More on Chinese Culture

May 22 -- Written by Rebecca Coyle (Social Work)

One of the first classes we attended was a course on Chinese Culture.  The professor’s name was Liu Yong, but he allowed us to call him by his American name which was Kevin.  It is amusing yet relieving when a new CTBU professor or friend is introduced with a simple American name after reciting their long Chinese name.  We usually pronounce the Chinese names incorrectly several times to get the pronunciation right, and sadly it doesn’t take long to forget names because they are so unfamiliar.  Chinese names are unique because each one has a meaning.  My CTBU partners gave me the name 如月 (ru yue) which means “like a moon.”  They explained that they chose this name because they believed I was beautiful like a moon. 

I envy the Chinese culture because the people seem to have a special meaning behind everything.  In class we learned about the Chinese characters and how each one has a symbolic meaning behind the strokes that are used to create it.  The Mandarin Chinese character 好 (hǎo) means “good.”  It is made up of the two radicals 女 (nǔ) which means woman, and 子 (zǐ) which means child or son.  The character symbolizes the custom in ancient China that a woman who had children was doing the correct or “good” thing.  Americans often find it intimidating to learn Chinese because characters are used instead of an alphabet, and the Chinese feel the same way about learning English.  Kevin explained to us that Chinese people find it difficult to master English because the letters and words lack meaning, making it less significant and harder to remember.  I found this really interesting because it makes sense but is something that most people never consider.      

Class was filled with various other topics, including facts on the dynasties and power distinctions.  We learned that the three major ancient religions practiced in China are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.  Unlike most other religions, these three are not centered around one God, but rather many different Gods that all play specific roles in the culture.  My favorite ancient Chinese story is about the creation of the universe.  The Chinese believe that the first God, named Pangu, created everything that now exists today.  Pangu woke up in a cosmic egg filled nothing but chaos formed by a mixture of yin and yang.  He used an axe to separate yin from yang, therefore creating the earth and sky.  His arms are now mountains that keep the two apart.  The wind is his breath and thunder is his voice.  His eyes are now the sun and moon.