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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)