Research On China: Language System, Culture, Food, Etc

China is my choice among 195 countries all over the world. Not only is it the neighbor country of Vietnam, but it is also the country that I decided to study its language three years ago. I am really interested in the long-standing traditions and customs rich in cultural identity of China. It is a common knowledge that China is one of the largest countries in the world with the highest population – 1. 4 billion people. Most of them are from Han Chinese group, and the remaining represents 56 ethnic minority groups. This, as a result, creates diversity in Chinese cultures and traditions. Mandarin, as known as Standard Chinese or “Putonghua”, is the official language in mainland China and Taiwan. Chinese language is supposed to be one of the hardest languages to learn for native English speakers. With a different writing system, different grammar, and even different pronunciation style and sound, One of the most impressive features of Chinese language is the art of calligraphy – “shufa”, which bears a long history of China. People write Chinese writing characters in the artful way. Chinese calligraphy is comprised of five traditional forms: Seal Character, Official Script, Formal Script, Running Script, Formal Script, Running Script, and Cursive Hand. Calligraphy is considered as a treasure of Chinese language.

As learned scholars at the time, they needed to pursue this kind of art to demonstrate their skills, ability and knowledge. Calligraphy helps to convey their opinions, therefore, people appreciated both the beauty of Chinese characters and deep thoughts of those who created them. The most popular calligraphy style is the Seal Character style developed by the Han people. It first appeared during the Zhou Dynasty (1045 - 221 BC) and is still popular among calligraphy artists today. The concept of Chinese food is somewhat related to the western meals, where the meat and animal protein is considered to be the main dish. Chopsticks are used to have solid foods, and spoon for soups. Chinese people don't use forks or knives as they consider it ''barbaric''. Grains are the main foods in China. Rice is a favorite among the Chinese of the South but in the north they like wheat. They make wheat into bread and noodles. In china the also eat corn, millet and sorghum. Tea is what they drink the most there. For breakfast they usually eat rice porridge, chicken noodle soup, or deep-fried pastries that taste like doughnuts. One of their favorite food for lunch is egg rolls and dumplings stuffed with meat or shrimp. Cantonese is the most popular Chinese food in America. Canton is a city in Guangdong Province. Many Chinese came from Guangdong to America and brought their way of making food with them. Wonton soup, suckling pig, and stir-fried foods are all Cantonese dishes. Chinese Lunar New Year or Spring Festival is the biggest and most important celebrations taking place annually in China.

A few Asian countries, including my home country Vietnam, Singapore, Korean and Laos still keep this grandest holiday. Preparations often begin early, even one month before, and it lasts until the end of January in lunar calendar. Every year, this traditional holiday is a great chance for family reunions, which bears some resemblances to Christmas Day of westerners. Chinese may get up to 7 days off work, so thousands and thousands of people get home to meet their beloved family members. We often see the famous Chinese New Year rush when the airports and train stations are surrounded and stuck by huge amount of people. On the first day of New Year, red envelops with lucky money inside prepared by the elderly people are given for young generations with the hope of luck and success during the whole year. The Mid-Autumn Festival is another popular harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, during a full moon, which is in September or early October in the Gregorian calendar, close to the autumnal equinox. Making and sharing moon cakes is one of the hallmark traditions of this festival.

In Chinese culture, a round shape symbolizes completeness and unity. Thus, the sharing of round moon cakes among family members signify the completeness and unity of families. Another festival worth mentioning is Lantern Festival, which is on the 15th day of the first lunar month, when people watch lanterns and fireworks, guess lantern riddles, perform folk dances, and eat yuanxiao. The other two festivals in China are Double Seventh Festival on the 7th day of seventh lunar month, with several activities of praying for skillful hands, appreciating the stars, and eating noodles, jiaozi, and wontons and Chongyang Festival on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month with traditions of eating Chongyang cake, drinking chrysanthemum wine, climbing mountains and appreciating beautiful chrysanthemums.

The traditional beliefs of the Chinese culture has always placed the men in front of the women. The men are thought to be the superior of the two genders. The men are thought of as the breadwinners of the family and the women are thought of as the caretakers. This belief has fed into the idea that men play a more important role in society, and also the more important gender. We can see this throughout Chinese history. A prime example takes us back to the beginnings of Communist China when the One Child Policy was put in place. This policy allowed for only one child per family. This highlighted the importance of the male gender in the Chinese culture because families generally would only accept male children. This was due to the fact that the families wanted a child that could carry on the family name.

In turn this led to a high number of orphaned female children. The early Chinese gender roles are very comparable to that of the early United States gender roles. Both cultures placed a supreme importance on the male gender. Which, as we can see, is the typical trend throughout history. As we move forward in history we begin to see the difference between the two cultures. The United States began to differentiate themselves from the Chinese culture when they began to allow for more of an equality for the female gender, especially in the workplace.