Eels

I watched a nature documentary on eels and how they will die like any other living thing that appeals to human appetite.  Pacific Island culture rely on the movement of eels from salt water to fresh water to forecast the coming of winter.  A native Pacific Islander taught some modernized children about the importance of eels within their culture.  He said eels were "the foundation of  civilization" because it revealed truths about nature.



(These eels most likely hatched in the northeastern United States!)

Civilization begins when humans begin to control patterns in nature, instead of nature controlling humans.  All civilization begins with some postulate about natural truths.

Before Mr. Bacon Lover starts seeping his ideology into every discussion about Chinese culture, Shang Dynasty bone divination provides a glimpse into a crucial postulate about Chinese culture:

Fate has been predestined by nature.

After performing a ritual, the diviner would interpret some message about the future.  Sometimes they're completely wrong, but it provides people comfort "knowing" how to prepare for the future.  Since society collectively accepts the fate of these messages, everyone can see how their lives fit within this natural order.

For the most part, Chinese culture (and I use this term loosely) builds corollaries on this postulate.  But the industrial revolution modernization that comes with it is a huge shock to Chinese culture, because suddenly the will of an individual has the possibility to overcome the preconceived natural order of Chinese society.

Can human ability define fate?

During the 2008 opening ceremony of the Chinese Olympics, of all the characters in the Chinese language to be displayed by their human powered typesetter, they choose "和," or harmony.  The act demonstrates the beauty of being in complete harmony of the order around us, and the individual contributes to harmony.  But as we continue to explore Chinese literature together, the collective can also stagnate growth and be closed minded to improvement.

As I start to read "Sources of Chinese Tradition" and leave the Shang Dynasty, from this point onward I will put the page numbers in a number generator to prevent myself from viewing literature in chronological order.  One of my professors said that reading culture in chronological order implies some sort of progression or development.  Rather, literature and our thoughts are amorphous that waxes and wanes to the conditions of society and nature.