Introduction：Axial Age,the Golden Age ofHuman Wisdom 1
Unit One A Long and Hot Debate about the Birth of the World 9
Unit Two Two Views Concerning Cultural Studies 17
Section One：Cultural Relativism 17
Section Two：Cultural Imperialism 21
Unit Three Cultural Traditions and Roots 29
Section One：Theology 29
Section Two：Philosophy 34
Section Three：Science 47
Unit Four Time and History in the Context of Culture 57
Section One：Ancient History of the World 57
Section Two：The Middle Ages 65
Section Three：Modern History 75
Section Four：Contemporary Time 86
Unit Five Compositions and Elements of Culture 99
Section One：Faith,a Spiritual Pillar of a Person 99
Section Two：Language,An Important Element of Culture 104
Section Three：Mythology,an Area of Human Imagination 117
Section Four：Institution 124
Section Five：Norms,Code of Conduct for Human Society 132
Unit Six Powerful and Pervasive Ideas 139
Section One：Colonialism,a Propelling Force of the West 139
Section Two：Capitalism,a Magic Power of the West 147
Section Three：Communism,the Highest Ideal of Mankind 158
Section Four：Constitutionalism,the Idea of Rule ofLaw 166
Section Five：Nationalism,a Theoretic Foundation of Nation-State 172
Unit Seven Great Ideas Spread Through Great Books 183
Section One：Analects,a Collection of Wisdom ofChina 183
Section Two：The Bible,the Holy Scripture in the World 189
SectionThree：Quran,theHoly Scripture of Islam 197
SectionFour：Buddhist Texts 207
Unit Eight An Eventful Human History 219
Section One：The Roman Empire 219
Section Two：Heliocentricism 233
Section Three：The Crusades 242
Section Four：Mongol Conquests 253
Section Five：Columbus and His Significant Voyages 257
Section Six：The Ottoman Empire 265
Section Seven：The Founding of the United States of America 275
Section Eight：The Opium Wars 287
Section Nine：The United Nations,an Instrument for Peace 295
Unit Nine Milestone Figures For Human History 307
Section One：Abraham,Father of Three Major Religions 307
Section Two：Jesus Christ,God for Christians 313
Section Three：Muhammad,Prophet of Muslims 322
Section Four：Shakyamuni,the Buddha of Buddhist Adherents 331
Section Five：Confucius,a Holy Figure of Traditional China 340
Section Six：Socrates,Founding Father of Western Philosophy 350
Section Seven：Sir Isaac Newton,a Towering Scientist 360
Section Eight：Karl Marx,a Profound Thinker Who Changed the World 370
Section Nine：Albert Einstein,a Modern Isaac Newton 378
Unit Ten A Study of Civilizational History of the World 387
Section One：The Ancient Egyptian Civilization 390
Section Two：The Andes Civilization 391
Section Three：Ancient Chinese Civilization 391
Section Four：Minoan Civilization 392
Section Five：Sumer Civilization 393
Section Six：Maya Civilization 394
Section Seven：History of Ancient India 396
Section Eight：Hittites,Ancient Anatolian People 397
Section Nine：Ancient Greek Civilization 398
Section Ten：The Western or Occidental Civilization 399
Section Eleven：The Eastern Orthodox Church Civilization 400
Section Twelve：FarEastern Civilization Ring 401
Section Thirteen：Orthodox Christian Civilization 402
Section Fourteen：The Ancient Persian Civilization 403
Section Fifteen：Islamic Civilization At its Golden Age 404
Section Sixteen：Hindu Civilization 405
Section Seventeen：The Mexica 406
Section Eighteen：Yucatec Maya Civilization 407
Section Nineteen：Ancient Babylonian Civilization 407
Unit Eleven A Possible Form of a Future Global Culture 409
Section Ohe：Cultural Implications of Cultural Diversity 409
Section Two：Cultural,Social and Political Implications of UNESCO Universal Declaralion on Cultural Diversity 416