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Chinese Culture
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.
Identity
Many ethnic groups have existed in China. In terms of numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighbouring 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:The Yellow River basin areas include Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei and Shandong
The Yangtze River areas include Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
Chinese Beliefs
The Concept of Being Chinese
The concept of being Chinese is not based on race. Rather, it is a cultural concept. Speaking and behaving like a Chinese, accepting the Chinese system of cultural values is to be Chinese. The Chinese refer to themselves as Han or sons of Han (as in Han Dynasty, a period of great historical significance). Throughout history, small ethnic groups that came into contact with the Han Chinese have adopted Chinese culture and have been absorbed into the mainstream. This process continues, though there are today legal guarantees designed to protect the rights and culture of minority nationalities in China.
Religion
Taoism
Taoism seeks to promote the inner peace of individuals and harmony with their surroundings.Confucianism
Confucianism is based on the teachings and writings of the philosopher Confucius. It is an ethical belief system rather than a religion, and is based upon the concept of relationships. In Confucianism every relationship has the dual aspect of responsibility and obligation. Therefore the relationship between mother and child, husband and wife, brother and sister all have responsibilities and obligations. However, Confucianism goes beyond the family, and encorporates the relationship of individuals with the state, subject and ruler, bureaucrat and civilian. If these responsibilities and obligations are observed, then society will be a just and harmonious one.Folk Religion
Prior to 1949, practices that may best be called folk religions were common throughout China. Although they incorporated elements of Buddhism and, especially, Taoism, these religions were usually local, often based on local gods, and served the local people.Buddhism
The origins of Buddhism are to be found in India, and entered China in the reign of Emperor Han Ming Ti in about 65 AD, which is roughly about the time that the book of Revelation in the Christian New Testament was written. Despite this early entry into China, it did not gain any mass following until the around 290 AD. Its popularity came during a time of social disorder and barbarian invasion. Buddhism's promise of personal salvation, although very much against the norms of Chinese collectivism and emphasis on family and society, attracted many during a time of great uncertainty.Buddhism was established by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha or 'enlightened one'. Siddhartha Gautama was a prince of the Sakya kingdom on the borders of what are now India and Nepal and was a contemporary of Confucius. Although living in luxury, Siddhartha Gautama was exposed one day to the sufferings of the masses. This greatly affected the prince and he began a search to find relief for human suffering. This he found when he received a moment of enlightenment while meditating under a Bo tree.
From this moment the prince became the Buddha - the enlightened one. The Buddha taught that desires are the source of pain, and that by overcoming our desires we can overcome pain. To achieve this he advocated meditation and pursuing the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path is a set of rules similar to the Ten Commandments of Judaism and Christianity. The objective was to reach Nirvana - the condition of spiritual peace, where all cravings, strife, and pain have been overcome and the spirit merges with eternal harmony.
Buddhism split into two major trends quite early on in its development: Greater Vehicle (Mahayana) and Lesser Vehicle (Hinayana). Hinayana remained closer to the original Buddhism and is the variation of Buddhism practised in the countries of South East Asia. The Buddhism of China, Korea, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, and Vietnam, however, stems largely from Mahayana Buddhism which incorporated some more traditional religious practices such as the belief in repetitive prayers, heaven and deities (bodhisattvas) who would help people gain salvation. It also readily adapted to the land and people it converted. In China, it split into several schools, including Ch'an (Zen in Japan), T'ien-t'ai (Tendai in Japan), and Pure Land.
Christianity
Christian missionaries have been active in China since the 17th century when Jesuit missionaries from the Roman Catholic church went to China. Protestant missionaries first appeared in the early 19th century. All Christian missionaries had difficulty converting the Chinese because, with some just cause, Christianity was associated in the popular mind with Western imperialism. By 1949 there were only 3 or 4 million Christians in China, less than 1 percent of the total population. A number of recent reports have indicated that protestant Christianity flourished during the cultural revolution, and where the authorities discouraged the practice of Christianity, the result appears to have been to increase the resolve of believers. There may be as many as 50 million Christians in China today - still a tiny minority in a country of 1,200 million people.Islam
Islam came to China mainly from Central Asia, where it was practised by many of the Turkish peoples. Today there are believed to be about 4 million Chinese Muslims.
The Chinese Calendar
Although the Gregorian calendar was adopted in China in 1912, Chinese the world over continue to regard the date given in the old Chinese lunar calendar as the beginning of the new year. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the year has 354 days and 12 lunar months, about half of them with 30 days and the other half with 29. In order to make the months correspond with the movements of the earth around the sun, a 13th month is inserted every two or three years. The new year begins on the new moon and may occur at any time from January 1 to February 19, inclusive. The years are named for the animals of the Chinese zodiac - as the year of the rat, the ox, the tiger, the hare the dragon, and so on through the years named for the snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig before the next 12 year cycle begins with another year of the rat.
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