Explain the holistic character of Chinese culture as reflected in its art and literature

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The perception of an inviolable natural order dominated all aspects of Chinese culture. Its earliest expression is found in China's oldest known text, the Book of Changes (I jing). The text centers on the principle that order is achieved through the dynamic balance of opposites. Basic to the natural order is the condition of balance between the four seasons, the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water), and the five creative powers (hot, cold, dryness, moisture, and wind). The Chinese believe in the holistic idea that universal energy, called qi, pervades all things, including the human body, to which balance is essential, and it is graphically expressed in the unity of opposites known as yin/yang. This principle, which ancient Chinese emperors called "the foundation of the entire universe," interprets all nature as the dynamic product of two interacting cosmic forces, or modes of energy. Daoism, which uses the I jing and the Dao de jing as its primary texts, follow this holistic tradition. Daoists seek to cultivate tranquility, spontaneity, compassion, and spiritual insight. Like the Hindu, the Daoist practices meditation and breath control, along with dietary and other physical means of prolonging and enriching life.