文化

The Core of Chinese Culture and its main characteristics In the east of the world lies a country with a long history and splendid culture, a country with ancient civilization --- this is China (officially the People‟s Republic of China)China covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometers. It is the world‟s third largest country in total area, almost as large as the whole Europe. It is 5500 kilometers long from the North to the South. In cold winter it has been snowing everywhere in the north, but it‟s still like midsummer, scorching hot in the south. It covers 5000 kilometers from the east to the west and time difference is 4 hours. When fishermen in East China Sea go fishing at sunrise, herdsmen of Pamir Plateau are still sleeping at midnight in the west of China.China is abundant in mineral and natural resources. Its terrain is high in the west and low in the east, consisting of vast oceans, high mountains, dry lands, forests, plateaus, broad plains, grasslands, deserts, etc. What‟s more, there are many large rivers in China. The famous Changjiang River (Yangtze River), 6300 kilometers long, is China‟s longest one, ranking the third in the world. The longest one in the world is Nile River, 6670 kilometers, and Amazon River is the second longest one. China‟s Yellow River, 5400 kilometers, is also well-known in the world. The yellow water flows east into the East Sea slowly. The Changjiang River (Yangtze River) and the Yellow River are thought as the cradle of Chinese Culture.China is the most populous state in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. They are hardworking and brave. China is a Multi-Ethnic country, composed of 56 ethnic groups which are always compared to 56 flowers by Chinese people. All the ethnic groups in China live in harmony, are united and friendly to one another and live a happy life.As a long-history country with an ancient civilization, China has a glorious traditional culture. Chinese character bears 6000--year history. In ancient times, China made great achievements in science and technology. Four great inventions are …Paper-making technique, Paper-printing technique, Compass and Gunpowder‟. The inventions played a major role in advancing and developing world civilization and served as China‟s contribution to the world as well.I‟d like to take this opportunity to discuss with you and learn from each other.What is culture? What‟s the definition of culture? Many experts have ever defined culture, so there are hundreds of definitions of culture at ancient and modern times, in China and elsewhere. All the experts only talk about a certain aspect of culture, but not the generalization of culture, so, to define culture is troublesome and difficult. The definition in …Modern Chinese Dictionary‟ is …both material and spiritual wealth created by mankind during the social history development.‟According to this definition, nothing is beyond the cultural domain. The good, the bad, the visible and the invisible all belong to culture.Culture is defined as …human pursuit of the good‟. Beautifying all the things in society means …things are culturalized or civilized‟. To beautify everything and make it …good‟ are called Culture. So, people‟s hopes for a better and happy life, people‟s actions and consequences are contained in culture. Since culture is a pursuit of …the good‟, you, he and I are all pursuing it. To be exact, it is a common target of all the people. Since all the people are pursuing …the good‟, there is likely to be conflicts. Therefore, in order to enable everyone to obtain …the good‟, people‟s action should be standardized to ensure everyone to gain …the good‟. If everyone is guaranteed to be good and happy, then all of us are required to live in harmony and to be modest, generous, tolerant, andrespectful to each other.Chinese Culture derives from continuous evolvement. How to understand Chinese Culture? In Chinese Culture, some are native culture or inherently local culture. Some emerged with social history development. And some are borrowed from other countries through …introduction, integration and melting‟. The borrowing allows Chinese culture to form its own characteristics, to develop at any time and to integrate so that Chinese culture becomes increasingly magnificent and comprehensive. But the core of Chinese culture is …good‟and …harmony‟, removing the …evil‟. Hopefully, our human beings are walking toward the ideal …good‟ and …harmony‟.What’s the core of Chinese Culture?Six Chinese characters …仁ren (benevolence), 德de (virtue), 礼li (propriety), 法fa (law), 化hua (mediation) and 和he (harmony)‟can simply sum up the core of Chinese Culture and its characteristics. People‟s common pursuit is nothing more than the six Chinese characters. Knowing this, we can understand Chinese Culture has a strong vitality. …Good‟ and …harmony‟are major requirements of culture. They are also major requirements of Chinese culture. As I said before, China is an extensive and profound country with a long history. Why? We will know it by analyzing several Chinese characters.The first one is …仁Ren (benevolence)‟. …仁Ren (benevolence)‟occupies an unshakeable central position in traditional Chinese culture. From the spelling of the Chinese character …仁ren(benevolence)‟ , it means two people together. There should be love between people, so …仁ren(benevolence )‟ means love.The second one is …德de (virtue)‟. According to the Chinese spelling of …德‟, the upper part of the right side is …直zhi‟ which means …straight‟; and the bottom part is …心xin‟ which means …heart‟. So, …straight heart means …德de (virtue)‟‟ said people in ancient times. People should be straightforward both in thoughts and in actions. Being straightforward means …德de (virtue)‟. …德de (virtue)‟ is a good word which can help people and things grow strong. That‟s meaning of …德de (virtue)‟. That‟s to say, …德de (virtue)‟ is the essential core of Chinese culture. In order to make “…仁Ren (benevolence)‟…德de (virtue)‟” and …good, harmony‟ develop normally, people need to standardize our actions and then make them institutionalized, which generates …礼li (propriety)‟and …法fa (law)‟.So, now I‟d like to analyze …礼li (propriety)‟ and …法fa (law)‟. To be exact, …礼li (propriety)‟means a root for dealing with others, a criterion of human beings, and a behavioral norm. And …法fa (law)‟ means people‟s behavioral regulation. That‟s why a family has its regulation, and a state has its law.Another one is …化hua‟. …化hua‟means …mediation, normalization‟. People in daily life are confronted with many problems and conflicts. Those problems will be solved as soon as we mediate.And the last two is …和he, 合he‟: As far as the meaning is concerned, …和he‟refers to …harmony‟, …peace‟, and …serenity‟; …合he‟ means …combination‟, …cooperation‟ and …integration‟. …和he, 合he‟ is the way to reach …harmony‟. And …harmony‟ is the ideal relationship which nature, society, interpersonal relationships, mind and body, and civilization have been expected to have since the ancient times. …Harmony‟in traditional Chinese culture can be interpreted as unity of Heaven and Man, harmony of Man and Nature, harmony of interpersonal relationships, harmony of man and man, and harmony of man and society. Everything and everyone are different from each other in the world. So, we should advocate …harmony‟. Only when we live in harmony, canthe peace last longer. In our thoughts and actions, we should uphold …benevolence‟ and …virtue‟, observe …propriety‟ and …law‟, and eventually reach the …harmony‟ by applying …mediation‟. In one word, …harmony‟ is precious and …harmony‟ is peaceful.I think Six Chinese characters …ren (benevolence), de (virtue), li (propriety), fa (law), hua (mediation) and he (harmony)‟can sum up the core of Chinese Culture and its characteristics. People‟s common pursuit is nothing more than the six Chinese characters. Knowing this, we can understand Chinese Culture has a strong vitality.At last, I‟d like to talk about another three points:Firstly, culture means tolerance. We live in the same global village. Peoples, religions, regions, nations, life styles and customs differ from each other, so we have to mutually understand, respect each other and pursue a good and peaceful future together. We have to develop harmoniously and firmly believe the world will be more and more beautiful.Secondly, culture is diverse. Culture is not unitary. Please don‟t force others to do what others don‟t want to. Don‟t pursue unilateralism. Don‟t be self-conceited. Don‟t think you are the world leadership. Don‟t command and govern others and don‟t dominate the world with your own thinking and value. Otherwise, serious problems are likely to happen. That will result in bad terms between people and people, family and family, nation and nation, race and race. That will lead to regional unrest, conflicts and wars.Thirdly, culture needs communication. Cultural exchange is important. I often say, culture makes us know each other and communication makes us get closer to each other. I have been to many places and visited many countries. Wherever I go, I learn from others modestly, ask for help and advice, and make as many friends as possible. Having more friends is a great fortune and power. Hopefully, everyone can dedicate a little of his love to the world, then the world will have a better future.Owing to the limitation of my knowledge, there must be mistakes in my speech. So, any suggestion is welcome. Thank you!。