Literature

1. China
AIRA P. MERCADO

2. China
❖officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is
a country in East Asia. It is the world's most
populous country, with a population of more than 1.4
billion. Covering an area of approximately 9.6
million square kilometers (3.7 million mi2).
❖It is the world's third or fourth-largest country. The
country is officially divided into 23 provinces, five
autonomous regions, four direct-controlled
municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and
Chongqing), and two special administrative regions
of Hong Kong and Macau.

3. Map of China
China is located at
East Asia
China is located in East Asia, bordered by the Pacific
Ocean on its east coast and by 14 countries, including
Russia, Mongolia, and India. Description: Map
showing the location of China on the World map.
China is situated between latitudes 18° and 54° North
and longitudes 73° and 135° East, which is in Eastern
Asia.

4. Flag of China
❖The modern flag of China is associated with its
communist past. The red represents China's communist
revolution whereas the five stars are interpreted as a
unification of the country's people under the communist
party. The larger star surrounded by the four smaller
stars symbolizes the communist party.
❖The red of the Chinese flag has two historical bases. It
expresses the revolutionary communist philosophy that
has dominated China since 1949, when the forces of
Mao Zedong won the Chinese civil war and expelled the
Nationalists and their flag from the mainland.

5. Landmarks and Historical Sites
China has a history of thousands of years, which gives it a lot of historical sites. The seven most significant are:
❖The Great Wall
❖The Forbidden City
❖The Terracotta Army
❖The Potala Palace
❖The Summer Place
❖The Mogao Grottoes
❖The three Confucian sites.
All of these are UNESCO World Heritage. Chinese Historical Places

6. ❖The Great Wall of China - The Great Wall of
China is one of the greatest sights in the world.
It's an ancient defensive architecture. The
"Long Wall" has a long history — more than
2,300 years. It was built in different areas by
different states/dynasties to protect different
territorial borders. The entire Great Wall of
China zigzags across the mountains of northern
China. We highly recommend hiking along the
best-protected sections of the Great Wall:
Mutianyu , Mutianyu and Jinshanling. The
Great Wall of China

7. ❖The Forbidden City - 9999 Rooms for 24
Emperors The Forbidden City (or the Palace
Museum) is one of the must- visit attractions for
travelers to China. It used to be an imperial palace
in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911)
dynasties. The layout of this palace is strictly
according to Chinese fengshui theory. China’s
best-preserved imperial palace is the world’s
largest ancient palatial structure (7.2 ha. or 17.8
ac.), the essence and culmination of traditional
Chinese architectural accomplishment.

8. General facts about China
❖Official Name: People’s Republic of China
❖China’s Capital: Beijing
❖Biggest City: Shanghai
❖China's population: 1.411 billion
❖China's Currency: The Yuan
❖China has only 1 Time Zone: Beijing Time
❖China has 1.3 billion . 1,330,044,605 as of mid-2008 That means: in one country one person is Chinese.
❖13 dynasties / 559 emperors
❖The one-child policy is controversial. However China has about 400 million fewer people today than it would have since
the one-child policy was introduced in 1979.

9. The one-child policy
❖One-child policy, official program initiated in the late 1970s and early ’80s by the central
government of China, the purpose of which was to limit the great majority of family units in the
country to one child each.
❖The rationale for implementing the policy was to reduce the growth rate of China’s enormous
population. It was announced in late 2015 that the program was to end in early 2016.
❖A voluntary program was announced in late 1978 that encouraged families to have no more than
two children, one child being preferable. In 1979 demand grew for making the limit one child per
family.

10. History and Timeline
❖Xia Dynasty (c. 2070-1600 BC)
The Xia dynasty was founded by the
legendary Yu the Great (c. 2123-2025 BC),
known for developing a flood control
technique that stopped the Great Flood that
ravaged farmer’s crops for generations.
As no contemporary sources exist, very little
is known about the Xia period. For this
reason, some scholars believe it to be
mythical or quasi-legendary.
❖ Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1050 BC)
The Shang dynasty is the earliest recorded
Chinese dynasty supported by archaeological
evidence. 31 kings ruled much of the area
along the Yellow River.
Under the Shang dynasty, there were advances
in maths, astronomy, art and military
technology. They used a highly developed
calendar system and an early form of modern
Chinese language.

11. ❖Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046-256 BC)
The Zhou dynasty was the longest dynasty in the history of China, ruling the region for almost 8
centuries.
Under the Zhous, culture flourished and civilisation spread. Writing was codified, coinage was
developed and chopsticks came into use.
Chinese philosophy blossomed with the birth of the philosophical schools of Confucianism, Taoism
and Mohism. The dynasty saw some of the greatest Chinese philosophers and poets: Lao-Tzu, Tao
Chien, Confucius, Mencius, Mo Ti and the military strategist Sun-Tzu.
The Zhous also developed the Mandate of Heaven – a concept that was used to justify the rule of
kings, who had been blessed by the gods.
The dynasty ended with the Warring States period (476–221 BC), in which various city-states battled
each other, establishing themselves as independent feudal entities. They were finally consolidated by
Qin Shi Huangdi, a brutal ruler who became the first emperor of a unified China.

12. ❖ Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)
The Qin dynasty marked the beginning of the
Chinese Empire. During Qin Shi Huangdi’s
reign, China was greatly expanded to cover the
Ye lands of Hunan and Guangdong.
Although short-lived, the period saw ambitious
public works projects including the unification of
state walls into a single Great Wall. It saw the
development of a standardized form of currency,
a uniform system of writing and a legal code.
The Qin emperor was remembered for his
ruthless megalomania and suppression of speech
– in 213 BC he ordered the burning of hundreds
of thousands of books and the live burial of 460
Confucian scholars.
He was also responsible for building a city-sized
mausoleum for himself, guarded by the life-sized
Terracotta Army of more than 8,000 life-sized
soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150
cavalry horses.
❖Han Dynasty (206 BCE-220 AD)
The Han dynasty was known as a golden age in
Chinese history, with a prolonged period of stability
and prosperity. A central imperial civil service was
established to create a strong and organised
government.
China’s territory was extended to most of the China
proper. The Silk Road was opened up to connect to
the west, bringing in trade, foreign cultures and the
introduction of Buddhism.
Under the Han dynasty, Confucianism, poetry and
literature flowered. Paper and porcelain were
invented. China’s earliest written record on medicine,
the Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine, was
codified.

13. ❖ Six Dynasties Period
Three Kingdoms (220-265), Jin Dynasty
(265-420), Period of the Northern and
Southern Dynasties (386-589).
Six Dynasties is the collective term for
the six successive Han-ruled dynasties
during this turbulent period. All had their
capitals at Jianye, present-day Nanjing.
The Three Kingdoms period has been
romanticized repeatedly in Chinese
culture – most notably in the novel
Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
❖Sui Dynasty (581-618)
The Sui dynasty, although brief, saw great
changes in Chinese history. Its capital was
held at Daxing, present-day Xi’an.
Confucianism disintegrated as the dominant
religion, making way for Taoism and
Buddhism. Literature flourished – it is thought
that the legend of Hua Mulan was composed
during this time.
Under Emperor Wen and his son, Yang, the
army was enlarged to the largest in the world
at the time. Coinage was standardised across
the realm, the Great Wall was expanded and
the Grand Canal was completed.

14. ❖ Tang Dynasty (618-906)
The Tang dynasty, sometimes known as the Golden
Age of Ancient China, was considered the high point in
Chinese civilisation. Its second emperor, Taizong, was
regarded as one of the greatest Chinese emperors.
The period saw one of the most peaceful and prosperous
periods of Chinese history. By the time of the rule of
Emperor Xuanzong (712-756), China was the largest
and most populous country in the world.
Major achievements were seen in technology, science,
culture, art and literature, especially poetry. Some of the
most beautiful pieces of Chinese sculpture and
silverwork originate from the Tang dynasty.
The dynasty also saw the only female monarch in the
history of China – Empress Wu Zetian (624-705). Wu
organised a secret police force and spies across the
country, making her one of the most effective – yet
popular – monarchs in Chinese history.
❖Five Dynasties Period, Ten Kingdoms (907-
960)
The 50 years between the fall of the Tang
dynasty and establishment of the Song dynasty
were dominated by internal strife and chaos.
In north China, 5 would-be dynasties followed
one another in succession. During the same
period, 10 regimes dominated separate regions of
south China.
Despite the political turmoil, some key
developments took place during this time. The
printing of books – which had begun in the Tang
dynasty – became popular.

15. ❖ Song Dynasty (960-1279)
The Song dynasty saw the reunification
of China under the Emperor Taizu.
Major inventions included gunpowder,
printing, paper money and the compass.
Plagued with political factions, the Song
court eventually fell to the challenge of
the Mongol invasion and was replaced
by the Yuan dynasty.
❖Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)
The Yuan dynasty was established by the Mongols and
ruled by Kublai Khan (1260-1279), grandson of Genghis
Khan. Khan was the first non-Chinese ruler to take over
the entire country.
Yuan China was considered the most important part of the
vast Mongol Empire, which stretched from the Caspian
Sea to the Korean peninsula.
Khan created the new capital city of Xanadu (or Shangdu
in Inner Mongolia). The main center of the Mongol
Empire was later moved to Daidu, present day Beijing.
The Mongols’ reign in China came to an end after a series
of famines, plagues, floods and peasant uprisings.

16. ❖ Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
The Ming dynasty saw a huge growth in
China’s population and general economic
prosperity. However the Ming emperors
were dogged with the same problems of
previous regimes and collapsed with the
invasion of the Manchus.
During the dynasty, the Great Wall of
China was completed. It also saw the
construction of the Forbidden City, the
imperial residence in Beijing. The period
is also known for its blue-and-white Ming
porcelains.
❖Qing Dynasty (1644-1912)
The Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in China,
succeeded by the Republic of China in 1912. The Qing
were made up of ethnic Manchus from the northern
Chinese region of Manchuria.
The Qing dynasty was the 5th largest empire in world
history. However by the early 20th century its rulers were
weakened by rural unrest, aggressive foreign powers and
military weakness.
During the 1800s, Qing China faced attacks from Britain,
France, Russia, Germany and Japan. The Opium Wars
(1839-42 and 1856-60) ended with Hong Kong ceding to
Britain and the humiliating defeat of the Chinese army.
On 12 February 1912, 6-year-old Puyi – the last emperor
of China – abdicated. It brought an end to the thousand-
year imperial rule of China and marked the beginning of
republic and socialist rule.

17. Language
There are seven major groups of dialects of the Chinese language, which each have their own
variations, according to Mount Holyoke College.
1.Mandarin dialects are spoken by 71.5 percent of the population
2.Wu (8.5 percent)
3.Yue (also called Cantonese 5 percent)
4.Xiang (4.8 percent)
5.Min (4.1 percent)
6.Hakka (3.7 percent)
7.Gan (2.4 percent). Chinese Language

18. Chinese Religion
Three major religions in China.
❖ Confucianism - Confucianism is an ancient Chinese belief system, which focuses on the importance of personal
ethics and morality. Whether it is only or a philosophy or also a religion is debated. Mencius (or Meng Ke who
lived from 372 to 289 B.C.E.) is the best-known Confucian philosopher after Confucius himself.
❖Taoism - Taoism (also known as Daoism) is a Chinese philosophy attributed to Lao Tzu (c. 500 BCE) which
developed from the folk religion of the people primarily in the rural areas of China and became the official religion
of the country under the Tang Dynasty.
❖ Buddhism - Buddhism is an Indian religion based on a series of original teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha.
It originated in ancient India as a Sramana tradition sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, spreading
through much of Asia.

19. Traditional Chinese Clothing
Three main types of traditional Chinese clothing
are:
❖The Pien Fu - was the most popular Chinese dress
by far. It was a two piece outfit that contains a tunic
that goes down to your knees. Underneath the tunic
they wore a skirt that goes down to their ankles. But
the Pien Fu would not be the Pien Fu with out the
Pien, a cylinder shaped hat. This is a very unique
costume that was kept for special ceremonies.

20. ❖The Chang Pao - The simplest of all traditional
Chinese clothing. In its essence the Chang Pao
dress was a fusion of the Sheni and the Pien Fu. It
was a one piece suit that started from the height of
the shoulders and extended down to the wearer’s
ankles.
❖The Shenyi - The Shenyi is a modification of the
Pien Fu. It consists of exactly the same things as
the Pien Fu but the unique thing about this dress is
that both pieces are stitched together. So it look
like on very long suit-dress.

21. Chinese Wedding
❖Chinese Wedding In China the color red is
considered to symbolize good luck. The color is also
believed to keep away evil spirits. It’s therefore no
surprise that traditional Chinese wedding outfits
almost always feature the color red.
❖In traditional Chinese weddings, the ceremony is
only a very small element of the wedding day. Vows
are exchanged at a local government office as the
paperwork is signed and then the couple attend an
intimate ceremony, where they stand at the family altar
and pay their respects to nature, family ancestors, and
deities.

22. Chinese Traditional Festivals and Events
❖Chinese New Year
❖ Lantern Festival
❖ Zhonghe Festival
❖ Shangsi Festival
❖ Duanwu Festival
❖ Qixi Festival
❖Ghost Festival

23. Chinese New year
❖Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or
Spring Festival, is China's most important festival. It is
time for families to be together and a week of an official
public holiday. Chinese New Year 2021 falls on Friday,
February 12, 2021, beginning a year of the Ox. The
holiday was traditionally a time to honor household and
heavenly deities as well as ancestors. It was also a time
to bring family together for feasting.
❖It also comes a host of superstitions that will
apparently dictate how the next twelve months will play
out for each of us.

24. Lantern Festival
❖Lantern Festival, also called Yuan Xiao Festival, holiday celebrated in
China and other Asian countries that honors deceased ancestors on the 15th
day of the first month (Yuan) of the lunar calendar. The Lantern Festival
aims to promote reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness.
❖Throughout the ages, the Chinese have used lanterns not only as sources of
light or simple paper decoration, but they symbolize vitality, social status
and good luck.
❖People release sky lanterns because they believe it will bring them good
luck, with the main philosophy that they are releasing their problems, bad
luck, and worries as they set the lanterns flying. The tradition to release sky
lanterns during festivals are not only popular in China, but also throughout
Asia.

25. Ghost Festival
❖In southern China, the Hungry Ghost Festival is celebrated
by some on the 14th day of the seventh lunar month. They
perform special ceremonies to avoid the wrath of the ghosts
such as putting the family's ancestral tablets on a table,
burning incense, and preparing food three times that day.
❖The whole seventh month of the lunar calendar is actually
called “Ghost Month” when it's believed that the gates of the
afterlife open to allow spirits to roam the Earth. It's a very
haunted holiday, but the Hungry Ghost Festival is also a
celebration to honour ancestors and relatives.

26. Chinese Zodiac
❖13 The Chinese Zodiac, known as Sheng
Xiao, is based on a twelve-year cycle, each
year in that cycle related to an animal sign.
These signs are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit,
dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster,
dog and pig. It is calculated according to
Chinese lunar calendar. 2021 is the Year of
the Ox according to Chinese zodiac

27. Chinese Food
❖Chinese food is famous all over the world, but you may be shocked by its surprising range
and variety of ingredients if you’ve only eaten in Chinese restaurants abroad. Chinese food
has countless delicious and fantastic dishes. And people from different areas have different
cuisine types, which can be bland, sweet, salty, spicy, or sour. Chinese Food like:
❖ Fried Mashi (chǎo má shi)
❖ Stinky Tofu (chòu dòu fu)
❖ Yak Meat Dumplings (mómo)
❖ Chinese Noodles

28. ❖Fries Mashi - a kind of pasta favored by
northwestern Chinese, can be either braised (like
Braised Shaanxi Pasta) or stir-fried. It's rare to
eat it at the local people's home especially at the
youth's nowadays, since the way of making
Shaanxi Pasta does need skills.
❖Stinky tofu - is a Chinese form of fermented
tofu that has a strong odor. It is usually sold at
night markets or roadside stands as a snack, or
in lunch bars as a side dish, rather than in
restaurants.

29. ❖Yak meat dumplings - Chinese
delicacy where dumplings are stuffed
with yak meat and spices.
❖Chinese type noodles - are generally
made from hard wheat flours,
characterized by bright creamy white
or bright yellow color and firm
texture.

30. Chinese Dining Etiquette and Culture As an
ancient civilization
❖Chinese pay great attention to established etiquette. With
thousands of years’ development, Chinese has there own
unique dinning culture and etiquette, which foreign visitors
may find quite different from what they are used to, and
even consider weird.
❖Chinese Table Manners. Show respect to others: Keep
your smartphone silenced, off the table, and out of your
hand. If you are provided a cloth napkin, tuck the corner
under your plate so that it hangs in your lap. When taking a
break, leave your chopsticks to the side of your plate or
bowl.

31. Chinese customs
❖Chopsticks are never placed upright in a rice bowl. Never leave chopsticks upright in a rice bowl. This is reminiscent of a ritual
that's made as an offering to the dead. Chopsticks should also never be used in your hands when making a gesture.
❖Burping is considered a sign of gratitude. In China, burping is seen as a sign of satisfaction with the meal and is considered a
compliment to the chef, so don't be surprised if it happens at the dinner table.
❖Tea cups are constantly refilled. This tradition is known as tea tapping. Hosts will regularly ensure that teacups don’t go empty
and when they refill the cups, the person whose cup is filled will tap the table in response to show thanks.
❖A gift will be refused a number of times before it is accepted. Don’t be offended if you offer a gift and it is refused, as it is
customary in China to refuse the first offer. Sometimes, the etiquette is to refuse the gift three times, though it may not always take
this many tries.
❖Spitting loudly in public is common. It's not surprising to see people spitting in public in China. Attempts are being made to try
and lessen the practice, but it isn't considered rude to spit while walking on the street or around others—even on public
transportation and sometimes indoors.

32. ❖Police will sometimes use geese instead of guard dogs. In places like China’s Xinjiang province,
domesticated geese are used by law enforcement. According to Chinese authorities, they have
strong vision, they’re loud, and they can be aggressive, which is why they’re used in place of
guard dogs.
❖Pointing can be considered rude. In some areas surrounding Tibet, Jiuzhaiguo and places with a
Tibetan population, pointing can be seen as a rude gesture. Instead of using your fingers to point
at a person or object, the customary gesture is to use your full hand with your palm facing up and
your fingers flat.
❖Compliments shouldn't be accepted graciously. While it might seem strange to refuse a
compliment, it is common to refuse compliments in China since accepting a compliment from the
beginning can be seen as a sign of vanity.

33. ❖Tipping can be seen as offensive. While tipping might be common in restaurants in most cities,
it is generally unnecessary in China and can even be considered impolite. Tips are typically only
given when doing tour-related activities or at hotels.
❖You may be asked to take photos with locals. Sometimes, Chinese groups or families may ask to
pose for a photo with you, especially in public places. Often, the group will reciprocate by asking
if you’d like to take a picture with them.
❖Split pants are often used instead of diapers. Split pants are often used in China in place of
diapers, allowing children to use the restroom when need be.

34. ❖Full-face masks are sometimes worn to the beach. Having a pale
complexion has been desired in Chinese culture for years, but the
face-kini is a relatively new trend spanning some of the country’s
beaches. Created in 2004, the face-kini—a face mask that protects
the skin from the sun and from jellyfish stings—started to appear
on the beaches of the coastal city of Qingdao and has become
popular for some of the women in China.
❖People regularly take naps on the street. Naps are a common
activity in China and you’ll often see people see people sleeping
on the train, bus, car, or in unconventional places on the street.
The activity is so well known, that there is a website—Sleeping
Chinese—dedicated to photographing the nation’s habit of
sleeping in unusual places.

35. Chinese Government
❖Communism and Communist - Communism is a political and economic system that seeks to
create a classless society in which the major means of production, such as mines and factories, are
owned and controlled by the public.
❖Government’s role in Communism - the government makes those decisions on their behalf. This
system is called a command economy. In communism, central planners replace the forces of
competition and the laws of supply and demand that operate in a market economy, as well as the
customs that guide a traditional economy.

36. COVID - 19
❖Many health experts believe that the new strain of coronavirus likely originated in bats or
pangolins. The first transmission to humans was in Wuhan, China. Since then, the virus has
mostly spread through person-to-person contact.
❖Around 80%Trusted Source of people with COVID-19 recover without specialist treatment.
These people may experience mild, flu-like symptoms. However, 1 in 6 people Trusted Source
may experience severe symptoms, such as trouble breathing.
❖The new coronavirus has spread rapidly in many parts of the world. On March 11, 2020, the
World Health Organization (WHO)Trusted Source declared COVID-19 a pandemic. A
pandemic occurs when a disease that people are not immune to spreads across large regions.

37. What caused Coronavirus
❖The recent outbreak began in Wuhan, a city in the Hubei
province of China. Reports of the first COVID-19 cases
started in December 2019.
Coronaviruses are common in certain species of animals,
such as cattle and camels. Although the transmission of
coronaviruses from animals to humans is rare Trusted
Source, this new strain likely came from bats, though one
study suggests pangolins may be the origin. However, it
remains unclear exactly how the virus first spread to
humans.

38. ❖Some reports trace the earliest cases back to a seafood and animal market in Wuhan. It may have
been from here that SARS-CoV-2 started to spread to humans.
The CDC Trusted Source recommend that people wear cloth face masks in public places where it
is difficult to maintain physical distancing. This will help slow the spread of the virus from people
who do not know that they have contracted it, including those who are asymptomatic. People
should wear cloth face masks while continuing to practice physical distancing. Instructions for
making masks at home are available here Trusted Source. Note: It is critical that surgical masks
and N95 respirators are reserved for healthcare workers.

39. Chinese Literature
❖Chinese literature is one of the major literary
heritages of the world, with an uninterrupted history
of more than 3,000 years, dating back at least to the
14th century BCE. Its medium, the Chinese
language, has retained its unmistakable identity in
both its spoken and written aspects in spite of
generally gradual changes in pronunciation, the
existence of regional and local dialects, and several
stages in the structural representation of the written
graphs, or “characters.”

40. General characteristics
❖Through cultural contacts, Chinese literature has profoundly influenced the literary traditions of
other Asian countries, particularly Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Not only was the Chinese script
adopted for the written language in these countries, but some writers adopted the Chinese
language as their chief literary medium, at least before the 20th century.
❖The graphic nature of the written aspect of the Chinese language has produced a number of
noteworthy effects upon Chinese literature and its diffusion: (1) Chinese literature, especially
poetry, is recorded in handwriting or in print and purports to make an aesthetic appeal to the
reader that is visual as well as aural. (2) This visual appeal of the graphs has in fact given rise to
the elevated status of calligraphy in China, where it has been regarded for at least the last 16
centuries as a fine art comparable to painting.

41. ❖Scrolls of calligraphic renderings of poems and prose selections have continued to be
hung alongside paintings in the homes of the common people as well as the elite,
converting these literary gems into something to be enjoyed in everyday living. (3) On
the negative side, such a writing system has been an impediment to education and the
spread of literacy, thus reducing the number of readers of literature, for even a
rudimentary level of reading and writing requires knowledge of more than 1,000 graphs,
together with their pronunciation.
❖(4) On the other hand, the Chinese written language, even with its obvious
disadvantages, has been a potent factor in perpetuating the cultural unity of the growing
millions of the Chinese people, including assimilated groups in far-flung peripheral
areas. Different in function from recording words in an alphabetic–phonetic language,
the graphs are not primarily indicators of sounds and can therefore be pronounced in
variant ways to accommodate geographical diversities in speech and historical
phonological changes without damage to the meaning of the written page.

42. Origins: c. 1400–221 BCE
❖The oldest specimens of Chinese writing extant are inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells
dating back to the last three centuries of the Shang dynasty (18th–12th centuries BCE) and
recording divinations performed at the royal capital.
❖These inscriptions, like those engraved on ceremonial bronze vessels toward the end of the
Shang period, are usually brief and factual and cannot be considered literature.
❖Nonetheless, they are significant in that their sizable vocabulary (about 3,400 characters, of
which nearly 2,000 have been reliably deciphered) has proved to be the direct ancestor of the
modern Chinese script.

43. ❖Moreover, the syntactical structure of the language bears a striking resemblance to later usages.
From the frequent occurrences in the bone inscriptions of such characters as “dance” and
“music,” “drum” and “chimes” (of stone), “words” and “southern” (airs), it can safely be inferred
that, by the Shang dynasty, songs were sung to the accompaniment of dance and music, but these
songs are now lost.

44. Realize the Simple Self
❖Written by Lao Tzu
❖A Poem
❖Part 19 of the Tao Teh King for
Awakening

45. Banish “wisdom,” discard “knowledge,” and the people shall profit a hundredfold. Banish
“humanity,” discard “justice,” and the people shall recover love of their kin. Banish cunning,
discard “utility,” and the thieves and brigands shall disappear. As these three touch the externals
and are inadequate, the people have need of what they can depend upon:
Reveal thy simple self,
Embrace thy original nature,
Check thy selfishness,
Curtail thy desires.