I don't think so. I believe Imperial and Pre-Imperial China did not have the concept of segregating their people into ethnic groups. The Sui and Tang Dynasties are one good examples where "minorities" are very important politicans like the Yuwen generals, Ge'erdan and the rebel An Lushan. To call non-Han Chinese barbarians is very misleading.
I am more of the opinion that people who are beyond the reach of the Imperial Court are called "barbarians" like the Japanese or the Burmese.
China had no reason to create a word for non-Chinese people that were equal to the Chinese in age, prestige, and civilization-state status. Whereas the Greeks and Romans respected ancient civilizations like Egypt and Sumeria, the Chinese state had no equal in her region.
@Phead128 That is admittedly true, seeing as how China's closest ethno-cultural (how much is debatable) counterparts ancient Japan and Korea were (on some levels & at different stages of history) heavily Sinicized & isolated geograpically. The other civilization in the continent on a flexibly equal level to China would have been ancient India, although both had only sporadic contact with one another & that India never achieved political unity (cont'd)
@zydarking (Ashoka the Great nearly well succeeded, but his empire pretty much disintegrated after his death) Plus both civilizations were quite far apart from one another in terms of geography. Thus the knowledge that our ancestors had of the distant outside world would have been from far travelling merchants, mercenaries or religious hermits who happened to be passing through China. But I take umbrage at lordzilu1584's comment that the ancients (cont'd)
@zydarking (cont'd) regarded foreigners and minorities as animals. Too harsh, I should think, especially when some of these "animals" eventually went on to conquer China not once, but twice. Our fore bearers were condescending & did regard other non-Han cultures as uncivilized, no arguments there. Even in the face of blinding reality. And that mentality I should think inevitably contributed to the decline of China in later ages. Conversely I agree with several of the comments here, (cont'd)
@zydarking that the term barbarian is used in translations as linguistic parlance simply because there was no adequate descriptive term for the term used by the Chinese. To us, they were outsiders, different, strange & bizzare. Certainly there were feelings of being high & mighty, but then again as history shows us, what civilization has not gone through such sentiments? On a final note, it would be interesting to observe whether modern China will in many subtle ways repeat the mistakes (con't)
@zydarking that she did in the past. The people are definitely nationalistic enough, and its more than possible that China could turn out to be another contemporary imperialist state. But as they say, only time will tell. Time will tell...
Chinese xenophobia is combined with a complete sense of cultural superiority. Some fringe elements on the periphery of the vast and great Chinese ethnocentric universe have in the past relative military superior - indeed, political subjugation may have been feared, but cultural domination was unthinkable and unimaginable.
@Phead128 But was it not this that remained a major factor in the decline of China from the late 16th century until she opened up economically several decades ago under Deng Xiaoping's leadership? Consider this: under the Mongols & the Qing, the Han Chinese were largely left to their own devices, culturally speaking. But the interregnum period of the Ming Dynasty may have helped cement the notion that we were better than everyone else. It was when we believed ourselves to be higher (cont'd)
@zydarking that our failings began to take full root. The belief that we would endure forever led to a sense of complacency, excessive decadence & corruption, leading thus from the Ming to the Qing. To continue believing that they are far greater than other peoples is simply not an option that China should consider feasible. After all, after close to a century of chaos & disorder, you'd have thought they learned. Apparently not, it seems.
Is it just me or the 3d animation graphic in the game like the ones from the intro cutscenes in tomb raider 2? Great game, however. But frekin' hard at some stage...
A bit of historical inaccuracy here. In ancient china, people were required to wear their hair in a knot since cutting hair was considered harming the body given to the person by their mothers. However, this tradition was banned by the Qing who required all chinese citizens to shave the front half of their heads. We see a guard and a farmer wearing the traditional full-hair knot, however there is a Qing official present in the city at 1:30.
good game, but the art has some flaws to it. for instance when the doors open to the city, the guy standing there conversing with another guy, well his hat looks to be the manchu qing style. if i'm not mistaken, the game says that its from the xia dynasty to the song dynasty, no? correct me if i'm wrong.
true... the game stories are focusing on China Proper(territories during the mentioned period), the man at the cover CD is wearing a manchurian cap and robe which are not related to the Han.
you know if you look at chinas early dynasties (erlitau/xia , shang zhou etc if i spelled it right) their lifestyle and art resembles that of the american civilizations like the aztecs , maya etc
my favorite game/intro so far.
i love that game :)
1995magnus 6 months ago
i wish they'd do a remake soon.
loved to see what they could add and upgrade with the game engines nowadays
so many memories~
themonger42 7 months ago
lol that last part reminded me of that south park episode, were that asian guy tries to build a wall, but the Mongolians keep attacking it.
mrLacrossenerd 1 year ago
Impressions city building series rules!! >D d
CrestfallenTR 1 year ago
I don't think so. I believe Imperial and Pre-Imperial China did not have the concept of segregating their people into ethnic groups. The Sui and Tang Dynasties are one good examples where "minorities" are very important politicans like the Yuwen generals, Ge'erdan and the rebel An Lushan. To call non-Han Chinese barbarians is very misleading.
I am more of the opinion that people who are beyond the reach of the Imperial Court are called "barbarians" like the Japanese or the Burmese.
leonard267 1 year ago
In ancient China, the Han chinese recoginze the Minority groups and foreigners as animals
lordzilu1584 1 year ago
@lordzilu1584 Bwahahahahaaha, I never thought I'd get the see the day when I encountered a Han chauvinist on youtube. Dumbass.
zydarking 8 months ago
@zydarking
China had no reason to create a word for non-Chinese people that were equal to the Chinese in age, prestige, and civilization-state status. Whereas the Greeks and Romans respected ancient civilizations like Egypt and Sumeria, the Chinese state had no equal in her region.
Phead128 7 months ago
@Phead128 That is admittedly true, seeing as how China's closest ethno-cultural (how much is debatable) counterparts ancient Japan and Korea were (on some levels & at different stages of history) heavily Sinicized & isolated geograpically. The other civilization in the continent on a flexibly equal level to China would have been ancient India, although both had only sporadic contact with one another & that India never achieved political unity (cont'd)
zydarking 7 months ago
@zydarking (Ashoka the Great nearly well succeeded, but his empire pretty much disintegrated after his death) Plus both civilizations were quite far apart from one another in terms of geography. Thus the knowledge that our ancestors had of the distant outside world would have been from far travelling merchants, mercenaries or religious hermits who happened to be passing through China. But I take umbrage at lordzilu1584's comment that the ancients (cont'd)
zydarking 7 months ago
@zydarking (cont'd) regarded foreigners and minorities as animals. Too harsh, I should think, especially when some of these "animals" eventually went on to conquer China not once, but twice. Our fore bearers were condescending & did regard other non-Han cultures as uncivilized, no arguments there. Even in the face of blinding reality. And that mentality I should think inevitably contributed to the decline of China in later ages. Conversely I agree with several of the comments here, (cont'd)
zydarking 7 months ago
@zydarking that the term barbarian is used in translations as linguistic parlance simply because there was no adequate descriptive term for the term used by the Chinese. To us, they were outsiders, different, strange & bizzare. Certainly there were feelings of being high & mighty, but then again as history shows us, what civilization has not gone through such sentiments? On a final note, it would be interesting to observe whether modern China will in many subtle ways repeat the mistakes (con't)
zydarking 7 months ago
@zydarking that she did in the past. The people are definitely nationalistic enough, and its more than possible that China could turn out to be another contemporary imperialist state. But as they say, only time will tell. Time will tell...
zydarking 7 months ago
@zydarking
Chinese xenophobia is combined with a complete sense of cultural superiority. Some fringe elements on the periphery of the vast and great Chinese ethnocentric universe have in the past relative military superior - indeed, political subjugation may have been feared, but cultural domination was unthinkable and unimaginable.
Phead128 7 months ago
@Phead128 But was it not this that remained a major factor in the decline of China from the late 16th century until she opened up economically several decades ago under Deng Xiaoping's leadership? Consider this: under the Mongols & the Qing, the Han Chinese were largely left to their own devices, culturally speaking. But the interregnum period of the Ming Dynasty may have helped cement the notion that we were better than everyone else. It was when we believed ourselves to be higher (cont'd)
zydarking 7 months ago
@zydarking that our failings began to take full root. The belief that we would endure forever led to a sense of complacency, excessive decadence & corruption, leading thus from the Ming to the Qing. To continue believing that they are far greater than other peoples is simply not an option that China should consider feasible. After all, after close to a century of chaos & disorder, you'd have thought they learned. Apparently not, it seems.
zydarking 7 months ago
Well, I always wanted to produce porcelain, but still great game. I have it for 6 years or more and I still play it sometimes XD
habeascor 1 year ago
It is wrong that the marks of Yellow River and Long River. They are contrapositive.
mlAron007 2 years ago
minor correction why do they use the term babarians, thats a latin term to describe outsider.
Russellt0228 2 years ago
If you want to nitpick, they wouldn't be speaking English either.
Barbarian is an accurate description because they were outsiders.
Surax 2 years ago
@Russellt0228 its not latin its Greek
NKombo 1 year ago
Cool movie. China is to the east what Rome and Italy gave to western culture.
mmamidget 2 years ago
Is it just me or the 3d animation graphic in the game like the ones from the intro cutscenes in tomb raider 2? Great game, however. But frekin' hard at some stage...
Willy2537 2 years ago
A bit of historical inaccuracy here. In ancient china, people were required to wear their hair in a knot since cutting hair was considered harming the body given to the person by their mothers. However, this tradition was banned by the Qing who required all chinese citizens to shave the front half of their heads. We see a guard and a farmer wearing the traditional full-hair knot, however there is a Qing official present in the city at 1:30.
brainwasher9876 2 years ago
the invaders appeared in the end of video, are the Xiongnu whom the westerners called Huns.
lordevarts 2 years ago
good game, but the art has some flaws to it. for instance when the doors open to the city, the guy standing there conversing with another guy, well his hat looks to be the manchu qing style. if i'm not mistaken, the game says that its from the xia dynasty to the song dynasty, no? correct me if i'm wrong.
jackenoff 2 years ago
true... the game stories are focusing on China Proper(territories during the mentioned period), the man at the cover CD is wearing a manchurian cap and robe which are not related to the Han.
lordevarts 2 years ago
One of the Best Educational Games out there.
ImperatorZor 2 years ago
The merchant with the camel is walking really weird...
I still haven't finished this game.
pheeph 2 years ago
CITY BUILDERS FUCKING RULED ALL GAMES
kirby4d 2 years ago 3
This game includes a china-o-pedia
weckar 3 years ago 3
Ancient China FTW!!!
Sereniama 3 years ago 19
you know if you look at chinas early dynasties (erlitau/xia , shang zhou etc if i spelled it right) their lifestyle and art resembles that of the american civilizations like the aztecs , maya etc
ConstantC4 3 years ago
I've heard about that.
kirby4d 2 years ago
Yeh its an interesting culture, I advise anyone with any interest in China to watch the BBC programme 'Wild China', amazing.
ChrisGS1982 3 years ago 2
I watched it. China FTW.
zieba 3 years ago
i love china
gaga500500 3 years ago 14