Preview

Western Influences on Folk-Custom in Shanghai

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
879 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Western Influences on Folk-Custom in Shanghai
Western Influences on Folk-custom in Shanghai
The change of Folk-custom is an important part of the change of society. As a metropolis in China, Shanghai combines her own features with many other country’s history and culture. As a result, the Folk-customs in Shanghai have changed a lot due to the impact of western culture.
The influences on proprieties
As a traditional city in China, Shanghai paid much attention to the etiquette and custom when people met together in the old days. At that time, people must make a bow with hands folded in front, worship on bended knees or pay respects to the others according to their social status. Worship on bended knees is a posture to show compliment to others, in order to symbolize the rating of society. While people of the same generation always make a bow with hands folded in front. Besides, the titles of Milord, madam and panjandrum were popular used.
Due to the impact of western culture, the proprieties in Shanghai have changed a lot. When people meet each other, they always shake hands or bow down, just like the westerners do. And they use “Mr.”,“Ms.” or “ lady” as the titles instead of the ones which have the strong character of rating. Bow, handshake, applause and the act of unbonneting have become the new proprieties which are received from western culture.
This kind of change mainly originated from the spirit of equality of western culture. And the change reflects the equal relationship between the social members and reflects the advancement of the society.

The influences on consumption
The incursion of western capitalism and the development of the business bring about the dramatic changes to Shanghai. The western life style has a great effect on the consumption habit and leads to the variance of consumption in Shanghai. Horse race, boat race, tennis ball, football, Western-style food, beer, western mug-up and drink, park, concert, film and some other life styles are all leading to the change of consumption in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    EGT1 Task 4 - China

    • 2785 Words
    • 80 Pages

    The company has brought to our attention that it desires to expand into the Eastern Asian market where it is believed that the opportunity will be best and certainly more than double its profits by this venture. The Country of choice will be China; location is the city of Macau, which is an established trading center in Southeast Asia. B. Major Cross-Cultural Issues and Impacts: There are some marketing aspects to consider. Our approach must be culture sensitive to be successful. Insulting anyone in our business relations for work in China could end the deal or cause unnecessary delays. It is vital for all personnel involved in this venture to train with care in the marketing and cultural behaviors of the Chinese. Culture is a major issue and the company must be meticulous with training in order to be accepted. The Asian cultures are very careful about not losing face and this is critical. Keeping face goes back to Confucianism, which focuses on ones duty and loyalty, honor, sincerity, and keeping harmony with all those related to them through family, business, and social ties. This is strictly followed with respect for age first in any of these relationships. One must never lose face with any of these ties for to lose face is to lose honor. The concept of face translates as honor, good reputation, and respect. There are four types of face. Face behavior is power-oriented behavior with the purpose of maintaining stability or control of one’s self. Diumianzi originates from the word mian and directly relates to one’s reputation or place in society. It is actions or deeds, which others have observed, and it is earned. Geimianzi is response to or giving of face to another through showing respect to the other person. Liumianzi is developed by avoiding mistakes and showing wisdom in making decisions. Jiangmianzi, when face is increased through others by another complementing one to a business partner or associate.…

    • 2785 Words
    • 80 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    The country I chose to write about is China. The Chinese culture is one that has been forming for centuries due to the country’s rich history. China has always been known as a communist country, but recently it has been phasing out those practices and replacing them with capitalist practices. A custom that is very relevant in their culture is their emphasis on family lineage. Many men are expected to marry in order to carry on their family names (Hitton). This custom pressured women into giving birth to male children so that the family name could be passed on (Hitton). Family respect is also important to their culture. The elders of the family are always honored and obeyed above other members. Due to their communist history, group work has a bigger emphasis than individual work (Hitton). For example, if one fails to…

    • 621 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    Bibliography: Chung, T. L.-n. (2004, 04 12). Zheng He Studies. 19th Chinese Culture Symposium. Harvard University .…

    • 1366 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    GLT1 task 1

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages

    China is very rich in its cultural heritage. Their culture has survived for many centuries. Highlights of their culture include particular festivals, dresses, foods, music, etc (Bransteller, 2006). Chinese culture was once one of the most significant opponents of globalization. But as going from one country to another in search for better jobs and lifestyle, people meet other nationalities and results to cultural diffusion. Influence of globalization in the Chinese culture has caused by several factors.…

    • 895 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    World Religon Mulan Paper

    • 1577 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In the Chinese religion, the respect of elders and of people in a vertical hierarchy from one are some of the most important traditions in one’s life. First of all, each…

    • 1577 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The modern intuitive ideas of the west really affected how traditional Chinese people viewed the world and their current beliefs. In Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s memoir, Bound Feet and Western Dress, Yu-I and Hsu Chih-mo gain a new perspective on the world from living in the west.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chinese religion and strict cultural beliefs are inseparable from the death rites performed. Many different names for death are scattered throughout Chinese history, including an ideogram that depicts a person kneeling in front of their ancestor's bones 1. In Chinese culture, death rites are intricate and well thought out works on preparing one for the afterlife and rebirth. Chinese funeral rites have strict guidelines as to where the rites are to be performed, how the rites are performed (ritual bathing of the corpse), the dress of the attendees and the dead, the transfer of material goods on Earth to the dead, acknowledgement of the deceased and the actual burial of the body. All these sacred rites are performed by specialists (usually priests or otherwise) who are paid by the deceased's family members. Death rituals carry on long after the burial of the body in terms of grieving for the dead. These rites include returning to the burial site on specific dates to mourn, perform yuan-fen (a symbolic act in which the burial site is rounded off with dirt to give it a nice and proper shape) and burning of incense and earthly offerings 2.…

    • 2730 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Bound Feet

    • 1030 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Traditions in Chinese culture are long-rooted and are taken very seriously from generation to generation. However, there must always be room for some type of modern change to occur. Modern change is needed in order for a society to grow and strive. In Bound Feet and Western Dress the conflict between Chinese traditions and modern change arises. With this conflict it is important to talk about the different meanings of liberation for men and women and the way in which Chang Yu-I was able to obtain liberation throughout her life.…

    • 1030 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Otness, Harold M. "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture." Library Journal 130.9 (15 May 2005): 144-148. Literary Reference Center. EBSCO. Lorain County Community College Library, Elyria, OH. 1 February 2008. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=17055589&site=lrc-live>.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    People all around the world have different communication styles based on their culture legacies. I, too, am affected by my Chinese culture when I communicate with others. In the chapter “The Ethnic Theory on Plane Crashes” in Outlier, author Malcolm Gladwell discusses the importance of cultural legacy on communication. Many of the plane crashes can be explained with “mitigated speech” by plane officers, meaning “any attempt to downplay or sugarcoat the meaning of what is being said” (194). People’s cultural legacies significantly influence a person’s ability to communicate effectively with other people, and thus might cause misunderstandings and tragedies.…

    • 695 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Although the Chinese were a hated minority, the aerial attack on Pearl Harbor created a significant shift. American culture became more tolerant and accepting of Chinese Americans as “over 13,000 Chinese Americans were serving in all branches of the Army Ground Forces and Army Air Forces.”, which made it the highest percentage of any other American ethnic community (McNaughton). One of these men was Captain Francis B. Wai. During the recapture of the Philippines from the Japanese, American troops found themselves without leadership and vulnerable on the open beach. Captain Wai heroically assumed command, found the enemy’s weak points, and lead an attack on the last Japanese pillbox in the area. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross,…

    • 1690 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human Geography

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    China town possess many cultural traditions and customs. One major cultural trait is the color red. In Chinese culture, red signifies happiness, prosperity, and luck. Many buildings have a very generous use of red. Doorways, walls, and even windows covers have been painted red. Another cultural style was having curved roofs. Buddhists in China believed in having ghosts, spirits, and demons. Evil spirits and demons bring bad luck to households, and were believed to try to torment the people in the dwellings. To counteract this, Buddhists believed curved roofs warded evil spirits. Because of this belief in china, it was also migrated into Chinatown. Many roofs in china town had curves on the edges. One last trait is the Chinese festival of lights. On Chinese New Year’s, during the festival, paper lanterns were lit. In addition to this, the elderly were considered to be the most wise, so on New Year’s they were addressed to first. Chinatown has many different cultural traits, and because of an intercity location, it is always under constant threat. One way it can be affected is via external threats.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With a confined social position and many restrictions on actions, women in China were supposed to behave in a certain way. In the story of Widow Wu, the emperor of heaven called Miss Wu ‘a lowly ignorant village woman’ as she refused to marry another man (Hong Mais Stories,…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chinatown Ethnography

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The site that I have chosen for this ethnographic research is the streets of Chinatown. The reason why I chose Chinatown is because it portrays my Asian background, but at the same time, it still brings out some Western elements so that I could relate the two different cultures with each other. I had some trouble coming up with a site that allows me to feel connected to it because a lot of the other sites that I go to more often do not signify anything special particular about my character. The first site that came to mind when I was brainstorming ideas was Barnes and Nobles. I go there to look at books as well as to observe the other people around me. I thought that this would be easier for me because its location is a lot closer than Chinatown's.…

    • 860 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays