Topics discussed in Understanding Modern China through its Language and Culture:

• Mandarin - Modern Standard Chinese
• Traditional and Simplified Chinese characters
• The National Common Language Law
• The Pinyin Romanization introduced in the 1950s
• The Chinese script forms throughout Asia
• Script simplification & consolidation
• Mandarin in Hong Kong & Macao
• Hong Kong & Macao - one country, two systems
• Sociocultural change - language change
• Culture change affects terminology
• Foreign languages in China
• Chinese & English language tests & proficiency levels
• Chinese language & culture in Asia
• Japanese is based on Hànzì (Kanji)
• The southern and northern cultures
• Special food at Chinese New Year
• Women before the 1976 reforms
• The Cultural Revolution & women’s status
• Mao: “Women can hold up half the sky.”
• Women after the 1976 reforms
• Revival of traditional family values
• Confucian ethics & women’s emancipation
• Confucius rehabilitated
• The one-child family
• Remnants of male chauvinism
• Changes in morals & marriage
• Hong Kong & Taiwan are an East/West mix
• Impact of the economic reform on the family
• The new money culture of China
• City people vs. country folk
• Mass migration from country to city
• Chinese hospitality
• The Chinese “lunisolar” calendar
• The 12 and 60 year calendar cycles
• Chinese folk songs & government
• Political message in music & songs
• Folk art for propagating ideology
• Patriotic contents after 1976
• Rock music emerges in the 1980s
• The development of film in China
• The eight state-designed model operas
• After 1976: films for entertainment
• International recognition of the Chinese film
• The Chinese and Japanese cultures
• The Chinese cultural heritage of Korea