Intertwined Core Concepts Of My Culture

My Culture Although I was born in China, my memory of my life there is like a blurry, monochromatic photo and, sometimes, it pains me to feel that mild sense of detachment from my beautiful heritage and culture. However, my genuine interest in Chinese language and culture is the reason why I will always persist in retaining this important aspect of my identity.
Sophomore year marked the end of the Middle Years Program at our school. Our final assignment was our personal project, where we were given the liberty of proposing our own topic of interest, planning our own cumulative goals and assignments, and structuring our method of the end presentation to capture all the work we’ve done. The goal of my project was to inform more people about …show more content…
From actively observing the fascinating social interactions, customs, and language in the various provinces and municipalities, in addition to online research, I was able to formulate 4 intertwined core concepts of Chinese culture. The concept of “face” involves one’s social status, reputation or image. Since it determines how much influence one has, it must be maintained by one’s actions ranging from small habits to big decisions and losing “face” is a huge dishonor to oneself and one’s family, which can lead to a break in a relationship/connection. An example of this concept during my time in China is during a formal dinner with officials from Southeast University. Before going back to China, my dad helped his friend with a favor from the president of Southeast University. The son of the president was visiting the U.S. and needed a place to stay and hospitable people to look after him. In gratitude for our help, the president and his deans, invited our family to dinner at an extravagant restaurant. In formal events such as this, one can feel a sense of tension in the air because everyone was wary of their every single movement and comment. One of the deans initiated a conversation with me over the table. He spoke English in proof of his previous education in America and although it was nothing astounding, I praised him for his English abilities out of manner. Immediately, he was overwhelmed with joy and excitement; in fact, so much that he walked all the way across the room to toast with me and later on asked for me to stand next to him while taking a commemorating photo. The reason behind his seemingly exaggerated reactions is because he gained “face” and felt extremely dignified for being commended in front of the president and the other deans. The concepts of connection and Doctrine of the Mean can be seen from this example as well. It was because of the president’s connection with my