The Chinese nation has been nourished over the past five millenniums by a heritage that has great vitality and cohesion which keeps the nation together.

1. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism
Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism constitute the essence of the traditional Chinese culture. The interrelationship among the three has been marked by both contention and complementation in history, with Confucianism playing a more dominant role.

Confucius, founder of Confucianism, stresses "ren" (benevolence, love), and "li" (rites, referring to respect for the system of social hierarchy). He attaches importance to education and was a pioneering advocate for private schools. He is particularly famous for "teaching students according to their intellectual inclinations". His teachings were later recorded by his students in The Analects.

Another founder of Confucianism, Mencius lived in the Warring States Period (389-305 B.C.), advocating a policy of "benign government" and a philosophy that human beings are good by nature. Confucianism became the orthodox ideology in feudal China and, in the long course of history, it drew on Taoism and Buddhism. By the 12th century, Confucianism had evolved into a rigid philosophy that calls for "preserving heavenly laws and repressing human desires".

Taoism was created by Lao Zi (around the 6th century B.C.), whose masterpiece is The Classic of the Virtue of the Tao. He believes the dialectical philosophy of inaction. The late Chairman Mao Zedong once quoted Lao Zi: "Fortune lies in misfortune and vice versa." Zhuang Zhou, the main advocate of Taoism during the Warring States period, founded a relativism calling for the absolute freedom of the subjective mind. Taoism has greatly influenced Chinese thinkers, writers and artists.

Buddhism was created by Sakyamuni around the 6th century B.C. Believing that human life is miserable and spiritual emancipation is the highest goal to seek, it was introduced into China through Central Asia around the time Christ was born. After a few centuries of assimilation, Buddhism evolved into many sects in the Sui and Tang Dynasties and became localized. That was also a process when the ingenuous culture of Confucianism and Taoism were blended with Buddhism. Chinese Buddhism has the greatest influence on traditional ideology and art.

2. Science and Technology
Ancient China boasted developed natural sciences and technology. It led the world in astronomy, agricultural science, medical science and mathematics as well as numerous inventions. It is estimated that by the 17th century, 75 percent of the world's inventions came from China. The four great inventions of paper-making, printing, gunpowder and compass served as a catalyst to the rise of European civilization.

3. Literature and Art
The history of Chinese lyric poetry started with the Book of Songs between the 11th and 6th century B.C.. The nation has since given birth to great poets such as Qu Yuan (339-278 B.C.), Tao Yuanming (365-427 A.D.), Li Bai (701-762 A.D.), Du Fu (712-770 A.D.), Bai Juyi (772-846 A.D.), Su Shi (1037-1101 A.D.), Lu You ( 1125-1210 A.D.) and Xin Qiji ( 1140-1207 A.D. In fact, China is known as a "country of poems".

Novels and dramas also flourished after the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The four greatest classic novels are the Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin (1715-1764), Outlaws of the Marsh by Shi Naian (14th century), Romance of Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong (1330-1400), and Journey to the West by Wu Chengen (1504-1582). The most celebrated classic dramas include the Injustice Done to Dou E by Guan Hanqin (13th century), West Chamber by Wang Shipu (1330s-early 14th century) and Peony Pavilion by Tang Xianzu (1550-1616). Different styles of traditional operas such as Beijing Opera, Kunqu Opera and Huangmei Opera are still popular even to this day.

Traditional Chinese painting holds an important position in the world of art. The Chinese express their worldviews and aesthetics through their paintings. Chinese painting, together with Chinese calligraphy, folk music, architecture and sculpture, constitute what may be known as "Chinese art" that complements Western art.

As one of the world's four oldest civilizations, the traditional Chinese culture is different from the civilizations of Egypt, Babylon, India and Greece and it is the only ancient civilization that has survived to this day with continuity. During the long Medieval years, China was the leading civilization in the world. After the first century, the Chinese civilization began to spread to neighboring countries such as Korea, Vietnam, Japan and Southeast Asia, creating what has been known as a "sphere of Chinese civilization".

4. Road to Modernization
The outbreak of the Opium War in 1840 indicated the beginning of modern Chinese history. The following century was marked by unswerving endeavors to modernization, including sometimes painful interactions with the Western civilization.

From the 16th century onwards, Western missionaries began to introduce Western civilization into China, which met with strong opposition from the arrogant Chinese rulers. The Opium War taught the corrupt, incapable Qing government a lesson on the strength of Western science and technology. Some Chinese realized that materially China was inferior to the West but culturally China was not. Therefore, China needed to introduce Western science, but not its political system. So came the Westernization Movement in the 1860s, a movement aimed at building a modern industry.

That movement was proclaimed a failure in 1894, when Japan, a newly industrialized power, defeated China. Many Chinese came to realize that China was inferior to the West not only in science and technology, but also in the political structure. Reformers called for learning from Japan and studying Western theories of social sciences and political and legal systems. But the reforms were put down in 1898 by conservative forces led by Empress Dowager Cixi.

In 1911, Dr. Sun Yat-sen led a revolution that overthrew the Qing government and establish the Republic of China. However, the young republic proved vulnerable, and conservative forces staged several comebacks. So from 1915 to 1919, a group of intellectuals launched the New Culture Movement which targeted Confucianism and what it termed as "old ideas, ethics, and literature" and advocated science and democracy.

That movement opened the floodgate for Western ideas such as science and democracy. The prevailing social and national crises helped popularize Marxism. The Chinese Communist Party, founded in 1921, eventually overthrew the Kuomintang and established the People's Republic of China by combining Marxist theories with the actual conditions of China.

Since 1978, the country has been following a policy known as "reform and opening-up". In its drive to build socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics, the country, while introducing Western science, is seeking to preserve and critically carry forward its tradition.

5. Preserving Heritage
Traditional Chinese culture has become a hot topic repeatedly talked since the 1980s, with the deepening of reforms and an accelerating modernization process. It has been realized that tradition not necessarily retards modernization; on the contrary, it can promote modernization. Furthermore, the essence of the tradition can be food for thought for the Chinese people, particularly the young generation.

6. Publication of Classics
The number of Chinese classics is said to range between 100,000-80,000. A systematic effort to sort out and study those classics is essential for preserving the continuity of the civilization. The Chinese government in 1958 formed a special group to plan the publication of classics. During 1962-1972, the group published a number of books and trained specialists despite the interruption of the "cultural revolution".

In 1981, the Planning Group resumed its work and formulated a nine-year plan (1982-1990) and in 1983, an inter-collegiate committee was formed to assort classics.

Over the nine years, a total of 4,000 categories of classics were arranged and published. Currently, the group sponsors 10 publications on traditional Chinese culture, publishes Studies in Chinese Classics (annually) and the Traditional Culture and Modernization (bimonthly since 1993). A key project under way is the compilation of A Comprehensive List of Chinese Classics and An Outline of Chinese Classics. The former will be wrapped up in 1999 and the latter in 2005. Nationwide, classics-publishing will not be finished until 2080. In fact, it has been proposed that a Museum of Chinese Classics be established to give full play to those classics.

A nation of multiple ethnic groups, China also pays great attention to the preservation of classics of minority groups. In 1984, a special task force was formed to plan the publication of classics of the minorities and, as a first step, research institutes and special publishing houses were established in 22 provinces and autonomous regions.

A number of series published in recent years have drawn nationwide attention. These include appendixes and additions to the Complete Works of Chinese Classics and the Library of Everlasting Classics. These total 250 million Chinese characters and their composition is in horizontal format instead of the traditionally vertical format, using simplified characters and punctuation. In addition, 50 classics have been translated into vernacular, plain-language that people use today, in a bid to introduce the classics to the public.

Currently, thousands of professionals are devoted to classics studies; in addition, 18 publishing houses and 80 research institutes are specializing in classics. Four universities, including Beijing University, have undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs in classics studies.

Since the 1980s, the country's academias have also re-focused on traditional culture, as evidenced by voluminous publications of books and essays and the formation of numerous societies and research organizations. In 1992, Beijing University, the country's premier institution of higher learning, established an inter-disciplinary Center for Traditional Chinese Studies. Boasting prominent scholars in literature, history, philosophy and other disciplines, the center publishes an annual journal on traditional Chinese studies and reaches out to the media to publicize their studies. They have, for example, cooperated with China Central Television in producing a 150-part "Light of Chinese Civilization", to the warm applause of the audience. In addition, the center has also produced a 100-part TV lecture program on traditional Chinese culture, which has been used as textbooks by many colleges.

The government and the public have also given strong support for other gems of traditional Chinese culture, such as the Peking Opera and traditional Chinese medicine. In November 1995, for example, the government sponsored the first Peking Opera Festival in Tianjin, with top state leaders attending the gala event in a remarkable demonstration of support. Traditional Chinese painting, classical poetry and calligraphy remain popular as ever. Traditional Chinese medicine sits alongside Western medicine in Chinese hospitals and is drawing increasing attention abroad. A growing number of foreigners are showing interest in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicines. The same holds true of Qigong (vital-energy exercise) and Wushu (martial art).