Traditional Chinese Culture’s Function in Daily Life

王永力

Abstract： Traditional Chinese culture lies in many fields of Daily life. Everyone inherits some parts of traditional Chinese culture through herd evolution， and each of us is traditional in some degree. Traditional Chinese culture influences each persons thinking ways， principles， definite methods in their work， study， routine life， therefore， it has great positive function to each of us in Daily life.

Keywords： traditional Chinese culture; positive function; advocating excellent traditional culture

Traditions make people different. People always say Chinese people are different from Western people such as Americans， Britons， Italians and so on. Why would people usually think so？ Indeed， we speak different language from them， we have different faith from them， we have different value point from them， we conduct different principles and methods from them， therefore we are different from them. However， these differences are not the essential reasons， but the external phenomenon. The root of Western peoples traditional culture is the ancient Greek culture， while we Chinese people have our own traditional culture which is unique. Each of us inherits some parts of traditional Chinese culture， which has great influence and positive function to everyone in Daily life.

一、Traditional Chinese culture influence us in what kind of objects people would choose to get along with.

Morality is no doubt the key factor people would care while choosing a partner or making new friends， because a morally bad person with strong ability would be more harmful then a morally good person with plan ability. As we all know， traditional Chinese culture greatly emphasizes ones inner quality， such as loyalty， integrity， mercy and so on， and these inner qualities are all included in morality. The people with good or even noble morality are more likely to be accepted and welcomed by other people， and they are more likely to get a better job or be named a higher position in government. The great philosophers in ancient China such Confucius and Mencius， they put morality in the highest position in how to be a human being， and how to govern a country. This traditional culture is inherited by Chinese people from one generation by one generation， and it becomes the key factor the current people would consider while choosing a person to cooperate or to live together， or even to merry. It is sure that people would consider wealth， position， job when one chooses a person to get along with， but if the chosen one is morally bad， or even wicked， the wealth and position the chosen one has would likely to become nothing. Therefore， one would be more likely to choose a morally good person but not a wealthy or a competent person to get along with， because compared with morality， one is more likely to be trained to gain stronger ability.

二、Traditional Chinese culture influence us in how to get along with others.

Harmony is an important concept in traditional Chinese culture. In traditional Chinese society， China was country combined with characteristics of family and country， and family was the basic unit of country both in the level of social construction and the level of country governance. In a family， to maintain a harmony relationship is the most important task. Just like what Mencius said， harmony is the most important while using “Li”. Nowadays， this tradition is inherited and applied to how to get along with people. Generally speaking， Chinese people would not likely to be rude or offend other people. We are always trying to be polite and kind to other people， so as to be treated in the same way. However， sometimes people would ignore the right or wrong when they are trying to maintain a harmony relationship， and this is not this paper advocates. By the contrast， this paper believes that the right or wrong is more important than a harmony relationship， and what people should learn from this traditional culture is that people are supposed to keep balance between insisting the right or wrong and maintaining a harmony relationship. In a word， traditional Chinese culture tells us that people should try to solve the problems in a harmonious way.

三、Traditional Chinese culture influence us in how to do your things well.

Traditional Chinese culture is a precious treasure house with great wisdom in it. There are many excellent concepts， such as be alert to dangers even in times of peace， taking history as a mirror， readily to listen to advice， good at planning as a whole and so on. Possible challenge is everywhere， so the challenge one is facing is not all. People should be ready to face the coming challenges， thereby to try to have no challenges to face in the future. When a challenge comes， one is supposed to be ready to listen to good advices， so as to get as many good ideas as possible. Meantime， one should take history as a mirror， trying to find solutions in history. Here， history refers not only to the thoughts， concepts， experiences a long time ago， it refers to the past experiences as well. Especially when a complex challenge comes， one should have a grand vision， trying to think in a whole angle， to evaluate the possible danger， to grasp the main contradiction， to distinguish the emergency and the non-emergency. From ideas to definite methods， traditional Chinese culture could give people great supports to do things well.

In conclusion， Traditional Chinese culture is an important part of Chinese nation spirit. Traditional Chinese culture is composed of many thoughts， concepts， history events， or even material wealth， which are valuable and useful to current society. People are supposed to inherit and advocate excellent traditional Chinese culture to deal with problems now and future.

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