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Characteristics Of Chinese Culture

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Chinese culture is rare, diverse, and one of the oldest in the world. Chinese culture is ancient, originating thousands of years ago, and has been true to its ancient roots while concurrently remaining dynamic through many generations. Today, China is a nation with a Communist political structure, and a promptly changing economy that is altering the face of the nation. China's cultural diversity is phenomenal, due to the existence of over 50 unique ethnic groups, and today the nation's cultural identity is a proud culmination of these groups. Their influences have blended inseparably into a national and cultural identity that plays a major role in our modern, globalized world. Chinese culture has contributed an invaluable amount to human society, in the form of tradition, art, writing, and countless other examples.
According to Kim Ann Zimmerman, Culture is defined as "the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts" (Zimmerman, 2015, para. 1). There can be countless characteristics of culture, but five basic characteristics that define a culture are that it is learned, shared, integrated, dynamic, and based on symbols (nowaczyk). “Learned” means that culture has to be taught to an individual, no one is born with a sense of their culture. “Shared” means that culture is common to its members, and allows them to act in socially appropriate ways with one another.

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