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Chapter 87 The Earliest Great Book of the Historical View of Cultural Forms

Chapter 86 The earliest masterpiece of the historical view of cultural forms: "Historical Research"

"Historical Studies" focuses on the question of the nature of human historical experience after the first emergence of civilized society.

A question of quality and style.Toynbee's views and principles have had a profound influence in the West.

Research on Greek History "Historical Studies"

Arnold?Toynbee (1889~1975) was a famous British historian and philosopher of history.

In 1934, "Historical Research" published the first to third volumes, the fourth to sixth volumes in 1939, and the seventh volume in 1954.

Up to the tenth volume, No.1959 and twelve volumes were published in 1961 and 11 respectively. After 27 years, the great work was completed.

The advent of Toynbee's "Historical Studies" is not accidental.First of all, he benefited from the fact that he had a historian mother as a tutor.

Secondly, thanks to his good classical education, for him, classical civilization has obvious characteristics of the world.Then there is
He lives in a special era.He witnessed two world wars.Toynbee congratulated himself on "being born in such a chaotic time"
period,” the events of which impel people “to care about every historical mystery raised by the evolution of current events. "Thus engaging in

Professionally speaking, "this is a historian's paradise."The restlessness of the world prompts Toynbee to use his knowledge of history to think

Examine the development trend of modern civilization.

Civilization Doctrine in Historical Studies

The excerpts of "Historical Studies" are divided into 13 parts, including treatises, the origin of civilization, the growth of civilization, the decline of civilization, the
Disintegration, Unity of the State, Unity of the Church, Contact of Civilizations in Time, Law and Liberty in History, Prospects of Western Civilization
And other content.

The "unit" of the content research in the book "Historical Research" is not a country or an era, but a civilization.

What is civilization?Therefore, Tang believes that civilization refers to a social whole composed of a certain group of human beings with a certain time and space.
This ensemble generally includes several countries of the same type.Based on this, Toynbee believes that in the nearly 6000 years of human historical development, a total of

26 civilization forms emerged.21 of them have been developed, they are: Western Christian Civilization, Byzantine Orthodox Christianity
Christian civilization, Iranian civilization, Arabic civilization, Indian civilization, Far Eastern civilization, Greek civilization, Syrian civilization, ancient India

Civilization, Ancient Chinese Civilization, Minoan Civilization, Sumerian Civilization, Hittite Civilization Babylonian Civilization, Egyptian Civilization, Andes
Civilization, Mexican Civilization, Yucatan Civilization, Mayan Civilization, Russian Orthodox Christian Civilization, Korean and Japanese Civilization.in

Egyptian civilization, Sumerian civilization, Minoan civilization, ancient Chinese civilization, Mayan civilization, and Andean civilization are the earliest.
Other civilizations are derived from these 6 civilizations.Every civilization has gone through four stages: origin, growth, decline, and disintegration.exist
Of the 21 civilizations, 20 have disintegrated or are disintegrating, leaving only one Western Christian civilization still alive. 19
After the publication of Volume No.61 "Reexamination" in 12, Toynbee's statement about the 4 stages of civilization has not changed, but the reference to 21 civilizations has been revised.

Changed to 13 major civilizations and 15 surrounding "satellite civilizations", the undisintegrated civilizations include Western European civilizations, Eastern European Greek Orthodox civilizations
Ming Dynasty, Islamic Civilization, Indian Civilization and East Asian Civilization.East Asian civilization is centered on Chinese civilization, surrounded by three

"Satellite civilizations" are Japanese civilization, Korean civilization, and Vietnamese civilization.

Subsequently, Toynbee further analyzed the internal relationship between these forms of civilization:

Differences between civilizational forms.He believed that every civilization has a tendency to dominate: the tendency of ancient Greek civilization
It is aesthetic, the tendency of ancient Indian civilization is religious, the tendency of Western civilization is mechanical technology, and the tendency of Chinese civilization
is ethical.

Links between civilizations.In Toynbee’s view, there are two connections between these 21 forms of civilization: parent-child relationship

Body-sub-body relationship; the exchange and collision of civilization forms form an interactive relationship.

In order to reveal the origin of civilization, Toynbee first discussed the fundamental difference between primitive society and civilized society.He pointed out that both
The difference between them lies not in whether there is an institutional system, nor in whether there is a social division of labor, but in the "imitation aspect".In the original

In primitive society, the object of imitation is the older generation, the dead ancestors, while in civilized society, the object of imitation is the rich
The character of the creative spirit.In other words, primitive society is a static state, civilized society is a state of activity, and society moves along

Progressing along a path of change and growth, the origin of civilization lies in the transition from a state of inactivity to a state of activity.at this
On this basis, he proposed his own complete theory of the origin of civilization. (1) Foundation.He believes that since ancient times, the conditions for building civilization have been
is the surplus produced.That is, people are able to produce food and other goods that exceed the minimum needs of life.rely on these
The surplus materials produced can be engaged in business other than economic activities. (2) Power.According to Toynbee, the dynamics of the origin of civilization

Power originally came through the actions of the incapacitated minority rulers before the internal proletarians broke away from the existing civilized society.

In the movement of the proletarians away from the ruling few, a society passes from a state of rest to a state of activity.
In this state, a new civilization was born. (3) Challenges and challenges.Toynbee argues that in the origins of civilization, challenges and
The interaction between challenges is a factor that exceeds the other factors-that is, it is beyond the average coefficient.

Toynbee believes that the growth of civilization is not all smooth sailing, even if you have passed through the perilous childhood and adolescence, it may not necessarily be smooth sailing.
Grow into adulthood.

(1) The vitality of growth.Toynbee believes that the vitality of civilization growth is to make a series of successes in succession to a series of challenges.

challenge.The real optimal challenge is not the one that immediately yields the greatest challenge.A real optimal challenge not only stings

To stimulate its object to produce a successful challenge, but also to stimulate it to accumulate more strength to continue to move forward: from a
From one success to another new struggle, from solving one problem to asking another, from yin to yang.walk from the shade
Sunshine, this is the source of vitality for the growth of civilization.

(2) The way of growth.There are two ways for civilization to grow: ①The growth of possessiveness to the external environment, including geographical expansion, alien race

Conquest, technological improvement, etc.But he points out that neither the geographical expansion of a society, nor its scientific and technological

Seen as positive measures of the growth of civilizations, instead they are often symptoms of their decline. ②Self-determined growth means that society relies on self-growth
Grow with inner stability and maturity.He believes that the development of civilization should depend on its own internal elements, and only by relying on its own
The stable and mature growth within the body is the decisive path.

(3) The power of growth.Toynbee believes that society is a place where a group of people act together, but the source of action is a

Man, the growth of human civilization is created by a small number of "superhuman souls", that is, "personality".

Toynbee begins by criticizing deterministic statements about the decline of civilizations in history, such as the theory of an aging universe or the aging of the earth;

The theory of limited life and the theory of historical cycle think that they have not touched the real essence and motivation of the decline of civilization.He made two points
. (1) The essence of decline.Toynbee believes that the essence of the decline of civilization can be summed up in three points: the decline of the creative ability of a few people,

The imitation of the corresponding withdrawal of the majority, and the ensuing breakdown of the solidarity of the whole society.The decline of civilization

The reason is not external, material and economic, but internal, spiritual and cultural. (2) The cause of decline.civilization

The decline of self-determination is the loss of self-determination, that is, the victory of challenge makes the creative character unable to meet new challenges.

For the future of human civilization, Toynbee put religion in a very important position, and believed that the ultimate goal and destination of human development
It is a unified religion that integrates the four major religions (Christianity, Mahayana, Islam, and Hinduism).He believes that religion is a

Advanced civilizations—the so-called "third-generation civilizations"—can solve moral problems that science cannot.Religion governs emotions, Section
Learn to manage wisely.Human emotions, subconsciousness, spiritual activities, etc. are powerless to science.Toynbee emphasizes the harmony of human beings
live in harmony.

"Historical View of Cultural Form" Great Work of History and Philosophy

Toynbee's "Historical Studies" is hailed as the foundational masterpiece of "historical view of cultural forms".The book is published around the world, its
In order to spread widely, some ideas have also been implemented in some countries. In September 1968, Japan established a research and development Toin

The Toynbee Citizens' Meeting of Than Civilization Theory.His influence on Western academia cannot be ignored.Professor of Harvard University
Muir?Huntington published a paper titled "The Clash of Civilizations" in the Summer 1993 issue of the US "Foreign Affairs" quarterly, in

It has aroused strong repercussions around the world, and the basic starting point of his argument bears the obvious imprint of Toynbee's theory.

It is worth noting that Toynbee's work is strictly speaking not history but belongs to the category of philosophy.He asks questions, analyzes

The problems are all macroscopic, transcending the concept of time and space in the sense of history.

Toynbee's philosophical and historical views are both idealistic. In order to oppose scientism, he put religion in an inappropriate position

, he also emphasized the will of man to the degree of one-sidedness, so it is difficult for his "historical view of cultural form" to establish a rigorous scientific system.

system.

However, Toynbee is worthy of being a contemporary creative and farsighted scholar, his macro research, comparative research and courageous
The research methods and style of study that admit mistakes are worthy of recognition.His influence on Western academia cannot be ignored.

(End of this chapter)