Anth & Interculture
One of the forms of manifestations of the “white privileges” makes a Caucasian feel that he or she is the main representative of the national values, concepts, opinions, and cultural images. Turning on the TV or looking over front pages of the papers and shows that the white population is overrepresented, despite a recent trend of making ethnic and cultural diversity better represented in advertisements, educational brochures, and other sources of daily information (A Discussion on White Privilege: Part II). People’s minds are still under control of the stereotype that the white group best represents the entire race while the roles of other ethnicities is “marginal”, with achievements attributed to certain outstanding individuals, rather than the contribution made by their race. The media is also in the habit of focusing on the cases of missing white young females, in contrast to women of other ethnic profiles (Maxwell).
The questions of what cultural values are, how people learn them and what is their impact in different cultures can be answered better when cultural values of different nations are analyzed and related to the conditions of people’s current life, their history, and mentality. Cultural values are recognized standards of what is regarded as acceptable/ unacceptable, important/unimportant, right wrong, etc.by a community or society. Cultural values are shared by most people of the community and nation and are usually held in high esteem by people. Cultural values are underpinned by historical, socioeconomic, demographic and other conditions characterizing the life of people in a certain region or country. Cultural values form the psychology and patterns of human behavior and should be studied in detail, so that they would help people to communicate across cultures and better understand each other. An interesting example of cultural values is the Chinese Shaolin tradition. It is a comprehensive concept that includes components highly valued by Chinese people.
These are wushu, or martial arts, Shaolin methods of treatment using herbal medicine, and the ethical principles of Zen, which are regarded as the Shaolin's three treasures. “All wushu originates from Shaolin” means that any child or adult who wants to get the best of Chinese martial arts should aspire to be trained in Shaolin (My Shaolin). Buddhism had an important impact on the philosophy and psychology of Chinese people in the past. Herbal medicine was also important in the country where getting to the doctor was not a feasible option. In addition, it was the realization of the concept of human mastery over nature in its oriental version, which valued all natural forces and tried to put them to the best use possible (Culture and Intercultural Communication). Therefore, all these three components were vital for people and made this cultural concept particularly important for them. The ability of the cultural tradition to survive in the modern world and develop its potential in new conditions is the best evidence of its potential and significance. This is the case with Shaolin, …
