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Tyler Duffrin
Austin Van Kirk
HUM 131.01
15 August 2017

Three-Fold Harmony

The overlying theme of my Cultural Creation is harmony. All three of the words that

are spelled in different languages are translations of the word harmony the word atop the yin-

yang symbol is translated to Greek, the word to the bottom-left is translated to the simplified

version of Mandarin, and the word to the bottom-right is translated to Hindi, which is the official

language of India (Languages of India). What stood out to me most, as I read through the

chapter, was the level of harmony and balance that was implemented into the origin and

development of each culture, whether that came in the form of moral obligation and occupation

(Roman culture), or religion, spirituality, and philosophy (Indian and Chinese cultures). This is

why I chose to include such aspects of the chapter in this Cultural Creation. Additionally, I chose

to draw a picture because I thought it the simplest way to incorporate all of those ideas into one

sandwiched work of art. I found it interesting that cultures that came together so long ago were

founded on spirituality, behavior, beliefs, and attitudes, and that those ideas still exist today. I

believe their long-standing cultures speak volumes about what it really means to have belief, at

least morally, about societal behavior. This Cultural Creation relates to me and my life because

within everyones life is some sort of harmony. Everyone seeks it out throughout their lifespan,

all in different ways, as demonstrated in my Cultural Creation. It seems like whether one is able

to track it down is a major determinant of quality of life. There werent many challenges here,

other than the lack of artistic ability that held me back from making a high-quality drawing.

Thus, I consider my Cultural Creation a success. Honestly, I dont believe this Cultural Creation

relates to my life or culture in any other way than it involving harmony. Developing these ideas
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into a Cultural Creation has helped me better understand the world, perhaps, by more fully

considering the Hinduism and Buddhism as life philosophies. Now that I have done that, I can

relate my religious upbringing to other religions more copiously.

One of the first things mentioned about the Romans in chapter 3 is that their civilizations

development was twofold, being comprised of the Hellenic culture, which we studied in chapter

2, and the Etruscan culture, which we studied in chapter 3. Since Roman cultures development

was twofold, it fit into the idea of a yin-yang symbol quite well. The citys origin also had

competing myths; the first being embodied in Virgils Aeneid and the story of the Trojan War,

and the second being the story of Romulus and Remus, which also fit the mold of a yin-yang

symbol (Sayre 85). Additionally, early social classes emerged from Romulus implementation of

the traditional two-part Roman distinction between land-owning aristocrats, known as patricians,

and low-class laborers and merchants, known as plebeians (Sayre 86). Finally, what stood out to

me most, since very little was said about the Etruscans spiritual lives, was the duty that was held

by plebeians in republican Rome. That is, that every plebeian chose a patrician as his patron

whose duty it was to represent the plebeian in any matter of law and provide an assortment of

assistance. This paternalistic relationship reflected the familys central role in Roman culture

(Sayre 86).

The wheel-shaped object near the top of the yin-yang symbol, which is in the place of a

circle, is the Dharma wheel, which is one of the oldest symbols of Buddhism, and symbolizes

Buddhas eightfold teachings (OBrien, The Dharma Wheel). The symbol enclosed in a small

circle near the bottom of the yin-yang symbol is the symbol for Hinduism called Om, which is

the sound one makes while meditating (Hindu Symbols). For the sake of my Cultural Creation,

these symbols are representative of how prevalent the two major religions were to the
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development of Indian culture. Finally, the entire drawing is made up of a yin-yang symbol,

which was, and is, central to the idea of balance within Chinese culture. From the text: Yin is

soft, dark, moist, and cool; yang is hard, bright, dry, and warm. The two combine to create

endless cycles of change They balance the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water)

and the five powers of creation (cold, heat, dryness, moisture, and wind) a symbol of

harmonious integration, the perpetual interplay and mutual relation among all things (104).
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Works Cited

"Languages of India." New World Encyclopedia, . 30 Dec 2014, 20:24 UTC. 8 Jun 2017, 13:28
<http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Languages_of_India&oldid=9
86117>.

O'Brien, Barbara. "The Dharma Wheel (Dharmachakra) Symbol in Buddhism." ThoughtCo.,

ThoughtCo., 13 Feb. 2017, https://www.thoughtco.com/the-dharma-wheel-449956.
Accessed 7 June 2017.

"Hindu Symbols." Facts About Hindu Religion, WordPress, hinduismfacts.org/hindu-symbols/.

Accessed 7 June 2017.

Sayre, Henry M. Discovering the Humanities. 3rd ed., vol. 1, United States Of America, Pearson,
2016, pp. 83-117, 1 vols.