Wrapping It Up

So initially I was curious about about how China's customs and traditions has helped shape it into the country it us today- the identity it possesses. After reading all the books, and doing some research on the current affairs and lifestyle in present- day China, I realized there's indeed been a great change in the lifestyles. However, I don't think the old custom and traditions have much impact in the change of people's identities, since some of these customs still remains today, or might have slightly been re-modified. Like all societies, time is the basic factor that creates changes. Every country competes to be the best, and with this comes advanced technology, better health care, booming economy, higher education, and etc. China isn't any different, and this is how it has transitioned. Not due to old traditions, but due to what we still value and the need to improve. Indeed, their views and philosophy might not have changed much, and that may have helped in making the decisions they place on the bigger ideas in life, such as how they run their government, or how they stress the importance and rigor of education, the close- knit relationship of a family and what's expected and respected, the manners and etiquette, and how the outside world impacts them. In conclusion, I believe its the Chinese people's perspective and values that helped shaped China into what it is today, and not the customs or traditions.

10 Days of Starvation?!

The ancient Chinese had many weird rituals and customs during weddings, and usually i can see the meaning behind it, for they made sense somewhat. However, this one particular ritual really made me felt bad for the bride; she couldn't eat during the final 10 days of her wedding festivities. That's TEN days of starvation?! The most weird part is that there is no specified reason for doing this, some people believed it was was done to make the bride sadder for leaving her natal family, to make the bride more yielding to her husband's family, or to make the bride appear more pure. Whatever the case, I think this is completely absurd, and unnecessary. They are hurting the bride's digestive system, which could affect the potential risks of a miscarriage and other baby-related issues, since they prized it as the most vital anyway. On a side curiosity, wouldn't they be scared if she fainted in her fragile state from hunger and nervousness, that would be bad luck for them. Already, her feet is binded and only the length of 7 cm, how could she have the strength to totter in them from 10 days of starvation? I swear, these people can be so ignorant long ago.

Karma

The Chinese believed in the whole idea of karma, where one's actions and the effects of these actions will effect them in their next life, or had effected them in their previous life. This is a superstition, but may people, especially religious and piety people during the old times, believed in it. Thus, many people tried to be on the best behavior they could be in, especially the poor class that wanted to be reborn into a higher rank. The rich people weren't as keen about what actions they took, for many were corrupted and did bad deeds, because they could "pay it off" to pardoners in the temples. Sometimes when a person is born with a defect, people might said the person must have did something terrible in their previous life to be punished so cruelly by karma. Everyone wants to be granted access to a good afterlife and reincarnation, and I believe due to this goal, society was a better place, since people did more good deeds.

Yin and Yang

The Yin and Yang is a symbol too common in Chinese culture for me not to mention it. The Chinese people are all about balance, and thus, the idea of yin and yang. The concept of yin and yang (or earth and heaven) describes two opposing and, at the same time, complementary and completing aspects of any one phenomenon, or comparison of any two phenomena. Yin stands for "shady place, north slope, southern river; cloudy, overcast", and possesses the qualities of passiveness, darkness, femininity, negativeness, downward-seeking, consuming and corresponding to the night. Yang, on the other hand, means "sunny place, southern slope, northern river, and sunshine", and represents qualities of activeness, light, masculinity, positiveness, upward-seeking, producing and corresponds to the daytime. Thus, the world cannot just have good or bad, but a combination of both to even out the energy of the world, and to create a healthy balance.

Death, a Common and Unpredictable Occurence

Death rate were high during before the 20th century, especially in countries where poverty raved. In the story, a young girl was stung by a bee, and died within a matter of 5 minutes. Nowadays, a first aid kit could have immediately at least subdue the poison from spreading, however, back in the 1900s of rural China, people could only stand by and watch and call for help, only to be dead when help does arrive. This showed how death was almost too common in the daily lives of people; one moment a girl could be in her front yard embroidering dowries for her upcoming marriage, and the next moment, she's dead. I just felt the unfairness of earning a living back then, with people working in the fields from dawn to dusk, in the extremes of the weather, the malnutrition, the stress, and the children they had to take care of; but all this hard work can be so easily taken away by one little accident. Life is too short and unfair.

Feng Shui

"Feng Shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals the ways to balance the energies of the environment to assure health, wealth and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

"Feng" means "wind" and "shui" means "water" (pronounced fung-shway). In Chinese culture gentle wind and clear water have always been associated with good harvest and good health, thus "good feng shui" came to mean good livelihood and fortune, while "bad feng shui" came to mean hardship and misfortune.

Feng Shui is based on the Taoist vision and understanding of nature, particularly on the idea that the land is alive and filled with energy." (quoted from here)

People use the idea of feng shui to decorate their homes, in order to bring balance and goodness to their homes.

Some Wedding Traditions

The wedding traditions during 18th and 19th centuries were a very interesting ceremony. Red is the main and dominant color, there is endless bowing, there are palanquins to carry the new bride, there is a feast to be served, firecrackers to be lighted, and gifts to be given. Yet two practices i find very interesting is the shoes the bride-to-be has to make as a welcome gift to her in-laws, and the "pouring of the water" when a leave leaves to go to her husband's home in a palanquin. The shoes represented how well a girl was at embroidery and demonstrated her ability at chores , however I don't understand how its shoes and not, like, clothing or something: especially since the chinese has a superstitious idea of never giving shoes to someone, since this will eventually foreshadow them to be your enemies. And as for the "throwing out of the water", its suppose to represent and prove the pureness and cleanliness of the bride-to-be, or her virginity. This is a weird way to express such private concerns, but nonetheless, I feel it interesting.