Learning the Culture of a People: Chinese Communication as an Example

Culture as a phenomenon is something of human creation experienced by and involving every individual and all people collectively. It is constituted, developed, displayed and expressed in human communication of various forms and types, as people respond to and adapt to their natural and social environment. Communication is by and large constrained and shaped in all aspects by the culture in which it is initiated and carried on. Culture and communication are so intertwined as to give rise to the aphorism, “communication is culture and culture is communication.” In this essay, I explore ways in which the ideal and the cultural may be found in meanings, values and the “structure of feeling,” of the past and present, particularly in individual interactions in daily life, including self-expression via online platforms. Drawing on Chinese communication as an example, I’ll try to show learning about culture, and of a culture, through thoughts expressed and experiences shared via communication in different forms, as lived and recorded.