Why does China seem to be more obsessed with its ancient history than any other once-great nations?

为什么相比其他文明古国，中国对自己的历史一直念念不忘？

以下是Quora网友的评论：

Boon Kuan Chung

Chinese are generally more “obsessed” with their ancient history than any other once-great nations. It is true, but the word “obsessed” is exaggerated. A more accurate word is “value”: Chinese value their ancient history more than other nations. It is not really out of pride, but it is a cultural thing which started in the early Zhou Dynasty. The founders of Zhou Dynasty valued very much the historical lessons of China although at that time it was only about 1500 years history. We don’t really see the 5000 years history as of today as very long, leave alone feeling proud about its longevity. In a Daoism “bible” written by Zhuang Zi, a 800-years old person should feel ashamed to claim he has long life because he selectively not comparing himself with turtle and tree which have much longer life. “There is a type of bug which is born in the morning and dies in the night. It cannot comprehend the concept of one month. There is a type of cicada which is born in the Spring and dies in the Summer; or born in the Summer and dies in the Autumn. It cannot comprehend the concept of one year.” Feeling proud of 5000 years history is not recommended; instead, we are cautioned to never be arrogance but keep learning from historical lessons.

和其他文明古国相比，中国人通常更“痴迷”于他们的历史。这是事实，但“痴迷”这个词有些夸张了。

我们可以用一个更准确的词“重视”来替换：中国人比其他国家更重视他们的历史。

这种行为并不是出于骄傲，而是源于周代早期出现的文化。虽然当时中国只有大约1500年的历史，但周朝开国皇帝非常重视中国的历史教训。

我们并不认为5000年的历史很长，更不为这么长的历史而感到自豪。庄子在道家“圣经”《庄子•逍遥游》中曾说，活了800岁的彭祖应该感到羞耻，因为他只是有选择性地不跟寿命更长的灵龟和椿树相比。

“朝菌不知晦朔,蟪蛄不知春秋。”中国人认为不应对5000年的历史感到骄傲；相反，我们不能傲慢自大，而是要不断从历史中汲取教训。

It all started during the replacement of Shang Dynasty by Zhou Dynasty. Shang Dynasty was very strong before its sudden collapse. Zhou was just a small state; which was really just a tribal land. The King of Shang once instructed the tribe leader of Zhou state to go to the capital city just to be imprisoned for years. His elder son went to plead to the Shang King for his father’s release, with himself as replacement for the prison sentence. It was not approved; instead, the son was cooked and the Zhou leader was forced to eat his son’s meat. The Zhou leader dared not show anger nor remorse for the cruelty of Shang King, because he knew it was a test for him. This managed to convince the Shang King that the Zhou leader was truly loyal to him. Not long later, the Zhou leader was released. He then plotted for revenge. It didn’t take long for the Shang Dynasty to be toppled despite its apparent strength. It was a “paper tiger”, in the words of Mao Zedong. Due to the cruelty of Shang King, its army mostly surrendered to Zhou leader and helped to fight against the Shang King. The swift victory was an extremely great surprise to the Zhou leader. He and his ministers started to contemplate the reasons for the sudden collapse of Shang Dynasty. They came to see clearly the historical lessons which can be learned. They vowed never to repeat the same mistakes of Shang Dynasty so that the new Zhou Dynasty can possibly survive forever. The new central government started to have officials responsible to record daily events, including the private lives of the noble family. According to《荀子·王制》, the most important lesson is 水可载舟，亦可覆舟: the people are like the river water which supported the boat, but its turbulence can also capsize the boat. The Mandate of the Heaven was given to the king only if he works to improve the lives of the people. If the people are angry with him, the Heaven listens through the the sensual organs of the people and It will then give the Mandate of the Heaven to a deserving new king.

而这种观念源于周朝推番商朝的史实。商朝在灭亡前也非常强大。而周国曾经只是一个小国，仅有一个部落的封地。商王曾令周文王入商朝京都并将其监禁数年。周文王的大儿子伯邑考恳求商王放了父亲，愿代替父亲坐牢。商王不准，反而杀了伯邑考并将其烹煮，逼迫周文王吃自己儿子的肉。周文王对商纣王敢怒不敢言，因为他知道这正是商纣王对他的考验。

商纣王相信周文王是真心臣服了，不久释放了周文王，周文王这才策划报复行动。没过多久，商朝就被推番了。由于商纣王的残暴，商朝军队大多倒戈，帮助周朝对抗商纣王。商朝的迅速覆灭令周文王大为吃惊，他和大臣们开始思考商朝迅速灭亡的原因。

他们清楚地意识到这是一个值得铭记的历史教训，发誓自己绝不会重蹈商朝的覆辙，这样才能让新成立的周朝永远延续下去。新的中央政府开始委派官员负责记录日常事件，包括贵族家庭的私生活。

根据《荀子·王制》，他们总结了一个最重要的教训：水可载舟，亦可覆舟，百姓就像河水，可以让船只航行，但河水湍流也可以让船只瞬间倾覆。

只有一国国王全心全意改善百姓的生活，他才能得以获得天命。如果百姓对国王怨声载道，上天也会倾听民意，将天命赐予值得尊敬的新国王。

The founding Emperor of Tang Dynasty, Emperor Taizong, have the same feeling as the Zhou King. The preceding Sui Dynasty was new and strong but suffered similar sudden collapse; for the similar reasons, of course. 水可载舟，亦可覆舟: the people are like the river water which supported the boat, but its turbulence can also capsize the boat. Emperor Taizong always remind himself and the ministers to work diligently and ardently for the welfare of the people.

唐朝的开国皇帝唐太宗和周王也有着同样的感受。唐朝之前的隋朝也曾朝气蓬勃、富裕强大，但隋朝也迅速覆灭，原因也和商朝相似：水可载舟，亦可覆舟。唐太宗经常提醒自己和大臣们，一定要为百姓的福祉而努力工作。

《墨子·非攻中》：“君子不镜于水而镜於人。镜于水，见面之容；镜于人，则知吉与凶。” Mo Zi of Mohism said: “a gentleman don’t use calm water as mirror but use the people as his mirror. Using calm water as mirror only allows a person to reflect on his face; whereas, using the people as mirror will allow him to know fortune or misfortune.” 以铜为镜，可以正衣冠；以史为镜，可以知兴替；以人为镜，可以明得失。Emperor Taizong said: “Using the copper mirror as reflection allows me to tidy up my dress; using history as mirror allows me to reflect on the reasons leading to the rising and falling of dynasties; using people as mirror allows me to reflect on my conduct and misconduct.” He encouraged people to point out his mistakes so that he can correct himself and ensure the longevity of the Tang Dynasty. He restarted the examination system of the preceding Sui Dynasty to select government officials based on merits. Obviously, all the candidates were expected to be well-versed with history. Consequently, it became fashionable for everybody to know history very well. It is not just for the examination, but much more for self-cultivation in terms of virtue, equanimity and wisdom. People read about famous heroes and virtuous Sages, then think about emulating them. People also read about infamous corrupt individuals, then vow never to become one of them and get into the history textbook for the wrong reasons.

墨子曾说：“君子不镜于水而镜於人。镜于水，见面之容；镜于人，则知吉与凶。”意思是，墨子说正人君子不应用平静的水面做镜子，而要拿别人来当镜子。用平静的水面做镜子，只能让人看清自己的面容；而以人为镜，则能知道吉凶对错。” 以铜为镜，可以正衣冠；以史为镜，可以知兴替；以人为镜，可以明得失。唐太宗说：“用铜作镜子，可以整理衣冠；用历史作镜子,可以知道历代兴衰更替；用人作镜子，可以看清自己的得失。”

他鼓励大臣指出自己的错误，这样他可以纠正自己的行为，确保唐朝的长久统治。他恢复了隋朝以前的科举制度，以才能选拔官员。所有的考生都必须精通历史。因此，对每个人来说，了解历史成为一种时尚。学习历史不仅仅是为了考试，更是为了修身养性。人们读到历史英雄和圣贤的事迹，就会效仿先人的行为。人们也会读到一些堕落之辈的行径，会发誓绝不要步他们的后尘，因为做了错事而遗臭万年。

《论语·学而》：“曾子曰：‘慎终追远，民德归厚矣。’” A student of Confucius said (in the Analects of Confucius): “Carefully handle the funeral of parents and remember the ancestors are to be encouraged so that the people will cultivate themselves to become virtuous.” It actually has another meaning. It tells people to do wholesome deeds until the end of their lives so that they are remembered by their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren as virtuous persons to be proud of. Their benevolence will then be emulated by the successors and bring peace and prosperity to the society. It is this cultural practice which makes Chinese value their ancient history very much. We want to learn to become gentlemen with three important qualities as defined by Confucius. Confucius said: “A true gentleman has three attributes, but I have yet to attain any of those. The three attributes are: true compassion makes him have no mental suffering (no anger, grief, anxety, guilt, etc.); true wisdom makes him have no delusion and doubt about his life mission; true courage makes him have no fear.” Upon hearing this, his disciple relied: “My good teacher, you are simply describing who you already are.” (子曰：“君子道者三，我无能焉：仁者不忧，知者不惑，勇者不惧。”子贡曰：“夫子自 道也。”)

《论语·学而》：“曾子曰：‘慎终追远，民德归厚矣。’”孔子的弟子说(在《论语》中)：“谨慎地对待父母的丧事，恭敬地祭祀远代祖先，就能使民心归向淳厚了。”

它实际上还有另一个意思，它告诉人们要一辈子做好事，这样他们的孩子，孙子和曾孙就会记得他们是值得骄傲的品德高尚的人。

他们的善举会被后人效仿，能为社会带来和平与繁荣。正是这种文化实践让中国人非常重视他们的历史。我们要努力做君子，要具备孔子所说的三个重要平的。

孔子说:“君子之道在于三个方面，我现在还未能做到：仁德的人不忧愁，睿智的人不迷惑，勇毅的人不畏惧。”

孔子的弟子听后说：“这正是老师的自我描述。” (子曰：“君子道者三，我无能焉：仁者不忧，知者不惑，勇者不惧。”子贡曰：“夫子自道也。”)

Spencer McDaniel

The claim that China is “more obsessed with its ancient history than any other once-great nation” isn’t true.

I’m pretty sure that Egypt, Greece, and Italy are at least as “obsessed” with their ancient history as China is. Indeed, the entire modern nation-state of Greece is essentially founded on the idea that it is a restoration of the glory of classical Greece. That why, in 1834, after the Greek Revolution, Greece specifically chose Athens to be its capital—even though it was a rather small town at the time. This is also the reason why Greece has invested so much money into restoring the Parthenon and other monuments on the Athenian Akropolis, which, believe it or not, were even more ruined 150 years ago than they are today.

中国“比所有文明古国都更痴迷于历史”的说法是不正确的。

我敢说埃及、希腊和意大利也和中国一样“痴迷”于他们的历史。事实上，希腊的现代民族国家本质上正是建立在这样一种理念上的：重现古希腊的荣耀。这就是1834年希腊革命之后，希腊特别选择雅典作为首都的原因—当时雅典只是一个很小的城镇。这也是希腊投入巨资修复帕台农神庙和雅典阿克罗波利斯的其他纪念碑的原因，这些纪念碑在150年前比现在更加破败。

All nation-states are built on the impression of a shared national history and identity. When the states that control countries with lots of ancient history try to promote awareness of that history, they do so partly for the purpose of furthering a shared national mythology among the people who live in that country.

They are also, however, trying to promote tourism and convince people from other countries to come visit their country, since this brings money into the national economy. They tend to focus on advertising specific monuments. Thus, Egypt advertises the Pyramids of Giza, China advertises the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, Greece advertises the Athenian Akropolis, and Italy advertises the Colosseum and the Pantheon.

所有民族国家都是建立在共同的民族历史和身份认同之上的。那些拥有丰富历史的国家的统治者希望提高人们对历史的认同，他们这么做有一部分目的是为了在居住在那个国家的人民中深化民族神话的认同感。

当然，他们这么做也是为了促进旅游业，吸引其他国家的人来此旅游，这可以为他们的国民经济带来不少收入。他们往往会选择一些古迹来打广告，所以埃及把吉萨金字塔当做招牌，而中国选择了长城和紫禁城，希腊选择了雅典阿克罗波利斯，意大利选择了罗马竞技场和万神殿。

CR Wang

To the Chinese, history is like the Bible to Christians. History is a guide to social development. Unlike Eric Chan's fantasies, The Chinese pragmatic culture makes history accurate and valuable. For example, since 1057 BC, China has recorded 32 times of Comet Halley's return in 40 times, which is the highest in the world. (Why is this comet called Halley, not a Chinese name?)

Therefore, the Chinese historical records have become the social experimental reports of nearly 2000 years. For the Chinese, the history of hundreds years ago is like yesterday.

历史之于中国人，就像圣经之于基督徒。历史是社会发展的指南。中国的实用主义文化使得中国的历史详实准确而富有价值。例如，自公元前1057年以来的40次哈雷彗星的回归中，中国记录了32次，这是全世界对哈雷彗星的记录中次数最多的。(那么为什么这颗彗星叫哈雷彗星，为什么不是中文名字？)

因此，中国的史书已成为近两千年的社会实验报告。对中国人来说，几百年前的历史就像发生在昨天一样。