Everything about The Culture Of China totally explained
The
Culture of China (Chinese: 中國文化) is home to one of the world's oldest and most complex
civilizations covering a history of over 5,000 years. The nation covers a large geographical region with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and
provinces.
Chinese culture (Chinese: 中華文化) is a broad term used to describe the cultural foundation, even among Chinese-speaking regions outside of
mainland China.
People in the culture
Identity
Many
ethnic groups have existed in China. In terms of the numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the
Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term
Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of
Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional cultural identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the
family name.
Regional
Traditional Chinese Culture covers a large geographical territories, each region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures. Using modern names, here are some distinction:
Society
Structure
Since the
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, some form of
Chinese monarch has been the main ruler above all. Different periods of history have different names for the various positions within society. Conceptually each imperial or feudal period is similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the
hierarchy, and the rest of the population under regular
Chinese law. Since the late
Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), traditional Chinese society was organized into a hierarchic system of socio-economic classes known as the
four occupations. However, this system didn't cover all social groups while the distinctions between all groups became blurred ever since the
commercialization of Chinese culture in the
Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE).
Ancient Chinese education also has a long history; ever since the
Sui Dynasty (581–618 CE) educated candidates prepared for the
Imperial examinations that drafted exam graduates into government as
scholar-bureaucrats. Trades and crafts were usually taught by a
sifu. The female historian
Ban Zhao wrote the
Lessons for Women in the
Han Dynasty and outlined the four virtues women must abide to, while scholars such as
Zhu Xi and
Cheng Yi would expand upon this.
Chinese marriage and
Taoist sexual practices are some of the customs and rituals found in society.
Values
Most social values are derived from
Confucianism and
Taoism with a combination of
conservatism. The subject of which school was the most influential is always debated as many concepts such as
Neo-Confucianism,
Buddhism and many others have come about.
Reincarnation and other
rebirth concept is a reminder of the connection between real-life and the next-life.
Language
Spoken Chinese consisted of a number of
Chinese dialects throughout history. In the
Ming Dynasty standard Mandarin was nationalized. Even so, it wasn't until the
Republic of China era in the 1900s when there was any noticeable result in promoting a common unified
language in China.
The ancient written standard was
Classical Chinese. It was used for thousands of years, but was mostly reserved for scholars and intellectuals. By the 20th century, millions of citizens, especially those outside of the imperial court were
illiterate. Countless number of imperial kitchen staff and
concubines were involved in the food preparation process. Overtime, many dishes became part of the everyday-citizen culture. Some of the highest quality restaurants with recipes close to the dynastic periods include
Fangshan restaurant in
Beihai Park Beijing and the Oriole Pavilion
. Arguably all branches of
Hong Kong eastern style or even
American Chinese food are in some ways rooted from the original dynastic cuisines.
Leisure
A number of and pastimes are popular within Chinese culture. The most common game is
Mah Jong. The same pieces are used for other styled games such as
Shanghai Solitaire. Others include
Pai Gow,
Pai gow poker and other
bone domino games.
Go proverb and
Xiangqi is also popular. Ethnic games like
Chinese yo-yo are also part of the culture.
Gallery
Image:Incense taiwan temple fu dog.jpg|The Chinese Dragon, Fu dog and incense comprise three symbols within traditional Chinese culture.
Image:Renxiong wan04s.jpg|No. 4 of Ten Thousand Scenes (十萬圖之四). Painting by Ren Xiong, a pioneer of the Shanghai School of Chinese art circa 1850
Image:HappygoldfishAstorCourt.jpg|A goldfish pond is a signature Chinese scenery depicted in countless art work.
Image:Nine-Dragons1.jpg|"Nine Dragons" handscroll section, by Chen Rong, 1244 AD, Chinese Song Dynasty, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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