East

 and  West:    Wallach’s  Story  of  Civilization  

 
What  about  today’s  global  ecumene?    Are  we  one  world  or  many  worlds  sharing  a  planet?  
 

 
 
Metageography:    The  “Myth  of  Continents”  
According  to  geographers  Martin  Lewis  and  Karen  Wigen,  metageography  is  “the  set  of  
spatial  structures  through  which  people  order  their  knowledge  of  the  world:    the  often  
unconscious  frameworks  that  organize  studies  of  history,  sociology,  anthropology,  
economics,  political  science,  or  even  natural  history.”    So,  basically  it  is  the  way  we  perceive  
the  world  and  the  structure  through  which  we  seek  to  understand  the  world  in  which  we  
live.  
 

 
 
Another  way  human  cultures  have  sought  to  structure  understanding  of  the  world  is  
through  the  concept  of  orientalism,  a  way  of  thinking  about  the  world  in  terms  of  
dichotomy.    In  other  words,  it  divides  the  world  into  the  orient  and  the  occident  –  East  and  
West.    There  is,  understandably,  a  lot  of  controversy  over  this  school  of  thought.      
 At  best,  it  is  too  simplistic,  at  
worst  it  is  blatantly  racist.    Either  way,  it  was  for  decades  the  justification  for  the  colonial  
empires  created  by  major  European  powers  in  the  18th  and  19th  (and  some  would  argue  
20th)  centuries.    And  that  leads  us  to  another  way  of  ordering  the  world:    
civilization/empire.  
 
This  is  based  on  big-­‐picture  geographic  units  that  organization  our  understanding  of  world  
history  in  terms  of  very  distinctive:    “Old  World”  and  “New  World”.  
 

 
 
The  place  to  start  is  looking  at  ideas  –  what  is  civilization  anyway?    What  does  it  mean  and  
why  have  humans  relegated  so  much  importance  to  this  concept?  
 
Civilization  as  Human  Development  
• It  was  a  way  of  thinking  about  differences  in  human  culture/society.    It  became  a  
way  to  distinguish  between  “savagery”  and  “barbarism”  and  a  way  of  understanding  
human  groupings  larger  than  a  band,  clan,  or  tribe.  
 • According  to  Wallach,  civilizations  are  “class-­‐divided  societies  or  societies  with  
cities.”  
• Typical  characteristics  of  civilization  includes:    agriculture,  cities,  social  hierarchy,  
specialized  economic  roles  (including  religion  and  the  arts),  standardized  products,  
a  central  authority  supported  by  institutionalized  trade  and/or  tribute,  and  a  fixed  
geography  of  settlement.  
• Many  scholars  also  argue  that  writing  or  written  history  is  one  of  the  important  
marks  of  a  civilization.  
• Basically,  Wallach  (p.  48)  sees  civilization  in  terms  of  complex  societies.  
 
Civilization  as  a  Grouping  of  Humanity  
• Civilization  is  often  understood  as  a  particular  way  of  grouping  people  –  a  
distinctive  people  
• This  can  be  a  traditional  alternative/addition  to  the  concept  of  “modern”  identities,  
grounded  largely  in  language,  religion,  and  a  broad  sense  of  world  history.    Modern  
identifies  include,  for  example  race,  nationality,  ethnicity.  
 
Civilization(s)  Today  
According  to  Samuel  Huntington,  identity  based  on  concepts  of  civilization  is  as  important  
today  has  it  has  been  in  centuries  past.  
 
Civilization  is  seen  as  a  fundamental  group  identity  based  primarily  on  language,  religion,  
and  ideology.    “The  highest  cultural  grouping  of  people  and  the  broadest  level  of  cultural  
identity  people  have  short  of  that  which  distinguishes  humans  from  other  species.”  
 

 
 
The  Historic  “West”  there  were  already  quite  distinctive  Old-­‐World  Ecumenes.    We  are  
primarily  talking  here  about  the  East  (Han  China)  and  West  (Roman  Empire).    The  East  and  
West  were  connected  by  the  Silk  Road,  which  was  controlled  and  patrolled  by  several  
Central  Asian  powers.    Post-­‐Roman  Europe  retreated  into  a  simplified  medieval  world  
view:    a  European  “us”  vs.  one  or  more  Asian/African  “thems”.    This  is  also  the  time  period  
in  which  orientalism  became  the  primary  lens  through  which  the  West  developed  its  
peculiar  (racist)  understanding  of  the  East.  
  
 
World  Historical  Geography  
The  story  was  very  simple:    the  West  and  the  rest.  
 

 
 
Europe  as  the  “West”  
If  you  look  at  any  map  of  Europe,  you  can  easily  see  that  it  is  not  a  continent  in  any  natural  
sense.    It  is,  instead,  a  sub-­‐continental  peninsula  of  peninsulas  with  a  very  ambiguous  
eastern  boundary.  

 
The  Idea  of  Europe  
Europe  is  the  core  or  hearth  of  the  global  West.    It  is  the  birthplace  of  Hellenic  democracy  
and  Roman  law.    It  was  also  seen  as  the  center  of  Christendom  and  the  home  of  intellectual  
theological  thinking  seen  as  divinely  inspired  ethics.    Europe  is  the  birthplace  of  modern  
ideology:    progressive,  secular  individualism.    It  is  also  the  center  of  the  Age  of  Reason:  
• Tremendous  material  achievements  in  arts,  science,  industry,  and  technology.    An  
ever-­‐more  comfortable  life  for  many,  but  not  all,  people.  
• Center  of  an  ideology  (hope?)  that  “All  men  will  become  brothers”.  
• However,  keep  in  mind  Wallach’s  ambivalence  regarding  progress,  which  always  
has  a  cost  for  someone  –  or  everyone.    For  instance,  alienation  from  nature  and  
human  community.  
• Also  note  that  globalization  has  become  a  vehicle  of  diffusion  for  modern,  “western”  
ideology.  
 
“Western”  Religion  
The  global  West  came  to  be  seen  as  the  land(s)  of  Abrahamic  religion,  often  ignoring  the  
fact  that  Judaism,  Christianity,  and  Islam  came  from  common  roots,  in  the  same  Semitic  
“Holy  Land”.    Western  Christianity  (again  similar  to  Islam  and  Judaism)  is  monotheistic  
with  a  linear  concept  of  time  (birth,  death,  afterlife)  and  dualism.  

 
 
World  Religions  
World  religions  and  civilizations  today  are  based  at  least  partly  on  the  global  geography  of  
religion.    (The  source  for  the  following  information  in  case  you  want  to  explore  more  is  
Adherents.com.)  
• Christianity:  2.1  billion  
• Islam:  1.3  billion  
• secular/nonreligious/agnostic/atheist:  1.1  billion  
• Hinduism:    900  million  
• Primal-­‐indigenous-­‐animism:    400  million  
 • Chinese  Confucianism/Taoism:    394  million  
• Buddhism:    376  million  
Smaller  “classical”  religions:  
• Sikhism  (Punjab)  
• Judaism  (Israel/US)  
• Baha’I  (India/US/Iran)  
• Jainism  (India)  
• Shinto  (Japan)  
• Zorastrianism  (India,  Iran)  
 

 
 
There  are  three  religions  that  are  global  although  there  are  many  other  religions  that  
dominate  in  some  regions  of  the  world.    For  example,  Hinduism  has  a  distinctive  role  in  
South  Asia.  

 
 
 
European  Diversity  
Christian  Europe  is,  interestingly,  the  world’s  primary  home  of  secularism.    The  following  
poll  results  are  from  2005:  
 
• 52%  =  “I  believe  there  is  a  God”  
• 27%  =  “I  believe  there  is  some  sort  of  spirit  or  life  force”  
• 18%  =  “I  don’t  believe  there  is  any  sort  of  spirit,  God,  or  life  force”  
• 3%      =  “don’t  know”  
 
There  are  also  differences  in  religious  beliefs,  language,  and  politics  western  and  eastern  
Europe.  
 
Western  Europe  
• Roman  (Catholic  and  Protestant)  Christianity  
• Latin  alphabet  for  Romance  and  Germanic  languages  
• NATO  in  the  20th  century  
 
Eastern  Europe  
• Eastern  Orthodox  Christianity  (Constantinople  and  Moscow  as  “Romes”)  
• Greek-­‐based  Cyrillic  alphabet  for  Slavic  languages  
• Warsaw  Pact  in  the  20th  century  

 
 
 
 
 
Historical  Foundations  of  the  East  
Agricultural  Roots  (8000  BP)  
• Millet,  soybeans,  chickens,  pigs  on  the  loess  plateau  and  the  western  edge  of  the  
North  China  Plain  of  the  Huang  He  (Yellow  River)  –  Hebei  and  Henan  
• Wet  rice  along  the  Yangtze  River  –  Hubei  and  Hunan  
• Wheat,  horses,  chariots  from  the  West  (Gansu  corridor)  >>  Xia  and  Shang  dynasties  
3-­‐4000  BP  
 
Imperial  China  
• Han  Dynasty  (206  BCE  to  220  CE)  builds  on  roots  planted  by  Shia  Huang-­‐Ti’s  brief  
and  brutal  Qin  dynasty  >>  expansive  empire  of  about  60  million  people  
• First  Confucian  dynasty  to  unite  North  China  core  to  rich  rice  lands  of  the  south  
• Today,  “Han”  is  synonymous  with  classical  Chinese  culture  
 

 
 
Cultural  Foundations  of  the  East  
Religion/Philosophy/Ideology  
• A  “Chinese”  mix  of  Confucianism,  Daoism,  Buddhism  
• Plus,  Shinto,  Tibetan  “Lamaist”  Buddhism,  and  Islam  
 
Language  
• One  dominant  lingua  franca  (Mandarin)  and  one  predominant  language  family  
(Sino-­‐Tibetan/Hanyu).    However,  Turko-­‐Mongol,  Japanese,  and  Korean  languages  
also  important.  
 
  
 
 
“Eastern”  Religion/Ideology  
Three  Major  Elements  
 
Confucianism:  
• Secular  system  of  ethics,  social  harmony  and  good  governance  tied  to  the  teachings  
of  Kong  Fuzi  (551-­‐479  BCE)  –  the  “Analects”  
• “ritualism”  –  leading  by  good  example  (virtue)  and  a  culture  of  informal  shame,  
rather  than  formal  punishment  
• education  and  meritocracy  (rigorous  imperial  exams  for  governing  mandarins)  
• loyalty  and  respect  of  elders  and  authorities,  but  also  reciprocal  responsibility  
 
Daoism:  
• The  “Dao”  (or  Tao)  is  similar  to  South  Asian  concept  of  “Dharma”  –  a  harmonious  
metaphysical  order  connecting  all  humanity  and  nature  
• The  Three  Jewels:    compassion,  moderation,  and  humility  
• Atheistic,  but  also  polytheistic  in  an  animistic  sense  
• Holism  –  seeking  balance/harmony  in  the  forces  of  yin  and  yang  
• Feng-­shui  (“wind-­‐water”,    “The  Law  of  Heaven  and  Earth”)  
 
Buddhism:  
• More  explicit  in  Japan,  Mongolia,  and  Tibet  
 
“Eastern”  Written  Language  
Sinographic  writing  
• Several  thousand  different  characters  (Hanzi  logographs/ideograms),  complicated  
further  by  secondary  phonetic  use  (>47,000  in  the  Kangxi  dictionary)  
• Mao  Zedong  (1951):    “The  written  language  must  be  reformed;  we  must  proceed  in  
the  direction  of  phoneticization  being  taken  by  all  languages  of  the  world.”    Thus,  the  
communist  government’s  promotion  of  Pin  Yin  and  simplified  characters  
• But  can  also  be  a  powerful  promoter  of  cultural  unity  
• Historical  foundation  for  written  Japanese  (Kanji),  Korean  (Hanja),  and  Vietnamese  
(Han  tu)