? The earth is divided into two parts: the earth and the ocean. If a part of the earth is nourished by water and soil, there will naturally be farmers who depend on mountains and businessmen who depend on water to eat water, thus producing different farming civilizations and marine civilizations with different styles-"yellow civilization" and "blue civilization" in the past. China's early civilization was mainly in the interior of the Yellow River basin, and the plains on both sides of the river were suitable for agricultural cultivation, so it was mainly agricultural civilization. But the early European civilization was on the Mediterranean coast, and there was not so much land to cultivate. Survival needs constant expansion and trade, which leads to marine civilization dominated by trade and colonization.

Characteristics of marine civilization and farming civilization;

First of all, one emphasizes inheritance and the other emphasizes innovation. The first characteristic of farming civilization is inheritance. This song is first determined by the way it is made. Inheritance of agricultural seeds and technologies in seasonal changes and knowledge accumulation in tool manufacturing. When a crop seed is found, it will be passed down from generation to generation. People will continue to deepen their understanding of this plant. Farming is closely related to the seasonal changes of weather, and the observation and summary of seasonal changes are also accumulated. It is precisely because of this need for inheritance in production that it later developed to the seriousness of ancestral genealogy records. The famous is Confucius' Genealogy. Many families in China have the habit of genealogy, but in some places in the south, they still have a soft spot for genealogy. Some people even think that "Confucian culture has become a religion worshipped by ancestors." Confucian culture is a typical representative of farming culture, and this ancestor worship is actually a prominent manifestation of the inheritance of farming culture in this respect. Even the concept of carrying on the family line is a manifestation of the inheritance of farming culture. It's just that Confucianism regards it as its own god. In addition, in words, this inheritance has also been fully reflected. Compared with marine civilization, the characteristics of these landlocked countries are more stable and sustainable. Compared with western symbols, China characters are more unique. Marine civilization is different. ?

Marine civilization is not a closed-door civilization, but a civilization that constantly draws nutrition from different cultures. The opening of marine civilization is multifaceted. Economically speaking, it is a civilization that depends on foreign trade. Developing overseas markets and opening up overseas colonies has become the most important economic requirement of this civilization. In terms of population mobility, it constantly absorbs foreign population and colonizes foreign countries. The flow of population has improved the quality of the nation and promoted the opening of culture and ideas. The ancient Greeks were also famous for their little restraint in thought and moral behavior, and many examples can be found in aristophanes's plays. This spirit of openness in ancient Greece later encouraged Renaissance Europeans to break through the shackles of medieval churches with this spirit. ?

Secondly, one emphasizes centralization and the other emphasizes pluralism. The biggest feature of farming civilization is the relocation of land. Because of the lack of change, it is very easy to establish a stable and unchanging order-the so-called "all over the world, is it king?" It is also true that the leading land is not the king's land, although the degree of centralization is different in different dynasties. With the development of farming civilization, centralization is inevitable. Judging from the process of civilization development, it is gradual, and the reaction in the national system is also gradual. On the other hand, marine civilization reflects its diversity. The tolerance for the existence and competition of different cultures and multiculturalism has become a supplement to the openness of this civilization. The existence of multiculturalism makes every culture aware of the existence of competition at any time. In order to gain an advantage in the competition, we must try our best to develop continuously and survive through development. Diversity promotes competition and competition promotes development. At the same time, due to the protection of the ocean, it is possible for each city-state to maintain its own cultural characteristics and selectively absorb the advantages of others. Cultural pluralism is embodied in a political entity that tolerates individuals to develop their individuality and creativity. Its political embodiment is democracy, and Athens is its typical representative. The vitality of Greece lies in the diversity of culture. In the most powerful period of Greece, the Greek city-states did not form a real political alliance, but a loose federation at most. On the contrary, adhering to consistency will lead to the stagnation of development. The Greeks' own war for hegemony, the Baltic War, was a concerted effort by the Greeks and the beginning of the decline of Greek civilization. So the demand for consistency eventually led to the end of Greek civilization.

Third, one pays attention to authority and divinity, and the other pays attention to self and reason. Because farming civilization depends on the weather and needs to fight against large-scale natural disasters, it attaches great importance to authority from the heart; At the same time, there is also a worship of nature, which can create all kinds of disasters. As a huge settlement group, due to the backwardness of production tools and the lack of means of subsistence, the competition for means of subsistence will certainly occur from time to time. Over time, recognized norms have been formed, and disputes are also resolved through consultation. Since ancient times, the people of China have made people overcome the harsh natural environment and rely on collective strength to survive. The power of authority and the power of God. The article "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals: King Eternal" said: "Human nature, slaves are not enough to be self-controlled, flesh is not enough to dry cold and heat, bones and muscles are not enough to benefit evil, and courage is not enough to be fierce. However, it is still necessary to cut everything, control animals and serve cunning insects. Cold and heat can't be harmful, not only must we be prepared first, but we must gather evil! " After the formation of the national system, this concept has become the norm for people to get along with tribes in a country. Marine civilization emphasizes self and rationality. Entering the sea from land itself means challenges, and conquering the sea will cultivate and stimulate people's innovation and enterprising spirit. The ancient Greeks were less bound in thought and spirit. It can be seen from Greek mythology that in the eyes of the Greeks, no one has supreme authority, even God. Most gods behave more like a group of naughty children, and Zeus, the main god, is also in a mess and has no high authority. God and man are praised not because of their current status, but because of the uniqueness of their work. The reason why the ancient Greeks were able to rise in the Mediterranean where various civilizations gathered was largely because of this spirit, and the ocean seems to be the ultimate touchstone of this spirit, so all the heroes in Homer's epic should try their hand here. It is this spirit that helped us conquer the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. Once the Greeks completely conquered the Mediterranean, the ocean was no longer a challenge, and their enterprising spirit was greatly reduced. This spirit can only be further developed after the further development of productive forces and until the Renaissance, when mankind began to face the challenges of the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Why don't big countries understand the Five Principles of Peace put forward by the people of China? Because there is only "competition law" in their dictionary of marine civilization, there is no concept of "land of peace". Why is the collectivism principle that China people believe in regarded by the west as the main factor that human rights are not guaranteed? Because individualism is paramount in marine civilization, human rights can only be guaranteed if individual freedom is emphasized.

The key to these differences between these two civilizations lies in the differences in people's lifestyles and modes of production they carry. Farming civilization is self-sufficient because it crawls on the earth. This way of production and life naturally leads to the civilized psychology of conservatism, peace, moderation and "stability first" in this civilization. It is precisely because of this self-sufficiency that people in farming civilization have very weak demand for transactions, so the corresponding commercial reputation and contract culture have lost their birth soil. ?

With its "cosmopolitan" characteristics, the marine nation determines its mobility and aggressiveness, and people who live by the ocean always seek from the ocean, thus creating their expansibility and instability; The information on the ocean side is developed, which makes them changeable and inclusive; The food obtained from the sea is exchanged in the form of commodity economy, which is extremely developed; The ocean is connected with the whole world, which is a freer and boundless world than the mainland. This is the vastness and instability of marine civilization. Perhaps more important is the indispensable contract culture, consultation culture and democratic framework brought by navigation needs. The reason is simple: maritime navigation requires all the people on board to help each other in the same boat, treat each other sincerely, determine each other's rights and obligations in the form of mutual consultation, and achieve a win-win result through mutual interest exchange. This can be seen from the birth process of the Mayflower Convention, which is regarded as the first political contract document in American history. ?

On August 1620, 1 Sunday, a large group of Puritans (one of them Protestants) came all the way from Delft to Plymouth port in England. They will sail to the new world on a may flower sailboat tomorrow. After more than three months of hard sailing, we are almost in America. There is a man named William on the boat. The man in Bradford initiated an initiative: In order to build a new home in Qi Xin together in the future, we should sign a contract. His suggestion was quickly approved by everyone. So at 1620,165438+1October, 1 1, the only remaining 4 1 adult men on board reached an agreement on the future autonomy plan, which is the famous Mayflower Convention. The Convention reads as follows: "In the name of God? Amen. For the glory of God, in order to carry forward the faith and honor of our king and Christ, we crossed the ocean to explore the primitive colonies in northern Virginia, so we formed an alliance before God: for better order and survival, we worked together to establish a civilized regime. In order to achieve the above goals smoothly, it is necessary to formulate, draft and design fair laws, regulations, decrees and regulations that are recognized as most suitable for the interests of all the people in the colony, and set up governance institutions at any time. We all promise to abide by and obey. " Next is the signature of 4 1 man. The significance of this convention lies in: establishing the bourgeois democratic rights of equality before God and law in written form, and at the same time formulating the basic social framework of benefit sharing and relationship adjustment through democratic consultation and contract form, achieving a win-win situation. Because of this, this convention later became an extremely important document in the history of the founding of the United States; It is also the first of countless autonomy conventions in the future, and it has largely become the * * * same model followed by members of the British North American colonial society. This convention is a democratic agreement in the form of a church Covenant, which shows the immigrants' yearning for freedom and democracy and the government's desire from the people. It has a great influence on the later declaration of independence and even the American Constitution. ?

Due to the unique geographical and climatic environment, the ancestors of the Chinese nation chose the development direction of civilization based on farming. It has developed into a unique China civilization. The development of farming civilization has similar or similar characteristics. Chinese civilization, Sumerian civilization and ancient Egyptian civilization in the ancient two river basins all have the characteristics of big rivers, and the words used are similar or similar. Sumerian civilization was interrupted, and ancient Egyptian civilization was interrupted. Chinese civilization has been passed down. Toynbee attributed the interruption of Sumerian civilization and ancient Egyptian civilization to the success of taming horses by nomadic people in Eurasia and the invention of horse-drawn chariots more than 800 years BC. Both farming civilizations were defeated by wagons, and then the civilization was interrupted. Around China, there are also nomadic people who have occupied the Central Plains for many times. As a result, Chinese civilization has not been interrupted, but these ethnic groups have been assimilated and disappeared. Starting from 1840, Europe invented armed sailboats and invaded China from the sea. Chinese civilization and marine civilization are once again at a disadvantage in the competition. In the 20th century, the national survival crisis came to this nation. At this time, he made another effort to master the atomic bomb technology in the 1960 s, and the national survival crisis was alleviated. However, in the history of civilization development, in the competition between agricultural civilization and marine civilization, the situation that agricultural civilization always occupies a disadvantage has not ended.

The essence of Chinese civilization and farming civilization, its advantages are sometimes its disadvantages. When farming civilization boldly absorbs the essence of other civilizations, it becomes full of vitality and vigor. For example, King Wuling of Zhao studied the "Khufu Riding and Shooting" of nomadic civilization. But generally speaking, agricultural civilization is always conservative, unwilling and forced to accept the advanced things of marine civilization. Confucianism, the representative theory of farming civilization, generally advocates conservative obedience and opposes innovation and innovation. His founder, Confucius, is an old-school retro school. In fact, Confucius summed up the main things of farming civilization, and his disciples labeled this theory as Confucianism. Confucius disdained learning to farm, grow vegetables and do business. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ousted hundreds of schools and respected Confucianism alone, all scholars in the world were disciples of Confucian scholars, and agriculture, industry and commerce became occupations despised by scholars. Farming civilization itself has the characteristics of self-sufficiency. Marine nations need to communicate with farming society in order to improve their living and living environment. Communication is the characteristic of marine civilization. In China, when Confucianism gained absolute dominance, there was no foundation for the emergence and existence of business culture. Corresponding to the contractual characteristics of commercial culture, the development of modern commercial culture in China is more difficult because of the family relationship of farming civilization and the distinctive feature that Confucianism rejects commercial profits. ?

Mankind has entered the information age. Farming civilization cannot develop in isolation, and exchange learning is inevitable. The result of this exchange is what Mr. Tang Degang said in "Seventy Years of Late Qing Dynasty": "Under the challenge of western civilization, our traditional system was forced to carry out the" second great change of political and social system "since 1840. ..... great changes in stormy waves, the author tried to name it' Historical Three Gorges'. It will take us about 200 years to cross this terrible Three Gorges. ..... But no matter how long, the "Three Gorges of History" will pass one day. This is a historical necessity.