Cultural Identities in China

Cultural Identities in China One of the oldest continuous civilizations in history and the dominant cultural center of East Asia is China, where the place full with flourishing philosophical, political, economic, artistic and scientific traditions. Moreover, China has opened up an intense cultural identity as a widespread civilization. In the last century, China has been struggled on the challenge of smiting a brand new identity in the world of nation-states and re-determines its cultural values in a modern world. The tension between tradition and modernity of Chinese has been turning to Confucius for possible ways to a latter-day social illness that related with commercialization and sudden economic growth inevitably spotlights by China. Chineses are subject to change their conservation and traditional values. In spite of their persuasiveness and persistence, the major Confucian orientations do not give any rise to a rigid, conform and closed system. China generates imperfect harmony but progress problematic. The increase of new modus of social organization and activities implied the new understanding on many of the traditional beliefs and organizational precondition. Overall, cultures will often adapt into their core elements appropriately. Now, the increase of a consumer society has defiance many of the Confucians philosophies. The emergence of a rich consumer class and the increase of prevalent culture has usher in a set of values constantly related with the concept of modern. Industrialization, urbanization, bureaucratization, democratization, universal education, mass-consumption and fast communication celebrates modernity. These ideas have been recruiting into latest Chinese society and become part of the Chinese cultural identity. Hence, Chinese cultural identity consist both traditional modernity. Any traditions must be comprehended as a chosen version of the former filtered from the desires, experience and current concerns. In the early of 20th Century, Chinas modernization project has left an imprint in the values of Chinese culture. Cultural identity in a specific filmic signification can help to lighten the problem of cultural identity have been claims through empirical. The main issue is not certainly attributable to the films Chinese identity, if this matter exists in most developing countries. Chinese characteristics and Chinese identity was actually brings up by the latter Chinese film where grounds the problem on a concrete Chinese soil. The classical Confucian principles were frowned upon the side of human desire and activities which related to money. An identity that has struggled to balance between tradition and modernity in the contest between Confucian moral tradition and mainland Chineses newly-discovered economic freedom in a post socialist society are captures well the indistinct and uneasy cultural identity of contemporary China. The diverse ideas are contend with one another for interpretative legitimacy is known as the subjective process to evaluate the cultural identity in a cinematic text. The exercise of identity identification will involves the allocation of special set of significances and the overture to involve or avoid the capacity diffusion of other significances. Chinas Enculturation Process According to A. Scott Moreau, enculturation can be seen as the learning of a culture through growing up in it. Enculturation is the process that begins from the moment of birth in which cultural rules and pathways, values and dreams, and pattern and regulations of life are set on from one generation to the next. People who live with their own culture will become enculturated as if they internalize their cultural pattern. There were clearly states that every human are born without culture. The cultural will exist as if the children have go through the enculturation process, because the children has internalized or drawn the environment of culture. Thus, the enculturation process will happen without any realization by the children. The children will learn and form their own self according to their own cultural, which this is another process of enculturation known as the active self-conscious process. Moreover, enculturation involves and brings up the indigenization. Christians enculturation believe that Chinese culture actually includes in the leadership and the incarnation of the Church among the circumstances of current social realities, whereby it indicated facing the political situation creatively in a brand new cultural setting. The Chinese once fit by the outliers, they can start to combine Chinese cultures, values, ideals, teachings and orientation of the gospel and church tradition. Chinas Assimilation Process The continuous of dynasties facilitated Chinas boundary firmly southward and the empire was stranded frequently by aggressions and migrations of northern savage. These people were recruited into Chinese culture through a process of assimilation and it was not irregular for the empire to be excluded by a dynasty of non-Chinese origin. Similarly, people who are out from the religion of Buddhism was adjusted and assimilated to Chinese traditions. In the Roman and other empires, assimilation was very less intensive. The cohesiveness and longevity of Chinese Empire are most important condition as the development of the Chinese bureaucracy and the creeping influence of its Confucian ideology everywhere in Chinese society. Confucianism, was originated as it was in the old Chinese traditions, learned from academies and trained in Chinese families, and finally increased by its own positions as the core disciplines of the civil service examinations, penetrated in Chinese society at all standards and shaped the cement that retained it together, during periods of political decomposition or the adjudication dynasty lost the Mandate of Heaven. Chinese culture, especially Confucianism was proved intensely that it radically penetrated in Vietnam, which China predominant for many centuries. Even surrounding countries such as Korea, where Korea was under Chinese predominant for only short time, as well as Japan, which was never be one of the Chinese Empire. In order to enrich their own societies in Chinese culture and institutions voluntarily, the predominant elites of these countries must be part adopted or adjusted in Chinese culture, even as if they against the Chinese political control. For the new era of East Asia today, this cultural legacy has proven and it will continued to be even more lasting than the previous empire that generates it.

Shell Case Study

The Case Study on â€Å"Organizational change at Royal Dutch/Shell† This case study on â€Å"Organizational Change at Royal Dutch/Shell† deals with the organizational change that the world’s largest non-state-owned oil company made to respond its operating environmental changes in 1990s (Hill, C 2005, pp. 476-477) While there are a few different structures of global organizations such as worldwide area structure, worldwide product divisional structure and global matrix structure, the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch/Shell (hereinafter Shell) decided to be structured with a matrix structure from the 1950s until 1994.Under the matrix structure, the head of each operating company reported to two bosses; one boss was responsible for the geographical region or country and the other was responsible for the business activity worldwide (Shell’s business activities included oil exploration and production, oil products, chemicals, gas and coal). There were two major benefits that Shell enjoyed from this matrix structure for about 40 years. First, their decision making process was based on the consensus building between the two bosses. Because of its side effects such as slow and cumbersome process, it might be not proper for some organizations.However as the nature of Shell’s business environment is that most big decisions are long-term ones that involve huge capital expenditures and as a result they could review thoroughly all the big decisions, this decision making process was beneficial to the company. Second, this slow decision making process caused substantial decentralization by default to the heads of the individual operating companies. Thanks to this decentralization, Shell could respond to local differences in government regulations, competitive conditions and consumer tastes.Even though there were drawbacks such as slow and cumbersome process, the matrix structure fit the environment of the global oil and chemical industries in the 1980s. In the 1980s, Shell sought to grow through acquisition. It bought out the remaining 30% shareholding in Shell Oil in 1985 to consolidate its American operations. While the oil price plummeted in the winter of 1986 when the price fell from $31 per barrel to $10, Shell managed its budget by half: the company had to work much harder to develop new projects more cheaply. As a esult, Shell could make huge improvements in drilling techniques such as slim-hole drilling and directional drilling. The use of 3D seismic became widespread. (from Shell’s official homepage; 1980s to the new millennium). All of these activities worked well under the matrix structure of Shell until the end of 1980s. There was a huge environmental change in 1990. It’s the Gulf War. The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, partly prompted by the low price of oil, led to uncertainty about production and prices spiked. Iraq wanted to gain control of the world's third largest oil producer to give it more control over the world market.Following the Gulf war to liberate Kuwait, crude oil prices entered a period of steady decline, reaching their lowest level in 1994 for 21 years (BBC, Why the oil price keeps rising, June 2008). As the oil prices declined, naturally there was pressure on Shell’s profit margins. Although it had traditionally been among the most profitable oil companies in the world, its relative performance began to slip in the early 1990s as its competitors adapted rapidly to the environment changes. As a result, this suggested that the Shell senior management team review its strategy and the fit between strategy and organizational structure.In 1995, Shell abandoned its 40 year old matrix structure and adopted divisional line structure based on its new strategy to lower the operating costs just as its competitors did. Under the new divisional line structure, Shell now operates with five global product divisions- exploration and production, oil products, chemical, gas and coal. The difference between the organization after 1995 and that before 1994 is that the power of the each global division will increase and the responsibilities of the country (or regional) chefs are reduced.The Shell’s change led to enhanced fit between operating environment, strategy and organizational architecture. As mentioned earlier, Shell's operating environment changed in the early of 1990s with continuing slack demand for oil and weak oil price which caused pressure on profit margins. In order to overcome the challenges, Shell changed its strategy to lowering operating costs by a sharp reduction in head office overhead and the elimination of unnecessary duplication of facilities across countries.This new strategy could be achieved via the change of its reorganization in 1995 from matrix organization to divisional lines structure. As a result of the change, Shell could reduce the need for a large head office bureaucracy and eliminated unnecessary duplicatio n of facilities across countries. Eventually, production may be consolidated in lager facilities that serve an entire region, rather than a single country, with which it could enjoy the greater scale economies. In summary, Shell’s organizational structure change in 1995 could contribute its business strategy changes which were driven by the operating environment changes.

My Mothers Tongue by Amy Tan - 596 Words

In the personal essay â€Å"My Mothers Tongue† (1990), Amy Tan, widely known author explains her insights on language and culture identity using details and memories from her own life experiences. Tan conceals that the language in which her mother used with her â€Å"was the language that helped shape the way [she] saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world† (1208) and in the process it made her who she is today as an author. Tan illuminates the euro centricity of the Master Narrative by retelling stories of her mother being treated poorly because of her â€Å"broken† or â€Å"limited† English. She recalls many past experiences where her mother suffered from bad service and treatment from restaurants, stockbrokers, and even hospitals. Using examples from her personal life Tan gets her point across about language and culture characteristics in order to show how Chinese culture is affected by the master narrative and also encourages others to inc lude a variety of cultures in order to overcome bias opinions. Tan’s apparent audience can be ranged from the child of an immigrant to a doctor and offers an authentic and rich portrayal of Chinese history through her conflicting experience of her Chinese and American cultures. In the essay â€Å"Straw into Gold: The Metamorphosis of the Everyday† (1984), Sandra Cisneros, nationally known Mexican-American author, uses an informal tone and fragment sentences such as â€Å" I’d never seen anybody make corn tortillas. Ever† (1226) to help create a voiceShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Mother Tongue By Amy Tan913 Words   |  4 Pages Analysis of Mother Tongue by Amy Tan In the narrative essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† by Amy Tan, the author sets out the story between her mother, whose English is her second language, and Tan herself can speak native English very well. The essay covers the tonal shift of Amy Tan s psychological change, from grudge to understanding. Although she begins the essay saying, I am not a scholar of English or literature. I cannot give you much more than personal opinions on theRead MoreMother Tongue1199 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis of â€Å"Mother Tongue† written by Amy Tan â€Å"So easy to read†(p.4). Amy Tan ends her essay, â€Å"Mother Tongue† with this short and even grammatically wrong sentence. She tells us this mother’s brief review is a proof of success of her writing. Why does she think that easiness is an essence of her writing? 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Alice walker on the other hand writes a story narrated by â€Å"Mama† the mother of two daughters Maggie and Dee andRead MoreHow I Learned to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan1178 Words   |  5 Pages How I Learned to Read and Write by Frederick Douglass and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan are essays that share a common theme. The theme is opposition and how it is necessary to build strength. In the essay How I Learned to Read and Write, Frederick Douglass explains that he was born into slavery and faced his own ignorance with a resolve to overcome this challenge. Faced with o ppression by the master and mistress of the house, a young Frederick Douglass used any means necessary toRead MoreMother Tongue767 Words   |  4 PagesMother Tongue, by Amy Tan Comprehension 1. What Tan is classifying in this essay is the different kinds of English she uses. 2. 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And after her aunt left the room, Mary Doe started pushing me to see what I would do and after a while I got really mad so I punched herRead More Amy Tans Mother Tongue Essay1106 Words   |  5 PagesAmy Tans Mother Tongue The Essay written by Amy Tan titled Mother Tongue concludes with her saying, I knew I had succeeded where I counted when my mother finished my book and gave her understandable verdict (39). The essay focuses on the prejudices of Amy and her mother. All her life, Amys mother has been looked down upon due to the fact that she did not speak proper English. Amy defends her mothers Broken English by the fact that she is Chinese and that the Simple English spoken

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