The Chinese Culture - Research Paper Example

Book Review The Chinese culture is dominated by the teachings of Confucius which basically emphasizes on responsibility, obedience and deference in regards to the elderly in the community. China country is large in geographical aspects thus the traditions and customs vary. Statistics show that there are more than fifty ethnic groups that call China home. China has a population of 1.34 billion people. There is no official religion in China due to the fact that it is a communist state. Half of the population in China do not have any religious affiliations and in some cases identify themselves as atheists. Taoism, Confucianism and other traditional beliefs are practiced by a quarter of the population. We can also see a small number of them are Christians, Muslims and Buddhists. It should be noted that since the nineteenth century there has been active catholic and protestant ministries but the progress to convert Chinese people to this religions has not been that effective. China has seven main dialects; these are mandarin, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, Cantonese, Wu, and Min. Mainland China has Putonghua the type of Mandarin that is based on the speech as its official national language. When writing the language in text it is symbol based. Just as geographical aspects and ethnic diversity influence the Chinese life so does it also affect the cuisine aspect. Cantonese way of cooking is among the main styles and comprises of Sezchuan and stir-fried dishes. Sezchuan mostly relies on using peanuts, ginger and sesame paste, it is well known for its spiciness. Fan is the Chinese word referring to rice but it also means meal. Rice is a staple food for the Chinese as well as scallions, bean sprouts and cabbage. Their consumption of meat is little but they occasionally indulge in chicken or pork. Their main source of protein is tofu. The rich mystical and spiritual history surrounding China plays a great role in their art. Many of the artistic pieces such as paintings and sculptures depict spiritual Buddhism figures. Music is also an integral part in their lives and some of the instruments such as the flute-like xun and the guqin are evidence. These instruments are in the Zither family. Musical history of the Chinese culture dates back to the beginning of its existence. Many of the movies we watch in theaters and at times in the comfort of our homes by the Chinese people show the kung-fu form of martial arts which has its birthplace in china. Chinese ancestors from ancient times were philosophers and avid writers especially in the famous Ming and Qing dynasties which is clearly reflected in the liturgical history of china that is very rich. The beginning of the lunar year is marked by the spring festival which is also the largest festival taking place between mid-January and mid February. This is considered a time to honor the ancestors. The celebration lasts for fifteen days during which the children thoroughly clean their homes signifying a new beginning or a fresh start. Fireworks mark the holiday together with parades of dancers dressed as dragons. A great number of people make pilgrimages to the birthplace of Confucius in the province of Shandong. This is mostly during his birthday on September twenty eighth. People in China also observe the birthday of the goddess of mercy, Guanyin by visiting Taoist temples. It takes place between the months of late March and late April. The goddess of the sea known as Mazu or Tainhou has her birthday being celebrated in the months of May or June. In September or October they celebrate the Moon festival with moon gazing, paper lanterns and fireworks. Edward L Davis’s book, the encyclopedia of contemporary Chinese culture has a great deal of historical information that is very educative but on a more important note it enlightens the reader about modern China. This book is a plethora on diverse aspects of culture in regards to the Chinese people and the author also did not forget to put into light the major cities that are present in China such as Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. There is a brief description of every single topic in the encyclopedia just to give the reader a general view. There is an in depth explanation of some topics while others have a brief elaboration but the author went a step further to suggest a source where one can get more reading material on the particular topics in case the reader wants to know more. This helps in providing more insight to the reader regarding that particular subject. This book has one thousand two hundred entries and is the first reference book ever to explain such a vast culture and also make it possible to be accessed to individuals who speak English. It was written by specialists who are internationally recognized giving the readers the ability to explore the diverse culture that is fascinating with subjects ranging from Christian churches that are underground to rock groups, prisons, talk shows and radio hotlines. The cover is graced by theme parks, gay cinema, artists called the North Pole group and Big tailed elephants who nestle between sex shops and political jokes. The encyclopedias main focus is on mainland china as from nineteen eighty but it also talks about the contemporary culture in Taiwan and Hong Kong together with references that are up-to-date that enables the reader to do further reading. Students and teachers of contemporary Chinese culture will find this book to be indispensable as a reference tool. Tourists, business people, journalists and any other individual visiting China will find it as an invaluable source of cultural context. There are entries touching on issues such as lesbianism in literature to the music culture of dakou and political pop all trying to touch on the recent developments that pertain to culture. The entries are arranged alphabetically covering issues that involve politics, sports, media, fashion, architecture, medicine, dance, music, cinema and literature. The book has a classified entry list that has categorized and divided the entries into eighteen headings enabling the reader to easily find the topic or issue of interest. Edward L Davis acknowledges that the title of the book is a potentially awkward term and takes the liberty to explain that the contemporary period took place or starts from the year nineteen seventy nine to present day. Davis acknowledges that the notion of Chinese culture has a deep problem since the single volume of encyclopedia does not do it any justice to the cultures of the transnational space designated by cultural china (p. 17). The first discussion in the encyclopedia is about A Jia who devoted his fifty year career in practicing and studying Xiqu which is sung drama or opera. He was a director with great brilliance who wrote plays and a theatre theorist. He is well renowned for his work as the head writer and director of Red Lantern-Hongdengji which is considered the first revolutionary modern plays in regards to Cultural Revolution. During his youthful days A Jia studied calligraphy and poetry. In the year nineteen thirty eight which is before he joined Mao in Yan’an he was a laborer, teacher, reporter and he also did a brief stint as a monk. Everyone starts from somewhere and A Jia played part in many amateur performances of Xiqu. He joined the Yan’an Academy of Arts and Literature; he later joined the Communist Party in nineteen forty one playing the role of director and later became the vice president of Yan’an Pingju. He had a deep theoretical and practical understanding of traditional Xiqu and he is remembered as being the most successful innovators of this particular genre since he came up with brilliant ideas on how to portray modern life during the Xiqu performances (p. 1). There was growth in great numbers in regards to journals of Chinese language in the electronic world. These electronic journals published articles that touched on various issues such as the humanities and social sciences. The earliest Chinese e-journals was called China News Digest or Huaxia wenzhai and based in the US. It had good number of scholarly articles that touched on popular topics. As from the year two thousand, academic journals that are PRC-based have become of great significance in the Chinese intellectual world (p. 2). Moxibustion and acupuncture forms of treatment are considered to be among the most distinctive of Chinese medicine. Acupuncture as a branch of Chinese medicine deals with the therapeutic manipulation of needles on the body anatomy but on specific sites while moxibustion is the therapeutic cauterizing and warming of these particular sites with moxa leaves that slowly burn. These forms of treatment are commonly used together during clinical practice. Albeit they might be used together in the clinic setting acupuncture is the one that is mostly used hence making this technique to be predominant. These techniques have a history spanning two thousand five hundred years of being administered to the Chinese people. They continue to be effective in present day to the extent of evolving medical practice today. They first came into being in the early eras of the Han dynasty that is 475 BC to AD 24. The yellow Emperor’s Inner Cannon- Huangdi neijing which is the oldest medical text in china expounds on the basic principles of moxibustion and acupuncture (p. 5). The Law in china has been traditionally seen as a means of carrying out what the rulers desired rather than as a tool of exercising the citizen’s control over the rulers. This outlook on the matter of law remained like this during the first thirty years of the People’s Republic. The government’s functionality followed a top-down control which ensured that the officials carried out their designated tasks. If a citizen had any issues or complaints about an official they had to take it to the official’s superiors through letters and visits system that was informal (p. 5). Adoption in China in the traditional way is referred to as lisi which in literal sense means to establish an heir. In most cases it involves naming of a child who is most likely a boy as the descendant of the couple who were not fortunate enough to bear children who are biologically their own. This practice might or might not be legally binding since the sole and main purpose is to ensure continuation of the family name. The PRC has since established a law in regards to adoption stating that the main purpose of adopting a child should be in enriching its development. By this law there is restriction of children under the age of fourteen to be adopted if they are orphans, children who have been abandoned and the birth parents are not found or children who have parents but the parents are unable to cater for their needs. Abandoning a child in China is illegal but it is believed that it contributes to the major reasons why there are children in orphanages which are also referred to as social welfare institutes. The one-child policy in China has contributed to baby girls being abandoned. Statistics show that most of the children present in orphanages are girls (p. 6). There were very little art galleries in china until the mid nineteen nineties when thing started to gradually change. Majority of the individuals who bought the art initially were either journalists, diplomats or patrons from Taiwan and Hong Kong. Increase in interest as well as the market value has seen the rise of new galleries that deal with contemporary art being opened in most of the Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Kunming. Red Gate Gallery was the first privately owned art gallery and it was in Dongbianmen watchtower. It was founded in the year nineteen ninety one by Brian Wallace who was an Australian. During the Red Gate Gallery Tenth anniversary, it expanded its role in regards to the local art community by taking a step and hosting artists from other countries and nationalities (p. 30). Jiaoyiwu or hejiaowu is Chinese ballroom dancing also known as the social dance. By understanding the Chinese culture one is capable of gaining advantageous grounds in regards to future opportunities. For example, by understanding the culture or even the language one is able to give their children an upper hand in the business world that has become so competitive. If there is a case scenario where there are foreign competitors who are evenly matched and are both trying to woo a Chinese company then the company with Chinese-speaking foreigners will obviously get in the good books of the Chinese company hence gaining an advantage. From recent technological and business advancements we can without a doubt agree that china is breaking free from a period that it was stagnant and it is gradually being considered among the great powers of the world. China is presently considered as the country with the second largest economy in the world, which is being fuelled by the fact that growth rate totals an average of ten percent per year. To any business oriented individual wanting to penetrate the Chinese market and take advantage of the possible opportunities and huge economic shift then one has to an extra mile and learn about the Chinese culture and even better the language to get through the language barrier. China is recognized for its cutting edge technology such as I-phones to products that are relatively cheap. It is referred to as the factory of the world giving renowned countries a run for their money. Robert Mundell who is a Nobel Prize winner considers China as the factory of the world since products are being built and designed in china. China is very influential in the manufacturing aspect hence getting to understand the culture will be a plus. Chinese culture is very fascinating since it’s over five thousand years old. By learning and understanding the culture one is able to view the world from a different aspect. Without a doubt no matter how long you take in preparing in regards to going to china you will still have a cultural shock once you enter this peoples republic. Going to china is a lovely encounter worth remembering and it is advisable that one should be more sensitive and flexible to the Chinese culture so as adapt quickly. Chinese culture is unique in many aspects and different from the western culture as well as other oriental countries such as Mongolia, India, Japan, Korea and Thailand. According to the historical background of china the Chinese people set up a culture of their own regarded as a system that includes its special square shaped characters which total to well over five thousand, medicine, painting, philosophy, cooking and obviously the music. These mentioned aspects are totally different from those of the western culture. This contrast in cultural dimensions brings out the attractiveness of china’s culture. It is best to understand a culture by getting close to it, that is, touch it and experience it since all the cultures that are present have their own reasons for existence. By travelling and reading one is able to obtain great knowledge so by reading about the Chinese culture and going there to personally experience it one is able to get the experience and information first hand. Ni Hao is Chinese equivalent to saying hello, how are you? To which they will simply reply Ni Hao. The simple task of conversing to them in Chinese is considered as a very friendly gesture. Chinese people put a great deal in politeness and thoughtfulness. Chinese people have in most cases been classified as being puritanical and this in most cases is true since even couples don’t show much affection or show it publicly. It is advisable that if you are a foreigner you let the Chinese people to take the lead in gestures pertaining to affection. More and more people are learning the Chinese culture and even the language and a good example is Kevin Rudd who is the Austrian Prime Minister, he is very fluent in Mandarin Chinese as well as the secretary of US treasury Timothy Geitner who is fluent in Chinese and even had his university education in Beijing. Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman who is also the former governor of Utah is very fluent in China and he has also adopted a Chinese kid. Through the investments that China is making around the world on a global aspect and the involvement to matters pertaining to government affairs then it is best to understand their culture. Works Cited Davis, Edward. Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Chicago: Taylor & Francis, 2009. Print. Read More