Traditional culture of the Ancient East as opposition to the West

Eastern civilization has always been fundamentally different from the western one. Today, many eastern countries are considered to be lagging behind, despite the fact that it was the East that initiated the development of many subsequent nations. What do we mean by the term "Ancient East" today?

The Ancient East is a separate group of civilizations inhabiting the eastern Mediterranean, from the banks of the Nile River to the expanses of western and south-western Asia (China, Egypt, India). History and culture of the Ancient East begin in ancient times, between the third and fourth millennia BC. It was then that the last Persian state fell , leaving the road for the younger, developing civilization.

Modern society is accustomed to the so-called secondary position of the eastern countries in the world, few know that up to the 15th century, in terms of their organization and cultural development, they were much ahead of the West. All the great discoveries at that time were made precisely in the East: the invention of mechanical watches, gunpowder, paper, not to mention such inventions of the Chinese people as the compass and seismograph.

The very concept of culture in the countries of the East and the West differed significantly. In Europe, the term "culture" meant "cultivation, transformation." Chinese equivalent, the hieroglyph "wen" translates as "decoration." It is in it that the meaning of the Eastern concept of "culture" lies - grace, beauty, adornment. The traditional culture of the Ancient East is characterized by the greatest continuity of generations. Many traditions of modern eastern countries are rooted in the distant past, in the absence of written language, when all of them were passed on to new generations orally.

The art of the Ancient East was closely associated with many aspects of the general cultural processes taking place in society. The very role of an artist in the East has always been honorable. For example, at the dawn of the development of Egyptian civilization, the artist's profession was largely equated with the activities of the priest, however, it was not considered self-sufficient. The artistic culture of the Ancient East for millennia absorbed the features of religious and philosophical ideas, social norms and folk traditions of everyday life. Creative personalities (artists, sculptors and writers of paintings) were called upon to realize in their creative activity the traditional attitudes of society. Experimental attempts to express in their works something new, still unknown to society, were carefully suppressed. It was connected, first of all, with the traditionalism of the way of life of the ancient Eastern civilizations. In ancient Egypt, there was a whole system of canons for artists, containing rules that describe what colors to use and what proportions to observe when writing portraits of people, depicting animals. Artists and sculptors of Ancient Egypt acted as guardians of traditions and sacred laws. They were entrusted to depict not only the earthly existence of man, but also his stay in other worlds, which, it was thought, he left after the completion of his life path.

The traditional culture of the Ancient East was transmitted primarily through myths, first verbally, and with the appearance of writing in the form of small texts printed on clay tablets. Images of mythological heroes can be found not only in the plots of literary works, but also in sculpture, architecture and painting. Art culture of the Ancient East for many centuries kept its magical destination. Ancient people, for example, believed that the replicated copy of the god, like himself, possesses a powerful force, and therefore it should be read no less than him.

Modern eastern countries differ from their predecessors with religious and cultural traditions, the same for many millennia remains: adherence to the traditional way of life, the transfer of accumulated experience from one generation to another.