Civilization from the Time before the Great Flood to Present Day

About the Author

My name is Stefan Alexandrov and I was born in 1946 in Bulgaria. I have a degree in Bulgarian Philology, Defectology and Speech-Language Pathology. I have worked in the sphere of education as a teacher and as a school principal. I have also worked in the sphere of culture as an inspector.

In 1990 I travelled to Canada and lived there for 20 years. I have both Bulgarian and Canadian citizenship. Nowadays my permanent residence is in Bulgaria, where I work as a writer. Up to this point I have published the following books:

1. «Civilization from before the Great Flood until today» is a book of the popular science genre which chronologically shows the history of the countries that contributed most to the advance of World Civilization. One of these countries is China and its history has been tracked in detail from ancient times up until and including the 20th century. There is a space specially dedicated to the contemporary economic rise of PRC under the governance of CPC and also to the way PRC looks in the eyes of the unprejudiced progressive people around the world.

2. «Immigrants in Canada» is a collection of 35 short stories that recreate the life of Bulgarian immigrants in Canada.

3. «Greatness and Fall» describes the times of the political «Transition» of Bulgaria after 1989.

4. «Earth will be a Paradise» is currently being printed and will be available in bookstores soon.

Stefan Alexandrov

«Civilization from the Time before the Great Flood to Present Day»

In this age of scientific and technological revolution, characterized by the rapidly increasing pool of information, it would be wise to look back at previous centuries and see the background which has allowed us to be where we are now!

The author of the book does a chronological and historical tracing, systematization and analysis of Global Civilization from ancient mythology up until and including the 20th century. The historical material is served in a most interesting and memorable way with rich illustrations, which provokes readers to experience feelings of intellectual and aesthetic delight of Civilization’s achievements in all spheres of life.

The book is separated into different parts on each historical age and into different chapters which contain the countries that contributed most to the development of World Civilization. In the essay about China, following the historical run-down of Ancient China’s contributions, there are comments on the reasons why the miracle of PRC’s contemporary economy exists nowadays. The China of today has given World Economy a new and successful mechanism for economic development, which excludes all possibilities of economic crises. This mechanism consists of the harmonic combination of government planning and free market trade.

«Civilization from the Time Before the Great Flood to Present Day» is a multi-layered chronology with comments alongside each chapter, where history is presented as a bridge which connects the past and the present.

At the end of the essay there is a poem called «Dao of the progress», which in poetic form shows how modern China looks in the eyes of the unprejudiced people around the world today.

We are convinced that if the book is published in PRC, it will create a wide interest among readers!

Excerpts from the book

CHAPTER 7

CHINESE CIVILIZATION

I attach several quotes from the book concerning only China’s contribution to the advance of World Civilization:

China is one of the oldest and most significant civilizations in the world. The most ancient period, which is supported with archeological artifacts, is from 18th – 12th century BC. This is the Civilization Shang – Yin. There is a story, which has been preserved, about how in 1400 BC the leader Pan Geng came with his tribe in Anyang and by the river Huang He he built the city of Shang, which gave the name to the country and also to the Dynasty of the kings of Shang.

In 12th century BC the Zhou tribes, who lived in the basin of the river Wei, conquered Shang and founded the country of Yin. This new country further developed Shang’s cultural achievements and built upon them, which can be seen in the monuments of material culture, the works of art and the most ancient inscriptions containing pictogram and hieroglyph writing, which originated around that time.

Weakened from the continuous wars with the numerous nomadic tribes, which constantly invaded the valley of Huang He, the country of Zhou separated into independent principalities. The period in which they existed, 8th – 3rd century BC, is called «the era of the Five Rulers», during which lived Confucius and Lao-Tzu – 6th -5th century BC. These two ancient Chinese philosophers left a profound and lasting mark not only on the culture of China, but also on

world Civilization. Both of these wise men and teachers of people have enriched human culture with teachings, which are timeless and relevant even for our highly developed modernity.

THE QIN DYNASTY – 256-206 BC

In 3rd century BC the kings Qin Shi Huang and Yan Dan joined the tribes in the basin of Huang He into today’s North China, thus becoming the ancestors of the Chinese nation and creating the Qin dynasty. The Yellow Emperor Qin Shi Huang was a remarkably benevolent and wise ruler. He produced the first moral code with the help of 10 000 advisers, 7000 of whom were from the skies! He only considered medicine, farming and prophecies to be important. He introduced uniform measures and weights, which made trade much easier, and developed round coins with a square hole in the middle. He realized large-scale construction and started building The Great Wall of China, which had the goal to protect the country from the nomadic tribes’ invasions from the north. He introduced mandatory education, but only for the children of the clerical estate and aristocracy. Even after his death Huang wanted to be great and unreachable and to rest comfortably and safely. He ordered for a palace – mausoleum to be built, which would afterwards be buried in dirt, thus forming an impressive artificial hill. He also ordered the remains of his body and the palace to be guarded by an army, but the soldiers to be fully equipped from head to toe with battle armaments and to be made out of clay. But even more remarkable from an aesthetic point of view was that each soldier had his own unique face, which revealed his age, character, haircut, and the either smiling or fierce face. Even the intelligence and primitiveness of the expression could be noticed. The ceiling depicted a sky and the stars were made out of gems, whose reflection could be seen in a lake of mercury on the floor. There were also many battle chariots. In world civilization there is nothing like the clay army and The Great Wall of China, which were left behind by the great emperor Qin Shi Huang. The Qin dynasty fell during the reign of Huang’s grandson in 206 BC and was replaced by the Han dynasty. This dynasty existed until 220 AD and it is considered to be a golden age in China’s history. Even today the biggest ethnicity in China is called Han. The Han dynasty’s reign was characterized by a tremendous progress in science and technology – the paper was invented, embossment maps were made, the notion of negative numbers appeared, as well as the ship flag, the ship’s wheel, the compass, the seismograph with an inverted pendulum, hydraulic mechanisms, etc.. Also during that time Confucianism became the leading official doctrine in the spheres of culture, philosophy and polity up until 1911.

THE TANG DYNASTY – 618 – 907 AD

This dynasty introduced Buddhism and turned it into an inseparable part of Chinese culture. During Tang’s reign was the golden age of Chinese literature and art. The country’s clerics were chosen via an intricate electoral system and this had the goal to reduce the aristocracy’s influence on governance and to limit corruption in the face of influential individuals in order to give more opportunities to those who were knowledgeable and capable.

THE SONG DYNASTY – 960 – 1279 AD

This dynasty was one of the most significant ones in China’s history and it existed all the way up to the Mongolian invasion. In the spheres of science, culture and governance it rivaled European civilization. The devoted rulers patronized the arts, science and religion. During those times some of the most famous philosophers, who founded Neo-Confucianism, wrote their works. The usage of paper money was implemented for the first time in the world.

THE MING DYNASTY – 1368 – 1644 AD

This dynasty’s reign was characterized by the greatest achievements in the sphere of orderly government and social stability in human history. Hongwu, the first emperor from the Ming dynasty, remained in history with his attempt to create self-sufficient rural communities, which would not depend on the trade and crafts of the towns.

THE QING DYNASTY – 1644 – 1911 AD

This dynasty replaced the Ming dynasty and was the last dynasty of kings before China became a republic in 1911. It’s reign was characterized by China’s struggle against Great Britain for dominance of Tibet, which ended up remaining under China’s sovereignty.

The period between 1911 and 1949 was marked with the politicization of the Chinese intelligentsia and its active participation in the national movement, which consisted of anti-Japanese and antigovernment processes. During that time CPC was established – October 1920. It actively joined the vehement political struggles, gradually gained more authority and became a vital factor which had a big influence during the national revolution in 1925. The main results during that time were the restoration of statehood and the creation of a schism in the national freedom movement. Two main ideological and political movements were formed – National and Communist. In 1945 the national revolution emerged victorious and thus PRC was created. After two years of internal conflicts between the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek, who was supported by the Western World, and the communist revolutionaries led by Mao Zedong, who were supported by the Soviet Union, the latter ended up winning and thus created the PRC of today. The political and economic reforms, which began in 1970, changed the shape of the country in a socio-economic and political way. Now in PRC one of the most powerful and quickly developing economies in all spheres of life is being build. The progress in science and modern technology is being focused on. Today China is a leading geopolitical, economic and military power on a world scale.

Stefan Alexandrov / English translation by Konstantin Vlahov