ISSUE207

TOPIC: ISSUE207 - "Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."
WORDS: 533 TIME: 02:42:04 DATE: 2008/7/19 14:26:14

Rituals and ceremonies, of which all of us cannot be lack, are the two main activities in our daily life. For thousands years of human society, the rituals and ceremonies play an important role in politics, economics, military, especially in culture which is a sign of inheriting of human beings. So, are the rituals and ceremonies included or even equal to culture? Furthermore, can our human beings live without them while avoiding diminished sense of who we are?

Admittedly, rituals and ceremonies help define a culture definitely. There are many examples for supporting the view ranged from past to present in all nations in the world. The Christmas Day, the most popular festival in the United States, on which nearly all people in States celebrate together, such as dressing Christmas tree, waiting for Santa Claus and so forth, is a significant symbol of American culture and commemorate for the born of Christ. And on the contrary, the grandest festival in China is the Spring Day which mark a time that a new year's coming. On that day, all the Chinese people get together with their relatives around table talking about their success this year and plans for the further while eating and drinking. The differences between the two festivals define distinct culture between America and China.

However, are rituals and ceremonies the sufficient condition to define a culture? In other word, does ritual and ceremonies include all the culture of a nation? Absolutely not. Rituals and ceremonies are only a small part of culture which contains many other factors, such as the clothes people wearing, the way people communicate with each other, languages, histories and so forth.

Furthermore, societies or groups of people will not have a diminished sense of who they are without rituals and ceremonies. For instance, we can judge an American in France and French in America derived from the different languages they are speaking which is also a significant part of culture. In addition, Chinese people eat by using chopstick for their primary choice while European people usually use knife and fork, from which we can distinguish a Europeans from a Chinese. Although all the universities and colleges will hold rituals and ceremonies when a new term begins and the last ends, we cannot decide how grand a university or college is simply by this. The research level, history, atmosphere of studying is more important than rituals and ceremonies.

In addition, with the development of human society and culture, there are more and more rituals and ceremonies are not suitable for the modern world. For example, in feudal China people who talk with his leader must go down on knees, which is a ritual stand for the reverence of the superiors. And in ancient Egypt, when the empire is dead, hundreds or even thousands of people must be killed for being buried with the empire's death, which usually occurs in ancient period in all nations.

Generally speaking, rituals and ceremonies help define a culture undoubtedly, but it is not all of the culture. Furthermore, there are more important factors than rituals and ceremonies for defining a culture. In other word, we cannot lose ourselves without them.