The Major Characteristics Of A Culture

Formal norms are written down and normally have a formal punishment for breaking them. Laws, such as drunk driving, are considered formal laws. Informal norms are normally understood and can result in teasing or someone becoming angry if broken. For example, moving to a certain side of the stairs when someone else is using them is considered an informal norm. If you were walking down the in the middle of the stairs, someone might get mad if you do not move.

China is the 3rd largest country in the world, with a total area of approximately 22,117 km. Located in Eastern Asia, between North Korea and Vietnam, it is bordered by a total of 15 countries, and has access to three seas, the East China Sea, Yellow Sea and South China Sea, and the Korea Bay.

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

China is divided into two regions: the eastern zone, which has much better agriculture, and the various deserts on the west. The Eastern side itself is also divided into two regions, separated by various mountain ranges.

Defining the meaning of culture is paramount to understanding how it can affect and shape a nation. Culture is defined by a set of customs, skills, courtesies, habits and lifestyle choices that develop as a result of a person’s environment. There are several characteristics that make up a nation 's culture, and set it apart from others. Geographical location greatly influences culture because it can determine profession, diet, as well as interaction with other individuals. Key infrastructure helps define a citizen’s access to resources such as clean drinking water, medicine, and trade items from other areas. Weather can take a monstrous toll on civilized nations, preventing them from expanding or limiting agricultural growth. Lines of communication throughout a nation are critical to ensuring that borders are maintained and cities well governed. Military conflicts often times determine government influence and can even destroy a nation’s way of life. Most notably

1. China is divided into two major geographical regions: the steppe, desert, and high plateau west and northwest; and the eastern zone, more suitable for settled agriculture.

China is located in East Asia. Ancient China is surrounded by Gobi Desert in the north, the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Himalayan Mountains in the southwest, and the Taklimakan desert in the west. This land has a wide variation of animals because of the different habitats provided for them. Most farming was done in the very fertile lands of the Yangtze valley. Present China is much bigger than Ancient China, which means that over time, the kings and different dynasties went gaining more and more land and wealth.

To develop, encourage, and embrace cultural consciousness, students in third grade will work together to create a multicultural environment, where the teacher will help students develop a positive attitude towards different race, ethic and cultural groups, in addition each student will receive equal educational opportunities (1997). Countries and Cultures Around the World is an integrated social studies unit that will promote an atmosphere of inquiry in the classroom and help students gain a broader appreciation for other cultures. The unit is comprised of interdisciplinary lessons, with activities that teach social studies, literacy (reading and writing), art and music.

There are about 195 countries worldwide, yet if one were to be questioned about any one specific culture, they would not be able to answer. As already known, the United States is a country of immigrants. It could be described as “a ‘melting pot’ in which different cultures have contributed their own distinct ‘flavors’ to American culture” (Zimmermann, 2017). One of the most distinct cultures that have entered America would have to be the Chinese culture. China is a unique country in itself yet with so much to learn, it is safe to say that the average person would not know a small fraction of what makes up the Chinese culture. China, as every other country, is unique due to its tourism, customs, family life, and its government.

At the core of any nation’s culture are its religious beliefs. In China there are the “Three Jewels” Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, as described in Lopez (1996). There are small numbers of people practicing other religions such as Christianity and Islam, but these are the three dominant beliefs of the region. While they are separate in content, they have coexisted for several thousand years. Lopez (1996) goes on to say, “Historical precedent and popular parlance attest to the importance of this threefold division for understanding Chinese culture…Buddhism is the sun, Daoism the moon, and Confucianism the five planets…suggesting that although they remain separate, they also coexist as equally indispensable phenomena of the natural world.” Each belief system stands alone, and at the same time needs the other(s).

Chinese culture is truly one of the great civilization our world has come across. It boasts a vast geographic expanse, over 4000 years of written history, as well as a rich and profound traditional society. Many aspects of Chinese civilization can be traced back many centuries. It is so diverse and unique, yet harmoniously blended, and presents itself a priceless benefit to the world.

Culture is described as the symbols that individuals, groups and societies use to make decision of daily life and to assure their values. Culture is a model of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal combination, which has worked well enough to think correctly and, so to instruct to new comers as the valid way to observe, consider and feel in relation to these problems. Culture consists of manner, mind-set, values, rituals, religious belief, law (written and unwritten), arts, ideas, custom, belief, ceremonies, social institutions, myths and legends, individual identity and behavior. Cultural pattern classifies are used to describe the dominant beliefs and values. Culture has been called the way of life for an entire society. It is a group or community living together and sharing a set of norms. Culture and society are coexistent. One does not or cannot exist without the other. Culture and society may have some common elements but the two are not the same; they are not identical.

China is considered that of a third World County and their culture is deep in beliefs and customs with rules. In addition, China is located on the eastern Asia bordering Afghanistan, the major culture there is that of Han

Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1962) identify over 150 scientific definitions of the concept of culture. Indeed, many authors have tried to define culture and this is why there are so many definitions and that a unique one is hard to find. First of all, Kroeber and Kluckholn (1952) assume that culture is a suite of patterns, implicit and explicit, “of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artefacts” (p.47). Later, Hofstede adds that culture is “the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one category of people from another” (Hofstede, 1991, p.51). This definition is the most widely accepted one amongst practitioners. For Winthrop (1991), culture is the distinctive models of thoughts, actions and values that composed members of a society or a social group. In other words,