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Cultural Issues in Nursing: Chinese Culture

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                                    Cultural Issues in Nursing: Chinese Culture

Chinese culture is not only one of the world most complex culture, but also among the oldest. The culture is widely spread all over Asia with the eastern part of the nation being dominant with the Chinese culture (Latourette, 1964). Today, there are over 50 recognized ethnic groups spread all over China, with the largest of them all being that of the Han Chinese ethnic group.

The Chinese people do derive most of their values and beliefs from Confucianism and Taoism, which are the main religion among the Chinese culture (Colson, 2013). Confucianism does insist on family loyalty, respect for elders, doing what is right and benevolence. The official language of the Chinese people is Mandarin. However, in modern day there are other dialects that are acceptable, such as Hakka and Fukinesese (Dainian, 1988). The Chinese people also put a lot of emphasis on education and learning and insist on its importance from generations to generations.

The Chinese people are hospitable and show a lot of etiquette in their social interactions. They are known to value gift something that is widely reflected in their celebrations of festivals and activities such as birthdays and weddings. The Chinese people also do believe and practice a lot of taboos among their society. One of their most common taboo is the taboo for numbers; where they believe good things always come in pairs, and thus tend to avoid odd numbers among many others

Everything within the Chinese culture tends to be guided by some well-laid out principles. Dinning etiquette is the most common practice among many families. Where be it be in back to home or even in restaurants whenever there is a visitor, then he/she is allowed to enter first. On a keen observation, the culture is very strict in nature explaining why it has managed to stay unchanged for a long time now. This order shows that they may prefer orderly health practice and natural remedies more than western medicine.
                                                            References

Colson, M. (2013). Chinese culture. Chicago, Ill.: Heinemann Library.

Dainian, Z. (1988). Chinese Culture and Chinese Philosophy. Contemporary Chinese Thought, 19(3), 69-95. http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/csp1097-1467190369>

Latourette, K. (1964). The Chinese, their history and culture. New York: Macmillan.