4 ms·

Yeah or maybe the chinese have thousands of years of history and that saying doesn't come from the last 100 years.

paganel 10y ago
I of course know that, just wanted to say that a saying it's just a saying, nothing more. You can think that all is nice and stable and then a guy like Mao and his army comes along and all the sayings attached to the old order of things don't mean anything anymore.
- swampthing 10y ago
  Wouldn't a guy like Mao coming along render this saying even more true? But to be clear, the saying has nothing to do with government seizure or anything like that - it's about the nature of mankind.
douche 10y ago
On average, there has been a massively destructive war or peasants revolt or foreign invasion every three or four generations, down through the ages of Chinese history. But I'm sure it is the same sentiment as the Dutch expression I remember from a couple of Dan Carlin podcasts, about ascending the stairs in wooden clogs, and descending them in silken slippers. The idea of a cycle where hard work leads to prosperity, leading to decadence, leading to ruin, seemingly crosses all times and cultures.
- contingencies 10y ago
  That's patently false by what seems to be a factor of at least four. It it were merely three or four generations, dynastic change should be every ~100-120 years, however the average seems many times that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history
  - douche 10y ago
    Not every massively destructive revolt, invasion or war directly overthrew a dynasty, but the history is littered with revolts and incursions from the steppes, even during some of the strongest dynasties. The Tang and Qing dynasties were able to stagger through and survive two of the most destructive wars in human history, the An Lushan and Taiping Rebellions, respectively, which killed tens of millions and devastated huge swathes of the countryside, as two examples.

I of course know that, just wanted to say that a saying it's just a saying, nothing more. You can think that all is nice and stable and then a guy like Mao and his army comes along and all the sayings attached to the old order of things don't mean anything anymore.

swampthing 10y ago
Wouldn't a guy like Mao coming along render this saying even more true? But to be clear, the saying has nothing to do with government seizure or anything like that - it's about the nature of mankind.

douche 10y ago

On average, there has been a massively destructive war or peasants revolt or foreign invasion every three or four generations, down through the ages of Chinese history. But I'm sure it is the same sentiment as the Dutch expression I remember from a couple of Dan Carlin podcasts, about ascending the stairs in wooden clogs, and descending them in silken slippers. The idea of a cycle where hard work leads to prosperity, leading to decadence, leading to ruin, seemingly crosses all times and cultures.

contingencies 10y ago
That's patently false by what seems to be a factor of at least four. It it were merely three or four generations, dynastic change should be every ~100-120 years, however the average seems many times that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history
- douche 10y ago
  Not every massively destructive revolt, invasion or war directly overthrew a dynasty, but the history is littered with revolts and incursions from the steppes, even during some of the strongest dynasties. The Tang and Qing dynasties were able to stagger through and survive two of the most destructive wars in human history, the An Lushan and Taiping Rebellions, respectively, which killed tens of millions and devastated huge swathes of the countryside, as two examples.