Lesson 3: Other forces that SHAPE culture

So, is the dynastic period the main force that shaped China of today?

Well, the answer is quite simple, no. There are actually 5 main cultural forces and they are Taoism, Confucianism, Ethnicity, Dynasties and Communism. 

After attending the 3rd lesson of CID, i have developed the idea that key milestones of China's history have also served as cultural forces. Many of the things around us are very much influenced by what has happened in the past and the present. The philosophies, the different eras of dynasties, the cultural revolution and the official identified ethnicity among the population in China have indeed changed the fate of China over and over again. 

For the area of philosophies, i have learnt the Taoism and Confucianism are very appealing to the Chinese rulers in the past because people who believed in those beliefs were passive and followed the traditions closely, thus, they had no means of rebelling against their own rulers. People who believed in Taoism were made to believe that natural world exists in perfect order and it is the human activities that disrupt the harmony whereas those who believed in Confucianism were influenced that people with higher status or greater power would be obeyed by those of a lower power so the people living in China then had to listen to the ruler's orders. 

For the cultural revolution, a very important and significant event that happened between 1969 and 1976, it has made me realise that the people of that era were no longer strongly under the influence of philosophies but communism.They no longer believed in beliefs, religions and nothing associated with pre-communist China and this turned into violence between the people and the Chinese rulers then. Something very surprising to me was when i found out that through that 10 years of rebellion, traditional ideas and cultures were never totally destroyed but people were more concerned with capitalism and these saw the increase of wealth and self resurgence of interest in China's traditional and cultures, especially when they could be sold or commoditised. 

The two cultural forces raised are two key milestones that shows the contradiction towards the people's mindsets of different eras as time progresses on. To me, these really shows how China has significantly changed through different events that happened and has truly shaped the China of today.