1

Core

Module

24

Life of Chinese Nationals Foundation part: Everyday Life in

Rural and Urban Areas

What’s the lifestyle of modern Chinese residents? For instance,

what’s the situation in respect of income, consumption and

education?

Is urban lifestyle the same with rural lifestyle? If there are any

differences between them, what exactly are they? And what are the

reasons behind them?

Will Chinese traditions and culture change following the change in

people’s lifestyle? Will the change of modern urban lifestyle and

rural lifestyle has any impact on Chinese traditions?

2

Part 1:

Urban and Rural Life

in China

3

(1)

(3)

(5)

Lead-in Activity: Guess who I am

I am 40 years old. And I have assets of RMB 10 million

with an average annual consumption of RMB 1.7 million.

I have a son who is going to enter university abroad. In

fact, there are at least hundreds of thousands of families

like mine in China.

To be frank, I won’t deny that I feel lonely living alone at home. My

children form their respective families in different cities or towns and

send money home every month. But I never expect them to send me too

much money since the expenses of living in cities are quite large.

Compared with our parents, we have been very lucky.

Although we are not rich and have to walk for an

hour to go to school, we at least have the chance to

go to school. Therefore, we cherish this precious

education opportunity very much.

When I was young, I had to toil in the fields from dawn to dusk,

but I could not even make ends meet. Now things have changed,

and villagers have become rich and been living a good life.

(2)

(4)

(6)

I work a long time of at least 10 hours every day. In order

to increase income, I even work overtime on Sundays. I

am so tired. I have ever thought that life in city would be

better and never imagined it is so hard.

As most people living in the city, the basic quality of my

life is fine. Although I am not rich, I can afford the basic

living expenses and basic entertainment expenses.

4

1. According to the above conversations, find out the identity of the persons of the conversations,

and match the numbers of the persons with their identity with straight line.

Figure (1) a) Grandma Cheung living in village

Figure (2) b) A peasant labourer working in city

Figure (3) c) A middle class family living in village

Figure (4) d) A young and rich man living in city

Figure (5) e) A child living in village

Figure (6) f) A middle class family living in city

2. Can you observe some phenomena in China from the conversations of above persons? How do

the phenomena reflect on their different lifestyle?

Watch video clip: “One Child(一個孩子)”, Hong Kong Connection,

RTHK, 2000.

Please watch the video clip carefully. Try to compare two children living in

rural and urban areas respectively and their lives, and discuss the

differences in lives between rural and urban residents.

Child from urban family Child from rural family

Clothing

Living condition

: Children “living under the same sky”

5

Job category and

income level of

their parents

Consumption

patterns and habits

Entertainment

Requirements on

diet

Relationships with

their family

members

1. How do you describe the lifestyle and features of urban and rural residents?

2. Do you know where in China the above similar cases mentioned would take place?

6

Since the reform and opening-up of China in 1978, the standard and quality

of life have been improved for people in both rural and urban areas.

Although the overall living conditions are better than the past, the degree of

changes in people’s lives varies between rural and urban areas. What

actually are the differences in lifestyle between rural and urban residents?

And what are the reasons behind?

Source: China Statistical Yearbook 2010. (The website of National Bureau of Statistics of China:

http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/indexch.htm)

Worksheet 1: Lifestyle of Chinese residents as a whole

: Changes in living conditions of Chinese residents

over the past 30 years

7

1. Calculate the changes of income of residents in rural and urban areas between 1978 and 2009.

Can you point out the changes by combining the data presented in the following table?

Rural areas Urban areas

Changes of income

Percentage of change

in income

2. Compare the income difference between rural and urban residents between 1978 and 2009. Can

you point out the changes by combining the data presented in the following table?

1978 2009

Income difference between urban and rural

residents

Percentage of income difference between urban

and rural residents

(What is the percentage of rural income to

urban income?)

8

3. Please form groups with four people each, each student in a group is responsible for reading one

piece of information. Sum up the related factors that may impact on the lifestyle of urban and

rural residents.

Related factors How do they affect the lifestyle of urban and rural residents?

9

Student A:

Among the increased incomes of rural residents, the increase of salary amounted to 17.9% last year.

Thanks to the general growth of the prices of farm products, the operating income of families from

rural areas had also risen by 12.1%. In addition, the income generated by state subsidies also had fast

growth.

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao set forth the historic task of building “A New Socialist Countryside” on

the 4th session of the 10th National People's Congress. He said the target of this task was to bring a

significant and fast change to rural areas. For the development of program, Wen Jiabao set out the

target as “advanced production, improved livelihood, civilized social mood, clean and tidy villages

and democratic management”. On the whole, this meant putting emphasis on the improvement of the

living conditions and other aspects such as level of literacy and democratic management of villages

while developing the economy of these places. Besides, the government also took steps to promote

the growth of village and township enterprises through investing in fixed assets such as plants,

machineries and others, together with enhancing warehouse storage capacity, taming prices and

minimizing dramatic loses due to “potential financial risks”.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 5 February 2011 and 3 March 2011.

Student B:

According to the ranking list of economic indicators of mainland cities last year, Suzhou was ranked

second on the list with total industrial output value of 2.8 trillion yuan. Per capita GDP based on

household registered population had exceeded USD 20,000, which indicated that Suzhou had entered

the period of late-industrialization. In an interview with reporter from Hong Kong, Suzhou Mayor

Yun Li said that “to strongly promote transformation and upgrading, and push forward innovative

development has been a necessary policy for Suzhou”. He said that the government was going to

increase per capita income of residents of the city through implementing six main policies, including

10

innovative and guiding policy, opening up and promoting market efficiency, strengthening talent

development, attaching great importance to people’s livelihood and sustainable development.

Many cities in the regions of Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta have the highest economic

efficiency in China, especially for the cities with highly developed private economy, their actual

economic efficiency are higher. The cities with higher proportion of heavy industry are doubtful in

respect of their economic efficiency since they largely rely on state investment.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 14 March 2011 and 11 May 2011.

Student C:

According to data released by National Bureau of Statistics, the income of rural and urban residents

saw steady growth in the first quarter, and the income of the former grew faster than the latter. Per

capita cash income of rural residents was 2,187 yuan, increased by 20.6% year on year. And the

average disposable income of urban residents was 5,963 yuan, with an annual growth rate of 12.3%.

The income gap between rural and urban areas is mainly attributed to the disadvantage of rural areas

that when economic development has achieved a certain level, it is inevitable that the growth of

agriculture will be slower than the secondary and tertiary industries, and the rural areas are naturally

rendered in an inferior position. Farmers have to pay various agricultural taxes and additional taxes

which are much higher than the value-added taxes in other industries of cities and towns. That is

another reason for the increasing gap between urban and rural income. Some aspects in villages like

welfare policy, industrial system, infrastructure and institutional arrangements are not as good as that

of cities and towns. Moreover, financial allocation from the state in villages is relatively lower, which

becomes another major factor contributed to the gap.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 16 April 2011.

11

Student D :

Among rural workers, 14% of them are illiterate, 42% are only educated to primary school level,

38% are educated to junior secondary level, 5% are educated to senior secondary level, and less than

1% are educated to secondary vocational and higher education level. Compared with the 12.6% of

senior secondary educated and above all over China, the education level of rural workers is

apparently low.

The phenomenon that compulsory education developed unevenly in the whole provinces still exists.

On top of the large gap in education level between developed and developing regions, the difference

in education software development, especially in teacher provision, is still apparent. And an apparent

difference also exists in the standard of running school between schools in towns and cities.

According to the Ministry of Education, several policies would be adopted to promote integration of

urban and rural education and to push forward a balanced development of compulsory education,

such policies include unification of urban and rural teachers’ salary and material benefits, preventing

schools from charging school-choosing fee, reforming enrolment and entrance examination system at

senior secondary level, and encouraging an even distribution of enrolment quota of senior secondary

schools to junior secondary schools, etc.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 25 February 2011 and 11 November 2011.

12

Rural residents’ lifestyle on the mainland

The education level and skills of rural residents are generally lower, and most of them engage in

agriculture and small business with low earnings. Hence, their living standard and consumption are

relatively low. They live in a thrifty, plain and simple way in various aspects such as residential

conditions, clothing, entertainment and dining. Rural residents generally live an arduous life with

poor material life and living conditions, and they don’t have ample opportunity for development or

making progress.

In order to increase rural residents’ income and improve their quality of life, the state strives to

increase purchasing price of farm and sideline products and implement countryside taxation reform,

as well as to solve various serious problems including the aging agricultural taxation system,

outdated tax collection and management, arbitrary charges and apportion expenses, and unjustified

fines, so as to relieve farmers’ burden. Moreover, the government also promotes the development of

village and township enterprises and rural industrialization in the hope of helping farmers get rid of

poverty.

Lifestyle of residents of mainland cities

Urban residents are usually of relatively higher level of education and skills, and engage in industry

and commerce and service industry with higher income. Thus, their living standard and consumption

are relatively higher, and they are more affluent in various aspects such as living conditions, clothing,

entertainment and dining. As urban residents have better material life and living conditions, they can

easily get opportunities of development and improvement which can help to bring them abundant

resource of life.

In terms of urban and township development, the state is dedicated to increase the proportion of

non-state-owned enterprises, reduce subsidy to enterprises in the red, strengthen marketization, as

well as enhance economic efficiency. Besides, the state continues promoting the opening-up policy

vigorously to attract foreign investment in cities in order to promote economic growth.

13

The changes occurred in life between the urban and rural areas in China are closely associated with

the regional policy adjustments of the Chinese government. At the early years of reform and

opening-up (in 1979), the Central People’s Government decided to adopt and implement “special

policies and flexible measures” in Guangdong and Fujian provinces, so as to push forward the

economic development on the mainland. Later at the beginning of 1984, the Central People’s

Government further opened 14 coastal port cities, which helped elevate the status of coastal economy,

making coastal port cities a pioneer of Chinese economic reform. In 1984, industrial output per

capita in coastal open cities was three times of the national average value. Thus one can see that

reform and opening-up were important to the economic growth of coastal cities.

In early 1990s, the Central People’s Government determined to speed up the development of the

Pudong New Area in Shanghai, and allowed Shanghai to implement policies related to economic and

technological development zones and special economic zones, so as to push forward the reform and

opening-up. Until mid 1990s, the economic data such as the growth rates of foreign trade and

attracting foreign capital of Yangtze River Delta had exceeded that of Guangdong province, making

it another region driving the growth of China’s economy.

At the end of 1999, the Central People’s Government had come up with a conception of “Big

Western Region Development”, aiming at offering preferential policies to the western region in the

areas of tax arrangement, enterprise development and attracting foreign capital, as well as

strengthening the infrastructure constructions, so as to speed up the economic development of the

western region and develop its economic potential.

14

The following three pieces of information reflect the living conditions of Chinese residents over the

past 30 years. Try to explain them.

Source: China Statistical Yearbook 2010. (The website of National Bureau of Statistics of China:

http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/indexch.htm)

Extended Discussion 1: Will the increase of

income necessarily enhance living standard?

Y-axis: Average annual

income of residents (Yuan)

15

Source: China Statistical Yearbook 2010. (The website of National Bureau of Statistics of China:

http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2010/indexch.htm)

Source: The situation of education development in China.

(http://big5.gov.cn/gate/big5/www.gov.cn/test/2005-09/07/content_29930.htm)

Y-axis: Average

annual consumption

of residents (Yuan)

: The illiteracy rate in China (percentage)

Enrichment:

In 1978, the number

of university

graduates in China

was about 800,000,

while in 2010, the

number was up to

nearly 30 million.

The Proportion of Illiteracy in China from

1964 to2007

16

Refer to the information above and answer the questions.

1. Fill in the table the income and consumption of rural and urban areas from 1978 to 2009.

Rural Urban

Income 1978：

2009：

1978：

2009：

Consumption 1978：

2009：

1978：

2009：

2. What does source 3 reflect on the changes in the education of China?

3. By combining the above information, what are the changes in the overall living standard of

Chinese residents? Please illustrate your answer with actual data.

17

Item Older generation Younger generation

Birth period

Family Size

Consumer Psychology

Consumption Concept

Consumption habit

Consumption

Orientation

Consumption Tendency

Product Consumption

Cycle

Consumption Attitude

Before 1960s

Large families with numerous

siblings

Rational and mature

Diligent and thrifty

Group mentality and

self-effacing

Keep expenditures within the

limits of income; money-saving

oriented

Practical

Buy a new product only when

the old one loses its functions

Conservative; be accustomed to

old-style products

After 1980s

Most of them are only child

Impulsive and immature

Conspicuous consumption

Personalized and self-display

“Moonlight” group (yue guang zu)*;

credit consumption

Fashionable

Pursuit of new products

Adventurous; users of new products

* It refers to the group of young people who tend to spend all of their salaries at the end of every

month.

Extended Discussion 2: What's the difference in lifestyle

between the younger and older generation in China?

: Comparison of consumption between the older

generation and younger generation in China

18

Shenyang high-end supermarket: a bottle of water cost more than

a buffet dinner

A high-end supermarket in Shenyang is currently put into service. In

this supermarket, a bottle of water sells at a price of 800 yuan, which is

more expensive than a buffet dinner in a hotel. However, it still attracts

many customers. This reflects a disparity between the rich and the

poor.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, June 2011.

Reflection of a couple who were born in 1950s

Now, times have changed. When we were young, a watch or

a bicycle had been really good consumer goods. Owning a

sewing machine meant one’s life was really good. At that

time, we had no demand other than having adequate and

ample food and clothing, and our daily consumption just

amounted to several hundred yuan. In early 1990s, our son’s

life and consumption had been very different from ours. At

that time, colour TV sets, refrigerators and washing

machines had become basic consumption goods for every

household. Their consumption level was much higher than

ours, not to mention our grandchildren. Nowadays, our

grandchildren drive their cars wherever they go, and they go

traveling abroad every year, and one trip costs at least

several thousand yuan. Their biggest goal is purchasing a

property. They are a typical “pleasure-loving” generation.

19

Refer to the above information and answer the following questions.

1. Fill in the table the transformation on consumption of Chinese residents in different times.

First Second Third

Birth period

Representative

goods

Consumer

attitude

2. Chinese residents from different times have different ways of consumption which represent

different values. Analyze the reasons which cause the changes in the ways of consumption of

the younger generation and older generation of Chinese residents.

3. Someone think that “pleasure-loving” lifestyle is a symbol of advancement. Thus, it is good that

Chinese society has entered the age of “pleasure-loving” lifestyle. Do you agree? Why?

20

Urban areas Rural areas

High-income

residents

Common

residents

Rural

migrant

workers

High-income

farmers

Middle-income

farmers

Low-

income

farmers

Income(annual

income, Yuan) 51349

16850-

23000 8956 12300 3000-6000 1549

Consumption

amount(Yuan) 29004

11300-

15000 6743 7485 2875-4500 2354

Type of job or

business

Finance and

technology

Service

industry

Factory

workers

Workers in

village and

township

enterprises

Farmers/

Workers in

village and

township

enterprises

Farmers

Entertainment

and Leisure

Outbound

travel

Traveling

and

shopping

Watching

TV,

surfing the

internet

Traveling and

shopping

Watching TV

and playing

cards or

mahjong

Chatting

Clothing

Pursuit of

high-end

clothing

Regularly

buying new

clothes

Clothing

for basic

needs

Regularly

buying new

clothes

Clothes for

basic needs

Clothing

for basic

needs

Residence High-class

residence

One-storey

house

Plank-

partitioned

rooms

Spacious

one-storey

house

One-storey

house

Shabby

house

Diet

Pursuit of

indulging

one’s appetite

Fulfilment

of needs /

Proper

enjoyment

Adequate

food to eat

Pursuit of

basic

enjoyment

Adequate food

to eat

Adequate

food to

eat

Interpersonal

relationship Alienated Close, being humane

Extended Discussion 3: Is there any difference between

urban and rural residents’ lifestyle?

: Comparison of lifestyle between Chinese urban and

rural residents in 2009

21

Note: life satisfaction

involves many aspects

such as personal financial

conditions, job, social

security, old-age security,

prices, health conditions,

public security and so on.

Year Degree of satisfaction of

Rural residents

Degree of satisfaction of

Urban residents

2000 3.22 3.27

2001 3.50 3.28

2002 3.56 3.33

2003 3.48 3.26

2004 3.59 3.38

2005 3.46 3.28

2006 3.44 3.52

2007 3.53 3.35

2008 3.62 3.51

(Note: 5 means most satisfied, and 1 means least satisfied)

Source: Yuan Yue and Zhang Hui. Survey on Chinese residents’ life quality in 2008.

1. From the figures in Source 1, what are the differences between the lifestyle of urban and rural

residents?

: Statistical table on overall life satisfaction of Chinese

rural and urban residents from 2000 to 2008

22

2. From Source 2, rural residents have a higher life satisfaction level than urban residents. Try to

explain the phenomenon with the information from Source 1.

3. Based on all the above information and what you know, do you think life quality in the cities is

higher than that of the countryside in China? Give some reasons to support your answer.

23

Part 2:

Changes in the Traditional

Chinese Culture

24

Try to describe the life pattern of traditional Chinese family from the picture above. What traditional

Chinese values and culture does the picture reflect?

Lead-in Activity：My family

25

Traditional Chinese Concepts of the Family

The Chinese emphasis on family could be attributed to the traditional agriculture-based society.

Family members cultivated and harvested together on the farmland and also lived together. They thus

valued family togetherness and tended to live in extended families.

In the traditional Chinese concepts of the family, individuals should regard themselves as a member

of the family, and should be willing to make sacrifices for their families, being self-controlled and

self-restraint, so as to maintain their families. Therefore, family members should respect and help

each other, and put the interests of their family members above their own benefits, being ready to

serve their families.

Husband-Wife, Parent-Child and sibling relations are the three main relations among family

members. Each relation has its respective moral standards and norms, which can be summarised by a

Chinese maxim “Husband should take his responsibility for his wife and wife should be obedient to

her husband; Parents should care for their children, and children should show filial obedience to their

parents; Elder siblings should be kind to their younger siblings and younger siblings should be

obedient to their elder siblings.” The love between husband and wife stems from the care, help and

understanding for each other. Husband cares for his wife; he is the support, model and head of the

family. Wife loves the family and her husband, make sacrifices for the family and her husband

unconditionally. From the relation between husband and wife, we can see that men are superior to

women. The relation between them is founded on the loyalty to each other and the moral

responsibility between them lasts forever. The relation between parents to children is founded on

kindness and affection, and raising children is regarded as parents’ main responsibility. At the same

time, children should show filial obedience to their parents, serving them selflessly. The relation

between siblings is founded on respect and love. Elder brothers’ care is resulted from the instinctive

love for the younger, while the younger brothers’ respect is based on the awareness of their own

inadequacy, thus this relation is based on equality, mutual respect and caring.

Based on this moral ideal, every family

member acts according to ethical norms,

everyone knows about his/her role and

responsibility in a family, and forming

a moral life which every individual can

comply with.

26

With the rapid development in China in recent years, people on the mainland have

also seen some changes in their lifestyle. How has the traditional culture been

influenced by the changes in the society? What kinds of traditional values and

culture have remained and what have disappeared or changed? Now let us read the

material below and discuss it.

Family planning policy

The Family Planning Policy has been implemented in 1978 in China to

control population growth. In general, one couple can have only one

child (or so-called “one child policy”). From then on, population

growth in China has been gradually under control. Currently, at least

20% of the population under 25 is an only child. The economy in

China improved greatly in recent years and parents want to give their

children the best, so children are spoiled. They are self-centered and

show no respect to the elders. This problem has gradually aroused

concern from the society.

Improved status of women

Influenced by western culture, the equality between men and women has been valued.

Women’s education level and financial ability have thus improved. More and more

women like to take up challenges. They do not want to be fettered by family and

have no plan of having children. They think that work pressure in modern society is

very high, and having children will limit their freedom.

Worksheet 1: The changing traditional culture and values

27

A song named Homecoming is very popular on the mainland and has

touched a lot of people. Here are the lyrics:

Find some time to go home, with your child.

With smile and wishes, go home with your beloved.

To listen to Mom’s nagging, to enjoy Papa’s treat.

Tell your troubles to Mom, talk about your job to Papa,

Go home, Wash dishes for Mom.

Parents’ hope is not about our achievements…

But family reunion.

The revision of the Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Protection of

the Rights and Interests of the Elderly has been basically completed in

January 2011. One major amendment is to write “Homecoming” into the

revised draft.

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Divorce Rate(%) 0.98 0.90 1.05 1.28 1.37 1.46 1.59 1.71 1.85

Source: Statistics Report of the People’s Republic of China on the 2009 Development of Civil Affairs Undertakings,

Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China

1. Based on the above information, what kinds of traditional values do you think have changed in

modern China? Try to explain the reasons.

Family Values

Reasons Past Present

Family Size

In modern China, most

young people in the

countryside leave their

home and work in cities,

leaving their old parents

home. This leads to the

phenomenon of

“empty-nesters”.

: Divorce Rate of China during 2001-2009

28

Marriage and

Family Values

Status of Men

and Women

Relationships

among Family

Members

29

Although the society constantly advances and changes, some traditional Chinese values and culture

still exist and are highly regarded. However, with the change of time, some of values may be

expressed in a different way, but the essence has been preserved.

From the information below, can you find out what kinds of traditional Chinese values and culture

have remained?

“For the a better life of my grandson in the countryside, my son and

daughter-in-law decided to work in cities to earn more money to support the

family. I don’t mind working hard to take care of my grandson, as long as it

is for the sake of the next generation. I hope to make some contribution to

the family. Fortunately, my son and daughter-in-law always care about me,

and they will come back to see me and my grandson at Spring Festival

every year. Family reunion is the most important.”

The female infant mortality rate is higher than their male counterpart in China

In China, statistics from the Fifth National Population Census of China show that in cities or in

towns and villages, the female infant mortality rate is higher than their male counterpart.

City Town Village

Male infant mortality rate 8.61% 13.98% 28.28%

Female infant mortality rate 10.69% 20.1% 41.16%

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 3 July 2009.

Worksheet 2: The continuity of

traditional Chinese values and culture

Grandma Huang from

countryside in Hubei

province

30

The “DINK” becomes “DINK Exit Clan” due to great pressure

The “DINK (Double Income No Kids)” refers to couples who choose not to have

children. The “DINK Exit Clan” refers to couples who refused to have children

when they were young, but regretted it when they stepped into middle age.

There is an old Chinese saying: “There are three forms of unfilial conduct, of which the worst is to

have no descendants.” With respect to the importance of carrying on the ancestral line in China, the

DINKs have borne great pressures. Generally speaking, the pressure comes from three aspects,

namely, parents’ nagging, relatives’ and friends’ excessive concern and the worries from themselves.

They worry about whether it will affect their marriage, and whether they will feel lonely and no one

will take care of them when they are getting old.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 15 November 2011.

1. Based on the above information, what kind of traditional Chinese values do you think have

remained? Try to list them.

Source Values Remained Specific Examples

1

31

2

3

2. What kinds of traditional Chinese values do you think are worth preserving in modern China

and what are open to discussion? Try to explain the reasons.

32

The Changing Traditional Chinese values

Owing to modernization, China has transformed into the modern industrial and commercial society

from a traditional agricultural society. People’s work no longer centres around the family and they

work in different industrial and commercial organizations. Young people often work outside, and

sometimes even leave their villages and go to cities. In this living environment, parents and children,

and couples often have different jobs and work in different places. People now no longer need a large

family to improve productive force, and nuclear families gradually become popular.

Besides, the relationships between people become more estranged due to different living

environments. Marriage becomes vulnerable, and divorce rate increases. The relations between

parents and their children become more estranged, and quarrels among siblings become more

frequent. The traditional family centred concept is replaced by individualism. People now pay more

attention to individual development and status, and put individual interests above family interests.

The moral values and norms based on the traditional concepts of the family have been swayed.

Facing the changes in the traditional Chinese values, it is now time for us to reflect on the relations

between individuals and family, and individuals and society, to understand the importance and basis

of individual value and family value, so as to find our footing in modern society.

33

Have you ever thought that you can study traditional Chinese values and culture

through traditional festivals? In this part we will discuss the change and continuity

of traditional festivals in China’s cities and villages nowadays. You can also think

about to what extent these traditional festivals still have significance to modern

China.

The Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is also called the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year. It is originated

from the ancient harvest celebration. It is the most important and lively traditional festival.

Over thousands of years of development, customs have been

established and some of them still exist today, including cleaning

the house, eating Chinese New Year cake, dumplings and sweet

dumplings etc. In addition, people will make special purchases

for the festival, paste up Spring Festival couplets, light

firecrackers, give gift money to children, visit friends and

relatives to send their New Year’s greetings, offer up sacrifices to

ancestors, go to the flower fair, celebrate with the Shehuo* and

more. Most important, it is a time for family gathering. And a

New Year’s Eve dinner will be prepared for all family members.

There are two things for everybody to observe in the New Year’s Eve dinner, one is that all family

members should be present, and the other is the order of sitting, i.e., grandparents will be at upper

level seats, grandchildren in the middle, and parents, lower level.

*Shehuo is a traditional festive occasion for songs and dances in celebrating Spring Festival. Activities varied according

to different regions, e.g. stilt, land boat dance, lion dance, dragon dance, and rural folk dance.

Worksheet 3: Understand Chinese traditional

values and culture through traditional festivals

34

The Tomb Sweeping Day (or Ching Ming Festival)

Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival, and also is the most

important festival for offering sacrifices to ancestors and sweeping tombs.

Sweeping tomb is usually called Shangfen; it means worshipping the

deceased. Traditionally, when sweeping tombs, people must bring foods,

Chinese liquor, paper offerings etc. and lay them in front of the tombs of

their beloved. People will then burn the paper offerings, put fresh earth on

the top of the tombs, put some new green branches on the tombs, kowtow

to pay their tribute and then go home after consuming all the food and

liquor. The custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and mourning the past beloved at Tomb

Sweeping Day still prevails today.

Moon cakes symbolize

reunion.

The custom of eating moon cake at Mid-Autumn Festival

The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 15th August in

lunar calendar. It is called Mid-Autumn Festival because this

day is in the middle of autumn days. People looking at the

bright full moon will naturally long for family reunion. People

living far away from their hometown will unavoidably feel

homesick at that night. So, Mid-Autumn Festival is also called

Reunion Festival. There are many customs for the festival today

and they may be expressed in different ways. Major activities

include enjoying the full moon, worshipping the moon and

eating moon cake since they are the symbols of family reunion.

35

1. Traditional customs of different festivals reflect the culture and values that are significant to

Chinese people. Try to analyze them based on the information above.

Festival Traditional Customs Values and Culture

Spring

Festival

Ching Ming

Festival

Mid-Autumn

Festival

36

2. Someone thinks the traditional Chinese festivals are out of date, and have no significance to

modern society and should not be preserved. Do you agree? Try to explain.

37

According to the Regulation on Public Holidays for National Annual Festivals and

Memorial Days issued by the State Council, the New

Year’s Day, Spring Festival, Tomb Sweeping Day,

Labour Day, Dragon Boat Festival (or Tuen Ng

Festival), Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day are

official holidays, during which all citizens can have

holidays for celebration. Some scholars believe the

above arrangement made by the government is good

for the continuity of traditional Chinese customs and

will improve the situation that western festivals

having greater attractions to the young people than traditional

festivals in recent years.

Homecoming for the traditional Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. However, do all the 1.3 billion

Chinese still stick to the traditions of having New Year’s Eve dinner, watching the Spring Festival

Gala Program, setting off firecrackers and visiting their relatives to send New Year’s Greetings in the

Spring Festival nowadays?

In an online survey, more than 60% of respondents believed we should spend time with our parents

together and spend money on them during the Spring Festival. Even as

sending greetings with text message has become a main trend, there were

still 50% of respondents believe that we should not give up the traditional

customs such as “sending greetings personally” and “the married women

go back to their maiden home in the 1st month of the Lunar year”.

Worksheet 4: Continuity and changes of

traditional Chinese festivals

38

“Homecoming” is the most popular topic of conversation in the Spring Festival in the year of dragon.

According to the statistics from related government departments, passenger flow volume during the

Spring Festival travel period is expected to exceed that of 2011, and reach 3.158 billion. People from

all walks of life, ordinary people or movie stars, all want to go home for a happy gathering.

Source: Summarising the reports of various newspapers, 24 January 2012.

Traditional customs of the Spring Festival keep pace with the times

From experts’ analysis, the Spring Festival in modern China is also keeping pace with the times and

transforming. The traditional customs of gathering and dining are gradually transformed to new ways

of celebration, such as travelling abroad, making friends, and shopping etc., which are more

comprehensive.

Apart from western values, the reasons why some western festivals such as Christmas Day,

Valentines’ Day are so popular among young people lie in the elements of entertainment and

shopping. They spend lots of time and money in these western festivals.

“Air quality and the Spring Festival custom, which is more important?” Many netizens are talking

about the new changes about setting off firecrackers in the Spring Festival in microblog. It was

reported that there were less amount of firecrackers which were set off in downtown Shanghai on

New Year’s Eve and on the fifth day of the 1st month of the lunar year. This is a result of people’s

improved awareness of safety and environmental protection.

Regarding traditional festivals, we should put more attention to its future development, and make

them more acceptable to the younger generation. Traditional customs

like making dumplings, staying up late or overnight on New Year's Eve

and paying New Year calls were passed on to the next generation

through parents’ teaching and influencing in the past, and now we

should use the modern media like TV and internet to restore these

customs and make new progress.

39

1. Based on the information above and what you know, what have changed in the customs of the

Spring Festival and its significance? What traditional customs have been preserved till today?

In Change Remained

Traditional

Customs

Significance

40

2. What factors do you think are good for the continuity of traditional Chinese festivals and

customs?

3. Someone believes the younger generation pays more attention to western festivals but ignores

traditional festivals. Do you agree with that? Try to explain with some examples.

41

4. What are your suggestions for the continuity of traditional festival customs in the future? Try to

list at least three suggestions.

42

Lifestyle of urban

residents on the mainland

Lifestyle of rural

residents on the mainland

Compare the two different lifestyles

through work, social relations,

consumption, entertainment, housing,

clothing and food

Traditional Family Values Modern Lifestyle

How does modern lifestyle

influence traditional family values

Family Ethics Individual

values

Concept Map on the Life of Chinese Nationals

How do traditional family values and modern lifestyle reflected in urban and rural

residents’ lives