RachelRobinson

CIS110
ExploringCultureEssay

Introduction
The Chinese culture is very unique in its own way, but differs from the American culture in
many ways. We commonly demonstrate ethnocentrism which is judging all other cultures by
ones own culture. Culture is theknowledge,language,values,customsandmaterialobjectsthat
are passed from person to person, from one generation to the next in a human group orsociety.
Identifying yourself with another culture that you are not a part of is an interesting thing to do.
Things that define a particular culture, such as beliefs and norms, are essential during the
research process. How that culture is perceived and stereotyped by society are two very
important things to consider. Interviews of members of that specific culture could also be
conducted. Gathering research and conducting interviews will contribute to the exploration of
this unfamiliar culture. A description of the communitywillbegiven.Itwillincludethingssuch
as stereotypes, issues, problems, cultural divides and any other interesting parts about that
culture. It will also include things suchashowthecommunityisstructuredandthegeographical
understanding of the community. The methodology will elaborate on the strategies used to
collect all of this data andinformation.Lastly,thethematicanalysiswillconsistoffourdifferent
themes based on research literature, observation and interviews. Each theme will be concluded
with a brief evaluation. The four themes that will be the main focuses are social interaction,
employment,educationandlastlylifestyle.

The Chinese culture dominantly covers a large geographical area of East Asia. TheChinese

culture is a very large and extensive. It consists of fiftysix ethnic groups that have their own

unique language and customs. The social, economic and political dimensions of thisculturecan
seem to be very complex because of its size. These different ethnic groups most likely share
cultural universals. There are many aspects of this culture that makes it extremely unique and
fascinating. It differs from American culture in many ways such as their social structure,
economy, religion, food, language, customs, values, art, gender role and statuses, employment
and education. How a particular culture is perceived and stereotyped are important things to
consider. The wordstereotypeusuallyreferstopeoplesskepticalideasabout aspecificperson
or thing. Stereotypes can be positive or negative as well as true or false things. Cultural
stereotype research has been done previously in the academic field of social psychology. It has
been argued that the formation of country stereotypes is based on a combination of several
aspects such as social identity, political climate, history, climate, landscape, economic and
technological development, religion and most importantly people (Nikitina and Furuoka 179).
The most common Chinese stereotype is that Chinese people arethebestatmath.Racialrelated
stereotypes about intelligence are very important to focus on because they can mentally impact
those included in that stereotyped group(Cvencek,Meltzoff,Nasir,OConnor,andWischnia1).
Not only are they stereotyped as being the best at math, they are said to be brainiac ad nerdsin
general. Other stereotypes that are common about Chinese peoplearethattheyareallextremely
bad drivers, they all look alike, they all share the same names and theonlythingthattheyeatis
rice. Chinese face a few issues such as environmental, social and economical issues. They also
share cultural divides with Americans. A cultural divide is the virtual barrier caused bycultural
differences, that hinder interactions and harmonious exchange between people of different
cultures. There are many cultural divides between Chinese and Americans when it comes to

things such as social structure, food etiquette, morals, eyecontact,andvisitingapersonshome.

For example,inAmericaeyecontactisexpectedtobemaintained throughoutaconversation,but
in China eyecontactisnt expectedtobemaintained.Itcanactuallybeconsideredasagestureof
defiance sometimes. There are so many significant things about the Chinese culture. Chinese
people are known for their exotic eating habits. They eat a wide variety of differentthingssuch
as live octopus, dogs, silkworms and they also drink snake blood wine. Obedience to elders in
considered to be extremely important in the Chinese culture. As far as religion, Atheism,
Confucianism,Taoism,andBuddhismarepracticedwithinsmallpercentagesoftheculture.
Methodology
Many strategies had to be used in order to collect data and important information to establish a
clear understanding of the Chinese culture. This paper has used multiple secondary sourcesthat
consist of academic research journals, articles, and interviews. All of these aspects of the
research process will help form the thematic analysis for the Chinese culture. The research
material focuses on what defines the Chinese culture and what their beliefs are. The research
material has also helped form different themes about the culture toanalyze.Thefourthesesthat
were essential to the research are social interaction, employment, education and religion. Two
interviews were conducted and questions that correlated with the different themes were asked.
The two people who were interviewed were foreign exchange students here at theUniversityof
Kentucky. The same questions were asked for both interviews. Questions about religion,
education, food, government and economy, social interaction and family were asked. It was
discovered that majority oftheChineseculturalisnonreligious.Thosewhodopracticeareligion
of some sort are most likely to practice Confucianism. The Chinese food that we eat here in

America, didnt seem very familiar to these students. They said the food that we perceive to be
Chinese food, doesnt really even exist in China. Food such as orange chicken was created by
Chinese Americans. As far as family, each of the students said that it is very common for
families to have very close relationships with one another. Eldersarerequired toreceiverespect
and they take things of this nature very seriously. It was also said that China is a communist
country with censorship. They arent allowed to access social networks such as twitter and
facebook. Its just sort of a social norm that they are to follow. Questions about how they are
stereotypedwerealsoasked.
ThematicAnalysis
SocialInteraction
Social interactionsrefertoparticularexternalities,inwhichactionsofareferencegroupaffectan
individuals preferences. A reference group is a social group that strongly influences a persons
behavior and social attitudes regardless of whether that individual is an actual member. There
are many things that fall under social interactions such as communicating verbally. You can
socially interact through social networks, email, texting, and talking on the phone. Its a very
common thing for Chinese to use mobile texting for social interactions. Thefindingsuncovered
that Chinese use mobile texting forrelationshipmaintenance,socialnetworkconstruction,social
coordination, emotional support, and business interaction (Xia 131). It was stated that Chinese
use mobile texting for relationship maintenance, social network construction, social
coordination, emotional support and business interaction (Xia 143). There was a question about
social interaction that asked in the interview. One student said that where they are from, using
social networks such as twitter and facebook are not allowed. It is against the social norm.

Interacting with family plays an important role in their social interaction. Family is thier basic
unitofsociety.
Employment
The first theme that corresponds with the analysis is employment. Employment is a very
important aspect of life. Most people couldnt survive physically or mentally without being
employedifyouhavemanyresponsibilities totakecareofsuchasbills,afamilyandimportantly
yourself. It is said that gender inequality is apparentinthesocialrelationsofmostsocietiesand
the increase of wives employment will decrease inequality if it is concentrated in households
with lowearning husbands and increase inequality if it is skewed toward households with
highearning husbands (Sai, Xiaoyuan, and Shi 163). Women usually earn less than men
because of gender segregation. This all occurred during their economic transition. China is the
most populous country boastingoftremendousworkforceintheworld.TheChinesegovernment
takes employment as the first priority of peoples livelihood and as thetopstrategyforensuring
the stability of its society (Di 1). ThegrowthperformanceofChinaseconomyinthe1900shas
beenextraordinarybyanystandard(Ghose1).
Education
Education is a very important aspect of life. It is very essentialtohowsuccessfulcanbeintheir
lifetime. Chinese education is mandatory for nine years. After those first nine years, some may
advance to secondary school. In high school, students can either pursue technical training or a
general education. The opportunity of a higher education is not accessible tomany.Onlyabout
two percent of the population will attend universities. Teaching is a highly respectedprofession

in China. As opposed to all of the negative aspects of their education systems, a lot of Chinese
individualsareextremelyintelligent.
Religion
The last theme thatcorresponds withthe analysisisreligion.Agooddefinitionofreligionwould
be a collection of cultural systems and beliefs that relate humanity to an order of existence.
Religion is typically a belief or worship of a god or gods. Religion is an extremely important
factor of a culture. China is a communist country which makes it officially Atheist.
Confucianism is the most common religion practiced within the Chinese culture. Confucianism
is a system of ethical andphilosophical teachingscreatedbytheChinesephilosopherConfucius.
According to Confucius and his followers the most important thing is to maintain good family
relations, then small and large societal problems would dissolve (Konior 62). Another religion
system that is practiced amongChinesepeopleisTaoism.TaoismisanotherChinesephilosophy
that advocates humility and religious piety based on the writings of Laotzu. One benet of
Taoism, deriving from its attitude towards nature, was a strong inuence onthedevelopmentof
Chinese culture (Konior 63). Buddhism would be the last common religion practice among
Chinese people. Buddhism is a path of spiritual developmentandpracticeleadingtoinsightinto
the true nature of reality. A typical practices that derives from Buddhism is meditation.
Buddhism influencesdifferentaspectsoflife.Itcausedsuchgreatchangesincludingreectingin
the arts, thinking, and way of life (Konior 63). A question about religion was asked during the
interviews. Both students stated that majority of the chinese culture is nonreligious. The most
common religion practice that they havewitnessedwouldbeConfucianism.Therearealsosome
minorities that have their own religions and practices. We can see how Chinese religions differ

from American cultures. Their different religions, practices and beliefs is what makes them
uniqueintheirownway.

Conclusion
As we can see, the Chinese culture is very unique and specialinitsownway.Itdiffersfromthe
American culture in many different ways. We comon judge one anothers culture by our own.
What defines the Chinese culture, what their beliefs are, social norms, etc are things that have
been discovered throughout this research process. How the Chinese culture was perceived and
stereotyped by society was identified. Again, stereotypes can be either negative or positive and
true or false things. Details of the interviews that were conducted were given. A lot of useful
information was gained from conducting the interviews. Information about things suchreligion,
education, government and economy, food, and social structure were stated. The chinese
community was able to be described briefly. Other thingssuchasproblems,culturaldividesand
other interesting facts about the Chinese culture were stated as well. The four themes social
interaction, employment, education and religion were evaluated and described. As far as social
interaction, Chinese people socially interact with one another in certain way that can be similar
to American culture and in other ways that differ from Americans. Employment is a very
important aspect of life that Chinese people make it their numberonepriority.Educationisalso
a very essential aspect of the Chinese lifestyle. Nine years of school is mandatory. Their
opportunity for higher level education isnt allasgreat.Theyarenotasfortunateas weare.The
last theme focuses on religion. Although China is an Atheist country because of communism,
there are afewcommonpracticessharedamongtheirculture suchasConfucianism,Taoism,and

Buddhism. In conclusion, identifying yourself with another culture or community that you are
not a part of an interesting, but difficult thing to do. Through research, observations an
interviews,muchknowledgeabouttheChineseculturewasgained.


References
KONIOR, J. (2009). The Interplay of Philosophy and Religion in the Chinese Culture. Forum
Philosophicum:InternationalJournalForPhilosophy,14(1),5767.

Nikitina, L., & Furuoka, F. (2013). "DRAGON, KUNG FU AND JACKIE CHAN...":
Stereotypes About China Held by Malaysian Students. TRAMES: A Journal Of The Humanities
&SocialSciences,17(2),175195.

Sai, D., Xiaoyuan, D., & Shi, L. (2009). Women's Employment and Family Income Inequality
duringChina'sEconomicTransition.FeministEconomics,15(3),163190.

Yan,D.I.ChinasEmploymentPoliciesandStrategies.

Yu, L. L., Asur, S., & Huberman, B. A. (2013). Dynamics of Trends and Attention in Chinese
SocialMedia.arXivpreprintarXiv:1312.0649.