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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Is Geography Destiny?, Part 2


I was working on my essay and considering the massive influence of Confucianism on Han society, when it hit me:

A feature not related to geography impacting a society in a major way! Outrageous!

Is geography solely responsible for Confucianism, or it there more to destiny after all?

1 comment:

Marcus H. said...

William, I believe that there may be a possible way to explain the origins of Confucianism as related to geography. We know that Confucius developed his ideas after witnessing the division and conflict of the Warring States Period. Perhaps somehow it could be proven that the geography of China led to division seen in the Warring States Period? I believe that is an easier connection to make. Having said that, I don't think that the phrase "Geography is Destiny" means that geography is the sole determining factor in a civilization's history - obviously there is a chance of some random factors unconnected to geography that can influence a society. Perhaps Mr. Shrinsky or Mrs. Dailey would be able to post a reply that tells if or how the Warring States period was caused by the geography of China? It would certainly be interesting to me to hear an explanation of that as I don't remember us really touching on the connection in class.