China

Lynette Flickinger

Culture

“Culture, then, is a study of perfection, and perfection which insists on becoming something rather than in having something, in an inward condition of the mind and spirit, not in an outward set of circumstances”

Matthew Arnold - Poet 1822-1888

Introduction

Every Culture expresses itself in a unique way. However, the foundations of what forms a culture tend to revolve around some of the same aspects. It is in these aspects that a culture forms their uniqueness. The focus of this presentation will include the following: Love and Marriage Sex God and Religion Death Gender Roles Money

Love and Marriage

The Three Letters

- The Betrothal Letter: The formal document of the engagement, a must in a marriage. - The Gift Letter: wedding. Given to the identified girl's family. Within the letter would be a list of the types and quantity of gifts designated for the - The Wedding Letter: Prepared and presented to the bride's family on the day of the wedding; a document that confirmed the formal acceptance of the bride into the bridegroom's family.

The 6 Etiquettes

• • • • • • Proposing: parents.

If an unmarried boy's parents accepted a girl as their future daughter-in-law, they would then locate a matchmaker. Proposals were the specialties of the matchmakers. The matchmaker would formally present his or her client's request to the identified girl's Birthday matching: If the potential bride's parents did not object to the marriage, the matchmaker would then ask for the girl's birthday and birth-hour to assure the compatibility of the potential bride and bridegroom. If there was any sign of astrological conflict in birthday dates, it meant the marriage would bring disasters upon both families and the proposed marriage canceled.

Presenting betrothal gifts: then arrange for the matchmaker to present betrothal gifts, including the betrothal letter, to the bride's family Once both birthdays matched, the bridegroom's family would Presenting wedding gifts: After the betrothal letter and betrothal gifts were accepted, the bridegroom's family would later formally send wedding gifts to the bride's family. Usually, gifts may include tea, lotus seeds, red beans, green beans, red dates, nutmeg, oranges, pomegranate, lily, bridal cakes, coconuts, wine, red hair braid, money box and other delicacies, depending on local customs and family wealth.

Picking a wedding date: An astrologist or astrology book would be consulted to select an auspicious date to hold the wedding ceremony.

Wedding ceremony: On the selected day, the bridegroom departs with a troop of escorts and musicians, playing cheerful music all the way to the bride's home. After the bride is escorted to the bridegroom's home, the wedding ceremony begins.

Wedding Day: Groom Preparation

The groom prepares himself to receive his wife. He gets capped and dressed in a long gown, red shoes and a red silk sash with a silk ball on his chest. The groom kneels at the ancestral altar as his father puts a cap decorated with cypress leaves on his head to declare his adulthood and his family responsibility.

Then the bridegroom goes to receive his bride. Usually a crowd of friends escorts the groom and musicians play joyful tunes during the entire trip. Dancing lions follow the troop. A child carries a bridal box among the people, reflecting the groom's expectation to have a child in the near future.

Wedding Day: Bridal Preparation At dawn on the wedding day, the bride bathes in water scented with grapefruit. She then puts on new clothes, wears a pair of red shoes and waits for the "good luck woman" to dress her hair in the style of a married woman.

Her head would be covered with a red silk veil with tassels and beads that hang from the crown. She waits for her future husband to escort her home, with married women talking around her about how to be a good wife.

Wedding Ceremony

Wedding Ceremony

The most interesting part of the reception really takes place at the doorstep of the bride's residence, which is heavily guarded by the bride's sisters who are teasing the groom as he enters. The groom then has to give the sisters red packets containing money - in order to take his bride home.

Then firecrackers will be set off to drive away evil spirits as the bride sits into a sedan chair. The sedan chair is heavily curtained to prevent the bride from seeing an unlucky sight – such as a widow, a well or a cat. When the parading troop arrives at the groom’s, firecrackers are set off to hail the bride's arrival. The bride steps out onto a red carpet so that she will not touch the bare earth. By the threshold, a flaming stove and saddle will be set up and the bride is required to sidestep or step over them to avoid evils.

Preparing the Bridal Bed

A "good luck man” will install the bridal bed in the correct place in the bridal chamber before the wedding day.

Before the wedding, a "good luck woman" will arrange the bridal bed and scatter symbolic and lucky fruits on the bed. Nobody is allowed to touch the bed until the couple enters the bridal chamber after the wedding ceremony.

Children are then invited onto the bed to bless the couple with fertility.

Sex

Sex

After the revolution of 1911, the sexual order maintained by the philosopher Confucius was challenged.

• Open talk of sex became a sign of liberation against tradition • Writers exposed their sexual experiences to the public • Youth demand sexual equality • Educators campaigned to teach sexual instruction in schools • Prostitution, Birth control and STDs became issues of concern • The media began to use sex for profit through magazine articles: - The Sex Periodical - The Sexual Desire Weekly - The Sex Journal

Sex

Educated groups believed that the control of sexual desires was key to restoring the strength in China. They believed that sexual desire had to be disciplined and evil habits needed to be eliminated.

It was believed that Sex was to be strictly between married couples. These couples were to use their sexual behavior only to “help bring about a revival to the nation.”

Studies

Many studies have been conducted in recent years to investigate premarital sexual activities among college students in China. Here are a few examples: 2002 12% had engaged in sexual intercourse. Among those who had sexual intercourse, 69% had used condoms.

2003 Among 1,197 students surveyed, 11% had had sexual intercourse Among those who had sexual intercourse, 43% had used condoms.

In all studies I examined, it was expressed that males are more permissive towards premarital sex then were females.

Interesting

…

A study was also done to investigate Premarital sexual behavior among Chinese college students living in the United States.

63 female and 51 male Chinese undergraduates in the US completed a survey that examined the permissiveness of their attitudes toward premarital sex and their premarital sexual behavior.

60% of the subjects approved of premarital sexual intercourse when the partners were in love or engaged Gender differences were found in sexual experience: - Chinese men were more commonly involved in relationships with Chinese women - Chinese men were less sexually experienced than Chinese women. - Woman who dated only Caucasians were more sexually experienced than those who dated only Chinese men.

Put those finding together…

God and Religion

Buddhism

Buddhism is the fourth largest religion in the world, being exceeded in numbers by Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. It was founded in Northern India by the first known Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama.

The Four Noble Truths

• Dukkha: Suffering exists: Suffering is real and is universal. Suffering has many causes such as loss, sickness, pain, failure, the impermanence of pleasure. • Samudaya: There is a cause for suffering.

It is the desire to have and control things. It can take many forms like craving of sensual pleasures, the desire for fame, the desire to avoid unpleasant sensations like fear, anger or jealousy. • Nirodha: There is an end to suffering the final liberation of Nirvana. The mind experiences complete freedom, liberation and non-attachment. It lets go of any desire or craving. . Suffering ceases with • Magga: In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path .

The Eightfold Path

Panna: Discernment and wisdom 1) Right Understanding of the Four Noble Truths 2) Right thinking and following the right path in life Sila: Virtue and morality 3) Right speech: no lying, condemning, gossip, harsh language 4) Right conduct by following the noble truths 5) Right livelihood, support yourself without harming others Samadhi: Concentration and meditation: 6) Promote good thoughts and conquer evil thoughts 7) Mindfulness: Become aware of your body, mind and feelings 8) Meditate to achieve a higher state of consciousness

Christian Persecution

Christians are persecuted daily in China for simply claiming Christ as their savior.

Christian churches are required to register with the government. This does no good because the government sees Christian churches as a threat to national and ethnic unity. Therefore, believers are threatened, Bibles are confiscated, churches are destroyed, and church leaders are beaten, imprisoned, tortured and killed. Christian Missionaries risk their lives to imprisonment, torture or death.

Death

Views on Death

Along with marriage, death is the most important event in the life of the family and individual.

Death marks the transition from life to another world. The world after life had three major possibilities: 1. Heaven as a divine ancestor: representatives in heaven.

“lost souls.” 3. Eternal Immortality: Only those who lived a reasonable long life and died of natural causes could become the family 2. Earth as a hungry ghost or lost soul: Those who died unnaturally or violently became “hungry ghosts.” Because they died unnaturally, their souls were not cared for and were therefore The best fate of an individual. The soul of the person was consolidated so that upon death they could consciously leave the body and retain powers of movement and form. The Immortal must help all people by relieving their suffering and inspiring them to achieve immortality

Reincarnation

The Buddhists brought the idea of reincarnation to China. This is where an individual could be reborn as another individual .

It is believed that one must go through many cycles of birth, living, and death. After many cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana - a state of liberation and freedom from suffering.

Ceremony of Universal Salvation

Because of wars and all of the other calamities, the planet begins to accumulate too many troublesome souls. Therefore, a ceremony is performed to honor and free the "hungry ghosts" who wander the Earth. The Chinese do this ceremony in order to protect the living and release the lost souls to the underworld.

The ritual involves a large feast and ritual that is performed to Buddhist priests. The souls are invited to the feast and then each family member lights a candle. The candle is then floated on a river, lake or ocean. The candles attract the souls to the underworld. There they enter under the control of the Lord of Hell where they remain until they are reabsorbed into the Tao (the universe that passes beyond reality). This prevents them from getting into further trouble.

Gender Roles

Women

Women in China are viewed as inferior to men. This idea has improved somewhat over time, but not completely. Woman are often viewed as “less useful than farm animals.” * Chinese Proverbs * - A woman without talent is a woman of virtue - It is more profitable to raise geese than daughters

Code of Behavior

3 obedience's: - obey her father before marriage - obey her husband after marriage - obey her son after her husband’s death 4 virtues: - she be chaste - her speech courteous and not gossipy - her presentation graceful but not extravagant - her leisure spent in perfecting needlework and tapestry for beautifying the home.

Before the Eighteenth century, Chinese women were honored if they committed suicide after their husband’s deaths.

“Chinese women today are still haunted by the hatred of women, proverbs and attitudes of generations past"

Money

Tea Money

In history, cakes of compressed tea resembling mud-bricks were used as money.

This "money" is manufactured in Southern China and is made of leaves and stalks of the tea plant, aromatic herbs and ox blood and is bound together with yak dung.

Tea is compressed into bricks of various sizes and stamped with a value that varies depending upon the quality of the tea.

Millionaires

• China has 236,000 millionaires. This is a small number compared to 2.3 million in the United States. • Money is becoming of more importance than traditional cultural practices such as family traditions and importance of spending time practicing religion.

• Some major industrial and agricultural products - such as grain, cotton, meat, edible oil, coal, steel, cement, cloth and TV sets - leapt from a backward position to first place in the world. This is causing an rapid increase in the number of millionaires living in China. (Paper money is now used)

The Fortune Cookie

During the 13th and 14th centuries, China was occupied by the Mongols. The Chinese wanted to make plans of how to get rid of the invaders, but they didn’t know how to spread the news of their plans without alerting the Mongols.

The story goes that the Mongols had no taste for Lotus Nut Paste and so the Chinese hid the message containing the plans in the middle of their Moon Cakes, replacing the yolk with secret messages. A patriotic revolutionary took on the disguise of a Taoist priest and entered occupied walled cities handing out Moon Cakes. These were the instructions to coordinate the uprising which successfully formed the basis of the Ming Dynasty. Thus the tradition of giving cakes with messages was born and became a popular way of expressing wishes of goodwill or good fortune on an important occasion.

References

Frank Dikötter. Sex, Culture, and Modernity in China: Medical Science and the Construction of Sexual Identities in the Early Republican Period. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1995. Zhang, Liying. Premarital Sexual Activities Among Students in a University in Beijing, China. Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 29(4):212-215, April 2002.

Abdullah, A. S. M., Fielding, R., Hedley, A. J. Understanding sexual risk taking behavior in Hong Kong university students: A health promotion perspective. Vol 37(4), Oct 2003. pp. 311-318.

Huang, Karen, Uba, Laura. Premarital sexual behavior among Chinese college students in the United States. Vol 21(3), Jun 1992. pp. 227-240.

Fried, Morton H. Reflections on Christianity in China. (2002) An Ethnography of Political Potentials. Anthropology & Humanism 27:1, 80-96.

Scholarly Sources Online:

Taoist Sanctuary of San Diego - Death http://www.taoistsanctuary.org/pages/Taoism/death.htm

Rediff Business Review - Money http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/jun/16rich.htm

Tea Money http://www.charm.ru/coins/misc/teamoney.shtml

Marriage Customs http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/marriage/ Buddhism http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism.htm

http://www.opendoorsuk.org/profile_china.php

Religious Persecution http://www.persecution.org/Countries/china.html

Fortune Cookies http://www.fortunecookie.demon.co.uk/fhistory.html