZedong(1951):Thewrittenlanguagemustbereformed;wemustproceedinthedirectionofphoneticizationbeingtakenbyalllanguagesoftheworld.Thus,the
communistgovernmentspromotionofPinYinandsimplifiedcharacters
Butcanalsobeapowerfulpromoterofculturalunity HistoricalfoundationforwrittenJapanese(Kanji),Korean(Hanja),andVietnamese
(Hantu)