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Issue207
When traveling in other countries, we are usually marveled at the various kinds of rituals and ceremonies they possess. Those colorful activities are often held up on the purpose of celebrating their characteristic festivals or memorizing the important things and persons in the countries’ history through which tourists can understand its culture better. So actually, these rituals and ceremonies do help define a culture. Without them, people in the society will be more amused about who they are and forget their tradition easily.

As society is highly developed and pace of lives becomes faster and faster, many ceremonies have been simplified or totally forgotten, especially in big cities. Under the great tension from job, marriages and families, people prefer simple ways rather than complicated forms. In China, the tradition of setting off firecrackers on Spring Festival is banned in some cities to avoid fire risks because there is no room for that. The increasing number of people and intense buildings make the city more crowded than before. Some families just use electronic firecrackers instead. Some go to countryside to enjoy it. Some others choose other entertainments like traveling outside during the festival holidays.  So there is less attention paid on the traditional ceremonies.

A lot of ceremonies have a long history and there are no effective methods to protect them from extinction. The influence of modernization and globalization is powerful. Take dragon boat festival in China for example. The festival has continued for about 2 thousand years but the original meaning of cleaning houses to defend illnesses that may happen in the summer is hardly known at present. Few dragon boat contests can be seen these years. Since the transformation from big families to small families, people seldom gather together and make the traditional popular food “zongzi” for the whole family. On the contrary, more and more young people prefer foreign festivals because they provide a different sense, that is, novelty.

A professor in our university said that, “A person who has no sense of his national culture has no sense of his identity in the society.” Because national culture deeply influence people’s activities and emotions, it is crucial to make it continued and fully developed. Rituals and ceremonies are good ways because it evokes the common emotion in every person. Without them, we can hardly find a so vivid form.  

However, this is not the only way. One cultural can be defined and distinguished through its language, science, literature, arts, education and many other things. The contemporary culture mixes the tradition and modern things, so it is developing on its own way. To study a culture more comprehensive, one must take these factors into account. It can be also applied to individuals in the society. We can define us both through ourselves and through other persons. A brother of mine is making effort to learn Chinese though he has gone to the US from very young. We can see his eagerness to know the traditional culture. His parents also define themselves in a strange environment through the comparison made based on the different cultural backgrounds between theirs and Americans. I think different people have different ways and the most important thing is to find a way to define.

To sum up, rituals and ceremonies are important for individuals to define themselves. But we must face the facts that it is impossible all kinds of them can be fully developed. Without their help, people should find a proper way instead.
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