Overview of the Identified Chinese Culture - Coursework Example

Chinese Culture I. Overview of the Identified Culture A. Objective aspects China is a country that leads the world in terms of its large human population. It is a vast country with different customs and traditions that varies from one region to another as well as with ethnicity (Clark, 2014). Asia Society notes that China has a population of over one billion and has over 56 ethnic minority groups with Han Chinese being the largest group with a population of nearly 900 million (Clark, 2014). Other ethnical groups that form part of this large population include Naxi, Manchus, Tibetans and Hezhen and they form some of the smallest ethnic groups in China with fewer than 2000 individuals (Clark, 2014). Food is another important cultural aspect characterized with Chinese. China’s geographical location on the world map and diversity with ethnic groups influences what they eat as well as their staple food. The main dishes among Chinese are Cantonese and Szechuan (Hu, Chand & Evans, 2013). Similarly, Rice is a major food among Chinese, and it helps the society grow since it was developed during civilization period (Hu, Chand & Evans, 2013). Additionally, they have cabbages, scallions and bean sprouts as their primary food. Their primary source of protein is tofu because they occasionally take meat (Hu, Chand & Evans, 2013). Every nation has its arts, and Chinese arts are influenced by their rich history and path to civilization. For instance, Chinese have paintings and sculptures depicting their spiritual figures such as those of Buddhism (Wang, 2014). Similarly, they have many musical instruments forming art of their culture, and they include xun and guqin (Wang, 2014). The Chinese also have martial arts since this is where it was developed, and they include kung-fu; characterized by animal’s movement style and developed in mid-1600 (Wang, 2014). Lastly, ancient Chinese had rich philosophers and writers, which are represented in the rich liturgical history of China. Lastly, Chinese have customs and celebration with the largest on being Spring Festival marked at the beginning of Lunar New Year (Wang, 2012). It is marked to honor ancestors and characterized by fireworks and parades of dancers who are clothed as dragons B. Subjective aspects The Chinese Communist Party rules China, and it is an atheist; however, the party is tolerant of religion and China has five major legal religions. They include Buddhism, Islam, Taoism, Catholicism, and Protestantism (Wang, 2012). Majority of Chinese, quarter are Taoism and other religions such as Buddhism and Confucianism enjoys a larger following in this country (Wang, 2012). However, Chinese are hesitant in 11joining Islam and Catholic although they exist. China has seven languages with the most dominant being Mandarin spoken by over 72% of Chinese (Wyse, 2014). Other languages include different ethnical groups speak Wu, Yue, Xiang, Hakka and Gan and they across the land (Wyse, 2014). The official language in China is Putonghua, it affiliates to Mandarin, and the majority speaks fluent English. II. Overview of Identified Social Problems A. Explanation of the problem China ranks among the nations in the world with aging population, hence posing threats to its demographic structure. Similarly, the trend will make it the first country to get gray before its get rich, hence calling for urgent action to address the problem (Hamamura, Xu & Du, 2013). Similarly, this is a problem and putting pressure on the working aged people since they have to contribute the pension to help in the upkeep of the aging population in terms of their health care and maintenance. China does not have well-established social policies because it is a communist society, and this put pressure on the working class in terms of saving. Because many people are saving money for their upkeep, the Chinese economy is affected since money is not circulating as required. Besides the aging population and ever-increasing population in China, the nation is also experiencing the imbalance in gender (Siah Poh, 2014). Chinese culture prefers male to female, and this is rooted in their social systems. Because of the preferences for males, sex-selective abortion is on the rise despite it being outlawed by the government (Hamamura, Xu & Du, 2013). For this reason, there are many social problems emanating from the high population experienced in the Chinese culture. B. Impact on the cultural group The significant problem China experience is the increasing number of the aging population (Dongxing, Ming & Jinyong, 2014). This came because of the one-child policy that the government adopted to limit the population increase since the number was growing rapidly. China lacks young age to support the aging population, and this is a problem worrying the government. The fertility of Chinese society has declined hence posing threats on the cost of health (Dongxing, Ming & Jinyong, 2014). For instance, the growing number of the elderly population needs care, and this might contribute to soaring cost of health care. Similarly, the numbers of working people are declining making it difficult to get those who can pay health care bills (Dongxing, Ming & Jinyong, 2014). Because of this, there are many who may need to work for a longer time past their retirement age in order to save or accumulate more wealth do enable them survive when they finally come of age. It might put pressure on the individual might they have to do it since it is the remaining option for their survival. Additionally, the population of China will continue to grow despite earlier policies developed and it is a problem for the government to solve. The government has realized that the aging population is increasing because of introduced policies hence put on hold the one-child policy. This is particularly to the rural areas where the poor people live, and they cannot give birth to more to bridge the already existing gap between the ages (Fang, 2015). It is a problem since it is difficult to control population because regulating one side affects the other. In addition, the notion created by the society that males are better than females is increasing selective sex abortion once women know the sex of their unborn. This comes even after forbidding physicians from disclosing the gender of the unborn to the parents (Siah Poh, 2014). The result of all these will be that there will be no female gender and men will have no one to marry. Hence, the society will practice lesbianism and indulge in criminal behaviors. III Prevalence A. Within the general population China is experiencing high population because of its large geographical coverage as well as other factors. Besides the high general population causing a problem in China, there are different aspects of population, which are thorny for the nation to solve. For instance, the male-female ratio in China is imbalance, and this is a problem for a nation with over one billion (Siah Poh, 2014). It is because of the negative perception the population have about women. For this reason, many women abort their unborn upon realizing that they are female. As a result, gender imbalance is a problem that the nation must deal with towards its social wellbeing. B. Within the cultural group Despite the high population recorded in China, the age structure is un-proportional (Xiaohui, 2013). Currently, the number of aging population is on the rise because of the developed policies by the government to control growth. The aging population is because of one-child policy that only allows a household to have one child and has led to imbalance age structure. It has reduced the number of young ones as the aged remain high hence threatening the nation. The workforce is reduced because there are few citizens who can replace the old ones who still have to work (Fang, 2015). Hence, the nation has to struggle to keep its aging population and provides healthcare to them. IV Interventions A. Success rate The growing number of aging population in China has been worrying the government, making it come up with mitigating strategies. One of the strategies, which had yield success is the reverse of the one-child policy. The plan was executed due to child boom or exponential population which occurred someday back and saw the population double to millions. However, reversing the policy has seen the number of young age increase to reduce the widening gap of the aged. Hence, the Chinese government has recorded a success through the policy reversal. Secondly, the 4-2-1 is also a success as a strategy towards dealing with the aging population since a member of a family who reaches the working age must assist the members. One is required to provide care to both parent and four grandparents in retirement. This policy is a success since it has put measures to care for the aged family members hence minimizing the burden that the government experiences. Thirdly, outlawing of selective sex abortion has proved to be a success as many women now give birth without considering the sex of their young ones. The Chinese society developed an adverse perception of females making many women abort the unborn upon realization of their sex. However, the outlawing of the act has seen increased number of female unborn hence bridging the gap between females and males. Before the outlawing of selective sex abortion, there was increasing number of males while the number of females was reducing. This was breeding an imbalance that would have led to homosexuality, as well as crime in China. B. Future initiatives The increasing number of aging population requires measures in order to curb it and balance the age structure, as well as the need of the elderly. For this reason, the Chinese government needs to develop the families to play the role of caring for the elderly. This is being done through social security measures and health support networks for the aged population. The government must create a favorable environment to serve the elderly. Family is an important institution with a responsibility of supporting its members since they share many things. Hence, the government needs to strengthen families by establishing social security to enable the members meet the needs of the elderly. The government needs to develop social support centers to care for the aging population especially those who do not have family members. It is a fact that more than 15% of Chinese populations are aged, and some find it hard coping with hard time (Fang, 2015). Those who do not have family members die in their houses because they have nobody to care for them as well as money for the needs. For this reason, the government needs to put plans that will ensure the government cares the aged who do not have family caretakers. It will help uplift their dignities and prolong their life. V. Recommendations for working with identified populations The aging population is on the increase in China because of the one–child policy developed by the government. However, many can be done when working with this population to ensure their wellbeing. First, they need care because they are inactive, and some are incapacitated. Assistance in terms of feeding, bathing or any other personal care is welcome. Secondly, this group needs psychological support being that they are approaching death. This is vital since it gives them hope required to add more days of living. References Anqi, X., & Yan, X. (2014). The Changes in Mainland Chinese Families during the Social Transition: A Critical Analysis. Journal Of Comparative Family Studies, 45(1), 31-53. Clark, J. (2014). Is the modernity of Chinese art comparable? An opening of a theoretical space. Journal Of Art Historiography, (10), 1-27. Dongxing, W., Ming, T., & Jinyong, G. (2014). Determinants of the Pro-environmental Consumption Behavior of Chinese Rural Residents. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 42(10), 1661-1673 Fang, J. Y. (2015). "To Cultivate Our Children to Be of East and West": Contesting Ethnic Heritage Language in Suburban Chinese Schools. Journal Of American Ethnic History, 34(2), 54-82. Hamamura, T., Xu, Q., & Du, Y. (2013). Culture, social class, and independence– interdependence: The case of Chinese adolescents. International Journal Of Psychology, 48(3), 344-351 Hu, C., Chand, P., & Evans, E. (2013). The Effect of National Culture, Acculturation, and Education on Accounting Judgments: A Comparative Study of Australian and Chinese Culture. Journal Of International Accounting Research, 12(2), 51-77 Siah Poh, C. (2014). Sex Ratio at Birth among Chinese Malaysians, 1963-2003. SOJOURN: Journal Of Social Issues In Southeast Asia, 29(1), 184-194. Wang, C. (2014). A Global Perspective on Eighteenth-Century Chinese Art and Visual Culture. Art Bulletin, 96(4), 379-394. Wang, X. (2012). On Becoming a Religious Therapist in Chinese Culture. Pastoral Psychology, 61(5/6), 1007-1024 Wyse, M. (2014). Developing a method for cross-cultural dialogue with Chinese. Language & Dialogue, 4(3), 404-424. Xiaohui, Y. (2013). Face Revisited - Negative Face Wants in Chinese Culture. China Media Research, 9(1), 90-100. Read More