Every culture is influenced by the Social Identity theory to some extent. Social Identity influences the Chinese culture in multiple ways. Let me define the Social Identity Theory to help you better understand what I am talking about. According to University Of Twente, Social Identity Theory is “cognitive and motivational basis of intergroup differentiation.” The University also says
that the Social Identity Theory, “was developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1979. In this theory, a person has not one, ‘personal self,’ but several selves that correspond to widening circles of group membership.” There are several cultural identities that make up the Social Identity Theory. According to Nakayama and Martin (2010), the Social Identity Theory is made up of gender identity, sexual identity, age identity, racial identity, ethnic identity, religious identity, class identity, national identity, regional identity, and personal identity.
From studying the Chinese culture, I have found that age identity, religious identity, ethnic identity, have an influence in some way on the Chinese culture. When It comes to religion in China, there are many different religions. They are Buddhism, Taoism, Islamism, and Catholicism.
According to China Highlights, Buddhism was not always in China, it spread from India to China some two thousand years ago. Making Buddhism China’s oldest foreign religion.” Mayahana Buddhism is the form of Buddhism practiced in China. When you are a Buddhist in China you may pray to both Buddha and Taoist gods, because a lot of people who claim to be Buddhist hold Taoist beliefs (China Highlights). According to China Highlights, Buddha is pictured as happy and this is thought to be because the main goal of life in China is to ‘be happy’.”
that the Social Identity Theory, “was developed by Tajfel and Turner in 1979. In this theory, a person has not one, ‘personal self,’ but several selves that correspond to widening circles of group membership.” There are several cultural identities that make up the Social Identity Theory. According to Nakayama and Martin (2010), the Social Identity Theory is made up of gender identity, sexual identity, age identity, racial identity, ethnic identity, religious identity, class identity, national identity, regional identity, and personal identity.
From studying the Chinese culture, I have found that age identity, religious identity, ethnic identity, have an influence in some way on the Chinese culture. When It comes to religion in China, there are many different religions. They are Buddhism, Taoism, Islamism, and Catholicism.
According to China Highlights, Buddhism was not always in China, it spread from India to China some two thousand years ago. Making Buddhism China’s oldest foreign religion.” Mayahana Buddhism is the form of Buddhism practiced in China. When you are a Buddhist in China you may pray to both Buddha and Taoist gods, because a lot of people who claim to be Buddhist hold Taoist beliefs (China Highlights). According to China Highlights, Buddha is pictured as happy and this is thought to be because the main goal of life in China is to ‘be happy’.”
Taoism is the main religion in China and influences all other types of religion practiced in China. China Highlights explains that “the name Taoism is used as a general name for any kind of native Chinese religion or ancient belief. Taoism is a term for China’s indigenous philosophies and religious beliefs, and as defined this way, it has always been China’s main religion that colors all others.” Many people practice Taoism but claim to be of a different religion, such as Buddhist, Catholic, or Islam. ---image of a person doing CHI
Islam is a religion that came from Arab Countries into Northwestern part of China. This is the newest religion to arrive in the Chinese culture. “There are also Islamic communities scattered in almost every city in China.” (China Highlights). The main belief of Islam is that Mohamed is a great prophet. According to The David collection, “Those who have chosen Islam as the basis for their existence have agreed to meet a number of basic obligations both to God and to their fellow man. The obligations are known as the five pillars of Islam. They are called Shahadah, Salah, Sawm, Zakat, and the Hajj. These pillars include praying in Arabic five times a day, fasting at specific times, giving alsm to poor Muslims, and going to Mecca to do the ceremonies of the Hajj if possible.
Islam is a religion that came from Arab Countries into Northwestern part of China. This is the newest religion to arrive in the Chinese culture. “There are also Islamic communities scattered in almost every city in China.” (China Highlights). The main belief of Islam is that Mohamed is a great prophet. According to The David collection, “Those who have chosen Islam as the basis for their existence have agreed to meet a number of basic obligations both to God and to their fellow man. The obligations are known as the five pillars of Islam. They are called Shahadah, Salah, Sawm, Zakat, and the Hajj. These pillars include praying in Arabic five times a day, fasting at specific times, giving alsm to poor Muslims, and going to Mecca to do the ceremonies of the Hajj if possible.
The last religion practiced in China is Christianity. According to China Highlights, “Christianity came to China after Buddism and before Islam. Christians in China become Christians by change of faith and not by birth.” It is important to know that Christianity is different for the Chinese than it is for Europeans or Americans. It is different in the fact that “women tend to be the leaders in the churches or groups and that Chinese Christianity tends to be Pentecostal. Meaning they regularly pray for miracles and believe in miraculous ‘gifts of the Spirit’,” (China Highlights). When you are a Christian you pray to God, he is the Lord and you pray in churches.
In China when you become part of a religious group and you develop a sense of belonging to that group you have what is called Religious Identity. An example of this would be when you are of the Islamic faith in China you show your Religious Identity by not eating certain foods. Another example of people showing their Religious Identity would be when the Islams take time to do the five pillars. An example of a person showing their Religious Identity would be when a person does Chi, they are showing their Taoism.
China has many options when it comes to entertainment. I am going to talk about a few forms of entertainment in China. The ones I will touch on consist of music, martial arts. National Geographic (2011) says, “China is home to the earliest musical scale in recorded human history.” In the twentieth century the xun (also known at the globular flute) was made. “The Chinese use lü-lü, better known as a series of 12 frequencies that consist of pentatonic and hepatonic tones that make up a scale for music,” (National Geographic 2011). The 12 lü-lü, are comparable to our F, G, E, G flat, and E flat when it comes to music. Not only is instrumental music popular in China, but there is a the Chinese Opera as well.
According to Szczepanski (2011), the “Chinese opera has been one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country. It is enjoyed by political leaders and commoners alike.” The Chinese opera is a group of people that play certain characters as they perform. Characters in the opera consist of “Sheng- the man, Dan- the woman, Hua- painted face, and Chou- the clown,” (Szczpanski 2011). When performing the opera, the members both act their role and sing while wearing costumes and make-up or masks. The make-up and masks worn in the opera are not chosen to make the members pretty, the colors represent different things. Szczpanski (2011) explains, “Black symbolizes boldness and impartiality. Yellow represents ambition, while pink stands for sophistication. Characters with primarily blue faces are fierce, while green faces show wild and impulsive behaviors. Those with white faces are treacherous and cunning (the villiains). Lastly those with only a small section of makeup in the center of the face, connecting the eyes and nose, is a clown.” The Chinese opera can be seen in many cities one being Beijing. Below is a picture from a Chinese opera.
According to Szczepanski (2011), the “Chinese opera has been one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country. It is enjoyed by political leaders and commoners alike.” The Chinese opera is a group of people that play certain characters as they perform. Characters in the opera consist of “Sheng- the man, Dan- the woman, Hua- painted face, and Chou- the clown,” (Szczpanski 2011). When performing the opera, the members both act their role and sing while wearing costumes and make-up or masks. The make-up and masks worn in the opera are not chosen to make the members pretty, the colors represent different things. Szczpanski (2011) explains, “Black symbolizes boldness and impartiality. Yellow represents ambition, while pink stands for sophistication. Characters with primarily blue faces are fierce, while green faces show wild and impulsive behaviors. Those with white faces are treacherous and cunning (the villiains). Lastly those with only a small section of makeup in the center of the face, connecting the eyes and nose, is a clown.” The Chinese opera can be seen in many cities one being Beijing. Below is a picture from a Chinese opera.
Here is a video of the opera in Bejing China if you would like to see what one is like.
Another form of entertainment in China is Martial Arts. Martial Arts are known as a sport in China. In order to perform Martial Arts there are several moves that you need to know how to do. They are boxing, wrestling, kicking, and seizing (Travel China Guide). China is divided into the North and the South when it comes to sects of Martial Arts. According to Travel China Guide (2011), “In the north, Shaolin Kungfu is recommended. While in the south, Wudang Kungfu is especially valued.” Both forms of Kungfu work on your energy and spirit. Martial Arts is not only entertainment for those performing but also for those who watch it. In China you can watch Martial Arts Bejing Red Theater, Kung Fu Kids, and Laoshe Teahouse. Below is a picture of a two people performing Martial Arts.
It seems to me that when it comes to entertainment in China, Ethnic Identity has an influence among people. Nakayama and Martin (2010) define Ethnic Identity as “A set of ideas about one’s own ethnic group membership. It typically includes several dimensions: (1) a set of ideas about one’s own ethnic membership, (2) knowledge about the ethnic culture, (3) feeling about belonging to a particular ethnic group.” Therefore, I believe that children in China have Ethnic Identity when they have live in the North or South and partake in Martial Arts. This can be shown by the children have a set of ideas about their own membership to their martial arts group. As well as by feeling as though they belong to that group by living in a certain area and learning that form of martial art. Another form of Social Identity that can be seen in Martial Arts in China is Age Identity. Nakayama and Martin (2010) define Age Identity as “The identification with the cultural conventions of how we should act, look, and behave according to our age.” It seems to me that in China when you are a young boy, you are expected to begin partaking in Martial Arts. Boys as young as the age of four are practicing Martial Arts. Therefore, in China there is an identification with how young boys in China should act, meaning they should be in Martial Arts. Below is a picture of young boys practicing Martial Arts.
In China manners at the dinner table are extremely important. It is important to respect the elderly, teachers, and guests at the dinner table. One thing to remember if you ever travel to China is “not to being eating until your host says, ‘Please enjoy yourself’,” (Travel China Guide 2011). According to Shanghai Finance, “A meal in Chinese culture is typically seen as consisting of two general components: main food- a carbohydrate source or starch, typically rice, noodles, or bun, and accompanying dishes- of vegetables, fish, meat, or other items.” When you eat the food in China the utensils used are called chopsticks, not forks or knives.
Although the food of the Chinese culture is a carbohydrate or starch and an accompanying dish, American fast food restaurants such as McDonald's can also be found in China.
Like I mentioned in my last blog the Chinese culture has a distinct fashion for certain occasions. According to Yang Lu, "In modern society in China, men are seen at social occasions wearing dignified and refined tradiational Chinese long gown, and women often wear the ch'i-p'ao, a modified form of a traditional Ching Dynasty fashion, on formal occasions." I believe that Gender Identity plays a role in the clothing in China. Nakayama and Martin (2010) define Gender Identity as "The identification with the cultural notions of masculinity and femininity and what it means to be a man or a woman." I believe that this is demonstrated above when Yang Lu talks about the men wearing certain outfits and the women wearing a different set of outfits. Below is a picture of the clothing you may see if you were to visit China.
The official language of China is Chinese, also known as Standard Mandarin. Chinese is the oldest writing system in the entire world. I believe it is important to understand that Instead of having an alphabet and writing words out, the Chinese culture uses symbols to represent words. Below is a picture of the symbols used in the Chinese culture.
Now that I have explained how the Social Identity Theory is used in the Chinese culture I think it is easier to see the way things are done in China. There is an explanation now as to why and how they do certain things. I hope by reading my blog you better understand how the Social Identity Theory is used and you've learned more about the Chinese culture.
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read the information you found about China. Even after having spent a month there, I still learned a lot myself about the culture and religion that I didn't know.
Something that may be interesting to look into with the social identity theory could be to examine interactions among different generations of Chinese people. The Chinese people have a great respect for their elders. You could look at how a younger person would interact with a small child, vs someone their age, vs how they communicate and see themselves in relation to an elder.
What are your plans for your last blog? Do you plan to narrow your focus to just one aspect of the Chinese culture? Do you plan to do any interviews? I know in your first blog you had talked a lot about food; do you plan to go any more in depth with that? I think you have a good start on your project and a lot of ideas to work with. If there's any information I can provide you with from my experiences let me know.
Wow, you covered a variety of topics in this blog! I think you did a great job of incorporating the many different aspects of the social identity theory into your blog. You discussed the different religions, entertainment forms, and traditions, but I would have liked to see you tie those into how they affect intercultural communication. Are there benefits for non-native Chinese people to understand these aspects of there culture? Do these have a big impact on how the Chinese communicate. Also, you may want to check your in-text citations. I think that you need a page number with those, but I'm not positive. Great blog and good luck with your next one!
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