提 要：本文通过对轴心期中国文明、印度文明和西方古典文明哲学体系的分析和比较，试图找出这三种文明的不同特点和影响文明形成的不同因素；进而分析这些特点的形成与各自历史进程之间的关联。结论：文明的特性早在其起源时期就形成了，而且，一旦形成，就会对以后的发展产生深远的影响。

关键词：文明 轴心期 哲学体系 天人合一

Title: Origin of Civilization and the Formation of the Early Philosophical Thinking

Author:Jiang Peng, Research Professor, Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China，100006.

Abstract:By the analysis and comparison of the early civilizations in China, India, and northern Mediterranean area during the so called Axis Period, this article tries to identify the different characteristics of these civilizations and the elements that had affected the formation of the philosophical thinking in these civilizations. It also analyzes the connections between these characteristics and the historical courses of the concerned civilizations. It argues that different characteristics of civilizations had formed in the very beginning of civilizations. Further, as soon as these characteristics had formed, they put strong influences on the developments of the civilizations ever since.

Key Words:civilization Axis Period philosophical thinking wholeness of the Heaven and mankind