Chinese culture

The book Chinese Cinderella, by Adeline Yen Mah, is an autobiography of being born as the fifth child of a depressing time. Adeline’s mother soon passed away after she was born which labeled her as the “cursed” child, which led to the distance between her and her family. The only people who truly displays affection toward her were her grandfather, Ye Ye, and her Aunt Baba. But soon after her mother died, her father remarried a young French-Asian woman, who she refers to as Niang, who married her…

Walls have been as much a part of Chinese culture and history as the philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism, and Legalism. The culture of pre-modern China highly valued walls, as they were everywhere; there was not a town with some sort of a wall around it, and “a city without a wall was as inconceivable as a house without a roof” (Turnbull 2007, 30). Walls were used as defense, and since the Chinese were so invested in using walls to protect cities and towns, why not use them to protect a large…

CONFUCIOUS THE FOUNDER OF CHINA’S UNIQUE FAMILY DYNAMICS To understand China’s distinctive family structure and culture, all one should do is study the historical character of a man named Confucius. Confucius wasn’t a famous emperor who fought a war or commanded an army, nor was he a warrior who bore a sword or crossbow in a battle. Instead, he was an educator whose words, documents, and teachings helped construct China’s family dynamics. His philosophy’s and ethics were handed down for…

has more impact than the rules or principles on Chinese modern business relations. Under the influence of close interpersonal relationship from Confucianism, traditional moral standards, and historical war stratagems, personal relations become the critical factor instead of legal instruments in the business process. First, Confucianism served as the core value of Chinese society for more than two thousand years and remain its influence on Chinese business behavior today. Interpersonal…

extremely beautiful and sexual and the smaller your foot was the easier it would be to marry up into wealth and escape poverty. Every women who wished to marry had their feet bound as it made them more attractive to men. Foot binding influenced Chinese culture in many ways and on many levels: community, nationally and globally. It demonstrated male power, as having a household of women with bound feet who couldn't walk alone turned them into decorative and reproductive objects. It was also a…

New Year’s 1953 was different. For the first time, we observed the Chinese New Year without Father. In the morning, we went to Mother’s room and made our usual bows. As usual, she gave us each a set of new clothes and a red envelope, and then boiled delicious sesame rice balls for our breakfast. The sweetness in my month didn’t change the bitterness in my heart. I missed my father. Later in the afternoon, Mother surprised us with a small rabbit lantern just like those Father had bought for us in…

repeat of my early years. I remember on my first day, one boy, Johnny, who would later make my life hell, greeted me with “konichiwa” even though I was not Japanese and my name gave every indication that I was actually Chinese. Every day, he made fun of me, my family, and an entire culture that I tried so desperately to hide. He would write “chink” on the mist on the bus window. He would tell me he masturbated to me with soy sauce. He would sexually “hump” my bus seat since he sat right behind…

throughout the course of history rapidly changed and while the country itself changed, the definition of Chinese identity itself changed over the course of the twentieth century. The Cultural Revolution was very remarkable and influential to the citizens of China and the country. The definitions such as gender, class identities, urban/rural, Confucian/tradition has changed or rather developed massively. Chinese communism is a very unique form of government. It had to fight and withstand many…

Evidently, religion, or spiritual life, is a binding element between the ancient civilizations of China and India. Buddhism emerged from a predominantly Hindu society in India when Ashoka seized power. He adjourned all conquer and expansion plans and instead adopted the social and ethical teachings of Buddhism. Buddhism had great appeal for many Indians at the time because it was accepting of all social classes , thus eliminating discrimination. Moreover, it stressed compassion, and freedom from…

chaos of their perilous journey to America, compounded by the discrimination and dehumanization faced upon arriving at Angel Island, the wives of Chinese immigrants more often than not became a memory of the world these men were leaving behind. American policymakers dictated, “In 1884, a California court interpreted the 1882 Exclusion Act to mean that Chinese immigrants could not send for their wives. As a result, families were separated for years, or even decades.” (AAIJ). This law would not be…