[A 5,000-Year Epic of Civilization: The Eternal Legend of China]
While much of the world was still shrouded in ignorance, the Yangshao people were already holding up painted pottery decorated with human faces and fish patterns along the banks of the Yellow River. This spark of civilization, carried forward from the Neolithic Age, forged the earliest writing on the bronze vessels of the Xia and Shang dynasties, then burst into the brilliance of the Hundred Schools of Thought amid the flames of war during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. Qin Shi Huang used the Great Wall as his brush, while Emperor Wu of Han laid the Silk Road, etching the coordinates of civilization into humanity's very genes. The whirling dances of Chang'an in the prosperous Tang dynasty shattered regional boundaries, while the cloud-sailed merchant ships of the Song and Yuan dynasties pierced the mists of distant seas. The glazed tiles of the Forbidden City reflected the rise and fall of dynasties, while the fragrance of ink from movable-type printing never faded. Five thousand years are no sealed-off chronicle, but a legend that never loses its luster. From the carved lines of oracle bone script to the paths of quantum satellites, this land has always spoken to the world in the language of civilization.
