Negotiating Indian and Chinese Culture

India is seventh largest country geographically and the second most populous country in the world. It is a democratic country. It is the origin for Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It has unity in diversity and diversity in unity.

The name is derived from Indus, which is derived from the Old Persian word Hindu from sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus river (wikipedia, 2008)

The most followed culture is Hinduism. The national language is Hindi, where as there are 29 officially recognized spoken languages including Hindi and English.

Infrastructure of India is very beautiful one, all the people encourage and breed spiritualism. Ancient philosophies like ayurveda yoga vastu are practiced in India. We can see the thirst for holistic and spiritual inquiry. These are the things which attract foreigners to visit India, and learn Indian culture. It is multilingual and multiethnic society. India is also called as home to diversity of wildlife which has variety of habitats.

India is the world’s twelfth largest economy at market exchange rates and the third largest in purchasing power. Economic reforms have transformed it into the second fastest growing economy in the world. (Kumar, 2008). It is not possible to find out exact origin of Indian people

India’s ethnic history is extremely complex, and distinct racial divisions between peoples generally cannot be drawn clearly. However, Negroid, Australoid, Mongoloid, and Caucasoid stocks are discernible. The first three are represented mainly by tribal peoples in the southern hills, the plateau, Assam, the Himalayas, and the Andaman Islands. The main Caucasoid elements are the Mediterranean, including groups dominant in much of the north, and the Nordic or Indo-Aryan, a taller, fairer-skinned strain dominant in the northwest. The dark-complexioned Dravidians of the south have a mixture of Mediterranean and Australoid features. In 1999, 72% of the population was Indo-Aryan, 25% Dravidian, 3% Mongoloid and other. (nationsencyclopedia, 1999).

India has so many festivals. People love to celebrate all the festivals. They follow many rituals like pujas, fasting, feasting and all. Indian music includes classical, Hindustani, carnatic and also folk. Indian dance include bhangra, bharathanatyam, kathak, kuchipudi, and odissi. Though different regions have their own cultural dances, they like to participate in all kinds.

India has rich customs and traditions. These help people to keep up binding together. Customs include house warming ceremony, naming ceremony, pheras, touching feet etc. Different religions include different prayers.

Heritage places in India include like Taj Mahal, Konark, Ajanta-Ellora, Mahabaleswar, and Khajuraho. Tourist places include Delhi, Rajasthan, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Goa and more.

Chinese Culture

The culture of china is one of the world’s oldest and complex civilizations. It has a history of more than 5000 years. It has varied customs and traditions varying among cities, towns and provinces. Traditional Chinese culture includes large geographical area. Each region has been divided into many sub-cultures. They include Sichuan, Yunnan Guizhou, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Hunan, and Hubei,

According to Wikipedia, there were three sovereigns and five emperors. Different periods of history have different names for the various positions within society. Trades and crafts were usually taught by a sifu. (2008).

There has been a blurred line among religion, myth and phenomenon. There are many deities included in the tradition. Most recognized holy figures are Jade Emperor, Guan Yin, and Budai. Door God and Imperial guardian lions are spiritual symbols extended from mythology. People there in China still believe in fortune telling rituals.

China has the largest population of any country in the world. According to 2002 statistics, the total population of China is 1.28453 billion (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) or about one fifth of the world population. China also has a very dense population, with approximately 135 people per square kilometer. ( CRI Online, 2002). The main festivals of China includes Chinese new year, Double Ninth Festival, The seventh day of seventh lunar month, Duanwu festival, The laba festival and The lantern festival. Official spoken language of China is Mandarin. Other spoken languages include Cantonese, Xiang, Min, Hakka and more.

Negotiation

When both the cultures of India and China are considered, it is hard to conclude which one is the best. When considering business strategy electronic field is going better in China, where as most of else businesses including IT industry is growing well in India. When it comes to living style of an Individual, India is better. It is mainly because India has follow up most of all world cultures. Especially western people will not have any complaints working for the clients in India. It may be because of the high literacy, and huge practice of western culture.

Both Indian and Chinese food has beautiful taste. When compared Chinese food is healthier but Indian food is tastier. People in India are more sophisticated than in China.

References

1. CRI Online (2002). Current situation of Chinese Population. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from http://english.cri.cn/1702/2006-9-28/19@299537.htm;
2. Encyclopedia of the Nations (1999). India Ethnic Groups. Retrieved March 10, 2008. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/India-ETHNIC-GROUPS.html;
3. The Epoch Times. (2008, January 22). Australia Blind to India’s Boom. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-1-22/64516.html;
4. Wikipedia. (2008, March 10). Culture of China. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_culture;
5. Wikipedia. (2008, March 10). India. Retrieved March 10, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India#_note-8;