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My Experience at the Utah Chinese Folk Art Festival

Aspen Kesler

Student, Salt Lake Community College

COMM 2150: Intercultural Communication

Prof. Kelly Jones

February 20, 2022

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Overview

Chinese culture is unique and has a history that goes back thousands of years. The Utah

Chinese Folk Art Festival is put on every year to honor that history and uniqueness. One can

learn many things about Chinese values and beliefs from attending events or even simple

research. From one event, I learned so much and was able to follow up on research I had already

done. The experience was enriching and I am glad to have attended.

Culture and Religion

Chinese culture is one full of magic and creativity. Since it is one of the oldest

documented histories, the Chinese have many creative ways of storytelling. “China has the

longest continuous history of any country in the world—3,500 years of written history. And even

3,500 years ago China’s civilization was old!” (Lattimore O. & E., 1944). Storytelling is a pillar

in the culture because it helps retain stories and histories in people’s minds as well as documents.

The history of China is divided into dynasties pertaining to who the emperor was during that

particular time. The Chinese value harmony and honesty. Balance is another pillar in their

society and pinpoint in their teachings. The symbol of Yin and Yang comes from China and its

significance is to protect one’s balance as well as show that there is a little good in every evil and

a little evil in every good. In ancient Chinese society, there were three main practiced religions:

Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. In modern Chinese society, many folk religions still exist

but the main practiced are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism (National

Geographic Society, 2019).

Cultural Function

I attended the Utah Chinese Folk Art Festival at Trolley Square this weekend. The

festival was put on by the Utah Chinese Association and they’ve been putting on the celebration

every year around the Lunar New Year since 2016. The Utah Chinese Association is a group that
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offers scholarships, provides extracurricular activities, and creates a community for Chinese

Americans here in Utah. The festival is held in multiple locations throughout the month of

February and consists of many traditional Chinese art presentations. The morning started off with

a potsticker cooking contest and then stations were set up for participants to try out different

paper arts. The stations were zodiac sign paper cutting, paper lantern making, and calligraphy.

Next, I got to watch a traditional dragon dance. A dragon dance is made up of many dancers that

carry and dance with a long dragon puppet on their backs. The festival concluded with a series of

song and dance performances. The Utah Chinese Association Youth Choir, who were a part of

the performance, is made up of five young girls with beautiful voices, and they sang some

Chinese children’s folk songs. I didn’t get the chance to conversate much with the other

participants and members of the association, most of whom spoke very little English, but the

experience itself taught me very much about Chinese culture.

Value Theory

Chinese culture can be evaluated and compared to other cultures using the Value

Orientation Model produced by researchers Florence Kluckholm and Fred Strodbeck. The model

serves as a medium for which to categorize, compare, and contrast cultures. “Kluckholm and

Strodbeck suggested that members of all cultural groups must answer the following important

questions: What is human nature? What is the relationship between humans and nature? What is

the relationship between humans? What is the preferred personality? What is the orientation

towards time?” (Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 96). Many have done extensive research on the

Chinese orientation of values and practices. Through my own research, I was able to determine

how to classify Chinese culture according to the Value Orientation Model.

First, the Chinese have had evolving perspectives on human nature. Teachings from

Taoism don’t have a single view on the goodness or evilness of humans, Xunzi believed that
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humans are inherently evil, and teachings from Confucius and Mencius, the most widely

accepted, believe that humans are naturally good (Yen, H.-C., 2015 pp. 28-29, 32). Second,

Chinese beliefs conflict with their practices on human relationship with nature. “Chinese thought

is taken as comprising environmentally friendly doctrines and values, yet the current

environmental problems in modern China paradoxically cast doubt on the age-old belief” (Hung,

2019). It’s conflicting because Chinese culture teaches that humans should strive to live in

harmony with nature, however, China is currently the leading country in global pollution. Third,

Chinese culture suggests a collective society over an individualistic society. This is a common

value throughout Asian countries and China is no exception as the country has been a communist

republic since 1949. Collective societies place emphasis on helping the greater good over helping

oneself, and strangers are more likely to help one another in any situation. Fourth, the three

preferred personalities are stress on action, stress on spiritual growth, or stress on who you are

(Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 97). The Chinese have a “doing” mindset and put stress on

action, but the culture has firm rules for those who do succeed. “Lao Tse [one founder of Chinese

Taoism] said, ‘He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm... He who displays himself does

not shine; he who asserts his own view is not distinguished...’” (Lihua, 2013). While Chinese

culture promotes growth in areas like business and economics, they have very strict guidelines

on how one should conduct themself. Finally, the Chinese are a past oriented culture. Tieyuan

Guo and Roy Spina conducted a research experiment on the time perception of different cultures

and found that, “Compared to Westerners, Chinese considered information pertaining to the past

as being more relevant to solving present problems, emphasized more on traditions… and valued

past events relatively more than future ones” (Guo & Spina, 2019). The Chinese are more

oriented towards the past than the prediction of the future and are also known for their ancestral

respect and honoring practices.

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Keep in mind that these findings are a generalization of Chinese culture and, as in any

culture, most do not fit into this rigid set of values. Every individual has their own set of values

and beliefs no matter what culture they belong to or what their cultural guidelines are.

Analysis

After attending the Utah Chinese Folk Art Festival, I can attest to my previous findings

on China’s standing according to the Value Orientation Model. The value that I saw most in

action during the festival was the past-centric mindset seen in Chinese society. Every activity put

on at the festival had the intention of honoring the ways of ancient Chinese peoples. As

previously mentioned, the Utah Chinese Association Youth Choir sang many traditional

children’s folk songs; ones that have been passed down from generation to generation. I

overheard the director of the choir telling another participant about how she had sung most of the

same songs in a choir group when she was a young child living in China.

Reflection

Before this experience, I had a closed mind about what more I could learn about other

cultures, especially one as mainstream as Chinese culture. However, I am very grateful that I

proved myself wrong and had this experience. Something I learned from attending the festival

was that China has its own form of ballet. Chinese ballet is slightly different from French or

Russian ballet but is equally as beautiful. As someone who was a ballet dancer their entire

childhood, this was a thrilling discovery and sparked a new love for Chinese ballet within me. I

liked using the Value Orientation Model to evaluate Chinese culture because it helped me

understand how to compare it to other cultures I know. In conclusion, the festival was a fun

celebration of Chinese culture, and I was very happy to have attended it. I learned for myself that

I know surface-level information about most cultures and that there is always more to be learned

from others, as well as that every culture has its own unique way of being beautiful and valuable.
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References

Guo, T., Spina, R. (April 30, 2019). Cultural Asymmetry Between Perceptions of Past and

Future Personal Change. Front. Psychol.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00885/full

Hung, R. (February 3, 2019). Chinese ecological pedagogy: humanity, nature, and

education in the modern world. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 51:11, 1073-1079.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2019.1572443

Lattimore O., Lattimore E. (August 1944). Our Chinese Ally. American Historical

Association.

https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-round

table-series/pamphlets/em-42-our-chinese-ally-(1944)/who-are-the-chinese

Lihua, Z. (November 21, 2013). China’s Traditional Cultural Values and National

Identity. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2013/11/21/china-s-traditional-cultural-values-and-nation

al-identity-pub-53613

Martin, J., Nakayama, T. (2018). Intercultural Communication in Contexts; Seventh

Edition. McGraw Hill Education.

National Geographic Society. (August 19, 2019). Chinese Religions and Philosophies.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/chinese-religions-and-philosophies/

Yen, H.-C. (2015). Human Nature and Learning in Ancient China. Springer

Science+Business Media Singapore.

http://140.112.142.79/teacher/upload/9789812872234-c2.pdf