Chinese Culture

With the rise of Western economic and military power beginning in the mid-19th century, non-Chinese systems of social and political organization gained adherents in China. Some of these would-be reformers totally rejected China's cultural legacy. However, some of them sought to combine the strengths of Chinese and Western cultures. Essentially, the history of 20th century China is one of experimentation with new systems of social, political, and economic organization that would allow for the reintegration of the nation in the wake of dynastic collapse.

Chinese characters have held many variants and styles throughout Chinese history. Tens of thousands of ancient written documents are still in existence today. Overall, a literary emphasis has affected the general perception of cultural refinement in China, e.g. the view that calligraphy was a higher art form than painting or drama. Manuscripts of the Classics and religious texts (mainly Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist) were handwritten using ink brush. Calligraphy later became commercialised, and it was at this time that works by famous artists became prized possessions.

Chinese literature has a long past; the earliest classic work in Chinese dates from around 1000 BCE. Dynastic histories were often written, beginning with Sima Qian's seminal Records of the Historian written from 109 BCE to 91 BCE. The Tang Dynasty witnessed a poetic flowering, while the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature were written during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.