Chinese Culture: Critical Analysis - Essay Example

Chinese Culture: A Critical Analysis The culture of China is one of the world's oldest and most complex cultures, as China boasts a history that is rich in over 5,000 years of artistic, philosophical, political and scientific advancement. The actual history of China is one which is told in traditional historical records that refer as far back as the three sovereigns and five emperors, supplemented by archaeological records dating to the 16th century BC. China is thus absolutely one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, and Chinese culture is incredibly complex in certain areas, including: architecture, cinema, dance, music, health, language, clothing, cuisine, society, and government, for instance, and the only true and actual way to be able to get a better understanding of the country of China in general is to aptly and appropriately address and discuss all of these parts of its culture. The aim of this paper is to do just that, as well as discuss several other particular issues, which are: the history of China in the United States, the traditional Chinese perceptions of health and illness, the traditional Chinese healing methods and views on death, and the current healthcare problems of China. By thoroughly addressing and discussing all of these issues, we will be able to come to a much more informed and knowledgeable understanding on the subject matter at hand overall. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The early history of China is rather complicated, primarily by that of the lack of a written language during this period, coupled with the existence of documents from later time periods which attempted to described certain events which occurred several centuries beforehand, thus obviously causing quite a bit of confusion and complexion. However the earliest comprehensive history of China, the Records of the Grand Historian, which were written a Chinese historiographer named Sima Qian in the 2nd century BC, and as well the Bamboo Annuals, are both able to trace and consequently show Chinese history from about 2800 BC, with an account of the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors. It is actually considered as being unknown as to who the first Chinese was to set foot in America, it is thought that more than likely it was a fisherman and that it was in San Diego. In the early 1850s, many Chinese came to California in search of gold, and later on they came as contract laborers to work on the railroads and other construction projects, and as gold mining was increasingly difficult for them and the construction projects were completed, they soon then began to seek other means of livelihood. From San Francisco and Monterey Bays the Chinese then began to go south to San Diego, where they ended up establishing a base to fish the waters all the way to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. "They established a fishing village at Roseville in Pt. Loma and another at the foot of San Diego's New Town, the latter village to become Chinatown. They dominated this industry until 1890, and during its peak built and sailed as many as 18 junks. Besides a wide variety of fish, they had exclusive domain in the pursuit of abalone. They were able to supply all the fresh fish requirements of San Diego and to export dried fish products to other Chinese communities worldwide" (Lee, 1996). Then, starting in about the 1880s, the activities that were completed by the Chinese in San Diego increased, including construction of the Californian Southern Railroad between National City and San Bernardino, and as well they were involved with the work that was done on the San Diego Flume, which carried water from the Cuyamaca Reservoir to San Diego for 36 miles on 315 redwood trestles and through 5 tunnels. What's more, is that besides providing labor for large projects in irrigation and flood control, the Chinese were also involved largely in the mining of gold and precious gems in the mountains that centered in Julian. Besides fishing, which was one of the activities that the Chinese were most largely involved in during their earliest years in the United States, they were also employed as laborers, (construction, manufacturing and farming), and worked in the service industry as launderers, cooks, servants, and gardeners, for instance, and then later, as their wealth began to significantly accumulate, they grew to become more established and respected workers, and that included becoming employed as merchants, restaurateurs and grocers, for example. It was in the early 1900s when the Chinese began truly integrating into the United States' economy, and although the Chinese organizations and social activities remained traditionally Chinese, there was still involvement in the larger community-wide activities: "Early participation in the annual 4th of July parade, creation of the Hall of China (now the House of China) for the 1935 California-Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park, the growth of the Chinese Mission and its outreach into the community, and the creation of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance all reflect the growing American-oriented trend of the new Chinese generations" (Lee, 1996). From then on they continued to grow in this manner. In the United States, both Chinese and Chinese-Americans are forced to basically confront a world in which they have medical options that are from two very different cultures; their decisions in regards to responding to these contrasting systems have had incredibly serious consequences on the outcome of their health overall, and this is thus a very crucial issue to discuss. Under the American health care system, diseases that are more prevalent within the Asian-American community, such as Hepatitis B, for example, are often overlooked when Asians are getting checkups, and this is largely because these types of diseases have a low prevalence in communities of other cultures. On the other hand, traditional Chinese medicine is typically more subjective, and is often based more on notions that have to do with spirituality, rather than on proven scientific rigor. In regards specifically to the traditional Chinese perceptions of health and illness, this includes a wide range of traditional medicinal medical practices originating in China that developed over several thousand years. In fact, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is considered as being "a modern compilation of traditional Chinese medicine. TCM practices include theories, diagnosis and treatments such as herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage; often Qigong is also strongly affiliated with TCM. TCM is a form of so-called Oriental medicine, which includes other traditional East Asian medical systems such as traditional Japanese and Korean medicine" (Wikipedia, 2007). The actual history of traditional Chinese medicine is quite lengthy and complex and much of the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine derived from the same philosophical bases that contributed to the development of Taoist philosophy, and thus it tends to reflect the classical Chinese belief that "individual human experiences express causative principles effective in the environment at all scales" (Feng, 2002). In the West, traditional Chinese medicine is known as 'alternative medicine', and it actually developed as a form of noninvasive therapeutic intervention which was rooted deeply in ancient belief systems, and it is important to know that Chinese medical practitioners before the 19th century relied greatly on observation, trial and error factors, which thus incorporated into and included some certain mystical concepts. "Like their Western counterparts, doctors of TCM had a limited understanding of infection, which predated the discovery of bacteria, viruses (germ theory of disease) and an understanding of cellular structures and organic chemistry. Instead they relied mainly on observation and description on the nature of infections for creating remedies. Based on theories formulated through three millennia of observation and practical experience, a system of procedure was formed as to a guide to TCM practitioner in courses of treatment and diagnosis" (Roberts, 2006). There are many other forms of traditional medicine in the world, most of which have largely become extinct over time, however even today traditional Chinese medicine practices continue to be incredibly popular and widely used, and overall it continues as a distinct branch of modern medical practice, and within China, it is an incredibly important part of the public health care system in general. As well, in more recent decades in particular, there has been a rather great effort in terms of integrating traditional Chinese medicine with scientific medicine, and work on this is still being pursued in the present day. The traditional Chinese healing methods and views on death are incredibly distinct and significant as well, and basically all traditional Chinese medicine has a sort of 'macro' or holistic view of disease. "For example, one modern interpretation is that well-balanced human bodies can resist most everyday bacteria and viruses, which are ubiquitous and quickly changing. Infection, while having a proximal cause of a microorganism, would have an underlying cause of an imbalance of some kind. The traditional treatment would target the imbalance, not the infectious organism" (Roberts, 2006). There is definitely a noted relationship between the Chinese and traditional forms of medicine, and particularly, within China, there has been a great deal of cooperation between TCM practitioners and Western medicine, especially so in the field of ethnomedicine. Then, outside of China, the relationship between TCM and Western medicine is somewhat more contentious, as while more and more medical schools are including classes on alternative medicine in their curricula, at the same time older Western doctors and scientists are far more likely than their Chinese counterparts to skeptically or differently view TCM as being archaic pseudoscience and superstition. In specific regards to the traditional Chinese view on death, this again is incredibly significant to their culture overall. In Chinese culture, death rites are incredibly intricate and well thought out works on preparing one for the afterlife and rebirth. Chinese religion and strict cultural beliefs are basically inseparable from the death rites that are performed, and many different names for death are actually scattered throughout Chinese history, including, for instance, an ideogram which depicts a sole person kneeling in front of their ancestor's bones. Death is something which is taken incredibly seriously in Chinese culture, however not with all sadness as it is believed that the person is headed for the afterlife and rebirth. End-of-life care for Chinese patients and their family centers around that of family and communications, and symptom management may be complicated by patient and family reluctance to complain and respect for others - especially those who are in a position of authority. As well, barriers to pain and other symptom management by family caregivers is also considered as being a problematic issue in this regards, as they may also be related to other issues, including a lack of knowledge about pain and pain management, fatalism, fear of addiction, desire to be a good patient, and fear of distracting the physician from treating the disease. "Communications related to end of life issues are often complicated by reluctance to discuss prognosis and in some instances, diagnosis. To a greater extent than in other cultures, it remains a norm among Chinese patients and families for (1) the family to withhold information or even lie to the patient and (2) for the patient to pretend that she or he does not know what is really happening. The family is expected to help prepare the body for burialandTraditionally, there is always an older relative or person from the temple to instruct the oldest son or daughter on what to do regarding washing and dressing the body" (Lee, 1996). For the most part burial is preferred in the Chinese culture, but not all Buddhists. Furthermore, in the homeland, the body may be disinterred at five years or longer after burial, and the remains placed in a large urn, which is most typically then kept in the home, in a temple, or is reburied. There has always been a sort of stress on the issue of mutual obligations between the living and the dead. In other words, there has always been somewhat of an emphasis on the same principle of reciprocity that governed relations among the living members of a Chinese community, as it was assumed that the dead could influence the quality of life for those who were still in this world, and that could be either for the better or for the worse. "On the one hand, proper burial, careful observance of mourning practices, and ongoing offerings of food and gifts for ancestors assured their continued aid. On the other hand, failure to observe ritual obligations might bring on the wrath of one's ancestors, resulting in family disharmony, economic ruin, or sickness. Ancestral souls for whom no one cared would become 'hungry ghosts', which were thought to be able and willing to attack anyone in the community. Royal ancestors, whose worship was the special responsibility of the reigning emperor, could aid or harm people throughout the empire, depending on whether or not the emperor upheld ritual obligations to his ancestors" (Chin, 1996). While burial customs in particular were more subject to local variation than funeral rites, throughout China there was still a preference for burial over alternative means of dealing with the corpse, and for example, few Chinese ever ended up opting for Buddhism's concept of cremation, despite the otherwise strong influence that this religion had overall on Chinese ideas and practices in relation to life and death. The Chinese generally saw the body as being a valued gift from the ancestors, something that one should place whole under the soil near one's ancestral village. From this review we can conclude a number of different things, several which are of particular importance, and for one it is important to remember that the American health care system does not serve to only the Caucasian community, but as well to the communities of minorities as well, including the Chinese community. The Chinese immigrate to the United States with basically an entirely different set of values and beliefs and ways of thinking, and this often results in setting them at odds with the labyrinth of American health care overall. By incorporating certain and specific aspects of traditional Chinese medicine into the Western health care system, as well as by improving the Chinese understanding of Western medicine overall, both cultures will be able to greatly and significantly improve their arsenals of medicinal and physical treatments and, in the process, this merging of both East and West will be able to foster cross-cultural understanding, so that Western physicians can most accurately serve in their Chinese patients' best interests, and as well, Chinese patients will be able to have complete confidence from then on in, in terms of their Western providers. Works Cited Chin, P. Chinese Americans. In J. G. Lipson, S. L. Dibble, & P. A. Minarik (Eds.), Culture & Nursing Care. San Francisco: UCSF Nursing Press, 1996. Feng, Charles. 'Merging Chinese Traditional Medicine Into the American Health System', Journal of Young Investigators, 5: 2002. Lee, Murray. A Short History of the Chinese in San Diego, California. 1996. 2 April 2007 http://www.sandiegochinese.net/htmls/history.htm Roberts, J. A. G. A History of China. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. Wikipedia. Culture of China. 2007. 2 April 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_China Read More