Chinese People and Culture

A presentation by:Tyler Boice

Jeremy CisloRandall Grover

Population• Mao Zedong believed in strength in

numbers.• Encouraged the Chinese to have

more children.• Population growth was at 2.07%,

by the mid 1960’s• A total of 1.3 billion people.

Population continued…• The increased

population caused serious food and shelter shortages.

• One of the highest population densities in the world.

• Mao failed to recognized the problems his population was causing.

Population Policies

• In 2000, the population growth was slowed to 0.9%.• China’s population policy received worldwide

criticism.• As a result China has begun to relax their policy.• Despite the governments population policies, China’s

population is expected to reach 1.4 billion in the middle of this century.

• Moa realized the population was out of control• He called families to have no more than two children.

Population Policies continued…

• Deng Xiaoping came in power in the 1970s.

• He developed a one-couple, one-child policy.

• People who had 1 child received special rewards, such as better housing or jobs.

• People who had more than one faced fines, wage cuts, and loss of their jobs.

Ethnic Differences

•There are about 56 different ethnic groups in China.•There is 52 different languages recognized by the Chinese government.•People in different culture groups have their own traditions, foods, clothes, and normally religion.•Even the largest ethnic groups like the Mongols, Uighurs, Tibetans, and Kazakhs, are still small in number

Ethnic Differences Continued…

•Together all the minority ethnic groups make up 8% of the population.•92% of the population, about 1 billion people, are Han•Han comes from the Han Dynasty, which existed about 2,200 years ago, since then the Hans have always been the major ethnic group

Language

•Chinese is nonphonetic, which means the written form of a word generally gives no hints to the pronunciation of the word.•Chinese uses ideograms- the use of characters representing thoughts or ideas.•To fluently speak/ read Chinese the average person needs to know 20,000 different characters, while to read the newspaper the average person needs to know 2000-3000 charctors

Language Continued…

•Every Chinese language, though they may speak differently, uses the same characters making reading a universal way of communication.•In 1956 Mandarin was declared the official language of China, though Chinese dialect varys from region to region, all the students are being taught in Mandarin.

Religion and Beliefs

• The Chinese are greatly influenced by ancient philosophies.

• Chinese practice many beliefs • Traditional faiths of Buddhism, Daoism, and

Confucianism are the most popular

Daoism

• Based on teachings of Laozi• Path to true happiness is based lies in living

in harmony with natural world.

Confucianism

• Most widely practiced faith.• Philosophy based on the collection of

teachings of Confucius, called the Analects.• Believes that society functions best if

everyone respected the laws and behaved according to his/her own position.

• Honoring one's ancestors is important.

Atheism

• China’s official religion.• Communists on first arriving to China seized

religious places of worship.• Many however still kept their faith, and the

government eased restrictions.

Falun Gong

• One group the Chinese government outlawed in 1999.

• Falun Gong is a self described spiritual movement that combines meditation, exercise, and principles from Buddhism and Daoism.

• Many were sent to labor camps for “reeducation”.

• This group now protests against the Chinese government in other nations.

The Family

• The Chinese view the family as very important.

• The Father is known as the head of the family.

• Social order and communal behavior was learnt by the Chinese through the philosophy of Confucianism.

The Family Continued…

• Throughout time Chinese family values have changed, but the main points still remain the same.

• Children have a little more freedom in choosing careers.

• Marriage ceremonies have been toned down over time.

Medicine

• Many Chinese people prefer their own traditional medicine instead of modern Western medicine.

• This 2,000 year old practice is founded on the belief that good health comes from harmony between the environment and people.

• This practice includes special diets, herbal remedies, breathing exercises, massages, and acupunctures.

Medicine Continued

• Acupuncture is practice of inserting very thin needles at specific points on the body to cure disease or to ease pain.

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