many of the world’s great civilizations have grown up around mighty rivers. china has had the great fortune to have two great rivers: the yangtze river and the yellow river, both serving as the cradles of chinese civilization.
considered the birthplace of chinese civilization, the yellow river basin witnessed the birth of the four era-defining inventions in ancient china -- printing techniques, paper making, gunpowder and the compass.
calling the yellow river culture a significant part of chinese civilization, chinese president xi jinping underlined the need to systematically protect the cultural relics and explore the value of yellow river culture in modern times to pool spiritual strength for the realization of national rejuvenation at a symposium on the ecological protection and high-quality development of the yellow river in zhengzhou, central china's henan province, sept 18, 2019.
the yangtze river civilization, especially the rice-planting culture and the prosperity of the silk industry, has far-reaching influence on east asian civilization and even world civilization. it also tops the world’s ancient civilizations in the wide area, and densely distributed a large number of cultural sites.
noting that yangtze river is the icon of the chinese nation and the symbol of chinese civilization, president xi called for protecting, inheriting and carrying forward the yangtze river culture, as well as protecting its cultural relics and heritage, at a symposium he chaired on comprehensively advancing the development of the yangtze river economic belt in nanjing, east china's jiangsu province on nov. 14, 2020.
from "the earliest rock and roll of the loess plateau" to one of the oldest embroidery techniques in the world, let’s follow lila kidson, a video-blogger from the us, take a journey through the splendid history and deep-rooted chinese culture.
