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To understand the cultural significance of these breaks, let us look at the greater Eurasian geography. It has had a huge impact upon the historical development of the planet.
On the continental scale, there is a large swatch of land extending from Mongolia in the east, extending through Afghanistan, then Iran, through Saudi Arabia in the middle, to northern Africa in the west which is sprinkled with large patches of barren land, which include both the Gobi dessert in the East and the Sahara desert in the west, including the Saudi Arabian desert in the middle. In the Western part of the swatch, i.e. North Africa through to Saudi Arabia, the natural habitat includes Ôscattered broad-leafed deciduous scrubsÕ around the perimeter of the barren lands. In the east from Iran onto the Mongolian plateau including the Tibetan plateau, the natural vegetation is categorized as Ôpatches of grassÕ as contrasted with ÔgrasslandÕ that we have in the great plains of the Midwest of the United States. We will call this area The Great Arid Zone.
The barrenness of much of this huge swatch of area, which spans two continents, is only matched by the arctic barrenness of Antarctica and Greenland. It is seen nowhere else in the western hemisphere and only in Australia in the Southern hemisphere. The main soil of this area is desert and mountain soil, nothing arable. This arid zone, which spans half the globe, is considered an areic region because it contributes nothing to the water drainage areas of the world. The only exceptions in this arid zone are small swatches that are deemed endoreic because their water never reaches the ocean. In short the only thing that this land is fit for is nomadic herding. And much of the land in this band, especially in northern Africa is even unfit for this.
Therefore there is this huge swatch of land cutting across the Eurasian/African continental system, separating southern Asia, including China and India, from northern Asia, i.e. Russia and Siberia, as well as separating, the south of the African continent from Europe. This Great Arid Band is unsuitable for farming and so separates the agri-cultures of the south and north. And the Himalayan mountain range further separates the agricultural civilizations of China and India.
This huge band of arid land sweeping through the center of the main land mass of the Eastern Hemisphere, Eurasiafrica, was the breeding ground for the great nomadic cultures. Additionally the geography of this super continent led to the formation of agricultural civilizations in China, India and the Mediterranean area, including Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Europe. Each of these areas is notable for having fertile river basins suitable for the development of agriculture. Hence inherent in the geography of this north-eastern quadrisphere of the Earth is the development of two competing lifestyles that would inevitably come into conflict.
{Picture of agricultural bicultural pockets}
With the development of agriculture came settlements of people, from which comes cities, from which come civilizations. The agricultural lifestyle is sedentary, ideally suited for the arts and crafts. The agricultural culture tends to be very in touch with the earth in that it provides sustenance. Agri-cultures tend to worship the earth. The earth is not immediate, but seasonal. The earth must be prepared, the seeds planted, the plant cultivated and harvested over the course of a year.
As opposed to this, the nomadic lifestyle of the pastoral culture is unsettled and constantly moving. When the flock has finished grazing in one area the entire tribe moves to another area. The ever-growing nomadic tribes begin running into each other as they are moving around. Instead of negotiating peacefully, they fight for valuable, because sparse, grasslands. The nomadic cultures develop a love of conflict and war. They do not tend the earth, but instead take from it. They do attend the sky that provides water for their grass. In the highlands the weather of the sky is also fierce and unforgiving. These nomadic culture tend to worship the sky.
Mother Earth has only given these nomadic cultures patches of grass, which they never tend. There is nothing to love her for. The sky waters her and grass grows. When things get tough these nomadic cultures move on or fight. They do not stay to work things out. They do not cultivate. The sky does not negotiate, neither do they. Because they take from the earth without giving anything in return, it is also natural that they take from the rich agri-cultures of the world without contributing any service.
Hence inherent to the geography of the Eurasiafrican continent is the dynamic between the agricultural societies and the nomadic societies. Traditionally pockets of craft-oriented agri-cultural civilizations would form around the rich river valleys of Eurasiafrica. Simultaneously nomadic cultures would be forming in the aforementioned grassland band. As the agricultural civilizations became richer the nomadic cultures would become more aggressive. Inevitably the nomadic cultures would invade, taking what they wanted from the agri-culture.
WeÕve alluded to certain characteristics of these military aristocracies. Let us enumerate some of them.
In the nomadic warrior culture based upon aggression, confrontation and war, the stock of the man rises considerably because as a warrior he is the protector of culture. Hence the nomadic cultures tend to worship a male sky god of war. Fertility is fine once the war is won, but if the war is lost then fertility is no longer an issue. Therefore in this warlike culture, battling for scarce resources, the culture with the stronger war god wins, while the culture with the weaker god is enslaved. Within these nomadic cultures there is no concept of refinement or contentment; there is only the concept of survival and power. Morals are related to acquiring power.
While the manÕs status rises in a military culture, the womanÕs status falls. While in the Stone Age, fertility was the main issue, fertility of both the woman to produce babies and of Nature to produce more game and fruit, in the Metal Age fertility was not the issue anymore. The issue of the Metal Age was cultural survival. Cultural survival was based mostly upon the level of military technology rather than upon the moral or artistic level of the culture. This is the root of the attack by modern Goddess worshippers upon the warrior cultures. The point made is that the Bronze Age, while a time of technological expansion, was not good time for women. If one starts at a point of equal rights, then the Bronze Age would have to be considered a major step backwards morally.
Initially the nomadic warriors were only raiding groups. But they inevitably came to enjoy the relative comforts of the agricultural climate and civilization and so decided to stay. However they did not stay and become farmers like the rest. They had always taken from the earth and had never cultivated her, so with her cultures. The nomadic cultures came aconquering and placed themselves at the top of a military aristocracy, still taking from the earth. A real ruler takes from the earth, he does not till the earth, was their rationale.
The Nomadic cultures having always taken what they needed from the earth, begin cultivating a warrior culture. Central to the warrior culture is the idea that battle is the ultimate test of a humanÕs abilities. The Warrior must reside in the Here and Now to survive the Battle. In the Battle there is an immediacy of experience associated with heightened sensibility linked with the adrenaline rush that allows survival for the fit. From this battle mentality emerged the concept of Ôsurvival of the fittest.Õ
Along with the concept that the fit survive, is the desire to be fit. Thus associated with warrior cultures everywhere are fitness programs designed to maximize the chances of survival. As a contrast, in the agri-cultures oneÕs fitness was associated with getting the work done. Modern sports are an example of the warrior culture. Incredible amounts of time and energy are expended upon fitness for the sport while accomplishing absolutely nothing productive. The end of sports fitness is the Battle of the Game. While in the agri-world fitness is achieved by getting the work done.
In the Battle or Game, instants make a huge difference, between life and death, winning or losing. Therefore focus becomes of paramount importance. If the warrior loses his concentration for the wrong moment he might be dead the next. As a contrast in the agricultural society, moments are of little consequence. The results of labor take place over the seasons. If the farmer loses his focus for an instant, he does not lose the crop or his life. Even for the crafts person, because focus is not a life or death matter, it can be developed in on-the-job training without any preparation external to the craft. Concentration and focus are developed by the stillness of meditation. Hence meditation is a byproduct of the warrior mentality under the classification of preparing for Battle.
Additionally because of the omnipresent contact with Death and Fear in Battle, there developed the concept that this life is illusion. Why fear Death if it is all illusion anyway. (We see this theme developed explicitly in the Bhagavagita from IndiaÕs warrior culture.) There is whole complex of concepts associated with the Warrior Culture which have existed all over the world, from the Samurai of Japan, Norman Europe, the Vikings of Scandinavia, the Plains Indians of America, to the Mongols of the Asian steppes. These cultures did not connect to share their belief systems. Instead these beliefs are inherent to the Warrior Culture because of the universality of Battle.
There is one other belief complex inherent to the Battle. One aspect of survival in battle is based upon fitness, mental and physical. The other aspect is based upon pure chance. Some survive battle despite preparation while others perish regardless of preparation. In manÕs time honored fashion, he rationalizes his survival as divine intervention. If the warrior and his army survive to conquer again, it must be because God has willed it. The concepts of Manifest Destiny, Divine Right of Kings, and Mandate of Heaven are all related to this rationalization.
Associated with the concept of divine will comes the justification that might makes right. If we have been allowed to survive and conquer, it has been because God has willed it. The Sky God in all his power must want me to have it if he has allowed me to take it. Hence if the all powerful sky god has allowed it to happen it must be right. Our behavior is justified by our success. Let the almighty GodÕs will be done.
One other belief that emerges out of this complex of warrior beliefs is that of the all mighty God. In the beliefs associated with agri-culture, there is a moral code independent of outcome. Just because someone is stronger and can take your possessions by force doesnÕt mean that God is on his side. In fact Laws are made in agricultural civilizations to codify what society, independent of God, considers to be right and wrong. This is quite different from the warrior culture, where outcome is defined as right because of the almighty God. In many primitive cultures, the supreme god is in no ways all powerful and is many times held accountable and even punished for poor results, i.e. drought or famine. Conversely in the warrior cultures, of which ours is a derivative, all happens by GodÕs will and hence outcome determines morality or rightness. Perhaps deep down the warrior cultures sensed an innate wrong in dominating and taking by force. In consequence an almighty God emerged, whose will was being made manifest, justifying any immoral behavior they might engage in.
This polarity still dominates human thought in present times, causing much confusion. The military aristocracy in every culture has felt beyond the law of the land. This is why justice is administered differently for the rich and poor. The powerful in every time period have felt justified in exploiting the poor or primitive cultures, based upon the attitude that if God allows me or my culture to do this immoral thing then it must be right because the all powerful God is allowing it to happen. The weak or non-military parts of society worldwide demand laws to protect them from the abuses of power. However, as always, If the power is strong enough it ignores the laws. This is why the United States can easily ignore international law or sanctions with no moral qualms. Our power justifies our behavior, independent of morality. Power determines morality for the powerful.
Because of the geography of the northeastern quadrisphere of the Earth, the dynamic of nomadic conquering agri-culture has occurred in all the great river valleys. Most of the great nomadic cultures emerged from the Great Arid Band, the Kurgans into the Old European Culture, the Aryans in Dravidian India, the Shang into China. And in more recent times the Hebrews into Canaan, the Moslems into Europe, and the Mongols from China to Persia, across the continents, along this great Arid band. It is no accident that the predominantly patriarchal Moslem religion is centered along this band.
Lest there be any misunderstandings, let it be stressed that each culture developed according to the geography of the land rather than by any moral choice. Hence the writer is not trying to assign a pejorative meaning to the nomadic cultures. The preceding descriptions have attempted to be descriptive rather than moral, (although my bias peaks through at times.)
Furthermore this writer will suggest that this geographical dynamic was responsible for the growth of large centralized civilizations, which have led us to modern times, for good or bad. (This writer is attempting to avoid that polarity.) Agri-cultures are by nature are sedentary, while nomadic cultures are dynamic. The down side of sedentary is static while the down side of dynamic is flighty, unsettled. Dynamic stimulates sedentary and sedentary settles dynamic. One without the other is incomplete.
As an example, the nomadic cultures by themselves donÕt produce architecture, cities, or anything permanent. The agri-cultures by themselves tend to be self-absorbed. With the nomadic military aristocracy overlaid upon the agri-culture, a mixing is introduced because of the warrior mentality. Without the grounding of the settled cultures the nomadic culture has no root. Hence they leave nothing behind to mark their sojourn on the planet. But ruling the agri-culture military aristocracy expands into empires, mixing up the world. While the farmer had little time for the arts or philosophy, because agriculture is so labor intensive, the military aristocracy has time to think, learn to write, read, and support the arts and sciences. The military aristocracy cannot exist without the peasant agricultural base. Culture is created when there is leisure time. WeÕll be back to this. But for now we will reiterate that the dynamic between the nomadic and agri-culture led to great advances for world civilization.
Simplistically speaking, this nomadic culture from the Arid Zone overlaid upon agricultural China will become the aristocratic Confucianism. In contrast Taoism finds it roots in the shamanistic traditions of the prehistoric fertility cultures. Further we will see that while the world overall is dominated by the religions emerging from the nomadic cultures, that Taoism is unique among the major religions in that it does not have its roots in these patriarchal military cultures and instead emerges from the egalitarian cultures, which preceded them. Male domination vs. female cultivation.
These geographical differences, while laying the foundations for the development of different cultures also created different language groups. The nomadic groups living in the eastern half of the Arid Band, i.e. Central Asia, speak languages in the Altaic language group. These include Mongolian and Tungusic (Manchu) in the east and continuously through to Turkish thousands of miles to the west. Some linguists even include Korean and Japanese in this group. (The cultures of the western part of the Arid Band primarily speak Arabic.) .
While the eastern nomadic cultures speak languages in the Altaic language group, the cultures to the south of the Arid Band speak languages in the Sino-Tibetan language group. This includes Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese and Tibetan. There is no linguistic connection between the Altaic and Sino-Tibetan languages.
ÒThere is no known linguistic relationship at all, however, between the Chinese and their various northern neighbors, with whom they have struggled throughout history.Ó China to 1850, p. 7
This division is easy to see in the map of the language groups of Asia seen below.
(As an aside: while Europe and the Americas have one major language group, Indo European, and a few very minor language groups, Asia contains four major language groups and a multitude of minor language groups within its borders. even within the major language groups of Asia there are subgroups, which while sharing linguistic similarities are unique unto themselves. Three subgroups of Indo-European are the Romance languages of Europe, Farci of Persia, and Sanskrit of India. Within the Altaic and Sino-Tibetan language groups, there are also subgroups. Within the Altaic there are Tungistic, Mongolian, and Turkic, while in the Sino-Tibetan, there are the Chinese, Tibetan, and Burmese subgroups. The Mongolians do not understand the Manchurians, who do not understand the Turkic speakers of Turkestan, although they all speak languages in the Altaic language group. The differences are far greater than the Romance languages of Europe, which have common root words. For instance Spanish and Italian are far closer than Tibetan and Chinese.)
To reiterate, the cultures of the Arid Band of Central Asia, including Turkestan, Mongolia, and Manchuria, all speak languages of the Altaic language group, while the Chinese, Tibetan, and Burmese cultures speak languages in the Sino-Tibetan language group. Although they share a common border, there is no connection between these two language groups And although the reason that these two language groups developed is geographical in nature, inherent in the language differences is a deep-seated cultural difference. Because of geography, China was and is an agricultural civilization, upon whose borders, particularly the north, lived warlike nomadic cultures. The constant border conflicts, with periodic invasions, assimilations, retaliations, cultural enrichments, and empire building were a result of this interplay between agricultural China in the south and the nomadic cultures to the north. Living on this cultural Edge of Chaos has led China to become one of the great centers of civilization.