Cultural Expression in Modern Asia - Essay Example

Cultural expression in modern Asia i.e. China, Japan and Indonesia Name University Affiliation Introduction All over the world, every nation has its own culture, which is unique from the culture of other nations. Many cultural aspects tend to vary from one nation to another; more so, the traditional cultural expressions also vary among the communities in the same nation. However, countries in the same region for example same continents, their cultural elements tend to be more related in one way or another. European nations’ cultures are very much different from Asian, African, American nations’ cultures. This is just due to the historical backgrounds of these nations and less interaction of people in the ancient times. The cultural variations among nations are also is attributed to the religion, race, geographical barriers, and disparity in development. Thus, people who travel across continents sometimes tend to find difficultness in coping up with foreign cultures and practices (To, 1975). The positive side of cultural differences among nations is that varieties of cultural elements across the world create aesthetic value and spice up the lives of foreigners. Moreover, it breaks the monotony of being in one culture when one visits other countries. The modern days’ culture across the globe is quite different from the ancient times. This is just because of the civilization and modernization that has taken place over the years. Cultural integration has taken place among the communities and many cultural aspects of other societies have been infused in other cultures. Today, some cultures that were practiced in Africa are seen in Australia, Asia, Europe, America and vise versa (Toynbee, &Somervell, 2009).The adoption of foreign cultures has either enriched or diminished the culture of the destination nation. Indeed some cultural practices that were practiced by the ancestors in certain nations have vanished because of the adoption of the new foreign cultures. At the same time, some cultures have been enriched by the integration foreign cultural elements. Studies from researchers reveal that the European or western culture is the one that is dominant and has greatly influenced the cultures of other nations around the world. The main reason is just Europe underwent industrial revolution and civilization earlier than other nations (Toynbee, &Somervell, 2009). Therefore, it had more technological advancement that influenced other nations. This paper focuses on the western cultural elements embedded or seen in the Asian countries such as China, Indonesia and Japan cultural practices. It will also show how these foreign cultures interact with the Asian cultures. As mentioned earlier, western culture is quite dominant in non-western countries. This implies that non-western societies have acted as receivers and rejecters of the cultural aspects that are transmitted by the west (To, 1975). Research done over this issue states that there are two theoretical approaches in perceiving this issue. The first approach has seen the adoption of western cultures by other societies as “power reduction” (Toynbee, &Somervell, 2009). This approach views the absorption of western cultural elements by other nations to be demeaning, reduction or neglecting of the native culture. This means that western cultures have disregarded the importance of the local culture. This approach explains why some societies tend to reject or reluctant to adopt the western cultures that seem to devalue their cultures. The second approach that was proposed by researchers over this issue is “quest for cultural compatibility” (Voskuil, 2011). This approach talks of the positive side of cultural integration; it explains that the adoption of new cultural elements by societies increases cultural compatibility and diversity among the societies. The proponents of this approach advocates for culture blending so as to enable the society members to accept, appreciate and learn to leave with other people from different parts of the world (Voskuil, 2011). The diffusion of the western cultural elements in many societies in the modern world depicts that there is a change in power. When a society is building its power, its cultural values attract the attention of pother societies. Therefore, the spread of the western cultures around the world in the contemporary society is because of the upsurge western power. Western cultural elements in China China being one of the populous nations across the world, it has a rich culture that has a long history of over four hundred years. While there exists a great differences in social, economic and political arenas between the mainland China and other places where the Chinese cultures dominates, it is very much easy to identify the main values that are found in the Chinese culture (Gibson, 2010). There is little variation in cultural practices in mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the oversea Chinese in the expression of their culture. The culture of China gives it a unique identity among other cultures, however, with time; this culture has been influenced by the western cultural values. Western culture has crept nearly in every social aspects of the Chinese culture and has altered the original culture. Many Chinese cultural elements such as Music, language, art, fashion, food, religion etc have been affected by western culture. The Chinese music as dates back in to the time of Chinese civilization before Christ. Music was played in different occasions; we had military music, court music, folk music etc. With time, the facet of music as one of the cultural aspects has changed gradually due to the influence from other cultures especially from the western cultures (Salahuddin, 2009). Chinese vocal music was sung in a thin non-resonant voice and it was usually done solo rather than choral. In fact all traditional Chinese music were melodic rather harmonic. The musical instruments that were used in traditional Chinese music were solo instruments such as flutes, bowed stringed instruments, drums gongs etc. However, Chinese music took another direction when the western cultures came. The new culture movement that happened between 1910 and 1920 attracted the interests of the Chinese musicians (Salahuddin, 2009). Most of them who had studied in western countries adopted the classical music and used western music notation when composing their songs. Therefore, the Chinese society had a lot of classical and pop music such as rock and roll music than native music. Therefore, young generation preferred the new kind of music because it was more appealing due to the variety of styles (Gibson, 2010). Moreover, the musical instruments also changed, the musicians used most sophisticated instruments such as electrified guitar, piano key board, mouthpiece and other instruments that added some spice in the pieces. Actually, western musical instruments and other accompaniments brought mot aesthetic value to the Chinese music. Another aspect of Chinese culture where the western cultures have dominated is drama. Originally, the Chinese drama was called Chinese Opera that grew out of a variety of plays and existed in many forms. The traditional stringed instruments, percussions gave the rhythmic accompaniment to the acting of the drama (Meissner, 2006). The action itself was based on the body movements such as gestures, footwork, rowing a boat etc. Moreover, in traditional Chinese theaters, no drama was performed in vernacular and no drama was performed without singing. Nevertheless, the drama took also another direction when the western culture arrived. In the twentieth century, the Chinese students who went abroad came back with different ways of acting. Following the movement in year 1919, a number of western were staged in China and most Chinese playwrights started imitating the western way of play (Salahuddin, 2009). The Chinese theaters now had a variety of drama that even did were not accompanied by music. The reaction of the Chinese people on the western drama was that they referred to them as dead drama or poisonous weeds due to how it influenced the traditional culture. Language is one of the cultural aspects in Chinese that has undergone changes due to the adoption of the western culture (PSP, 2012). Due to the dominance of the western education across the world, English language has become common in every part of the world. Therefore, Chinese languages have borrowed many English vocabularies (Meissner, 2006). This is because most of the literary materials in the learning institutions have been printed in English language. In most cases, some languages do not have exact terms that describe various aspects or objects for example in science. Sports are also other aspects that have been altered by the western culture. In China, the main sports included wrestling, taekwondo, swimming, athletics, music festivals etc (PSP 2012). However when western culture came, other sporting activities such as basketball, football, volleyball, rugby and many more were incorporated. These new sporting activities have enriched the Chinese sporting culture even now the Chinese can compete on the world levels in these sports activities. Many sports stars have really excelled well in these foreign sports. Fashion and designs is also part of cultural elements in many societies, Chinese society due to its diversity, it had many different fashions of clothe most, which were long dresses that covered the whole body to the legs (PSP 2012). The clothes were designed in a manner that they had a variety of bright colors that appealed to the viewer. When the western culture entered, fashion and design also changed and many people put on official suits, skirts and blouses like those of western countries. Western cultural elements in Japan Japan is also another country whose culture is more diverse and rooted in the prehistoric sites. Like the Chinese culture, Japanese culture has also been influenced greatly the western cultures. We have many western cultural elements in the many aspects of the Japanese cultural practices. Language is one of the cultural elements that have been really altered by the advent of the western culture. We have Japanese language which is the main language spoken by almost 99% of the Japanese people Rodriguez, (n. d).We have other minor languages spoken in this country but the when the western culture came; English language was introduced and now is one of the main languages in this country. Many learning institutions teach using Japanese and English language, even writers nowadays write their literary materials in English language (The blagsmith, 2012). English language has influenced the young generation in that they have formed a language called “Japenglish” which is a combination of the English language and the Japanese language. Another aspect of western culture in the Japanese culture is the western oil painting. This became a major genre in the nineteenth century. It was created for vanishing elements of the Japanese culture, as it was introduced; it seemed to be more appealing to the beautification of the walls, paper and other surfaces (The blagsmith, 2012). The history of Japanese painting exhibited competition between the Native Japanese aesthetics and the imported ideas; the interaction of the Japanese paintings and the western paintings has been important since prints such as Ukiyo-e prints were made and exported to other foreign nations Rodriguez, (n. d). Music is also a cultural aspect that has been influenced by the western culture. The native Japanese music is quite diverse and was mainly folk music. The western culture brought with it classical music which has become the integral part of the Japanese music. The popular music was affected by the western music and led to the emergence of J-pop (Japanese popular music). (The blagsmith, 2012). Moreover, on music, the Japanese music nowadays use the modern musical instruments such as the piano keyboard and other modern sophisticated accompaniments that add value to the music unlike the olden days. In sports, the native Japanese sports include the sumo, judo, karate, kendo, taekwondo wrestling etc (The blagsmith, 2012). Nevertheless, westernization brought other sporting activities such as baseball, golf, football, athletics and other sports that are played in western countries. In fact, baseball is the most popular sport that has many spectators in this country (Japanfaq, 2004). Japan also participate in athletics and has hosted winter Olympics twice, more so, Japan s one of the nations that has a successful football team in the Asian continent. The elements of westernization are also exhibited in the religion in the Japan. Japan enjoys the full religious freedom based on article 20 of its constitution. Over 905 of the Japanese population profess the Buddhism (Pye, &Pye, 1985). The remaining percentage is for the other religions such as Christianity, which originated from the west. The Christian though are in small number celebrates the Christmas and other Christians ceremonies like other Christians around the world. Western cultural elements in Indonesia Music plays an important role in the culture of Indonesia and music genres in this country are quite diversified. The Indonesian music history is traced back in Java islands, Sumatra and Bali Rodriguez, (n. d). Gamelan is the traditional music in Indonesia that originated from central and the eastern part of Java. Another popular music in this country is Dangdut that is often accompanied by free dance style (Japanfaq, 2004). However, we have also other kinds of music that have their roots in Portugal. We have kerencong, soft susando music from west, Timor, degung and angklung music. The composers of music nowadays in Indonesia tend to blend the local characteristics and the western characteristics to come up with a more appealing music piece. Most of this western music is played by modern musical instruments such as guitar. Therefore, the music landscape in Indonesia was really altered by the western culture. The Indonesian architecture has been greatly influenced by the European and Indian architectures. This influence became stronger during the nineteenth century (Van der Kroef, 1952). Normally, the tradition Indonesian houses are built on stilts with oversized saddle roofs, which were the home of the Bataka and Toraja. Due to modernization and westernization, towns and cities are now full of elegant skyscrapers with the architectural styles of the western countries. Banks, learning institutions, offices, factories and other infrastructures have embarked on adopting the western style. Artwork such as painting is an olden cultural element in Indonesia but it has been greatly influenced by the westernization. We have both tradition and western painting where the oil painting and paper painting is also done (Pye, &Pye, 1985). Woodcarvings, ornamentation, engraving and other forms of handwork have borrowed some skills from the western culture and incorporated them. Moreover, the artists in this country use the modern equipments from the west to do this artistic work (Indonesia.gr. 2012). The traditional fashion and designs of Indonesian composed of long dresses for both man and women. However, when the wets culture came, men now just put on official suits like the westerners. Therefore, artwork in Indonesia was greatly altered by the western cultures. The traditional Indonesian food is rice meat and vegetables. Coconut milk and chili are supplementary, to the Indonesian menu (Voskuil, 2011). Due to international integration, the Indonesian cuisine has changed greatly to suit most of the foreigners who visits the countries. More food additives are now included in preparing and other foreign foods such as canned meat, cereals, honey, fish etc have been added to the Indonesian menu (Van der Kroef, 1952). The styles of preparing these meals have changed greatly; they resemble those of the western and other countries. Conclusion Western cultures have had a great impact on the cultures of many nations around the world. Most countries have adopted the western style of doing things and sometimes they abandon the native style or culture. The influence of the western culture on the other cultures has had both positive and negative impacts. From the discussion, we find that the adoption and integration of the western cultures in other cultures has posed more advantages than disadvantages. Some countries all over the world have welcomed these new cultures and others have been reluctant with the fear of erosion of the native cultures. References Adian, D. &Arivia, G. (2008). 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