Culture is set of different symbols, the way symbols carry different meaning to everyone and are intrinsically meaningless unless a human being gives importance and explanation to it a culture does the same. Culture can be”understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another”. It covers all believes and activities that are not transmitted and not learnt in most of the cases. World is a set of different cultures and culture has been defined differently in every culture. Some anthropologists say that culture is merely a set of social behaviors and others think that artifacts, dance or music, theatre and fashion constitute culture. Culture has arrived from a Latin word which means ‘cultivate’ so in simple words cultivating believe or a practice helps it become a culture. (Douglas 2). Culture as defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is, “the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group and that it encompasses in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.” Culture has been described as a set of six dimensions and “All of these are learned, composed of systems of symbols, are social (beliefs and behavior, not human individuals) and not transmitted or stored by genes. Each cultural or social dimension is like a mathematical dimension in space (height, depth, width) in that they are analytical qualities, not empirical; the removal of any one dimension, by definition, removes all dimensions”.( Hofstede 159-181)” which includes technology, economy, political, institutional, values, and worldview. Through these six dimensions a culture is practiced and that is how things keeps on getting cultivated and makes a culture stronger and stronger. Due to a few factors like regional cultural imperialism, fear of cultural homogenization, and globalization it has become very important to discuss and delineate different culture precisely and this way the specificity of cultures may be maintained. There have been a lot of research on culture but the concept of it is still not crystal clear. It is getting confusing with the dimensions of it though they are merely the dimensions and one dimension should not be called culture but rather a part or a way of presentation of culture. There are different cultures in the world and they have been getting fostered by different scholars with time. Some cultures are said to be very dominating because they have been adapted by different societies for the reason of them being very attractive. Every society presents itself through its culture and then that becomes a description of them to others. China is a country which has a very different set of norms, believes and activities. Chinese culture is one the world’s most ancient and complex culture and the huge geographical area that is maintaining the Chinese culture of customs and tradition keeps changing between provinces, cities and even towns. Chinese culture also has norms, believes, games, and all the other dimensions of a culture but two things that are very specific of Chinese culture are their music and their food which are so attractive that the rest of the world has started using them even more than in China.
The history of Chinese music is very old and interesting to be traced back. Chinese music can be traced far back into history. Around 3,000 years ago, when European music was just experiencing its first breath of life, a complete musical theory and sophisticated musical instruments began appearing in China. It has been divided in two board classes one is traditional Chinese music and the other one is religious music. The initiative has been taken from the traditional music and up till now it has gone through a lot of modifications and transformation. Research has shown that Chinese music can be traced back to the dawn of Chinese civilization. “The documents and instruments that have been found in 1999 are 9000 years old and that shows that Chinese music is the most ancient music ever found” (Murck 406). In the initial era it was mainly traditional music and used to be instrumental of a single tune and no harmony as such. “Suona is a high-pitched reed instrument, pipa is a four-string lute, Erhu is a twi stringed fiddle, Banhu is a happy and clarion instrument, Gezheng is a popular Chinese zither with movable bridges and 16-25 strings, Gugin is an instrument listed as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO, and Xun is a kind of ocarina with similar tamber to human voice” (Murck 406).One instrument used to create a single tone then with the passage of time singing, dancing, and traditional talking and singing dramas started but it still remained traditional music only till the emergence of religions like Confucianism and Buddhism when religious music was also started. In traditional Chinese music which is instrumental there is no concept of conductor which means there is no concept of written poetry, it is actually the musician only that memorized a tone and then plays. They have a concept of a dozen of instruments with six having tones of female voice and six having tones and pitch of male voice and that are play in different combinations to produce the affect of particular melody. The instruments are divided into different categories on the basis of their composition and the composition in use are skin, gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, earth/clay, metal and stone and they produce different quality tones. The instruments used in Chinese music include plucked and bowed stringed instruments, flutes, cymbals, gongs, drums Bamboo and bone pipes. The reason Chinese music has still not been explored is the composition of it, it does not have a poetry, and the tones need to be memorized and for tones to be memorized from the musicians the language of them is very remote. People that are not basically Chinese from origin love the music though in most of the instances they are not even able to learn just the name of a song but the music goes so much into their sole that they try all the best possible ways to get the music they might have heard somewhere. Music is an important component of culture and as we know culture is a set of symbols and for symbols to be understood and liked one does not always have to have a language and probably that is the reason this symbol of Chinese culture put the listeners in a flow in the affect of Chinese music when it is being played. A part of traditional music which is called opera is the main body of Chinese music “Beijing Opera of China is a national treasure with a history of 200 years. In the 55th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1790) , the four big Huiban opera Troupes entered the capital and combined with Kunqu opera, Yiyang opera, Hanju opera and Luantan in Beijing’s theoretical circle of the time. Over a period of more than half a century of combination and integration of various kinds of opera there evolved the present Beijing Opera. Beijing Opera is the most significant of all operas in China, and it has a richness of repertoire, great number of artists and audiences, that give it a profound influence in China and plays a large role in Chinese culture”. (China Highlights guide 2008). It has a concept of four facial expressions which are depicted by making that makeup and every face represent a message the repertoire of Beijing Opera is mainly engaged in fairy tales of preceding dynasties, important historical events, emperors, ministers and generals, geniuses and great beauties. “From the ancient times to Yao, Shun, Yu, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing. Some of them also were adopted from the literature and classical novels, which are well known among the public but may not be an accurate account of history. Some of the popular Stories during the history are: Orphan of Zhao Family, Fifteen Strings of Coppers, The Ruse of Empty City, Story of the White Snake, The Drunken Concubine, Unicorn-Trapping Purse”(China Highlights, Discover Your Way, 1998).
The second most important component of any culture and more specifically Chinese is the type of food taken by them and also the way it is taken, it is one of its own types. Chinese are the main producers of and consumers of rice. There are three main ways for them to prepare rice, it is cooked large amount of water for several hours and then is either combined salted eggs, pork, beef, chicken or fish or is just consumed with these items at the same time. The second method is it to make a thicker rice soup by boiling the rice in water. The third method and most popular worldwide is to boil the rice in a covered pot to an optimal level and once it cooked and fluffy enough to eaten it is eaten with chopsticks. This third category is the one most popular and practiced. Food in china is very strongly symbolic whether it is vegetables, fruits, pulses or meat of any type like peach for them is a sign of peace and longevity. There is a concept of balance in Chinese food and this concept is strongly taken care of to have a real quality Chinese food, their concept of yin and yang which means hot and cold or a male and female “literally speaking, yin and yang mean the dark side and sunny side of a hill. People commonly think of yin and yang as opposing forces. However, it is really more appropriate to view them as complementary pairs”. (Parkinson 1999) Even in preparing one dish this concept is taken care of so if one is getting hot, spicy taste in a dish he/ she will be getting a milder colder side of it too. Yin and yang concept is evident in their food item like meat is yang cabbage is yin similarly their cooking methods are taking care of this concept too, like Boiling, Poaching, and Steaming are yin on the other hand Deep-frying, Roasting, and Stir-frying are yang. They also have a theory of five elements, this theory says, “Just as an imbalance between yin and yang can produce destructive forces, keeping all elements in balance promotes harmony both in our surroundings and us. Of course, balancing five elements is a little more complicated than achieving harmony between two opposing forces. According to Chinese belief, each element acts upon two others, either giving birth to it or controlling it. For example, wood gives birth to fire and controls or suppresses earth. Similarly, fire gives birth to earth and controls metal. All the elements are constantly interacting with other elements— none stand alone”. (Parkinson 1999) for non Chinese people Chinese food is set of strongly flavored, deep fried, greasy dishes which all taste the same but Chinese have a very diverse variety of foods. They have a concept of eight main categories of food which further has multiple dishes in one category. Like Shandong Cuisine have mostly soups in it and it emphasis on aroma, and freshness. The second category Sichuan Cuisine Characterized by its spicy and pungent flavors and it emphasizes more on chilies, Guangdong Cuisine emphasizes on tasting clean, light, crisp and fresh and this is mostly meat items. Fujian Cuisine is mainly seafood and focuses more on its pickled taste, Huaiyang Cuisine this has seafood mainly fish and is made sweet in taste. Zhejiang Cuisine has non greasiness and is freshly made dishes with mellow fragrance and in Hunan Cuisine these are mainly chicken items with pepper. Anhui Cuisine is the last category with sweet taste in it. All these categories are served at Chinese restaurants but non Chinese are not aware of this variety in Chinese food and the reason to that is again the same as for music and that is the remoteness of the language. Very less work in Chinese has been converted into English and for that reason it pretty hard to understand their culture though it is very fascinating for the non Chinese to adopt. Chinese food is very symbolic and that is the reason it has a very strong power of cultural representation. In different gatherings, festivals, weddings or other parties the type of food presented is very different it’s a symbols based for every occasion and when once see this it makes a fact very clear that china has a lot diverse variety in its food items then any other culture. For Chinese dining table there is no concept of knife, spoon or fork but rather chopsticks are used for dining and in china culture it’s a symbol of gentleness. They have superstitions related to chopsticks and they are very well implemented there. In Chinese culture the favorite drink for all is green tea and here again this tea is a symbol of Yang which means soft or cold and the concept behind using it so much is that this is a good antacid for a bad digestive system.
When we go through Chinese culture it feels very rationalized and programmed and people of china start sounding very systematic and sense making people. Over the time experiences have shown that Chinese is a very confident and extraordinary nation and that whole concept becomes evident when one goes through an overview of the main components of culture. Music and food which are specific of their culture and are overtly symbolic are very easy to be understood by a non Chinese in its contextual meaning but not the dictionary meaning of it. In all the established cultures but more particularly in Chinese culture music means the need of one’s soul. Culture is said to be a set of symbols but in most of instances one has to explain it to get the essence one want out of it but Chinese language is not been advertised so much so whatever one has to understand is out of the symbol only. Their six established tones of a female voice and the six tones of male voice and then playing them together in different combination to produce an overall impact is the specificity of Chinese culture only. Another point of Chinese culture that in the traditional music tones are played with no words but symbolic presentation of feelings is another particularity of this culture. An artist that is playing the tone to produce an effect is the sole designer of it, he/she is the one makes it and then plays it and it is not merely the effort of playing it, in music otherwise a poet writes it and a player plays it. Similarly food and norms related to food item and the way they are taken are also very specific of the Chinese culture. Dishes, their ingredients, and their dining all have a symbolic presentation and are taken care of as important parameters of their culture.
References
- Rhonda, Parkinson. Yin and Yang in Chinese cooking. real knowledge is know the extent of one’s ignorance. Web.
- China Highlights, Discovery Your Way. Chinese Culture Beijing Opera. China highlights 1998.
- Findley, Carther Vaughn and John Alexander Rothney. 2006. Twentieth-century World. Sixth edition, p. 14. ISBN 978-0618522637.
- Harper, Douglas 2001. Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Hofstede. Geert. 2001, Chapter 7 , Dimension of culture’ , vol.05, no. 7, (pp. 159-181)
- Murck, Alfreda. 2002. Poetry and Painting in Song China. The art of Chinese culture 2000.
- UNESCO. (2001) UNESCO. Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity. Communication and information.