Culture of China
The Culture of China (traditional Chinese: 中國文化; simplified Chinese: 中国文化; pinyin: Zhongguo wenhua) is one of the world’s oldest and most complex cultures. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces.
Many ethnic groups have existed in China. In terms of the numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighboring\ ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional cultural identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the family name.
Traditional Chinese Culture covers large geographical territories; each region is usually divided into distinct sub-cultures. Using modern names, here are some distinctions:
- The Yangtze River areas include Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.
