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2 To understand the most important characteristics of a society, one must study its major cities.
To author’s certain knowledge, when anthropologists intend to research the characteristic pattern of a society, they tend to study its major cities as the most important object of research. Admittedly, the major cities of a country are the representatives of the certain characteristics of it. If we would like to grasp a panoramic view of a nation, however, the marginal cities as well as the spreading countryside must be taken as the significant objects as major metropolis in this country.
Above all, the major cities, such as capital city, are usually most developed and opened ones in the whole country. As a result, the elites of the society, who represent the trend and ethics of the country, will gather in these cities. The researcher can clearly understand the figures of the society through their activities and creations. The civil movement of U.S. in the 1960s was generally raised in main cities like Chicago, DC, San Francisco and New York. There is no doubt that the characteristics of a community will be distorted if we overlook the importance of major cities in the country.
However, if we take the case into an extreme situation that the researchers only examine the features of major cities, they will definitely not obtain a comprehensive and objective view of a certain culture. After all, the major cities in a nation have to be the minority of a society and much more populace live in the more or less remote regions. Considering China for a instance, no one could understand the real situation and living standards of Chinese people unless they pay a visit to the expansive countryside and get access to the farmers in China who take more than 70 percent of Chinese people. The major cities like Beijing and Shanghai only indicate relatively tiny part of the still-lack-of-stuff China.
Furthermore, major cities may be forged to be prosperous in order to attract tourists. As the matter of fact, the true feature of the nation had already been hidden in the lonely areas. Only by exploring the civil culture, can we understand the real pattern of the figures of one culture. For example, through folklore we can understand the origin of such race and ethics, but if you stay at major cities, just some regular and same scene, like anywhere else in every metropolis in the world, will be observed. The same skyscraper, identical structure and familiar automobiles on the street would make you at loss about the true characteristics of this society.
In conclusion, the features of major cities in a country must be taken into the consideration when the researchers deeply study the features of a nation. In addition, besides the rare metropolis in the nation, the second-level cities and villages also share their importance in a society and must be considered carefully as well. Only in this way, can we understand the most characteristics of such culture. |
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