Question

Explain, using specific examples how geography contributed to China remaining relatively isolated for many years as a culture.. How was China similar to and different from other river valley civilizations

Answer 1

Ancient China's geography influenced the development of civilization and culture. Dry deserts to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, and impassable hills to the south separated the big land from much of the remainder of the world. This allowed the Chinese to evolve independently of other cultures in the globe.

China's geographical characteristics in ancient times separated the nation from the remainder of the globe. Natural obstacles, like hills, deserts, rivers, and seas, made it difficult to travel to and from China. The western Himalayas and the north Gobi were two major geographical obstacles. They created it hard for the ancient Chinese and others outside the region to spread thoughts and products. So isolated were the early Chinese that they came to think that China was the only civilization in the world. They called the world Tian Xia, meaning "All Under Heaven." They thought that the core of All Under Heaven was China.

The individuals residing in ancient China were also segregated by many geographical characteristics. Rivers, deserts, hills, and excellent distances made it hard to govern, or rule, China's big areas. These characteristics also enabled individuals to create their own cultures in distinct areas of China. Every region's individuals even had their own dialect, or manner of talking, just as individuals today in China. Over time, ancient China's individuals came to share a common heritage, or set of concepts passed from generation to generation. The ancient heritage of China involves legends, or tales that have been handed down from previous generations.

In ancient Mesopotamia, on the three river valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates River, the Nile River in ancient Egypt and the Huang He and Indus River in ancient India and China, the earliest forms of civilizations were said to be located. These three cultures of the river valley had many similarities, yet prevalent life styles still lived. Although civilizations are situated on distinct continents, from their intellectual advances to kinds of government to religious beliefs and trading systems, they share comparable social, political and economic views.

All three main cultures of the river had a hierarchy-shaped government. Every civilization had a ruler; they were in a scheme of monarchy. Some of the schemes were regarded to be well-off systems because they were able to rule without disruption while others had systems in which males and females were not on an equal footing. There was a king in Mesopotamia who governed areas of the city-state. The kings were leaders of the war and their primary role was to ensure that everything in their region was going good. On the other side, there were comparable monarchy systems for the Egyptians, Indians, and Chinese.

With each civilization having a separate leader, this helped to stabilize the climate even though some societies were not fair in power distribution. As time progressed, civilizations developed methods to improve their lifestyles. All three civilizations were used to trading because they were close rivers.