Of
every five persons in the world, one is Chinese.
There are officially 56
ethnically different groups in Mainland China. The largest ethnic group in China is the “Han” which consists
of about 92 percent of the total population. Many other ethnic groups in China have been
cultural assimilated into a Han
identity, which dramatically expanded the size of the Han population. However,
these assimilations were usually incomplete and thus vestiges of indigenous
language and culture are still retained in different regions of China. Because
of this, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and
cultural traditions. Simultaneously, several ethnicities have also dramatically
shaped Han culture, e.g. the Manchurian clothing became the new
"Chinese" fashion after the 17th century, replacing earlier Han
styles of clothing. The groups have in fact learned from one another to create
distinctive Chinese culture.
It is very hard to make the
statement of what China
is. “Chinese nation”
in the modern term is now used to describe a notion of a Chinese nationality
that transcends ethnic divisions. Though the majority of Chinese can speak
common language-Putonghua or called as Mandarin, but the integration is not
completed. For example, in the study of wage determination of Chinese workers
by the official governmental statistics of 1998, the ethnic minorities earned
less 4.8 percent than the Hans in the urban cities. Even among the Hans, the
regional prejudices exist. Due to the differences in the dialects that people
speaks, the kind of food they eat and their social customs, Hans living in Guangdong (the south of China)
may be bought up with some prejudices against the non Guangdong people, called “northerners”. Hans
living in Shanghai may be bought up with great
pride and prejudices against the other non Shanghai people. Nonetheless, all groups of
Chinese can live peacefully together, consider themselves Chinese and most are
proud of being Chinese particularly in these two decades.
About
the Author:I,Fiona, Yiu Kuen Chui were born in Hong Kong.
I have finished the bachelor honour degree of Applied Social Science at the University of Coventry
and the Master Degree in Business Administration at the University
of Surrey in England. I also
obtained the Affiliate level from the Institute
of Export in England and the
Associate level from the Australian Insurance Institute. I have lived and
worked in Hong Kong since the mid-1990. In
between 1993-1997, I were the Lecturer of Business Administration at Hong Kong
Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), and since then I have been a Senior
Marketing Manger in the International Enterprise. My work has carried me into
every corner of China.
Having spent about 10 years travelling around China, I have acquired substantial
concept of how the Chinese businessmen think in different cities. Insider
secrets to doing business in China
is my first book. Please go to www.fortunecome.com for free downloading.
