There are more than four million people in the United States with Chinese ancestry. The largest concentrations are in California and New York.
Lured by the promise of gam saan, or gold mountain, many Chinese began emigrating to America in large numbers in the 1850s. They found themselves in hostile territory. Chinatowns developed as enclaves where families and tong organizations supported one another.
Chinese Culture
Chinese culture encompasses a wide range of beliefs and practices that span the canonical texts, philosophical/religious systems and aesthetic tastes of the educated elite to the everyday artefacts, festivals and practices of ordinary people. The broad definition of Chinese culture encourages research that examines how this cultural legacy circulates and transforms throughout the world.
Chinese traditional culture is influenced by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. The three doctrines promote virtues such as courtesy, selflessness and respect for society as the primary values that guide daily life.
China is a highly collectivistic society with close interpersonal relationships. As a result, Chinese are often sensitive to the opinions and feelings of their family and community. In this context, jokes about their leaders or policies are not seen as funny. This is also true when it comes to social exchanges such as the giving and receiving of gifts. Courtesy teaches humility, modesty and avoidance of ostentatious behavior. These values are reflected in the rituals of sacrifice to ancestors, weddings and funerals, as well as in daily social interactions such as greetings and courteous exchanges.
Chinese Language
Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is the mother tongue of more than 1.3 billion people, most of whom live in China and Taiwan. There are also significant Chinese-speaking communities abroad, including many immigrant communities in the US.
The Chinese writing system has a long history and is based on pictographs (as well as some ideographic characters). These are combined to form words. The language is tonal and analytic, with a subject-object-verb word order. It has a rich lexicon and is one of the most complex languages in the world.
The various Chinese varieties are usually considered dialects of a single language, though they lack mutual intelligibility. They are part of the Sino-Tibetan language family and the linguistic branch called Sinitic. They are also sometimes classified as separate languages, however. The language is largely homogeneous with a few exceptions. Words can consist of one syllable, two or more syllables that each carry a meaning, or a group of syllables that cannot occur as individual words (called a tone). These exceptions are the result of regional differences.
Chinese Family
The family is the central unit of Chinese society. While China’s recent one-child policy reform has shifted the focus of many families away from financial success, most Chinese believe that the future of the family lies in its children. They are utterly devoted to the prosperity of their children and want to see them do better than themselves.
Family values are deeply rooted in Confucian philosophy. For example, filial piety (xiao shun) is an important value that emphasizes children’s obligation to obey and care for their parents throughout their lives in return for the love and protection they received as children.
As a result, it’s common to see Chinese names for relatives with the characters Da (dai), Er (er), San (san) and others added in front of them. These additional characters differentiate nieces and nephews from brothers and sisters, illustrating the close bond that exists between Chinese families. Regardless of the size of the family, elders are treated with reverence and respect.
Chinese Health Care
In recent years, China has made remarkable progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). However, the country still faces significant challenges in providing its citizens with comprehensive care. Although the majority of Chinese citizens and permanent residents have public healthcare insurance, they are required to pay fees and premiums, which can be high for some individuals. The insurance schemes vary by region and employment status. Working urban residents have the highest level of coverage, followed by non-working urban and rural residents.
But for Shu Min, who relies on the public system to afford her father’s medical expenses, co-pays have been steadily rising in recent years. She worries that these high costs may be contributing to the growing disparity between urban and rural populations’ life expectancies. In an attempt to combat corruption in the health sector, some regions have set up hotlines for people to call in tips on illegal activity.