印度和中国有何相同之处，印网友：都是文明古国

What are some things common in India and China?

印度和中国有何相同之处？

 Quora读者的评论：

Shobhit Gupta, former Intern at CERN

Historical similarities- India and China both have been ancient civilizations each dating back to the period around 3000-1000 BC.

Demographically - Both the nations have crossed one billion mark of population .

Both the nations have port cities other that their National Capital as the economic capital , Mumbai being in India while Shanghai in China.

历史相似性——印度和中国都是文明古国，都可以追溯到公元前3000-1000年。

从人口规模上看，这两个国家的人口都超过了10亿。

两国都有各自的港口城市作为经济首都，印度是孟买，中国是上海。

 

Both these nations are developing rapidly, with their Human Development Index being lower than other developed nations . HDI rankings , China -101 India 136

Military - People's Liberation Army is the world's largest army , while Indian Army is the third largest .

Both the nations have a capability to deliver nuclear warheads through Land ,Air and Sea .

这两个国家都高速发展，人类发展指数低于其他发达国家。人类发展指数排名，中国101，印度136。

军事—中国人民解放军是世界上最庞大的军队，而印度军队是第三大军队。

两国都有能力通过陆地、空中和海上发射核弹头。

 

Chinese Su-27

中国的苏-27

 

Indian Su-30 mki

A large fraction of Indian and Chinese military equipment have Russian Origin , be it the Su-30 , or Liaoning and Vikrmaditya Aircraft Carriers . Soviet Union and now Russia has been the primary exporter of arms to these nations , since International restrictions on transfer of weapons or technology to these nations.

印度的苏- 30 mki

印度和中国的大部分军事装备都源自俄罗斯，无论是苏-30，还是辽宁号和维克马蒂亚号航空母舰。自从国际社会限制向这些国家转让武器或技术以来，苏联和现在的俄罗斯一直是向这两个国家出口武器的主力。

 

Liaoning and Vikramaditya , Russian product

辽宁和维克拉马迪亚，俄罗斯产

Space Exploration - ISRO and CNSA are primary players in Asia's Space race with China having successfully launched its Manned Space Mission , Moon Rover ,have a planned Space Station while their Indian counterparts have sent a Mars Orbiter, a moon Orbiter and have expertise in launching space vehicles using the PSLV .

太空探索——印度空间研究组织和中国航天局是亚洲太空竞赛的主要参与者，中国成功地发射了载人航天飞行任务月球车，已经有了空间站计划，印度已经发射一个火星探测器，月球轨道器，在发射极轨卫星运载火箭方面很专业。

 

Chinese Yutu rover

中国玉兔

 

ISRO's PSLV

印度的极轨卫星运载火箭

Immigration - These two Asian Giants serve the largest population of immigrants to the world . The number of Chinese immigrants to The US is around 1 million while Indians are around 0.5 million in number. Moreover they have higher fraction of students studying abroad , primarily in countries like US , UK than any other nation .

Besides they share common natural resources like the Brahmaputra River, they have defended the 'allowance' of developing nations in a number of Environment Treaties with respect to Pollutant Emissions against the developed world.

Lastly Buddhism born in the foothills of Himalayas has significantly influenced the spiritual life of both these nations , which have enjoyed centuries of peaceful co-existence unlike the present .

移民——这两个亚洲大国为全世界供应了最大的移民群体。中国移民美国的人数约为100万，而印度移民人数约为50万。此外，他们的留学生比例比其他任何国家都要高，主要集中在美国、英国等国。

两国共享雅鲁藏布江等共同的自然资源，除此之外，他们还在一系列与发达国家签订的有关污染物排放的环境条约中为发展中国家的“配额”辩护。

最后，诞生于喜马拉雅山麓的佛教对这两个民族的精神生活都产生了重大的影响。

 

Kartikey M

If you ask for similarities there could be many and most of them makes the two nations great-

1.First both are great civilization which existed from the very beginning of time of history one of Chinese mainland and other Indian subcontinent.

2.Second reason of similarity could be trade and commerce which took place between India and China from historical times till now.

3.Religious belief and system is quite similar that of India both the nations believe in the Dharmic religions Hinduism,Jainism,Confucianism etc

4.China and India suffered a lot under colonial rule in China there was no colonial rule but all the western civilization and British especially dominated China through treaties and agreement which were totally unfair and India was exploited due to colonial government.

5.Both the nations fought side by side as allies during the Second world war and Indian soldiers and doctors treated the Chinese during the war.

如果你要寻找两国的相似之处，可能会有很多，而其中大多数都让这两个国家成为伟大的国家

1.首先，两国都拥有伟大的文明，从人类历史之初就存在于中国大陆和印度次大陆。

2.第二个共同点可能是印度和中国之间从古至今的贸易和商业往来。

3.两国的宗教信仰和体制都很相似，都信奉印度教、耆那教、儒教等宗教

4.中国和印度都因殖民统治遭受很多磨难，中国没有被殖民统治过，但是所有的西方文明，特别是英国通过完全不平等的条约和协定统治中国，印度被殖民政府剥削压榨。

5.第二次世界大战期间，两国作为盟友并肩作战，战争期间，印度士兵和医生对中国人很好。

 

PrithiPal Singh, studied at Simon Fraser University

Despite of language, food and architecture differences, there are lots of things they share :-

1. Current education system - the current education system of both countries have a strict education system biased towards academics involving greater stress of sciences and maths. In both the states, children are encouraged to pursue doctor and engineers as their future careers.
2. Family importance :- after the god,parents are considered to be next higher beings here in India and this scenario is same in China too.
3. Superstition cultures : Google it Indian ones are well awarded, but Chinese one are too in a same race.(Google it).
4. Ancient technology : the Chinese, other than for 'made in China' tag, there are also ones to invent paper, gun powder , kung-fu and Indians are known for chess,Kamasutra and last but not the least the yoga.

尽管语言、食物和建筑各不相同，但他们确实有很多共同之处：

1. 教育体系：两国当前的教育体系都很严格，重视科学和数学的教学。这两个国家都鼓励孩子将来从事医生和工程师的职业。
2. 家庭重要性：在印度，父母被认为是仅次于神的第二重要人物，在中国也是如此。
3. 迷信文化：谷歌一下就能发现印度的迷信很有名气，但是中国的也一样。(
4. 古代科技：除了“中国制造”的标签，中国人还发明了纸、火药、功夫，印度人则以象棋、《爱经》和瑜伽闻名。

 

5. The mathematics : Indians are more known for their contributions to Trigonometry, the Indian numeral system (the system of 0 to 9 digit), value of pi (estimated by aryabhatta thousands years ago before European mathematicians) while Chinese are known for their number theory , sunzi algorithm.
6. 数学：印度人因对三角学的贡献，印度数字系统(0到9位的系统)，圆周率的值(由阿雅巴塔在欧洲数学家之前估计)而闻名，而中国人则以他们的数论，孙子算法而闻名。

 

Anupam Mahapatra, North Carolina State University
 

China and India are two most populous countries in the world and both are located in Asia. Both are proud of their own individual long civilization that goes back some 5,000 years, but both suffered invasions and colonial rules.

Both won true independence in the late 1940s and both advocated the principles of peaceful co-existence. 

Significant amount of population under poverty. 

Highest growth index of economy ( now and also for future to come) 

Maximum no. of student opting for higher education

( predicted: one of three student in 2024 who go for higher education abroad will be chinese or indian ).

Both peoples respect family and treasure sincerity. Both share a deep love for their land and culture. Both are peace-loving, and dislike violence. 

Both have failed significantly to realize the potential of their demographic dividend, with lots of Chinese and Indian mind serving the rest of the world than their own.

中国和印度是世界上人口最多的两个国家，都位于亚洲。两国都为自己拥有5000多年的悠久文明而自豪，但都遭受过侵略和殖民统治。

双方都在20世纪40年代末赢得了真正的独立，都主张和平共处的原则。

贫困人口数量庞大。

经济增长指数全球最高(现在及将来)。

接受高等教育的学生数量最多。

(预计:2024年出国接受高等教育的学生中，三个中就有一个是中国人或印度人)。

两国人民都尊重家庭，以诚待人。他们都热爱自己的土地和文化。他们都热爱和平，不尚暴力。

这两个国家都没有意识到人口红利的潜力，很多中国和印度的人才不在本国工作，而选择在其他国家工作。

 

Gaurav Dutta, worked at Robotics

Similarities between IND and China:

1.High Regards for Teacher

印度和中国的相似之处:

1.尊师重道
 

2.Joint Family Structure

2. 几世同堂的家族

3.Spiritual Values

3. 精神价值观念
    

4.Guests are welcomed with open arms

4. 热情好客

 

5.Belief in Astrology & Luck

5. 相信占星术和运气

 

Saurav B

No doubt its only the BUDDHISM culture

& their science studies…!!

毫无疑问，共同之处只有佛教文化和他们的科学研究…

 

Vijay Goüd, Loves India, Indian women, Indian culture, music and food. Fight against poverty

Both eat Rice

Chinese praising Indian Pallava King called "bodhidharma" he is the founder of Martial Arts. (and Buddhism also i mean Buddha is an Indian)

Chinese and Indians love Tea

Chinese and Indians are Doctors, Engineers, so many nerds(compliment)

Both countries with strict parents

Love to live in a joint family/Nuclear family

So much philosophy

and Both loves Jackie Chan, and Jackie Chan is now acting in Bollywood the movie name is "Kung Fu Yoga" co-produced by China-India..

Both are IT Freaks.

Both suffering from Poverty, Capitalism, Population, and Pollution.

两个国家都吃米饭

中国人称赞印度帕拉瓦王为“菩提达摩”，他是武术的创始人。(佛教也是，我的意思是佛陀是印度人)

中国人和印度人喜欢喝茶

中国人和印度人有很多医生，工程师，书呆子巨多(赞美)

两个国家的父母都很严厉

喜欢大家庭同住

哲学体系庞大

两国人民都喜欢成龙，成龙现在在宝莱坞出演中印联合制作的电影《功夫瑜伽》。

两国都是IT怪胎。

两国都饱受贫困、资本主义、人口负担和污染之苦。

 

Sabyasachi Datta

There are hardly any similarity between modern China and India.

But ancient China and ancient India had similarities.

现代中国和印度几乎没有任何相似之处。

但是古中国和古印度有相似之处。

 

Agyat, studied at Dhoom-Dhaam University (2017)

Indian and Chinese cultures are very Ancient. We've been aware of each other for thousands of years. There are a few thing we share in common.

1.Sticking to our culture and ancient beliefs (not superstitions but festivals etc.)

2.Buddhism (Originated in India, flourished in China.)

3.Pride (Something everybody has when it comes to their nation)

4.Aspirations (We both want be the best and hence are a competition to each other)

5.Yoga (Don't believe me?)

印度和中国的文化非常古老。我们认识彼此已经有几千年了。我们有一些共同之处。

1.坚持我们的文化和古老的信仰(不是迷信，而是节日等)

2.佛教(起源于印度，兴盛于中国)。

3.自豪(事关自己国家时，每个人都有)

4.抱负(我们都想成为最好的，因此我们彼此竞争)

5.瑜伽(不相信么?)

 

Gopal Sinha, former Civil Engineer

One can count so many features including geographical to cultural and objects signifying confrontation to reconciliation. However there are many things common or related that are vague or disputed. So let us say we both have a common future. Being lager in size, population and resources, we are bound to become the leaders in Asia and the world. So we should join hands and tread cautiously.

人们可以列出许多特点，包括地理、文化和象征对抗与和解的东西。然而，有许多共同或相关联的事情是模糊或有争议的。所以这么说吧，我们都有一个共同的未来。无论从规模、人口还是资源上看，我们都一定能成为亚洲乃至世界的领导者。所以我们应该携起手来，谨慎行事。

 

Anonymous

Out of top of my mind:

Cheap labor, poverty, outsourcing, Himalayas

我的脑海中闪现出来的有：

廉价劳动力，贫困，外包，喜马拉雅山脉

 

Ashutosh Srivastava, studied at Banaras Hindu University

It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to exchange ideas with Indian friends of Rotary Club. The organizer of the meeting asked me to deliver a "non-political" speech, and I totally agree with that. There are endless topics regarding China and India, and today the theme of my speech is "China and India: Related yet Different Civilizations". I am going to elaborate on three points. First, there are many similarities between Chinese civilization and Indian civilization. Second, Buddhism, which originated from India, has greatly enriched Chinese culture. Third, the civilizations of the two nations are quite different.

Speaking about similarities between China and India, what first comes to our mind is population. Both China and India are the most populous countries in the world. Their combined population is as many as 2.3 billion, accounting for two-fifths of humanity.

我很高兴有机会与扶轮社的印度朋友交换意见。会议组织者让我做一个“非政治性”演讲，我完全同意。关于中印两国的话题层出不穷，今天我演讲的主题是“中印两国：有关联但却不同的文明”。我将阐述三点。首先，中国文明和印度文明有很多相似之处。第二，佛教起源于印度，极大地丰富了中国文化。第三，两国的文明差异很大。

谈到中国和印度的相似之处，我们首先想到的是人口。中国和印度都是世界上人口最多的国家。他们的人口加起来多达23亿，占人类总数的五分之二。

Coincidently, the development of ancient philosophical thinking in both China and India was thriving in the 6th century B.C. Almost at the same time, Confucius founded Confucianism in China and Siddhartha Gautama established Buddhism in India.

It is again a historical coincidence that around the 3rd century B.C., after years of wars, the first united dynasty was established in China by Shihuangdi, the First Emperor of China, as was in the sub-continent, by Mauryan Emperors.

China and India are great civilizations and historically both were the centers of the related civilization circles in Asia. In Northeast Asia and some Southeast Asian countries, the historical influence of Chinese culture could be easily detected. Similarly, Indian culture could be traced in many South and Southeast Asian countries, even as far as in Indonesia. Such cultural influences reveal the great contribution made by China and India to the world.

In their long history, both China and India were frequently invaded by alien tribes, but despite repeated foreign cultural onslaught, the backbone of the two ancient cultures, namely Confucianism in China and Hinduism in India, vigorously sustained. The vitality and continuity of both Chinese and Indian civilizations are exceptional in the world.

In modern times, both countries lagged behind the West in economic and social development and suffered tremendously from the invasion of Western powers.

巧合的是，中国和印度古代哲学思想的发展都在公元前6世纪蓬勃发展。几乎与此同时，孔子在中国创立了儒家学说，乔达摩在印度创立了佛教。

这又是一个历史上的巧合，大约在公元前3世纪经过多年的战争，中国第一个统一王朝由中国第一个皇帝秦始皇建立，而次大陆上也一样，出现了孔雀王朝。

中印两国都是伟大的文明古国，在历史上都是亚洲文明界的中心。在东北亚和一些东南亚国家，中国文化的历史影响是显而易见的。同样，印度文化影响了许多南亚和东南亚国家，甚至传播到了印度尼西亚。这种文化影响，体现了中印两国对世界的巨大贡献。

在漫长的历史长河中，中国和印度都经常受到外来部落的侵略，但尽管外来文化的不断冲击，中国儒家文化和印度印度教这两种古老文化的支柱却得到了蓬勃的延续。中印两国文明的活力和延续性举世罕见。

近代以来，两国都在经济社会发展上落后于西方，都深受西方列强侵略之苦。

Coincidently, once again almost at the same time, China and India were reborn. In 1949, after the liberation war, new China was established, while in 1947, India won its independence. Afterwards, although different in political system, China and India took similar paths of planned economy and both failed to achieve their goals.

Today, the similarities between China and India have become even more striking. Both countries have been pursuing policies of reform and opening-up, and both are now the fastest growing economies in the world, drawing great universal attention. Indeed, development of China and India over the next decades will have great impact on the whole world.

Between China and India there lie the greatest mountain ranges of the world, insurmountable obstructions in ancient times. Inspired by Buddhism, dedicated monks of the two countries overcame all conceivable perils and hardships and succeeded in linking the two civilizations for one thousand years since the time of Christ.

After its introduction in China, Buddhism was embraced and localized, becoming an integrated part of Chinese civilization. The great value of Buddhism in Chinese civilization can never be overemphasized.

Before the introduction of Buddhism, Chinese civilization was isolated by geographical location, with no communication with other major civilizations. The introduction of Buddhism marks the first step of Chinese civilization's interaction with the outside world. From then on, Chinese civilization developed a new world vision and became much more broad-minded.

巧合的是，几乎在同一时间，中国和印度再次获得新生。1949年解放战争后，新中国成立，1947年印度获得独立。之后，虽然政治体制不同，但中国和印度走的是相似的计划经济道路，都没有实现各自的目标。

今天，中印之间的相似之处变得更加明显。两国都奉行改革开放政策，都是当今世界上增长最快的经济体，受到普遍关注。的确，中印两国未来几十年的发展将对世界产生重大影响。

中国和印度之间有世界上最大的山脉，在古代是不可逾越的天然屏障。在佛教的感召下，两国虔诚的僧侣克服了一切可以想象的危险和困难，自基督时代以来，成功地把两种文明联系在了一起。

佛教传入中国后，被中国民众接受并逐渐本土化，成为中华文明的有机组成部分。佛教在中华文明中的巨大价值再怎么强调也不过分。

在佛教传入之前，中华文明由于地理位置的原因，孤立于世，没有与其他主要文明进行交流。佛教的传入标志着中华文明对外交往的第一步。从此，中华文明有了全新的世界视野，心胸更加开阔。

Before Buddhism spread in China, there were indigenous Confucianism and Taoism in that land. However, Confucianism could not be regarded as a religion in its true sense, and the influence of Taoism was rather limited. The introduction of Buddhism enabled common people in China with a new religious faith and the ideas of Karma and Reincarnation enriched Chinese people's spiritual life.

Buddhism ushered in a profound and pervasive revolution in Chinese culture. A series of new philosophical concepts for understanding of the universe and individual soul were brought into China by Buddhism. Today few Chinese people are aware of the fact that actually many words in our vocabulary originated from the translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese more than one thousand years ago.

In ancient times, the Chinese had no knowledge of phonology. It was through the translation of Buddhist scriptures and under the influence of ancient Sanskrit phonology, that the Chinese phonetic notation and Chinese phonology were created. This, in turn, pushed forward the development of Lvshi, one form of Chinese poetry which has a strict tonal pattern and rhyme scheme.

China's early literature was restricted to realism. It is because of Buddhism that the power of imagination of Chinese literature became invigorated. Since Tang Dynasty, from the 7th century A.D., romanticism became more popular in Chinese literature. Journey to the West, a novel well-known to every household in China, is a good example. It is about the pilgrimage of Xuanzang, a learned monk in Tang Dynasty, who travelled from China to India to study Buddhism. The most popular figure in the novel, Monkey King, is believed to be based on Hanuman, the revered figure of Indian mythology.

在佛教传入中国之前，中国有本土的儒家和道教。然而，儒学并不能被视为真正意义上的宗教，道教的影响也相当有限。佛教的传入，使中国的老百姓有了新的宗教信仰，因缘轮回的思想丰富了中国人的精神生活。

佛教在中国文化中掀起了一场深刻而广泛的革命。佛教为理解宇宙和个体灵魂带来了一系列新的哲学概念。今天，很少有中国人意识到，我们词汇中的许多词汇实际上起源于一千多年前的汉译佛经。

在古代，中国人没有音韵学知识。正是通过对佛经的翻译，在古梵语音韵学的影响下，创造了汉语音标和汉语音韵学。这反过来又推动了律诗的发展，律诗是中国诗歌的一种形式，有着严格的调式和韵律感。

中国早期文学局限于现实主义。正是因为有了佛教，中国文学的想象力才变得活跃起来。从唐朝开始，从公元7世纪浪漫主义在中国文学中更为流行。中国家喻户晓的小说《西游记》就是一个很好的例子。这是关于唐僧玄奘的朝圣之旅，他从中国来到印度学习佛教。小说中最受欢迎的人物，美猴王，据信是根据印度神话中受人尊敬的人物哈努曼创作而来的。

In ancient China, the art of stone-carving was underdeveloped. The spring-up religious caves and stone sculptures in China were a direct result of the spread of Buddhist culture. Additionally, Buddhism has exerted a profound influence on Chinese painting, music and dance.

Apart from that, the development of ancient printing in China is also closely related to the spread of Buddhism, which was driven by the increasing demand for Buddhist figures and scriptures.

During the mutual exchanges between the two civilizations in the past, although certain Chinese technologies and inventions contributed to Indian civilization, in general, especially in spiritual terms, it was mainly China that learned from India. In one thousand years or so, India was China's teacher. Chinese people will never forget that.

Today, the Chinese people's admiration of Indian culture remains undiminished as it was in the past. In the year 2000, to commemorate the 140th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore,The Complete Works of Tagore was published in 24 volumes in China. As far as I know, Chinese is the language which has done the most for Tagore's publications, second only to Indian languages and English.

Ladies and gentlemen, of course, cultural exchanges between ancient China and India did not benefit China alone. Because of religious thinking, ancient Indians believed that history was a cycle, repeating itself timelessly, so that they did not record the real history. On the other hand, the Chinese have a very strong sense of history and began to record history as early as three thousand years ago. Since then China has maintained a continuous chronicle of all the dynasties, which is unique in the world. In those one thousand years, Chinese monks studying in India continued with this tradition by taking down in detail what they had seen and experienced in India. Today, those monks' recordings have become the most precious documents about ancient India, without which, and without those of other foreign travelers, any serious research of the history of ancient India would have been impossible. Furthermore, thanks to relentless efforts of both Indian and Chinese monks in the past, Mahayana Buddhist scriptures are now mostly preserved in Chinese. Therefore, without referring to those Chinese sutras, it is almost impossible for any Buddhist scholar in the world to have a real comprehension of ancient Mahayana Buddhism.

在中国古代，石雕艺术并不发达。中国宗教洞穴和石雕的兴起正是因为佛教文化的传播。此外，佛教对中国绘画、音乐和舞蹈产生了深远的影响。

除此之外，中国古代印刷术的发展与佛教的传播也有着密切的关系，佛教的传播是由于人们对佛教人物和佛经的需求越来越大。

在中印两国过去的文明交流中，虽然中国的某些科技和发明对印度文明做出了贡献，但总的来说，特别是在精神方面，中国还是向印度学习的多。在大约一千年的时间里，印度一直是中国的老师。中国人民永远不会忘记这一点。

今天，中国人民对印度文化的钦佩之情丝毫未减。2000年，为纪念泰戈尔诞辰140周年，中国出版了泰戈尔24卷全集。据我所知，泰戈尔的出版物中，中文印刷量贡献最大，仅次于印度语和英语。

女士们，先生们，当然，古代中国和印度之间的文化交流并不仅仅有利于中国。由于宗教思想的原因，古印度人认为历史是一个轮回，不断重复，没有时间，所以他们没有记录真实的历史。另一方面，中国人有很强的历史感，早在3000年前就开始记录历史。从那时起，中国一直保持着历代王朝的连续编年史，这在世界上都是独一无二的。在这一千年里，在印度学习的中国僧人延续了这一传统，把他们在印度看到和经历的细节记录下来。今天，这些僧侣的记录已经成为关于古印度最珍贵的文献，如果没有这些记录，也没有其他外国旅行者的记录，任何对古印度历史的认真研究都不可能进行。此外，由于印度和中国僧侣在过去的不懈努力，大乘佛教经典现在大多保存在中国。因此，如果不参考这些中国佛经，世界上任何一位佛教学者几乎都不可能真正理解古代大乘佛教。

On the other hand, and as importantly, the dissimilarity in the thought process of the peoples of China and India implies the fundamental difference between the two civilizations. Whilst Chinese civilization mainly concerns practical life, Indian civilization emphasizes more on the spiritual world. This basic difference has resulted in a series of different features of the two countries' culture and history.

You can easily find the difference, for example, in historical monuments in the two countries. In India most of the grandiose ancient structures were temples, in which priests were the masters managing the affairs between God and humanity; while in China most of the magnificent ancient structures were palaces, in which emperors and kings were the masters managing the affairs between states and their citizens.

Long before Buddhism was widely accepted in China, Confucianism had been the dominant ideology. Unlike religions, Confucianism was not concerned with issues regarding relationship between man and God, but restricted to the relationship between man and man, namely, relationship between king and subjects, between rulers and ruled, between father and son, between husband and wife, between teacher and student, between friends and so on. It did not teach people how to attain spiritual liberation, but how to adjust with reality and properly deal with various kinds of relationships with other people so as to enjoy a harmonious society. However, since the 7th century A.D. i.e. Sui and Tang Dynasties, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism became three pillars of ancient Chinese culture, forming a coexisting and complementary structure, within which each of the three influenced and integrated with each other. Some Chinese scholars consider the three played different roles in ancient China: Confucianism for the health of the state, Taoism for the health of human body, and Buddhism for the health of human spirit.

另一方面，同样重要的是，中印两国人民思想过程的不同，意味着两种文明的根本差异。中国文明主要侧重于现实生活，而印度文明更注重精神世界。这一基本差异导致了两国文化和历史的种种差异。

例如，你可以很容易地在这两个国家的历史遗迹中找到不同之处。在印度，大多数宏伟的古代建筑都是庙宇，祭司是管理神和普罗大众之间事务的主人；而在中国，大多数宏伟的古代建筑都是宫殿，皇帝和国王是管理国家和公民之间事务的主人。

早在佛教在中国普及之前，儒家思想就已经是主导思想。与宗教不同，儒学并不关注人与神的关系问题，而是人与人的关系，即君王与臣民的关系、统治者与被统治者的关系、父亲与儿子的关系、丈夫与妻子的关系、老师与学生的关系、朋友的关系等等。它没有教人们如何获得精神上的解放，而是教人们如何适应现实，正确处理与他人的各种关系，从而享受和谐社会。然而，自公元7世纪即隋唐以来，儒、道、佛三家成为中国古代文化的三大支柱，形成了相互影响、相互融合、共存互补的格局。中国有学者认为，儒学之于国家健康，道家之于人体健康，佛教之于人的精神健康，三者在中国古代发挥了不同的作用。

In this sense, Chinese people hold quite a different attitude towards religion from that of most Indians. Many Chinese people, urban intellectuals in particular, are atheists, having no religious belief at all. This is not an effect of dominant Communist ideology in the past decades, but a result of the deeper influence of Confucianism in the last 2,500 years. While all religions concern death and future life, Confucianism is focused on present life, showing no interest in post-death matters. According to classic works of Confucianism, "Confucius did not talk about strange events, supernatural power, chaos, or spiritual beings". Confucius said, "Work on what is right for the people, respect the spirits and gods but keep a distance. Such behavior can be considered wisdom". He also said, "If we do not know about life, how can we know about death?" Indeed, quite a lot of people in rural China are Buddhists, but a popular saying might characterize their religious attitude as such: "You do not pray unless you are in trouble."

Like other ancient civilizations, big rivers are also the cradles of Chinese and Indian civilizations. Both Chinese and Indian people show their emotional feelings by calling the rivers "Mother Yellow River" and "Mother Ganga" respectively. However, the similarity stops here. In India, the Ganga River is considered as an incarnation of Goddess Ganga and worshipped by Hindus all over the country. Thousands of people make a pilgrimage to the sacred source of the River, millions of people take a bath in the River to purify themselves; some believe water from the River can cure all diseases, some even choose to breathe their last nearby the River to achieve Paradise. The Chinese can hardly imagine such religious enthusiasm.

从这个意义上说，中国人对宗教的态度和大多数印度人是不同的。许多中国人，特别是城市知识分子，都是无神论者，根本没有宗教信仰。这是儒家思想在过去2500年里深刻烙印的结果。所有的宗教都关注死亡和未来的生活，而儒学关注的是现在的生活，对身后之事不感兴趣。根据儒家经典著作，“子不语怪力乱神”。孔子说:“务民之义，敬鬼神而远之，可谓知矣。”他还说:“不知生,焉知死？”的确，中国农村有相当多的人是佛教徒，但有一句流行的谚语可以描述他们的宗教态度：“平时不烧香，急来抱佛脚。”

同其他文明古国一样，大河也是中印文明的发祥地。中国人和印度人都把这两条河分别称为“黄河母亲”和“恒河母亲”，以此来表达他们的情感。然而，相似之处仅限于此。在印度，恒河被认为是恒河女神的化身，全国各地的印度教徒都崇拜它。成千上万的人到这条河的圣地朝圣，成千上万的人在这条河里洗澡，净化自己；有些人相信河水可以治愈所有的疾病，有些人甚至选择在河边去世，以便去往天堂。中国人很难想象这种宗教热情。