Questions about culture (broadly defined)

Most scholars in China believe that culture in the broad sense is usually regarded as everything created by human beings. It is the sum of the whole way of human activity and its results, including material and spiritual aspects, such as cognitive (language, philosophy, scientific thought, education), normative (morals, beliefs, laws), artistic (literature, art, music, theater, the aesthetic part of architecture), instrumental (tools of production, clothing, food, housing and transportation equipment and the art of making these tools and equipment), social (systems, institutions, customs and habits) and so on. Culture in the narrower sense refers only to the spiritual realm, which is the fruit of purely spiritual creation, including people's spiritual life, spiritual phenomena and spiritual processes. It broadly embraces conceptual forms and cultures corresponding to politics and economics, and it is characterized by its intellectual character as a system of dissemination and protection of information, such as institutions, philosophy, religion, literature, historiography, art, morality, educational forms, science and technology, and so on. Culture in the deep sense, i.e., the deepest, most essential and central manifestation than material and spiritual culture. It is the combination of ethnicity and epoch to form a more stable national culture, the manifestation of national psychology and spirit, known as the national soul or national character; it has the difference between superiority and inferiority, it is the symbol and characteristic of a nation's spirit, it is the intangible and tangible thing that maintains and connects a nation, and it is an important factor for the survival and development or decline of a nation. The world culture that we are going to state is the culture in the narrow sense, that is, the culture in the form of concepts, and at the same time a small amount of both the broader culture and the deeper culture of a number of components related to this.

The concepts of culture and civilization are often confused. German academics believe that civilization is material, technical and objective, while culture is spiritual, belief and subjective. Some scholars in the former Soviet Union see civilization as the use of material forms to illustrate higher spiritual values. For example, "the sickle and the plough, the train and the airplane, the bathroom and the toilet are the fruits of civilization. The fruits of culture, on the other hand, are expressed primarily in moral consciousness and the activities that go with it, in philosophical-humanistic thinking and in artistic creation. As can be seen, culture has a wider scope than civilization. Culture in a broad sense includes the sum of all spiritual and material things created by human beings through their own labor.

Types of culture are generally distinguished from time, space, industry and folklore. In terms of time, people divide the culture of different peoples into three types: animal husbandry culture, agricultural culture, industrial and commercial culture; or agricultural culture, industrial culture, post-industrial culture, etc.; some are also divided into ancient culture, medieval culture, modern culture, modern culture, contemporary culture. According to the Romanian philosopher A. Tenasser, there have been two major revolutions in the communication relations between people, the first being the "written culture corresponding to the emergence of writing", and the second being the "communication culture" realized through the contemporary communication system. This shows that culture is linked to historical development in both continuity and stages. In terms of space, people divide regions and national cultures, cultures and territories or natural environments into types. For example, some people in China divide culture into Chinese culture, foreign culture; Eastern culture, Western culture. Oriental culture is further divided into Chinese culture, Indian culture, Japanese culture, Arab culture, Korean culture and so on. Western culture is also divided into French culture, British culture, German culture, etc.. In terms of industry, people divide culture into food culture, dress culture, architectural culture, daily necessities culture, medical culture, sports culture, tourism culture and so on. Folk culture refers to the folk tradition and popular culture of a nation or country. Such as the Chinese Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and so on.

Some scholars in the West divide the nature of culture into two categories: evaluative culture and non-evaluative culture. Comparative culture is further divided into superior culture and inferior culture. The superior culture generally refers to advanced technology, developed education, quality services and values that emphasize independence and oppose dependence, attach importance to reality, appreciate creativity and the spirit of struggle, and oppose conformity and inactivity. Inferior culture refers to such cultural dregs as drug abuse, prostitution, homosexuality, high crime rates and decadent thinking. Some people call it deformed culture, opium culture, etc. Non-judgemental culture is neutral culture. Cultures belonging to this category include celebrations, rituals, taboos, hair styles and so on. For example, Chinese people use chopsticks to eat, while Westerners use knives and forks. Chopsticks and knives and forks have their own advantages and disadvantages, and are not strictly good or bad. Neutral culture is a sign of ethnic division, which helps to maintain social unity and stability and enhance social cohesion. The same culture that is advanced in this era may become backward after a few centuries.