issue 207 第一篇模考~ 超时了。。。

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TOPIC: ISSUE207 - "Rituals and ceremonies help define a culture. Without them, societies or groups of people have a diminished sense of who they are."

In the hustle and bustle in today's society, many people prefer an simplified life and some even argue that many traditional rituals or ceremonies should be omitted for the sake of convenience and easiness. In terms of such voices, my opinion agree with the speaker that they are what we must stick to especially in the trend of globalization,  because rituals and ceremonies are part and parcel of our culture which reflect our cultural elements and the values of a nation, help to inherit our culture, and more importantly  provides self-identity to us.

To start with, it is apparent that we are able to distinguish among different cultures from ceremonies and rituals which are abound with particular cultural elements. To take wedding ceremonies in the east and in the west as an example. If the bride and bridegroom wear in red, obviously they are a couple from the east since red embodies happiness and endless joy in eastern culture. On the other side, a set of white veilsof the bride, which symbolizes purity, piety, and eternality,  are the symbol of western wedding ceremony. In this sense, rituals and ceremonies serve to define a culture outwardly.

Moreover, values shared by people influenced by the same culture can be embodied in all kinds of rituals and ceremonies. Considering the formation of ceremonies, the set of procedures of them are  based on the people's respects and values. For instance, on the Chinese wedding ceremony, the new couple must kowtowed to their parents to show their gratitude, indicating that filial piety to parents are the most crucial criteria in Chinese moral standard. In ancient China,  brides had to cover their heads in case of being seen by men other than the bridegroom, which significantly reflected the cultural value shared by the nation in the ancient times that women were inferior to men. A number of similar cases in different cultures reveal that what the culture values is defined in ceremonies and rituals because they were derived from the ideology of people influnced deeply by that culture.  

Furthermore, rituals and ceremonies help us to inherit our cultures. During the long history, many of our cultural heritages have been forgot by modern people. However it is ceremonies and rituals that remind us of the precious pearls of our culture. Considering the ritual to memorize Confucius each year where people read his articles and played the music composed by him, it is the ritual that enables us to remember generation by generation Confucius and his contribution to his offsprings including educational pedagogy,  theory of etiquette as well as beautiful classic music in Chinese style.  Otherwise these  heritages might be forgotten by people long ago, which would undoubtedly be a great loss of Chinese culture.

Last but not least, we attain our self-identity  through the distinct ceremonies and rituals for the reason that rituals and ceremonies are the incarnation of a nation which can remind us that we are among a certain cultural group and  intrigue the sense of belonging as well as pride in us. Since such self-identity is a basic psychological need for each individual  in the multi cultural society nowadays, we have never been in a more earnest demand for ceremonies and rituals to inform us who we are.  

To sum up, rituals and ceremonies defines the culture both outwardly and inwardly and they are attributable to culture inheritance and provide identity to us. Consequently ceremonies and rituals are what we can not afford to lack in today's society. Otherwise, just as the speaker asserts, we will have a diminished sense of who we are.