Background Of Chinese Culture, The Political Economy Of China

CHINESE CULTURE
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Table of Contents PAGEREF _Toc500155555 \h 1Introduction PAGEREF _Toc500155556 \h 2Background of Chinese Culture PAGEREF _Toc500155557 \h 2Brief history of Chinese Culture PAGEREF _Toc500155558 \h 2The political economy of China PAGEREF _Toc500155559 \h 3Consequences of Cultural Experiences PAGEREF _Toc500155560 \h 4Collectivism and individualism PAGEREF _Toc500155561 \h 4Power Distance PAGEREF _Toc500155562 \h 7Uncertainty avoidance PAGEREF _Toc500155563 \h 9Perceptions PAGEREF _Toc500155564 \h 11Intercultural interaction PAGEREF _Toc500155565 \h 13Non-verbal communication PAGEREF _Toc500155566 \h 15Core cultural symbols PAGEREF _Toc500155567 \h 15The Influence of Context PAGEREF _Toc500155568 \h 16Rules of Conduct PAGEREF _Toc500155569 \h 16Problems people face while communicating with this culture PAGEREF _Toc500155570 \h 17How can communication be improved with this culture PAGEREF _Toc500155571 \h 17Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc500155572 \h 18
Introduction
The Chinese culture is one of the oldest in the world with history dating back more than 5000 years ago. As one of the ancient civilizations, the culture has become diverse and varied with time and has made a lasting impression to the Asian continent and by extension the world. The Chinese people have developed a unique culture that has been integrated in their business operations and social interactions. The people have crystallized a unique way of communicating and relating with each. The culture is based on their history and resonates with their. This essay focuses on the history of the culture and the various aspects that influence their interactions and behavior individually and collectively.
Background of Chinese Culture
Brief history of Chinese Culture
Early civilization in China started at around 2100 BC with the Xia dynasty. Today, archeologist have unearthed some of the tools and pottery they were using during this period. The Shang dynasty ousted Xia Dynasty and reigned for almost 600 years to 1046 BC. Zhou dynasty followed which lasted till 256 BC. Zhou dynasty adopted a semi-feudal system of governance and lived along the yellow river valley. Annexation of local military leaders of the Zhou dynasty ushered in the Sheng and Xian dynasty which paved way for the Qin. The Qin Dynasty came around 221 BC ad subdued part of the Han Chinese homeland and united them under a central legalized government. A more powerful and functional system of governance had been adopted and conquests aimed at expanding its control. The Han dynasty followed and ruled from 202BC to 220 AD and left a lasting impression on the Chinese history and culture. Historians refer to this period as the golden age of Chinese civilization. It formed the foundation of China we know today. Other dynasties that followed included the Jin dynasty, Northern and southern dynasties, Sui Dynasty, Tang dynasty, five dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms, Yuan Dynasties, and finally it reached the Qing Dynasty.
The Xinhai revolution birthed the modern China. It started in 1911 and aimed to overthrow the last imperial dynasty of China, the Qing dynasty. It formed the Republic of China amidst many revolts that lasted several decades. Taiwan was also born during this period and together with Peoples’ Republic of China are the true successors of the Xinhai revolution. The new rulers instituted a fairly westernized government and allowed a fair share of democracy. More policies and laws were structured and implemented to give the country a competitive edge in the global market. Today China has become a global player in economics acting as the world factory and shipping products across the world worth billions of dollars each year. It has also grown its military capabilities and sought to secure its borders whilst maintaining control of its vast population.
Its current geographical location also has partially influenced their culture. Since the country is vast and subdivided into several regions, there is a fair differentiation of their culture. The northern and southern Chinese people are relatively different in their culture and personalities whilst the urban dwellers have also differentiated themselves from traditions practiced in mainland China. Since China is in Asia, it also exhibits a fair resonance of culture similarity with other eastern societies such as Japanese and Indians. Some of their confluent similarities are in their religion i.e Buddhism and architecture.
The political economy of China
China is a meritocratic government headed by the communist party that overthrew the earlier autocratic regime. It adopted a state capitalism model to stimulate economic growth and it has yielded positive results economically. It has mapped the country among the top industrialized and developed nations around the world. It has distinctively become the largest trading partners of major economies like US among others. State capitalism coupled with meritocracy has posted positive results in improving the life standards of the people and ensuring growth of the economy in two digits for a long time. Political landscape also abolished regressive rules that hurt economic development especially in regard to social inequality and ethnic marginalization. Poverty eradication campaigns and projects have span around the country and have continually posted positive results whilst improving the livelihood of the people. The government has pumped a lot of resources into education it has strategically positioned itself as a country to take over as the world superpower. The communist system of governance is not without defects and mostly the westerners have criticized it for not fully implementing democracy. However, it is unlikely that the existing political model coined from meritocracy is going to collapse and there seems to be a bright future for the Chinese people ahead.
Consequences of Cultural Experiences
Collectivism and individualism
Individualism is hinged on the concept that the individual’s life solely belongs to him and that he has an inalienable right to live it as he deems it fit, to act on his own judgment, to keep and use the product of his effort, and to pursue the values of his choosing. It’s the idea that the individual is sovereign, an end in himself, and the fundamental unit of moral concern. On the other hand, collectivism is defined as the idea that the individual’s life does not solely belong to him but to the group or society of which he is merely a part, he is in himself not entitled to any rights, and that he must sacrifice his values and goals for the group’s “greater good.” According to collectivism, the group or society is the basic unit of moral concern, and the individual is of value only insofar as he serves the group
Chinese culture is diverse owing to the large country and population it has. Therefore, the regions that make up the country exhibit partially differentiated social trends to others. Like northern and southern cultures are fairly different; urban and rural, river line vs interior etc. Some of these factors are inherently unique to the people in a general geographical division and though globalization has partly diluted and unified these cultures, there is a fair degree that they are still different. Therefore, a collective approach to the individualism or collectivism pertinent to each culture is fairly subjective in the general perception of the Chinese cultureCITATION YTW01 \l 1033 (Wong & Tim, 2001). However, there is a commonality in these cultures and they permeate their social trends. The commonality is mainly religious.
There are some Chinese teachings that teach us a fair amount of their approach to social trends such as their literature. Their literature is characterized by collective approach to the societal problems and encouragement to stay together and united to overcome adversaries. However, some isolated aspects of the literature seem to advocate for isolationism and individualism. For example, there is a Chinese saying that says ‘one Chinese makes a dragon, but three Chinese make a worm.’ This saying is out rightly advocating for individualism since it helps people to achieve greater goals on their own. It is a practice replicated all over the Chinese culture that encourages the people to pursue their goals individually if they want to achieve them. Today, the factories that have made Chinese the factory of the world are supplied with labor from all over the country. In these factories, the aspect of individualism is visible and the management prefers it remains that way. Hardly do they even form strong employee bodies and they seek to work individually to overcome the challenges they encounter at the workplace. In their residing places, albeit being bundled in groups, their social interactions are fairly individual and they are innately competitive with each other which further enhances their individualistic approach to life.
Though Chinese people are multi-religious, the main religion is Buddhism. Buddhism teachings incline to collectivism in social trends and advocate for communal ownership of property CITATION YTW01 \l 1033 (Wong & Tim, 2001). It also encourages togetherness as a people and a unified approach to problem solving and celebrations. Though Buddhism encourages the people to seek enlightenment individually, the overall idea about their interactions remains to be hinged on collectivism. Thus, for the Buddhists they exhibit a fair collective attitude in their social circles. The non-Buddhist Chinese who are largely atheist also borrow a fair share of the Buddhist teaching in regard to social trends. The non-Buddhist population also ascribe to ancient practices and social trends that were founded on Buddhism.
The Chinese collective or individualistic culture can be studied through their architecture. A simple house in the Chinese village houses a family with designated areas for cooking and sleeping. A large sitting area is preserved for social interactions as a family and for housing guests. Adjacent to the house is other houses of fellow kinsmen who reside in the same village with similar architectural design. A village typically is made up of a clan with up to several hundred residents. Their children learn and play together and they designate a worship area. This setting which brings people together albeit being related by blood shows that collective culture is engrained in their social trends additionally, most of the fairly complex or labor demanding tasks such as constructing a house is concerned, they come together to help each other build the house. Working together to achieve such a goal shows the culture has an element of collectivity.
Therefore, Chinese culture is highly collectivist and people act in the interests of the group and not necessarily of themselves. Considerations for hiring and promotions are based on degree of socialness the individuals have for each other. Which is a general trend even in the western culture but more prevalent in the eastern world. The social groups formed by the Chinese people are however very cold to the people outside them and often lead to conflicts CITATION Goo11 \l 1033 (Goodboy, Bolkan, Myers, & Zhao, 2011). Personal relationships prevail over task or company needs and these factors show the degree of collectivism of the Chinese people. They base the value of the people on the account of the community and the community reserve the rights to influence to a big extend the rights of the individual. Their social trends thus have gelled on the idea of togetherness and collective approach and responsibility to the society. The collectivism that has permeated the Chinese culture has led to the present day communist ruling that has formed run the government since 1945. It has however not blocked out individualism but it is practiced to a certain degree that does not completely blur out the communist and collective culture they have cultivated and lived by for centuries.
Power Distance
Power distance refers to the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. Chinese culture ranks higher than average in the power distance index. The Asian countries have a higher power distance index than the western world and the Chinese still is at the top with 80 PDI compare to the average 64 PDI in the Asian countries. Thus, their culture is heavily power distant and it has traversed their social, political and economic interactions. Concisely, the Chinese people allow disproportionate distribution of power and revere it whilst acknowledging its legitimacy and authority over them CITATION Goo11 \l 1033 (Goodboy, Bolkan, Myers, & Zhao, 2011). This is unlike the western culture which is relatively less power distant and encourages the people to fight and overcome the barriers instituted by the law legally to exercise their own rights.
In small power distant cultures aim at decentralizing their social interactions, minimizing social or class inequalities, questioning or challenging authority figures, reducing hierarchical organizational structures, and using power only for legitimate purposes. In China, this is unlike their characteristic culture which believes that each person has a rightful and protected place in the social order, that the actions of authorities should not be challenged or questioned, that hierarchy and inequality are appropriate and beneficial. Thus, the cultural inclination of the Chinese culture to advance the power distance continues to be a main element in formation of social interactions CITATION Goo11 \l 1033 (Goodboy, Bolkan, Myers, & Zhao, 2011).
The Chinese people follow the instituted power distant social order with utmost respect. The people in lower social classes or economically revere and unquestionably abide by the rules made by the people in authority. The hierarchical structure which characterizes their workplaces, government and all social circles is unquestionable and must be respected. Rank is important and all the subordinates must recognize and abide by its rules. It transcends the workplaces and permeates smaller social interactions and activities that have no direct relationship to the authority. For example, a subordinate must greet first the most authoritative member in a meeting and if they are serve with a meal they ought to wait till he/she starts to eat before they start taking their meal. These acts are interpreted in respect to a person’s adherence to the societally instituted authority.
This power distance has enabled the communist government to advance its agenda and continue to govern the huge population. Coupled with uncertainty avoidance activities, the people have ‘accepted their place’ in the society and act and live within the societally instituted structure CITATION YTW01 \l 1033 (Wong & Tim, 2001). They revere authority and seek to support it even if it oppresses minority for its gain which is mainly masked under the pretext of greater good. The power distant culture is inherited from the dynasties which ruled the land for centuries which had to revere, respect and accept the instituted governments mostly starting from the emperor or shogun ate. The aristocratic governments which existed for centuries in the land derived their power from out right suppression of the rights of an individual and structured class society that recognized power. Since the culture has been masked that power is for the greater good of the society, individuals often find themselves oppressed especially those who dare act conversely to the authority. Therefore, power distant culture is engrained in the c=social fabric of the Chinese culture and is likely to remain as it is in the foreseeable future.
Uncertainty avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which the culture feels threatened by ambiguous, unknown situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these circumstances. They are likely situations that can arise and create discord in the social, economic or political sheer of the society. Mostly, the structure is created to favor the ruling class and maintain control over the people who could threaten its dominance or institution. Often, uncertainty avoidance is not warranted and the fears that the measures taken attempt to avoid come from governorship adopted by the society. High uncertainty avoidance societies tend to be more worried about the future and are highly resistant to change and they develop rules to control social behaviors CITATION Yeh88 \l 1033 (Yeh, 1988). Typically, mass communication in such ...