TRADITIONS AND CULTURE IN DAILY LIFE OF THE CHINESE

Abstract

The research aims at highlighting the specific traditions and culture in daily life of the Chinese society. The research was carried out by means of socio cultural and comparative approaches. The authors admit that for conducting global research on specific traditions and culture in daily life of the Chinese society it is necessary to have approval of the Chinese Government. Due to this fact, the authors used questionnaire and observation methods for collecting empirical data. Questionnaire method was used as structural interview in January 2016 before the Chinese New Year. The interview aimed at revealing the attitude of Chinese people to their traditions and culture and highlighting most typical elements of traditional culture in their dai ly life. Confucianism and lunar calendar are revealed as cultural dominants in modern culture of China. Confucianism as a spiritual tradition is supported by the Chinese Government. Confucianism contributes to ideology and spiritual values of modern China. Lunar calendar enhances the rhythm of the Chinese daily life. The respondents outlined lunar calendar and its derivatives (agricultural calendar and 12 zodiac signs) as the first one in ranging the elements of Chinese traditions and culture. Chinese culture is full of western assimilations, which are adapted to Chinese culture in order to fix there. In some cases, this process does not change the cultural sense of assimilating cultural element and rendered as an element of foreign culture. In other cases, adaptation is long and it changes the cultural sense of substitution. This results in the fact that this element becomes the element of Chinese culture. Traditions and culture remain the value core of national culture. Modern Chinese culture includes traditional culture, its transformation and western assimilations adopted in China. The authors speak about stratification of Chinese society on subcultures appeared on the basis of attitude to the values of traditions and culture. Modern Chinese culture is a new form of national culture that differs from traditional culture and assimilated one. The authors make a case that further investigation of modern Chinese culture is impossible without these peculiarities.