Chinese Culture – Debunking Myths of China

Mooncakes in Modern China

Meredith Butenhoff / October 25, 2016November 11, 2016 / Food, Mid-Autumn Festival, Mooncakes

By: Meredith Butenhoff, Allyn Wiggins, Hattie Grant, & Brandon Bank

History of Mooncakes

Mooncakes (yue bing) were first made by the people of the Tang Dynasty to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. This tradition passed on through dynasties, and became extremely popular during the Song Dynasty. Mooncakes were both sacrificed to the moon as offerings and eaten during worship of the celestial body. While the mooncake varies drastically by region, authors Carol Stepanchuk and Charles Wong tell us that “its perfectly round shape forming the ideal symbol of familial harmony and unity” is a constant throughout regions. Bigger mooncakes might have carvings of the Moon Palace and Moon Rabbit on them. The fillings typically changed by province ranging from sweet to salty, and from rich to bland. Today, it is not uncommon for mooncakes to be filled with bean paste, cocoanut paste, lotus seed paste or even an egg yolk.

Mooncakes were originally used as a way to pay tribute to the moon and Chang E, the “Moon Goddess” who allegedly lives in the Moon Palace and supervises the ritual. With their widespread consumption during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is told that the cakes were conveniently used to organize a rebellion against the Mongol government during the Yaun Dynasty. This well known legend suggests that the time and location for the revolution against Kublai Khan’s descendants were sealed inside of mooncakes and sent to friends and family during the Mid-Autumn festival in 1353. Although many of the customary activities of the Mid-Autumn Festival are disappearing, mooncakes remain an important part of the Chinese culture. Families and friends still gather together during the Mid-Autumn Festival and share modern day mooncakes that represent completeness, and remind them of Chinese tradition and history.

This is a Singaporean mooncake with a piece cut out to showcase the duck egg filling. Photo taken from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.

Continue reading “Mooncakes in Modern China”

Chinese Village Tourism

Christian Frabitore / April 15, 2015May 6, 2015 / Economics, Environment

By Thomas Stubbs, Connor Courtney, Christian Frabitore, Simone Alimonti, and Kate Stevens

A young girl dressed in stylized garb for a village processional during the Bun Festival in Hong Kong. Tourists seen in the background. Photo credit: Mister Bijou, accessed 4/14/15, via blogspot

Like the rest of China’s economy, the tourism industry is growing at an almost unimaginable rate. Travel was highly restricted for Chinese citizens until the mid-1980s, but since then it has become a form of leisure affordable for an ever-increasing number of people. For example, when Hong Kong was finally made open to mainland Chinese in 1997, soon they made up 75% of the island’s tourist population. Until the mid-2000s most Chinese tourists still traveled in big tour groups to keep their trips affordable, but since then independent tourism has become much more commonplace (Chan and Zakkour). Since more people have money and a desire to travel there has been a growth in tourism in the rural villages of China, as seen in one of our Chinese Environmental Film Festival Films, Peasant Family Happiness. The pumping of new economic life into these traditional agricultural villages would seem to be a positive occurrence. However, the conversion of an agricultural community into a tourist mecca comes with certain consequences. Continue reading “Chinese Village Tourism”

Adoption in China: Personal Adoption Stories

cmcneela / April 4, 2014May 6, 2015 / Adoption

By Cat McNeela and G. Tate

In 1979, Deng Xiaoping and his economic reformers introduced the “One-Child Policy” as a temporary measure. Thirty-five years later, the Communist party still clings to this policy (Jian). Not only has this affected the Chinese population, but in the United States it has affected the adopted children and their families.

“Chinese girl with her Mother” by Catherine McNeela

Filmmaker, Linda Goldstein Knowlton of “Somewhere Between” interviewed four adopted Chinese teens who share their inner convictions about how they dwell on somewhere between cultures. Each teen cogently shared subtle thoughts and emotions about her path from China to the United States. This movie exemplifies how the girls are products of China’s “One-Child Policy”, and how there are social pressures that fueled parents’ quest for sons. Also, the movie dives into the psychology of being an immigrant in the American society. When the movie was released in 2011, Knowlton notes that of 127,500 adoptees from China, 80,000 lived in the United States when the film was produced.

“Chinese girls in orphanage” by Catherine McNeela

The stories are rather painful, yet shared with a sense of somber acceptance. When they were young children in China, each girl was left behind in a depressing way. One girl was taken on a bus ride and told to wait for her cousin who never appeared. Another was left by her mother in a neighboring village; when her father went to look for her, she was already lost. During the film, they would show clips of birthday parties, and because they were abandoned, they did not know their real birthdays.

“Chinese girls playing” by Catherine McNeela

As transracial adoptees in white communities, the girls have felt that they never fully blended in. Throughout the movie, each girl called herself a “banana”—meaning yellow on the outside, white on the inside. Later, one of the girls refines this and says, “we are more like scrambled eggs”–the white and yellow mixed up.

“Chinese girl in her crib at orphanage” by Catherine McNeela

At one point, they each ached to know more about the “why” questions of their lives. For example, why were they in an orphanage, why were they adopted, or what became of their birth families? The term “abandoned” was used frequently, which escalated varying emotions. Whenever insecurities or pain surfaced in their voices, it centered on questions of their origin.

Knowlton, Linda. Somewhere Between. DVD. 2011

More Information at One Child Policy and Gender and Adoption

The Evolution of Marriage in both the United States and China

psanchez / November 28, 2012May 6, 2015 / Marriage & Family

By A. Nichols

The Chinese marriage tradition has gone from what was formerly arranged marriages to modern self-chosen marriages. Previously, the parents arranged marriages to provide only the finest partner for their children. Though most people would think this type of relationship wouldn’t survive, Xu Xiaohe and Martin Whyte said in their journal article that arranged marriages always “start out cold and grow hot”. The Chinese believe that the couples learn to love each other the longer they are together. However, the idea of arranged marriages is becoming less and less popular in the Chinese culture due to the increase in status of women in society. Chinese women have obtained a lot more rights in the past few years and finally have gained equal rights with men. With this, women are more interested in marrying a man that will be able to support them and their family with a prosperous job and good personality. Women are also getting married much older because they have decided they want to become something first and go out and work in a work place, rather than just staying home. All of these elements affect marriage because not only are people making their own choice of whom they will marry, they are also making something of themselves as an individuals. The Chinese are also becoming more accepting of divorce. Though the older generation believes that the younger generation won’t attempt to make their relationships work, it is still seen that some relationships will just never work out.[1] More Chinese have been getting divorced as the country revolutionizes.

When taking a look at the historical American practices, we see it’s somewhat similar to what is practiced today with the exception of a few changes. Starting in the late 1600’s the American colonies adopted the “English common law, which said, ‘by marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law.’”[2] Back then women didn’t have rights in America, and the men controlled most of what they did. Women couldn’t have property in their name, so their husbands controlled all of their assets. Today women have equal rights to men. Divorce is also something that has had a big influence on American culture. In 1969, “California adopt[ed] the nation’s first “no fault” divorce law, allowing divorce by mutual consent.”[3] This allowed both men and women to separate if their marriage was not working out as they had hoped. This trend wasn’t very popular at first, but allowed the option if it was necessary. But today, the idea of divorce has become very popular. Many Americans decide to take the easy route of getting a divorce rather than trying to work through their relationship. The divorce rate for America is at an all time high, “41-50%”. [4]

The Chinese and Americans started off with numerous different marriage traditions and beliefs, but as the world modernizes, their similarities began to show more significantly. Though they are moving at different speeds and at different times, they are both moving in a similar direction toward similar beliefs.

[1] Xinxin, Zhang, “How Come You Aren’t Divorced Yet?” Unofficial China: Popular Culture and thought in the People’s Republic, edited by E. Perry Link, Richard Madsen, and Paul Pickowicz, 66.

[2] Shenker, Jill. “A Selective History of Marriage in the United States | Solidarity.” Solidarity: A Socialist, Feminist, Anti-Racist Organization. http://solidarity-us.org/node/370. 2004 (accessed November 8, 2012).

[3] Shenker. “A Selective History of Marriage in the United States | Solidarity.” 2004.

[4] “Divorce Statistics and Divorce Rate in the USA.” Divorce Statistics. http://www.divorcestatistics.info/divorce-statistics-and-divorce-rate-in-the-usa.html (accessed November 8, 2012).

Is Western or Chinese Parenting More Effective?

kballatore / November 28, 2012May 6, 2015 / Marriage & Family

By A. Nichols

Parenting is a great responsibility that comes with many choices and decisions to be made. Social scientists have speculated about and researched parental and family influence on child development for many decades. Parenting styles differ based on many aspects of culture. Different cultures tend to have different perceptions and goals of how to raise a child based on their past and their beliefs. The Chinese culture tends to refer to a more strict method of parenting, while Western parents have a more laid back technique of raising children. To both countries, children are the most important natural resource; but the outcome depends on how we treat them. Through exploring different ideas and techniques of parenting, one can make their own assumption about what the best way to raise a child is. Chinese and Western parents both have evidence that shows the effectiveness of their parenting styles, but one must analyze their reasoning for using those specific techniques and contemplate if that is the optimal for their cultural and familial situation.
Chinese parents pay special attention to training children and adhering to socially desirable and culturally approved behavior. Chinese parents tend to be much stricter. Many people wonder how Chinese parents raise such stereotypically successful children. Chinese parents believe that their children owe them. The reasoning behind this is based on the Confucian filial piety which is a guide for Confucian followers. This training concept is important in explaining the academic success of Chinese children. According to this philosophy, Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents, obeying their parents, and making their parents proud. A Chinese parent will disregard their child’s feelings if they do not agree with them. And yet, Chinese culture is not as punitive of children as Western culture. Although using a laid back tendency of parenting now, the “authoritarian” concept has evolved from an American culture and psychology that is rooted in both evangelical and Puritan religious influence. North American families have found that strong support from the spouses and friends may ease mothers’ stress in parent-child interaction, which allows them to respond more sensitively to their children’s needs, but Chinese mothers perceive that social support is not associated with their authoritarian parenting.
Children are the product of their cultural upbringing and are the most potent force in shaping the present and future of a nation. Parenting and parent-child interaction are influenced by the ecological context, which is mediated by society-wide changes and shifts in cultural values and child-rearing goals, as well as family-level life stress and social support. There are considerable individual differences in parenting styles. Parental influences on children’s development have been the topic of speculation for centuries and the focus of theory and research for decades. Although Chinese parents and Western parents may have different thoughts on the best way of raising a child, it is up to the individual set of parents to reflect on their goals and expectations of their children to decide what is the best parenting style for their circumstances.