Thank you so much for this video. I grew up in Hong Kong, studied in the US, and worked in China. Being able to listen to someone who understands the nuances of what I learned and experienced in my life (e.g. colonialism, post-colonialism, Huntington, American exceptionalism, the Beijing consensus/Washington consensus) and to be able to take historical and complicated content and to discuss in such an intimate and straightforward manner is something I'm truly grateful to your channel for. Many thanks to all those involved in the production of this video and especially to Professor Wang Gungwu.
Such a remarkable human being. His depth of understanding of various civilization and his way of expressing them in a calm manner are truly remarkable. Wish him a long and healthy life.
Theological, philosophical and technological aspects of ancient cultures are essential in determining their historical course. Personally think, together, they are more realistic approaches for studying them.
I’ve heard prof Wang’s theory of civilisations and I’m surprised that Africa and South America were not considered as civilisations. The origin of the human genome is traced to Africa yet we cannot imagine civilisations in the cradle of humankind. I find this idea unimaginative
Africa and South America are continents and not countries. Africa had the Aksum based in Ethiopia which traded with the Mesopotemians and the Indus Valley. South America had so many civilisations such as the Olmec, Aztecs etc
I believe Prof Wang views civilization as a collection of cultures with some common denominations in customs, religion, language or beliefs. By that viewpoint, civilizations will appear once there is a critical mass with a need to group together to conquer or to survive. The Eurasian continent was large enough to sustain huge civilizations that impact on each other through trade and conquests. The Americas were more isolated from the Eurasian land mass and populations. Civilizations emerged in northern Africa like Egypt and Ethiopia because there are nearer to Eurasia.
@@Time4Peace the Mayan and Aztec civilisations were nowhere near Eurasia, Mali had a great civilisation and Southern Africa had ancient sophisticated civilisations too. Through colonialism and conquest they were destroyed but they can rise again. They each had unique characteristics developed over millennia, thanks for the reply
@@warrennelson5190 Absolutely. Where humans are in great numbers, it's almost inevitable that they evolve common sets of belief, tradition, religion and custom for cooperation and survival, without divisions tearing them apart.
South America used to have civilizations, such as the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas, but these original civilizations were destroyed by the Spanish and Portuguese, and now the entire continent is a cultural extension of Hispania. Africa had Egyptian, Ethiopian civilizations, not to mention the West African kingdoms, but Egypt was consumed by first Roman and then Islamic civilizations, while the West African kingdoms didn’t stand a chance against European colonization. Ethiopia is an exception that should be considered a civilization of its own, although a pretty weak one vis-a-vis the Europeans or even the Islamic world.
