Guide to Chinese Culture

Chinese Culture

Culture is something that is defined as beliefs, customs, institutions and all other products of human work and thought that is created by a group of people. The Chinese culture is one of the oldest and richest cultures of the world. It is also the biggest civilization of the world. The Chinese civilisation comprises of 56 ethnic groups, prominent among which is the Han Chinese. Large geographical territories are covered by the Traditional Chinese Culture. Each region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures and often represented by three ancestral items. The Chinese derived its social values from Confucianism, Taoism and also Buddhism.

History

China has been ruled by different Sovereigns and Emperors. Throughout history, there had been attempts to classify the society on the basis of socio-economic classes, education, trade and craft. In fact, the era of the Zhou Dynasty is often looked to as the touchstone of Chinese cultural development. A large part of the Chinese culture is based on the notion that a spiritual world exists and to substantiate that notion, folklores and numerous methods of divination came into existence.

Literature

Chinese literature began with record keeping and divination on Oracle Bones. Also important is the Chinese Wenfang, “Four Treasures of the Study", which considered brush pen, Chinese ink, paper and inkstone to be the key instruments for writing Chinese characters. The Chinese Classic texts covered a wide range of subjects including poetry, astrology, astronomy, calendar, constellations. Even notable confucianists, taoists and scholars of all classes have made significant contributions to and from documenting history to authoring saintly concepts that seemed to be hundred of years ahead of time. Though the Classical Chinese was in use for many thousands of years, it was available mostly to scholars and intellectuals rendering the others illiteracy. It was only after the May 4th Movement that the Vernacular Chinese came into existence and common citizens began to read.

The Rhythm

The Chinese culture is a well developed music culture. Its first major well documented flowering was during the Tang Dynasty. In ancient time, it combined poem, music and dance effectively and linked it directly to people’s activity and their fight against natural calamities. In the next period, it was developed by slaves purely to entertain their masters and aristocrats. Then it gained importance in feudal society. Later, the music took form of the Opera, which became an important form of music. Finally with the growth of Capitalism, civil music came into existence that provided the basis of the modern Chinese music.

Arts and Architecture

Chinese art encompasses all facets of fine art, folk art and performance art like porcelain pottery and even paper-cutting. It is also one of the main birth places of Eastern martial arts like Kung Fu though the primary purpose of it was mainly warfare and survival. There are certain features common to Chinese architecture, regardless of specific region or use like the emphasis on width, symmetry and also the role of Feng Shui in structural development.

Fashion and Food

The different fashion trends in China was mainly to show the difference between classes like the colour yellow was mainly reserved for the Emperor. Also many symbols like the phoenix were used for decorative and economic purposes. Food was an important aspect for the Imperials. Some of their favourite foods have become part of everyday-citizen culture while others fell into the domain of restaurants. The Chinese culture also consists of a number of games among which the Mah Jong and the Chinese yo-yo are the most famous ones.

Family

Chinese culture was traditionally patriarchal. Before the eldest male member, usually the Fathers used to influence and take decisions on behalf of the children even in cases like career and marriage but now the children take their decisions themselves.

A lot has changed within the Chinese culture but the Chinese people have retained the basic social and cultural value that underlies the richness of their culture and make them a great Nation.