Chinese Culture – The Myths and Facts

People of Chinese heritage live all over the world, developing their own cultures that combine traditional practices with the traditions of their new homes. They often speak different dialects and have their own religions, foods and languages.

Between 2015 and 2020, the Chinese population grew fastest in Staten Island and Queens. This contrasts with other Asian ethnic groups, which primarily shifted to Brooklyn.

Chinese Culture

In Chinese culture, the collective well-being of a society and virtues like courtesy, selflessness, respect, loyalty and communal obligation take precedence over individual desires and rights. In this collectivistic culture, people tend to have deeper and more intimate relationships with each other than they would in individualistic societies.

A Chinese cultural tradition is ancestor veneration and respect for elders (filial piety), both of which are rooted in Confucian beliefs. Ancestor veneration includes offering food, fruit and spiritual money to the dead at their graves and worshipping small idols of historical figures in homes and offices.

Similarly, the Mandate of Heaven principle that ruled during many ancient dynasties held that China’s superiority rested on its close proximity to heaven and the notion that emperors were God’s representatives on earth meant they received the utmost respect, bordering on worship, as long as things went smoothly. Since the onset of reforms, however, rural-urban migration has brought new levels of diversity and mobility to Chinese communities that could not develop during the 30 years of socialism.

Chinese Religion

Throughout Chinese history, religion has been an important part of the cultural fabric. In particular, ancestor veneration and divination are two practices that have survived the shifts between different dynasties. These are accompanied by Confucian principles of respecting elders (filial piety) and honoring the gods that represent a village, a region or the entire Chinese nation.

Although the Communist Party is officially atheist, it has long been hostile to religion. During the Cultural Revolution, religious beliefs were condemned as feudalistic and foreign and thousands of houses of worship were destroyed. The CCP now imposes restrictions on its roughly ninety million members and prohibits them from participating in religious activities. It also has launched a campaign of Sinicization to bring all religious groups into line with its doctrine.

Despite these restrictions, the vast majority of Chinese people practice some form of traditional religion. These include Taoism, Buddhism, shamanism and localized ancestor veneration. Many also believe in Chinese folk religion, feng shui and geomancy. The core value of these traditions is harmony. Harmony encompasses the concepts of rationality, propriety and compatibility.

Chinese Food

In Chinese culture, food has a lot of symbolic meaning. It is not just a source of nourishment, but also a symbol of love, health, and prosperity. Chinese believe that a person’s diet can affect his or her overall health, and each region has its own special dishes that reflect the climate. For example, people from northern China prefer to eat hot foods like chilies and garlic, which they believe can help rid the body of coldness and dampness. Similarly, those from the south enjoy eating cooling foods such as watermelons and cucumbers to counteract the heat.

In addition, Chinese hardly ever waste any part of an animal, and many foods are based on this principle. For example, shark fin soup replenishes strength and increases appetite, crocodile meat strengthens the bronchia, and dehydrated tiger testicle increases stamina for men. Moreover, the type of food one serves at weddings and funerals reflects the social responsibilities of the couple or the deceased.

Chinese Language

One of the biggest myths about Chinese culture is that it’s a completely homogenous group of people who all think and act in similar ways. The truth is that Chinese thought, behavior and language vary greatly based on where one is from in China.

Even within the Han ethnic group there are a multitude of dialects, and speakers of different Chinese dialects usually cannot understand each other. It is not uncommon to hear of people conversing in the same room in completely unrelated dialects.

Mandarin is the standard dialect of the country, and many school books use simplified characters which require less pen strokes than traditional Chinese. However, the paper Ming Pao (as well as subtitles on movies) are written in traditional characters and can be found in local Chinese stores.

There are 55 different national minorities in China, and each of them has its own spoken language. Those who speak only one dialect, like Cantonese, are known as “local Chinese.” Outside of China the term “overseas Chinese” is often used to refer to those with Chinese ancestry, and they may consider themselves to be culturally Chinese regardless of where they live.

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