China, as a country, has one of the world's most ancient civilizations. If one begins with the Paleolithic culture of prehistoric times, China has passed through such stages of development as the Neolithic culture, the Bronze culture, the cultures of various-imperial dynasties, and, finally, the modern and contemporary cultures. China: Images of a Civilization, through its brief, systematic introduction to Chinese civilization, especially its presentation of visual materials, unfolds the splendid richness and variety of Chinese national culture and gives one the feeling of reliving those historical and contemporary times.
The recorded history of Chinese civilization of 5,000 years is the true treasure of the Chinese nation. However, the several thousand years of centralized feudal rule had also left a profound mark on Chinese civilization. Today and into the foreseeable future, conflict between traditional customs and new ideas, contradictions between Chinese indigenous culture and foreign influence, will find expression in every field of Chinese society. Nevertheless, we have every reason to expect that China, amidst the clashes of the old and the new, will make the most of the strong points of its traditional civilization, learn from the best of the world's cultures, and will steadfastly advance in its reform. These developments will add a new chapter to Chinese civilization and contribute to world peace and progress.
A Timeline of Other Histories is included, at the bottom of each page, to facilitate the audience to compare the events happened simultaneously in Chinese history with that in the histories of other nations.
Our hope is that this book, China: Images of a Civilization, will provoke more people to understand and appreciate Chinese civilization.