Chinese community is a group of people with similar cultural values and traditions. It is becoming more popular to connect with other families from China through new types of charities and sports groups.
Family life is very important to Chinese people, they value filial piety and loyalty. Many spend time with their grandparents and other extended relatives.
Family
The family is the cornerstone of Chinese culture. Many Confucian thoughts revolve around the family, and marriage and children are especially important to Chinese families. In traditional times, arranged marriages were common, and the eldest son was given sole responsibility for the household. These traditions have evolved with changing societal norms.
The notion of xiaoshun (filial piety) and devotion to elders are important in Chinese family life, as well. It is customary for grandchildren to be raised by grandparents, and elders are often honored by ancestor altars in the home that feature candles and photographs of their beloved departed relatives.
In modern times, the goal of Chinese families is to earn enough money to build or buy a house, as this symbolizes a higher social status. As a result, more parents are full-time workers and quality family time is scarce. It is also becoming more common for young adults to leave the family home to pursue their own lives, creating a further breakdown of traditional family structure.
Religion
Chinese religion includes Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, as well as many indigenous practices. These include offering incense to ancestors, conducting funerals, exorcising ghosts and consulting fortunetellers. They also include a range of Chinese folk religious traditions, which are syncretisms that incorporate elements from each of the three major traditions and from other faith traditions.
In April a woman in Sichuan Province committed suicide after the CCP pressured her to renounce her membership of the TSPM True Jesus Church and threatened her family. She was arrested multiple times, given a public criticism session and home visits from officials, and was subjected to threats of losing social benefits for her children.
Bitter Winter reported that local UFWD and SARA officials in Xi’an hosted a training session on religious Sinicization for pastors of provincial-level religious groups, instructing them to teach socialist core values and promote “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.” Local authorities regularly review sermons from TSPM pastors to ensure they are sufficiently political.
Education
Despite the disruptions of the Cultural Revolution, education in China has been expanding rapidly. Education policy emphasizes scholastic achievement and stresses the development of science and technology. It is aimed at developing a modern scientific and technological personnel base to meet economic demands. Among the educational objectives is to raise literacy to 50 percent and universalize 9-year compulsory education by 1995.
The system of schools consists of exemplary urban and rural primary and junior high schools, teachers’ schools, agricultural vocational schools and colleges, secondary vocational and technical schools, and universities. Provincial-level education authorities develop plans, enact decrees and rules, distribute funds to counties, and administer directly a few key secondary schools.
The CCC has organized a wide range of cultural and educational programs for children and adults to connect to Chinese culture. Its artists, chorus and dance groups have performed at the Festival of Nations, Schenectady Museum Festival, First Night in Saratoga, RPI, SUNY and Siena College, as well as in grade school social study classes. The CCC has also served as a volunteer group for the regional food bank, Literacy Volunteers of America, WMHT TV auctions and at nursing homes.
Culture
The Chinese are a people with strong attachments to their cultural heritage. While adjusting to life in America they have preserved many traditional values and practices, especially through community organizations, cultural festivals, and language schools.
Early Chinese immigrants were well-integrated into all the countries they settled in, despite the usual bigotry and discrimination faced by most newcomers. They cultivated their communities with a spirit of cooperation and mutual aid. It was common to see three generations living under the same roof, and for family members to work together in restaurants or hand laundries.
The philanthropic institutions they established were designed to provide social assistance, education, places of worship, and health facilities for their community members. They also fought against racism and discrimination through political and judicial channels. The adage, “Wherever the Union Jack flies there’s a Chinese community,” reflects this.