| 1 | China's population represents over one fifth of all humanity. Territorially, China ranks third among the world's countries. |
| 2 | China is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. |
| 3 | China's civilization developed over a long period in considerable isolation, protected by physiographic barriers and by sheer distance from other source areas. |
| 4 | The Chinese state and national culture evolved from a core area that emerged in the north, near the present capital of Beijing. China's culture hearth has remained there ever since. |
| 5 | Foreign intervention had disastrous impacts on Chinese society, from European colonialism to Japanese imperialism. intensified regionalism and territorial losses are only two of the many resulting afflictions. |
| 6 | China occupies the eastern flank of Eurasia. Its sphere of influence was reduced by Russian expansionism in East Asia. |
| 7 | China's enormous population is strongly concentrated in the country's eastern regions. Western zones remain comparatively empty and open, and are also more arid and far less productive. |
| 8 | China's communist-designed transformation after 1949 involved unprecedented regimentation and the imposition of effective central authority, with results that are perhaps permanently imprinted on the cultural landscape. |
| 9 | China's recent modernizing drive notwithstanding, the country remains a dominantly rural society with limited urbanization and industrialization. |
| 10 | Rural China is a land of enduring traditions. Neither the Communist Revolution nor the modernization drive has truly changed the villagers' way of life. many old values persist, and the teachings of Confucius are still remembered. |