Should Chinese People Resist Foreign Culture.docx

1、Should Chinese People Resist Foreign CultureNational identity depends on culture, tooBy Victor Paul Borg (China Daily) Comments(1) PrintMailLarge Medium Small My favorite time of the year starts this week, but I am not excited for the obvious reasons. It is not my favorite time because I can drink m

2、ore, go out more, eat more and work less. Those are welcome diversions from the daily humdrum, but my joy throughout lunar new year festivities is in the outpouring of Chinese traditional revelry and culture thats not possible to experience so fully during the rest of the year. I live in a small obs

3、cure city in Sichuan province - where people are more conservative and rooted in tradition than in cosmopolitan cities in the eastern coast. But even here, many times it feels as if were on an unstoppable march toward a kind of soulless modernity. If you look at the townscape or peoples clothes, you

4、 could be anywhere in the world. Imagine my surprise then, during my first new year here, when I discovered that there is a large Buddhist temple on the outskirts of the city. I had never imagined that the citys residents had even an iota of piousness. But that day I saw the unimaginable: The entire

5、 city had descended on the temple, its massive courtyards heaving with people, everyone making offerings of paper money and joss sticks and then circumambulating a large stupa. Outside the temple, bursting firecrackers chased me like devils. It is such manifestations of traditional culture during Sp

6、ring Festival season that I admire. Further meaning is added at homes, eating from an array of dishes that include pigs head and pigs buttocks - to signify the beginning and the end of the year - as well as wandering the streets and joining people bursting fireworks and paper lanterns. I suppose I a

7、m lucky to be living in a small city, because in Chinas more modern cities, lunar new year as well as other traditional celebrations are dimming out under the creeping imported scraps of foreign globalized culture. In cities that claim to be more modern, Christmas and New Years Eve celebrations have

8、 as much visibility as Spring Festival. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with cultural cross-pollination or with different people adopting the feasts of others. For example, Chinese new year is now celebrated in most countries in the world and has become a standard fixture in their events calendar.

9、Likewise, Western festivals such as Christmas, New Year and Valentines Day are now celebrated in China. This is all good. But China should be careful that its own cultural traditions are not lost in its transition to modernity and the adoption of foreign festivities. Much culture is being eroded in

10、China. Aside from new year, almost all the other cultural events have almost lost their visibility. All that remains of many traditional festivals is some special dishes that a few people still eat. Even some of the manifestations of lunar new year are dying out. This is a pitiful loss. For example,

11、 despite spending some years in China, I have never seen a lion or dragon dance. These dances used to happen during the new year. Young men used to organize such dances in every village. But today you would have to go to remote villages to see one. No lion or dragon dance is held even in the small c

12、ity where I live. My family and friends say young people are no longer interested in performing lion dances, and the pocket money they can make would be too small by todays standards. Youths now prefer to stay glued to their computers, and as a result, the lion (and dragon) dance is being lost as a

13、folk art form and cultural expression. Its a pity that the only lion or dragon dances I have seen have been among Chinese communities in Southeast Asian or European countries. Cultural expressions are being eroded because of a variety of reasons. Its a sign of society becoming more individualistic,

14、devoid of community bondage or sense of belonging, and the new generations seeking flashier and immediate gratifications in life. Yet traditions and manifestations are important because they give meaning to a societys cultural history and way of seeing. Culture is identity, and retaining a distinct

15、sense of ones identity means that individuals retain a sense of civic belonging and responsibility, a sense of pride in ones society, and ultimately a sense of confidence about the society he or she belongs to. I am not saying that China is losing its identity. China retains a strong sense of identi

16、ty in its language, food, and other ways of seeing and doing things. But cultural manifestations are indeed one aspect of history that is dimming in China, and that means considerable loss of drama and art forms. Societys priorities are changing, and hence keeping cultural events alive in dramatic g

17、lory requires the efforts of dedicated groups of individuals or government departments. It requires finding innovative ways of continuing to express traditional events and festivities - by innovative I also mean the ability of organizers to attract an audience, especially the new generation that is

18、distracted by the Internet. Local tourism or governments cultural departments have a role to play in the festivities in most of Chinas cities during Spring Festival. Many people organize pyrotechnic shows during the Lantern Festival. Other events can be organized to celebrate festivals during the ye

19、ar. They could also work to raise awareness of the beauty and importance of traditional cultural manifestations so that people continue to express different aspects of traditional art forms in a manner that fits the changing priorities and tastes brought on by modernization. What should we do about

20、the influence of foreign culture?Good afternoon , my dear judges and audience:I am very glad to have a chance to give you a speech on my topic.Firstly, I have three questions to list.DO you like going to the KFC or McDonalds at the street corner? Do you like wearing torn jeans in order to be the per

21、son with the coolest look? Do you like to color your hair? Most young people do like to. They think its the latest fashion.About twenty years ago, our China was reformed and opened to the world; the influence of foreign culture became a serious problem. Well, there is no denying that our China is a

22、developing country; there is no denying that our China fell behind the developed countries. But its not the reason to say moon abroad is bigger than at home. To my surprise, too many young people take it as their belief. They are crazy about American fashions, Korean fashions and Japanese fashions.

23、They would like to wear rings and necklaces no matter whether they are boys or girls .They like the people we call the punk.Well, also to my surprise, The young people nowadays know quite a lot about the difference between French dishes and Italian dishes but they dont know how long the Great Wall i

24、s, I think its shocking.Actually, the people who copy the foreign culture wholly neglect the Chinese culture features. As we know, our traditional culture is well known to the world. Do you know how many foreign travelers come to China per year for her splendid culture? Since the APEC meeting was he

25、ld in Shanghai Pudong financial district last October, how popular Chinese traditional clothes are with many foreign people? Also in the National Geographic channel from the United States our culture is considered to be the best. Thats true.To construct a rich and prosperous country has been a dream

26、 of ours for several generations .How can we make it come true? By paying special attention to the foreign fashions? No, of course not. Now, our China has become a member of the World Trade Organization. We will be in everyday communication with the rest of the world. I am not suggesting that we ref

27、use foreign culture wholly, but I am suggesting that we should emphasize our ethnic culture. We Chinese youth should be pride of our long history and splendid traditional culture. This is something I feel strongly about.Like many young people of my age in China, I hope to see our mother land become

28、prosperous and respected in the international community.Lets agree, on the importance of our ethic culture and on the importance of maintaining it.Good luck, China.Thank you for listening.Should Chinese People Resist Foreign Culture? UICs Second English Debating Competition Final Organized by the En

29、glish Language Center (ELC), UICs Second Debating Competition was held April 22rd in the room B302. Four teams made up of2 debaters each were separated into two sides and had an intense argument on the topic Should Chinese people resist foreign culture?, following the British Parliamentary debating

30、format. After the debate, Carol, Delilah, Micky, and Seavy (alphabetical order) were named top four debaters, and will represent UIC in the national English debating competition which is going to be held in May in Xian, Shanxi Province. DR. Thomas Kuster The whole activity began with Mr. Navid Amini

31、an and Dr. Tomas Kusters opening speeches. During the competition, each debater was allowed 7 minutes to present his/her argument, and was expected to offer points of information to the opponents, except in the first and the last minute. Seavy, George, Lee Yo and Sherlock were in the propositional s

32、ide, and Deliah, Micky, Carol and Shirley were in the oppositional side. The debaters made great efforts on exhibiting their talents and abilities. The propositionalside maintained that Chinese people should resist foreign culture mainly because the incoming foreign culture could lead to lost of national identity among the youth, and affect our domestic economic and cultural development, on the other side, the oppositional elaborated on how foreign culture had enriched Chinese people life experiences. Point of Informatio