Chinese and the US Cultures - Essay Example

China and USA are two of the greatest superpowers in the world, still, these countries have a lot of core differences in multiple aspects of their functioning. However, one of the most significant differences concerns the cultures of these two nations which almost don’t have anything in common.
First of all, the two nations have different cultural and historical backgrounds. The United States is rather a young country and its history doesn’t contain even a thousand years. Thus the American nation was built on the principles of racial, national, and cultural variety because the entire country consists of representatives of almost all cultures and ethnicities of the world. That’s why it is possible to say that what people are used to considering as American culture is a combination and compilation of bunches of different cultures with their authentic features like mentality, traditions, customs, and even physical appearances. Chinese culture is one of the most ancient and stable cultures in the world. The traditions that Chinese people have and their customs haven’t changed for almost five thousand years and they form the entire Chinese nation and culture.
The very first crucial thing that makes these two cultures different is their core religions, which are opposite. Even though United States citizens have the freedom to confess any religions they want, still the most popular religions of American culture are Protestantism and Catholicism. These two religions have Christian roots, so the people who confess these religions have deep faith in only one God, as the religions are monotheistic. Chinese most widespread religions are Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. These three religions are not based on faith in only God. The religions are combinations of ethical doctrines which proclaim respect for ancestors (Confucianism), as well as some meditative techniques and faith in the greatest prophet Buddha. When American religions more look like religions with all their attributes, Chinese religions are more like philosophies that direct people’s lives.
Also, Chinese and American cultures are based on totally different languages, which are two different systems of describing signs. English language which, is being used in the USA, is based on letters and their combinations which form certain words and have etymological meanings. Chinese hieroglyphs are combinations of signs themselves. Each of the signs has its meaning and forms to broaden language constructions, like words and sentences, in combination with other signs and the right pronunciation of the intonation of the whole hieroglyph. Read More