People in the culture
Identity
Many have existed in China. In terms of the numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional cultural identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the .
Regional
Traditional Chinese Culture covers a large geographical territories, each region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures. Using modern names, here are some distinction:
* The Yangtze River areas include Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
Society
Structure
Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, some form of has been the main ruler above all. Different periods of history have different names for the various positions within society. Conceptually each imperial or feudal period is similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the , and the rest of the population under regular Chinese law. Since the late Zhou Dynasty , traditional Chinese society was organized into a hierarchic system of socio-economic classes known as the four occupations. However, this system did not cover all social groups while the distinctions between all groups became blurred ever since the of Chinese culture in the Song Dynasty . also has a long history; ever since the Sui Dynasty educated candidates prepared for the Imperial examinations that drafted exam graduates into government as scholar-bureaucrats. Trades and crafts were usually taught by a sifu. The female historian Ban Zhao wrote the Lessons for Women in the Han Dynasty and outlined the four virtues women must abide to, while scholars such as Zhu Xi and would expand upon this. Chinese marriage and Taoist sexual practices are some of the customs and rituals found in society.
Values
Most social values are derived from Confucianism and Taoism with a combination of conservatism. The subject of which school was the most influential is always debated as many concepts such as Neo-Confucianism, and many others have come about. Reincarnation and other concept is a reminder of the connection between real-life and the next-life.
Language
Spoken Chinese has consisted of a number of throughout history. In the Ming Dynasty standard Mandarin was nationalized. Even so, it wasn't until the Republic of China era in the 1900s when there was any noticeable result in promoting a common unified .
The ancient written standard was Classical Chinese. It was used for thousands of years, but was mostly reserved for scholars and intellectuals. By the 20th century, millions of citizens, especially those outside of the imperial court were illiterate. Countless number of imperial kitchen staff and concubines were involved in the food preparation process. Overtime, many dishes became part of the everyday-citizen culture. Some of the highest quality restaurants with recipes close to the dynastic periods include Fangshan restaurant in Beihai Park Beijing and the Oriole Pavilion. Arguably all branches of or even American Chinese food are in some ways rooted from the original dynastic cuisines.
Leisure
A number of and pastimes are popular within Chinese culture. The most common game is Mah Jong. The same pieces are used for other styled games such as . Others include Pai Gow, Pai gow poker and other games. Go proverb and Xiangqi is also popular. Ethnic games like Chinese yo-yo are also part of the culture.
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