Western culture and Chinese cultures today have various similarities and differences. They developed almost independently of each other due to geographical circumstances and other geopolitical factors. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and review the similarities and differences between Western culture and Chinese culture.
Background of Comparisons
Western culture is fundamentally Eurocentric culture. It refers to the kind of culture that is prevalent in Europe, Latin America, North America and some Eurocentric societies around the world. However, up till about 500 years ago, European culture was developed and flourished in Western Europe.
Chinese culture on the other hand seem to have developed on the Chinese mainland. However, in today’s world, it is known in Taiwan, Hong Kong and the many Chinatowns scattered around the world. This expansion and spillover commenced after the Age of Exploration and periods around that time.
Western Europe has a size of about 3.7 million square miles whilst China is about 3.9 million square miles. This shows that they are great landmasses and of a continental magnitude and as such, they are collectively might and powerful in influence. However, there are significant variation in the various trends and patterns of social, economic, political and legal systems across both communities.
Ancient History
China and Eurocentric societies were both formulated by a blend of rulers and philosophers. This is because the creation of their respective civilization needed systems of authority and sovereignty that laid the foundations for the creation of settlements and communities that could grow and flourish. Therefore between 500 BC and 280 BC, there was the rise of some of the greatest Chinese teachers who shaped the foundations of the cultures including Laozi (500 BC) Confucius (551 – 479 BC) Mencius (372 – 289 BC).
In Europe, Plato (400BC), Aristotle (384-322 BC) and Cicero (106-43 BC) formed the basis for the academic and technological systems that advanced science and promoted development . However, Europe benefited from Christo-Judaic religious and social traditions that shaped the foundations significantly. This is because in the period of the Greek civilization, there was an attempt to consolidate various cultural and religious practices in the Mediterranean region and zone that promoted national cohesion and a sense of identity.
The Greek process of cultural consolidation led to the adoption of Christo-Judaic traditions in Europe. This blended with the secular knowledge presented by Plato, Aristotle and other Greeks which laid the foundation for two main arms of society – religious and secular which shaped European history and culture.
On the other hand, China’s biggest influence for political and philosophical thought came from Buddhism which was inherently local and was based on the teachings of great Chinese leaders. Buddhism laid the foundations for the traditions and norms of China and was developed and grown further to form the basis of Chinese culture and heritage .
Medieval Period
After the system of political, philosophical, social and cultural authority was established in both systems, important things happened from about AD100 to AD1,500 which laid the foundation for flourishing and the creation of a national identity. Both countries created common written languages that brought people together and created the parameters for civilization and development. Whilst Greek and later Latin (Latin was most common through Medieval Europe) developed to consolidate European civilization and western thought, China had Cantonese and Mandarin as the written form of language.
In China, minority languages disappeared and a single national identity was formed around the Mandarin and Cantonese languages which are almost the same language but have different pronunciations amongst other things. Europe on the other hand maintained different cultures and identities that were used unofficially throughout the continent and other lands that were colonized by European powers.
Both systems formed and consolidated powerful entities that oversaw the development of their systems in the medieval period. China had emperors who ruled through governors and representatives. On the other hand, Europe had the Roman Catholic Church which created its own unique system of authorizing and legitimizing governments and rulers. Rulers were viewed as people with supernatural powers and this included many nobles and chieftains who ruled different parts of the continent. China on the other hand maintained a rather secular system of rulers and governance.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the ruling class of western societies blended Christian religious leadership with political leadership that functioned almost differently. However, in China, emperors were themselves seen as distinct and they had political power and authority. In Europe though, political leadership and authority was controlled jointly by the Church and the secular leaders and monarchs.
Post-Medieval History
After 1500, a lot of things changed in Europe that led to the rapid modernization of the continent and the introduction of new ideas of human rights and science in western culture. For instance, there were many written languages in Europe after 1600. China on the other hand retained its Cantonese and Mandarin languages as the main languages on the sub-content. Therefore, European culture seem to have many distinct and diverse national and cultural structures. On the other hand, Chinese culture remains fairly homogenous.
In the 1500s, China and Europe entered the Age of Exploration almost at the same time. Chinese sailors sailed to Africa and other areas in the Pacific Ocean. Europeans also discovered the Americas and the rest of the world.
The main difference in the exploration and expansionist ideas of the Europeans and Chinese lie in the scope and the colonization mentalities. Europe controlled more advanced sciences and could explore land to faraway places. China remained local and they explored trade routes in the Middle East, East Africa and Southern Africa, India and other areas within their own periphery. However, Europeans travelled far and wide.
The balkanized nature of European societies and diversity of countries gave the basis for colonization and expansionist ideas in Europe. On the other hand, China remained homogenous and the idea of colonizing and forming new countries was not so common. Due to this, Chinese expansionist plans were highly limited and this gave European culture and authority an opportunity to expand to faraway places
Modern History
Europe’s scientific and technological leadership led to the Industrial Revolution which laid the foundation for the major differences between China and the west today. The Industrial Revolution fueled the colonization of foreign lands and caused European culture to spread rapidly. Chinese culture on the other hand remained restricted to China and small Chinese migrant communities around the world. Due to this, Europe controlled a lot of political affairs around the world.
In the 20th Century, European nationalism and the balkanized nature of the nations led to the World War. China’s participation was limited because it was more concerned with forming its own national identity than involving itself in an international war. Thus, World War II and events after it caused Europe to make reforms and these reforms affected the entire world.
The aftermath of World War II had different consequences for China. China focused more on building modern state structures and eventually chose a Communist identity. Europe on the other hand chose to be mainly Capitalist after the war. This shaped the events of modern history in both countries.
Conclusion
There are several parallels between western civilization and Chinese civilization. They both developed through homogeneity. This led to the formation of single and unified cultures based on a unique national language that was written and used to shape the foundation of both cultures. After the Medieval times, both cultures and nations engaged in exploration with the intention of expanding. In the 20th century, China and western society developed elements of modern statehood and built local identities and national cultures In spite of these similarities, there are some remarkable differences. European culture was shaped by Christo-Judaic traditions and secular Greek and Roman knowledge whilst Chinese culture was mainly shaped by Buddhist and other eastern thoughts. Europe created hegemony through a blend of the church and the state system. China grew on the basis of secular values led by the emperor. The industrial revolution and diversity and balkanized nationalism led to large scale colonization and expansion by European powers. China remained homogenous and local in outlook due to the lack of high-tech and the political will to expand. Western civilization in the 20th Century evolved into capitalism whilst Chinese culture was mainly communist in outlook.
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