China
is probably not one of the first countries that comes to mind when thinking of
natural friends of the South. But she
ought to be, for both China and the South, as ‘land’ civilizations (rooted in stable
tradition, farming, a sacred order, etc.) rather than ‘sea’ civilizations (based
on constant change, machine industry, nominalism/utilitarianism, etc.), have
quite a few things in common. Here is a
brief look at some of the more important ones.
Farming
The
Chinese, as F. H. King put it in the title of his 1911 book, are ‘farmers of
forty centuries’:
The
problem of poor soil management by her farmers has dogged the South for many a
year. Southern Agrarian writers from
John Taylor of Caroline to Andrew Lytle to Wendell Berry have all addressed the subject. But China ages ago discovered how to
cultivate her land intensively, bairn-team after bairn-team (generation after
generation), without wearing it out. Furthermore,
both raise many of the same crops and livestock: rice, corn, hogs, cotton, peanuts, and so
on. Without a doubt, there is much the
two could talk about on this subject.
A
short overview of traditional Chinese agriculture is provided below:
The history of agriculture in China has
been one of constantly improving crop yields through innovations, improvements
in techniques and intensification. The resulting surpluses have allowed the
population to grow.
In late imperial times the agricultural
land in the north was worked by people who owned the land while the land in the
south was owned by landlords who didn't work the land themselves. Peasant who
worked the land either paid for use of the land with a share of their harvest,
a fixed rent in crops or a fixed rent in cash. It was more of commercial
arrangement than a feudal one.
Agriculture in China is labor intensive.
Women do about 60 percent of the work. Animals such as mules, oxen and water
buffalo are considered luxuries and most plowing is done with sticks or hoes by
farmers in lamp shade hats and rubber boots. Human excrement, urine and even
burnt duck feathers are brought into the fields and used for fertilizer.
Chinese farmers are very efficient. In the
Guangdong province farmers plant three crops a year: two of rice and one of
legumes. The rice paddies also double as fishponds, and the dikes between them
are often planted with sugarcane and mulberry trees. Chinese farmers can also
be very clever. When the price of carrots went down one farmer found it was
more profitable to use the carrots to fatten his pigs, when the price of carrots
went up he sold the carrots on the market.
Peasant farmers in the south have
traditionally used water buffalo to plow their fields, donkeys to carry goods
and treadmills to pump water into irrigation ditches. Theft is sometimes a
problem. During harvest time families often sleep in the fields or by their
fish ponds.
. . .
Source: http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat9/sub63/item1892.html,
opened 3 May 2018
Writing
While
the Chinese have been farmers for 40 hundredyears, they have been poets,
story-tellers, historians, etc. almost as long, for about 30 hundredyears. Some of their earliest writings are ghost
stories, which will strike a chord with Southerners, whose own writers like Poe
and Faulkner, also make use of the spirit world in their stories.
The earliest written works
in China are ghost stories and
myths. Ebrey writes how early Han
literature is "rich in references to spirits, portents, myths, the strange
and powerful, the death-defying and the dazzling (71)". The Chinese were
especially concerned with ghosts because the appearance of someone who had died
meant that the living had somehow failed them, usually by improper honor in burial, and the dead would haunt the
living until the wrong was righted. If the dead could not find their family,
they would find anyone nearby.
Source: Emily Mark, https://www.ancient.eu/Chinese_Literature/,
opened 3 May 2018
Poetry,
also a Southern literary staple, is abundant in China, too:
The rich tradition of
Chinese poetry began with two influential collections. In northern China, the Shijing
or Classic of Poetry (approx. 10th–7th
century BC) comprises over 300 poems in a variety of styles ranging from those
with a strong suggestion of folk music to ceremonial hymns.[5]
The word shi has the basic meaning of poem or poetry, as
well as its use in criticism to describe one of China's lyrical poetic genres. Confucius is
traditionally credited with editing the Shijing. Its stately verses are
usually composed of couplets with lines of four characters each (or four
syllables, as Chinese characters are monosyllabic), and a formal structure of
end rhymes. Many of these early poems establish the later tradition of starting
with a description of nature that leads into emotionally expressive statements,
known as bi, xing, or sometime bixing.[6]
Associated with what was then considered to be southern China, the Chuci is
ascribed to Qu
Yuan (c. 340–278 BC) and his follower Song Yu (fl.
3rd century BC) and is distinguished by its more emotionally intense affect,
often full of despair and descriptions of the fantastic.[7]
In some of its sections, the Chu Ci uses a six-character per line meter,
dividing these lines into couplets separated in the middle by a strong caesura,
producing a driving and dramatic rhythm. Both the Shijing and the Chuci
have remained influential throughout Chinese history.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_literature#Classical_poetry,
opened 3 May 2018
There
is very much more that could be said about Chinese literature, but we will
leave it for now to look at a final subject.
Hierarchy
China,
like the South, had a very well-defined social structure in her earlier days:
King
The
king and his family were placed on the topmost level of the ancient Chinese social hierarchy pyramid. These people were the
most respected, owned the largest amount of land and ruled the people in the
entire kingdom. Apart from king, the higher classes were also shared by
soldiers who were the second most respectable people in the ancient China. They
were respected greatly due to the wealth that they possessed.
After
these major classes lies the actual social hierarchy of ancient China that was
based on occupation of people.
Shi
The
Shi were the gentry scholars in the time of ancient Zhou and Shang dynasties.
These were regarded as the low level aristocratic lineage in the social
structure. They also possessed certain privileges that other people were not
given like they had the right of riding in chariots and command the battles
from their mobile chariots. The people from this class were also appointed in
civil services of the country. Earlier these were the people who were known for
their warrior skills and were recognized [by the] double edged sword that was
known as Jian, but later on the people started recognizing these: knowledge,
scholarship and their administration abilities.
Nong
The
Nong class was comprised by the peasant farmers. since Neolithic age the
agriculture in China remained as a key element for the entire civilization
since the farmers produced the food to sustain the whole society. These were
considered as part of higher ranks compared to craftsmen and traders. Although
they did not enjoy the privileges that the Shi class was given but farmers were
considered as the valuable members of society. These were landholders and were
responsible for producing food and crops for themselves and the society.
Gong
The
Gong class was composed by the craftsmen and artisans. As per Chinese
understanding these were considered as the labors. They were like the farmers
but since they did not possess any land of their own therefore they engaged
themselves in developing good and crafts. This was also a wealthy class but was
not considered as a good class in the social structure and hence was not given
privileges & rights as compared to the higher classes.
Shang
The
lowermost class in the social hierarchy of ancient China was the Shang class
which was composed by traders and merchants. Since these people could not
achieve good status in the society so they were placed on the lowermost levels
of the social structure. They had significant wealth but because they indulged
themselves in trading and transporting goods that were made by the other
people, they were not considered as respectable people in the society.
Source: https://www.hierarchystructure.com/social-hierarchy-of-ancient-china/,
opened 3 May 2018 (a couple of edits made for clarity--W.G.)
The
Southern leadership class, as in China, was also distinguished by a combination
of military service, wealth, and a high level of scholarship. Also like China, farming was looked upon
highly in Dixie, while salesmen/shop-keepers were not.
Since
we have just mentioned military matters, it is also interesting to note that
the South produced a figure similar to China’s Sun Tzu, who wrote the famous
book The Art of War, in General
William Hardee, who also wrote an influential book on military strategy (thanks
to Dr Clyde Wilson for telling us about Gen Hardee):
William J. Hardee's 1855
textbook, Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics, was required reading for
officers in both the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil
War (1861-65).
Source: Susan Copeland, http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/william-j-hardee-1815-1873,
opened 3 May 2018
For
these reasons and others, if China were ever to leave the totalitarian,
globalist path she has been on for the last several tenyears and accept the
Orthodox Faith, or even adopt a pre-Modern Confucian worldview again, the South
should waste no time in cultivating ties with her, on a
level deeper than that of dull, uninspiring business transactions, which
already exist. Perhaps even now a
bonding could begin with those folks in China who keep to the old ways. A good friend is a valuable thing indeed.
--
Holy
Ælfred the Great, King of England, South Patron, pray for us sinners at the Souð, unworthy though we are!
Anathema
to the Union!
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