Chinese Culture Essay -- Cultural Identity Essays

Throughout China's encased history it has developed much differently than western parts of the world. Chinese culture varies greatly compared to ours. These great differences between eastern culture and western culture make China a very interesting place. Some of the vast differences include literature, social structure, and government. The greatest difference is Chinese philosophy and way of thinking. China has developed a strict system of tradition that has given China great advantages and disadvantages. This is shown in Chinese literature. Tradition in China is a set of unwritten laws. This is why China turned its eyes from the outside world and looked in. China found everything it needed in Tradition (4). The strong traditions and customs play probably the greatest factor in the life of a Chinese person. This strict philosophy influences marriage, children, family, and duty in life. Marriage is much different and has different levels of companionship. One man may have many wives and or concubines. The status of these wives and concubines are very important. The lower you are on the husband's list the lower you were treated (1). When in a marriage if you were having children a son would be most desirable for you to have. You would be thought better of if you produced a son. This shows the male dominance in Chinese culture. Once a son was born the expectations for him were great. He was supposed to learn all great literature and be very scholarly (2). A girl, also was supp...