Euro-American Culture Failure To Dominate China
European and American cultures have been dominating various parts of the world. Despite previous expectations, they did dominate even the Arab world and India. However, it is a surprise that this culture did not have an effect on the Chinese culture. The Chinese people held on to their culture and were not willing to change it. The reason was the differences that existed between the Western culture and the Chinese culture (Hamm 70). This diversity had the meaning that there was no compatibility between the two cultures. The religion of the two cultures did differ immensely and there were no similarities, their systems of government differed, and the understanding of the functioning of the world differed. In addition, the fact that China developed in solitude and isolation from the rest of the regions means that they had no contact with the rest of the world (Hamm 51). In accordance, cultures differences between the Chinese and the European cultures lead to fact that western cultures did not dominate China.
There are a number of cultural differences that exist between China and Europe. These differences lead to difficulty that Europeans and Americans faced in their bid to dominate the world. Unlike in other parts of the World, like India and Africa, Europeans did not dominate the Chinese people. English language spread from Britain to other parts of the world, but did not receive the same reception in China. China had a number of languages in its own country. The Chinese language writing style developed as early as 4000 years ago (Phy 42). This had the meaning that it was not possible for the Chinese people to drop their language and adopt English. In addition, the writing civilization of China was in existence in 200 BC evident from the existence of Bone libraries (Guillain 41). Accordingly, unlike other regions that lack developed languages, China had their language that had a witting system that made it difficult for Chinese people to adopt other languages.
The other challenge that Americans and Europeans faced was the fact the Chinese communities spoke different languages and used various symbols. There were times that their own leaders required translation when address their subjects (Lehning 41). In a region that has such large number of languages and symbols, there was evident difficulty in ruling such a country. The fact that Chinese had different understanding of the social units was another fact that limited domination by the western cultures (Hamm 20). The Chinese lived in basic family and village settings and did not entertain city cultures. This had the meaning that it would be difficult for such culture to invite strangers into their society (Fadi 20). Limited access to the cultural communities of China had the meaning that it was not possible to have them adopt the western culture.
The development of the Chinese culture and economy was different from that of other regions. The Chinese culture shielded China from contact with other regions. This had the meaning China did not depend on other regions for development. It was not until in 400 BCE that China makes contact with the rest of the world. This means that Chinese communities were reluctant to accept ideologies from other regions. In fact, they had their own understanding of the operation of the world. According to the society, civilization begins from the North and spreads southwards. In accordance, their expectation was that any form of civilization would emanate from the Yangtze that resided in the Northern parts. Western cultures could not dominate a community that has its own set of beliefs.
Religion played a large part in the domination of the European cultures. Italians, French, Britons, Spaniards, Portuguese, and other European powers would use religion to gain access into other regions (Alon 31). The common religions that Europeans used include Protestants and the Roman Catholic. However, the Chinese communities practiced different form of religion. In most, cases the compatibility that existed between Christianity and religions of various regions is the similarity that existed. Chinese practiced Daoism and Confucianism, which were different from other forms of religion (Lash 92). The religion that the Chinese practiced did not care about the afterlife like Christianity. In accordance, it was difficult for the European powers to dominate the China through its culture because of the differences (Kalman 81). The fact that Chinese people were in most cases were hostile to strangers means there was no probability they would take up other cultures.
For many years, China used the dynasty political systems. The systems establishment was in 221 BC. This political system would exist for centuries and would facilitate the Chinese culture reinforcement. Just like the Roman Empire in Europe, the dynasties facilitated the growth of language and culture in China and the regions surrounding (Lehning 71). Dynasties supported Chinese culture and in fact, during the times of foreign rule, foreigners would have to adopt Chinese cultures so that they can rule. This is an indicator that the Chinese people trusted their culture and it was not possible for them to allow other culture even from their leaders. This has the meaning despite the European euphoria experienced worldwide China and the Chinese people remained true to their culture and did not convert.
The economy and society of China was another contributing factor to the inability of European and American cultures to dominate the region. The region has had no capability of producing surplus, which has the meaning that the upper class was small in comparison to the middleclass (Guillain 51). China agriculture sector was growing leading to a population that was growing at very fast pace. The surprise was that the small number of upper class persons had the ability to rule the rest of the population (Lehning 18). In accordance, the ruling techniques of China have been different in comparison to the other parts of the world. American and European ideologies were not attractive to the ruling class hence the communities of the culture were also not interested in the Western culture. Such cultural differences meant that integration of the two cultures was not possible hence; Europe and America could not dominate the China.
The Western cultures dominating the rest of the world failed to dominate China. There are varying reasons that made China maintain its cultural practices despite the growing Euphoria among other regions of the world to adopt the Western cultures (Lash 21). China first contact with the rest of the World happened at a late stage. At this time, their languages were at an advanced stage, so was their religion, and political systems. This had the meaning that instead of China adopting cultures from other regions, the process would happen in a vice versa scenario. In accordance, Euro-American cultures did not succeed in dominating China.
Work Cited
Lehning, Percy. Civil Society and International Development. New York: OECD Publishing, 2003.
Alon, Llan. Chinese Culture, Organizational Behavior, and International Business Management. London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003.
Lash, Scott. Intensive Culture: Social Theory, Religion & Contemporary Capitalism. California: SAGE Publishing, 2010.
Guillain, Charlotte. Chinese Culture. Sydney: Hienemann-Raintee Library, 2008.
Kalman, Bobbie. China: The Culture. Boston: Crabtree Publishing Company, 2008.
Hamm, Bernd. Cultural Imperialism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Fadi, Mona. Where East Meets West: Appropriating the Islamic Encounter for a spiritual revival. Bombay: IIT, 2010.
Phy, Tomlinson. Cultural Imperialism: A critical Introduction. Washington: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000.
