Xiang Chen was quite interested in this aspect and bowed and said, "Please give me advice from Taoism. I am quite curious about the differences between the East and the West."
Hongmeng Daozu smiled slightly: "This is the difference in the attributes of civilization."
"Whether it is a low-level ordinary or a high-level myth, the civilized attributes are probably divided into three categories."
"Resource production civilization, predatory civilization, production expansion civilization!"
The Hongmeng Daozu walked slowly, his eyes deep, as if he had penetrated time and space, and saw the rise and fall and evolution of countless civilizations.
He continued: "The development of civilization is ultimately determined by its living environment and its ideological core.
I said that whether it is the low-latitude mundane world or the high-latitude mythical world, the attributes of civilization are roughly three categories: resource production civilization, predatory civilization, and production expansion civilization.
Every civilization has its own unique survival logic and development path, and these logic and paths determine their destiny."
"First of all, resource production civilization, as the name suggests, is a civilization with the accumulation and production of resources as the core. Such civilizations are usually born in areas with rich resources and relatively stable environments.
Their core idea is "accumulation and creation", which accumulates wealth and resources by continuously optimizing production tools and improving production efficiency. Typical representatives of this type of civilization are the civilization system influenced by the infinite Confucianism, Taoism and other sects in the East."
"Confucianism emphasizes benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and trustworthiness, emphasizes harmonious coexistence between people, and pays attention to moral cultivation and the maintenance of social order.
Taoism pursues Tao following nature, advocates adapting to the laws of nature, and pursues long-lasting vision.
These ideological cores make resource-producing civilizations pay more attention to internal stability and sustainable development rather than external expansion and plunder."
"However, resource production civilizations also have their limitations. Due to excessive dependence on the accumulation and production of resources, such civilizations often appear conservative and passive when facing external threats.
They tend to solve problems through negotiation and compromise rather than conquer by force. This conservatism can maintain social stability in peacetime, but may become a fatal weakness in times of turbulence."
"Secondly, predatory civilizations, the core idea of this type of civilization is "the strong prey on the weak and the fittest survive". They are usually born in areas with scarce resources and harsh environments, and the pressure of survival forces them to continue to expand outward.
Maintain one's own survival and development by plundering the resources of other civilizations. The infinite Dawns, Mercenary Guilds and other organizations in the West are typical representatives of predatory civilizations.”
"The Mercenary Guild of Hongmeng Tianwu is active in the Confucian country, so it has different attributes and tends to be conservative. However, the Mercenary Guild of Wuliang Heaven, war is the main channel for them to make money."
"The core of the ideological core of predatory civilizations is that "the strong are kings." They advocate force and believe that only through continuous conquest and plunder can we obtain opportunities for survival and development.
This type of civilization is usually extremely aggressive and expanding, and can rise rapidly in a short period of time and become a hegemon.
However, the weaknesses of predatory civilizations are also evident – their prosperity is based on exploitation and oppression of others, and their rule will quickly collapse once external resources are exhausted or encounter a stronger opponent.”
"Another characteristic of predatory civilization is the shallowness of culture. Due to excessive reliance on force, such civilizations often ignore the accumulation and inheritance of culture, resulting in insufficient civilization background.
Although they may have achieved certain achievements in science and technology, military, etc., they are often lacking in thought, art, philosophy and other fields.
This is also why although the West Wuliang has advantages in some aspects, it is still unable to compare with the East Wuliang at the overall level of civilization."
"Finally, production expansion civilizations are a combination of resource production civilizations and predatory civilizations.
They not only focus on internal resource accumulation and production, but also have certain expansion and aggressiveness.
The core idea of this type of civilization is "both internal and external cultivation", which not only enhances strength through internal production and accumulation, but also acquires more resources and opportunities through external expansion and plunder."
"The typical representatives of production and expansion civilizations are Jiji and Jiji. Jiji emphasizes the need to "snatch the opportunity of heaven and earth" and has no distinction, and advocates enhancing its own strength by constantly exploring and utilizing the rules of heaven and earth.
The Analectic Buddhism emphasizes clarifying the way of heaven and advocates realizing its own development by understanding and following the way of heaven.
The ideological core of these two major sects enables production and expansion civilizations to maintain internal stability and development, and gain an advantage in external competition."
"However, production and expansion civilizations are not perfect. Because they have both production and plunder, this type of civilization often faces the problem of internal and external balance.
If excessive expansion, it may lead to the depletion of internal resources and social instability. If it is overconservative, it may miss the opportunity for external development. Therefore, production expansion civilizations need to find a delicate balance between expansion and stability.”
When the Daozu of Hongmeng said this, he paused slightly, his eyes fell on Xiang Chen and said lightly: "Do you understand now? The difference between the East and the West is essentially the difference in the attributes of civilization.
Dongfang Wuliang focuses on resource production civilization and production expansion civilization, focusing on internal accumulation and external balance.
The West Wuliang mainly focuses on predatory civilizations and advocates force and expansion. The differences between the attributes of these two civilizations determine their different manifestations in the competition between Wuliang God."
Xiang Chen was impressed and suddenly realized his heart. He bowed and said respectfully: "Thank you for the advice of Daozu, I have benefited a lot from my disciples. However, I still have one thing unknown to me-
Since the differences in the civilization attributes of the East and the West are so great, is the conflict between them inevitable?"
Hongmeng Daozu smiled slightly: "Conflict is inevitable, but it is not irreconcilable. The conflict of civilization is essentially a conflict between ideas and interests. As long as the balance point of interests can be found, conflict may be transformed into cooperation.
Although the competition between the East and the West is fierce, it is not without cooperation. The key is whether you can find that balance point."
Xiang Chen nodded thoughtfully, and had already begun to think about how to use these differences in civilization attributes to pave the way for his development in the vast heaven.
Judging from this classification, one's own civilization also belongs to the third category, both inside and outside are cultivated, and both need to be produced and expanded!
When the Taoist ancestor Hongmeng saw Xiang Chen fall into deep thought, he stopped talking and said lightly: "The world of Wuliang Heaven is much more complicated than that of Hongmeng Tianwu. Since you have decided to go, you must be prepared to face all challenges.
Remember, no matter what difficulties you encounter, you must keep your heart and follow the laws of heaven."
Xiang Chen nodded solemnly and saluted Hongmeng Taoist Ancestor again: "Disciples remember the teachings of Taoist Ancestor and will never let down their expectations."