英国社会文化

SelenaStudent Number: 14025043 The Class: British Culture Date: June 14, 2015Easter (also called the Pasch or Pascha) is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary as described in the New Testament.So Easter symbolized re-birth and new hope and it’s the most important religious feast in the Christian liturgical year.Easter is a moveable feast, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar. The First Council of Nicaea established the date of Easter as the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. The date of Easter threrfore varies between March 22 and April 25.There are many symbols of Easter. For instance, Easter egg, Easter bunny, the cross, the lambs and the Easter bell are all the symbols. Besides, there are many celebration activities in UK. Christians start the day by attending church. There are Easter egg hunts, decorated eggs and time is spent with family and friends.Egg rolling is a traditional game played with eggs at Easter, too.The eggs were wrapped in onion skins and boiled to give them a mottled gold appearance and the children competed to see who could roll their egg the furthest. People in Easter will dress up because Easter was once a traditional day for getting married. Women would make and wear special Easter bonnets - decorated with flowers and ribbons.Different countries have different customs in Easter which are different from UK. For example, many Americans follow the tradition of coloring hard-boiled eggs and giving baskets of candy. On Easter Monday, the President of the United States holds an annual Easter egg roll on the White House lawn for young children.In my opinion, some of the biggest differences between British and Chinese culture are governments, religions and customs.Firstly, there is a difference between British and Chinese governments. Britain is both a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. It has royal family. While the official head of the state is the Queen, her powers are largely traditional and symbolic. The Prime Minister has the political power. Britain has parliament which contains the Queen, the House of Lord and the House of Commons. Parliament can pass laws. It alone has the power to change the terms of the Constitution. Whilein China, power is concentrated in the Paramount Leader, who heads the three most important political and state offices. China has no monarchy and parliament, the legislative branch is the National People's Congress.The legal power of the Communist Party is guaranteed by the PRC constitution and its position is the supreme political authority in the PRC.Secondly, Britain and China have different religions. In ancient Britain, most people were Christian. Even today most people in Britain believe in Christianity and much code of conduct comes from Christianity. In China, although may people have religious believes, there is no unified believes.The last one is the customs differences between Britain and China. In England people hold their inimitable custom features which most originate religions. China is an ancient country with a long history and special culture on customs. Most of these customs are found in Feudal Society.I think the event in history which had the largest influence on the development of the modern British government is the Glorious Revolution.The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the name of the overthrow of King James II of England, by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholderWilliamIII of Orange-Nassau. King James's policies of religious tolerance after 1685 met with increasing opposition by members of leading political circles, who were troubled by the king's Catholicism and his close ties with France.In 1688, a group of leading politicians invited the Dutch price William of Orange over England to challenge the rule of the James II. William, James’s son-in-law, promised to defend the liberty of England and the Protestant religion. Then, James fled to France.Parliament then denounced James, offered the throne to William and his wife Mary. They took power as joint monarchy in conjunction with the documentation of the Bill of Rights 1689.It has enduring impact. The glorious revolution was the final solution of the struggle between the British Parliament and the king. It became a historical turning point on the way to the modernization for Britain. It was also a law revolution, and it provided a system foundation for the formation of British modern state.The glorious revolution laid the constitutional monarchy for Britain, and developed a stable political system. It was also a religious revolution, which the Protestant defeated the catholic thoroughly.In conclusion, the glorious revolution played a huge and profound impact on the British history and the modern British government.。