Cultural Universals of China

China remains one of the earliest civilizations in Asia. As a result, the Chinese culture has played a major role in influencing the etiquette, philosophy and traditions of the entire continent. Chinese culture is the dominant culture in the East side of Asia stemming from the early civilization. It played a major role in laying out the foundations of the Eastern region’s culture (Wong, 2017). Chinese Language and Communication, Sex, Love & Marriage, Religion, Art and Technology have a significant influence on both the ancient and modern world, while their ceremonies and festivals are observed and celebrated by a large part of the Asian community. These concepts have been inherited over the generations. Additionally, fortune telling has also survived over the years in the Chinese culture.

Taoism refers to the philosophy of harmonized coexistence with the Tao (道), which literally means “the way” (Pollard, Tignor & Clifford, 2011). In the Chinese culture, Tao forms the foundation of most philosophical schools. Taoist ethics are variant across the schools. Some Chinese literature, such as the Book of Changes (I Ching) date back to 1000 BC, depicting a long past for Chinese literature (Rhen, et al. Over the dynasties, a growing number of poets and academies of scholars. However, most works were in original written form until the invention of printing in form of type. Writers, poets and philosophers played a major role in the preservation of the linguistic culture in the Chinese culture. As at the beginning of the 20th Century, a large part of the population was still illiterate and communicated using the unintelligible languages.

Art beyond these times is classified depending on the dynasties during which it was done. Most of the dynasties lasted over 100 years. Arguably, Chinese art forms one of the continuous forms of art in the world, with respect to its continuity and uniformity over the years. Western versions of art have been marked by diversity and change over the years, with huge differences between the classics and the modern art. Decorative art forms an important part of the Chinese culture as it is employed in the manufacture of ceramics in factories. The ancient style of love and relationships was generally ritualized while the modern form is more western, where the individual is left to make decisions on their love life. Over the ages, marriage in China was organized by parents.

The main ideology was that “windows and doors had to be matched. ” This means that people married within their own economic and social standings. The contractual nature of marriage meant it was for the purposes of procreation rather than love. In moat nonwestern societies, technology is mainly ignored by the mainstream institutions, with China not excluded. Despite the interest the country has on technology, it only plays a minimal role in the society (Bray, 1995). Compared to the role played by science in the Chinese society, technology forms a very small part. It is important however to note that the competition on technology are developed on the idea of “the west versus the rest. ” Most of the top innovative technological advancements over the recent past are from China.