Chinese General Information

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The People

Name of Country China

Population 1.3 billion (July 2005 estimate) - more than one fifth of the world's population.

Government Communist state. In 1949 the Chinese Community Party won a civil war and established the People's Republic of China.

Ethnic Groups More than 90% of Chinese are Han Chinese, but China also recognises 55 national minorities including Tibetans, Mongols, Uighurs, Zhuang, Yi, Miao and many smaller groups.

Birth Rate 13.4 births per 1000 population (July 2005 estimate).

Sex Ratio 1.12 males to 1 female (at birth).

Religions While China is officially an atheist state, many of the cultural aspects of Chinese life are still based on Confucianism. Buddhism and Taoism still remain significant religious philosophies. Ancestor worship is widely practised. Muslims and Christians make up a small minority of the population.

Languages Standard Chinese or Mandarin is the official language. There are also significantly different dialects such as Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka.

Background

In ancient times China was East Asia's dominant civilisation with other societies - notably the Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese - strongly influenced by China, adopting features of Chinese art, food, philosophy, government, technology and written language. For many centuries, especially from the 7th - 14th centuries BCE, China was the world's most advanced civilisation. Inventions such as paper, printing, gunpowder, porcelain, silk and the compass originated from China and spread to other parts of the world.

In the first half of the 20th century China experienced major famines, civil unrest, military defeats and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under Mao Zedong established a dictatorship that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life.

The structure of China's government follows a Leninist model of one-party rule. Political controls remain tight, even while economic controls continue to weaken since the mid-1980s. The Chinese Communist Party continues to set major policy and to restrict political activities that promote views contrary to the Party's objectives. A well-known example of political tensions in China was the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.

After coming to power in 1949, the Communist government placed agriculture and industry under state control. Beginning in the late 1970s the Chinese leadership has been moving from a centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economy. These reforms have introduced some aspects of a market economy and encouraged foreign investment. The state owned sector remains the backbone of the economy. The result has been dramatic, with the economy growing exponentially and in 1999, China became the second largest economy in the world after the USA.

Because of the rapid growth rate of the economy, problems have emerged such as widening income gaps, increased unemployment rates and inflation.

History of Migration to Australia

Chinese migration to Australia goes back 150 years. The first group of 120 Chinese workers arrived in 1848 when they were brought to Australia to replace convict labour. The early Chinese migrants constituted the first major group of settlers from an Asian country and made an important contribution to the Australian economy.

Gold was discovered in Victoria in August 1851 and by 1856 there were over 27,000 Chinese people in Australia, largely in Victoria, working in the gold fields. With this rapid increase came agitation against them by other gold miners. In 1855 the Act to Make Provisions for Certain Immigrants was passed in Victoria, restricting the number of Chinese arrivals.

The 1901 federal Immigration Restriction Act put a stop to further Chinese settlement, and the population in Australia declined to fewer than 21,000 in 1921 and some 5,000 in 1947. Between 1947 and 1973, Chinese migration to Australia brought in many business people and professionals such as accountants, architects, engineers, doctors, dentists and teachers. In the mid 1960s the Chinese born population rose to over 23,000 and by 1988 the annual Chinese settler arrival numbers were in the top ten.

Well over 80% of all Chinese migrants have arrived since 1981 and some 40% since 1991. In the past few years people from Northern China have started to migrate in larger numbers.

In 1989 following the events of Tiananmen Square 40,000 students were granted Australian permanent residence, and it is estimated that a further 40,000 nationals were given access to Australian residence through the Family Reunion Program.

Chinese Community in NSW

• 85,452 or 1.4% of people living in NSW were born in China (an increase of 30% from1996). In addition, 37,614 people were born in Hong Kong and 7,904 in Taiwan.
• 65,890 or 1.0% of people living in NSW spoke Mandarin and 110,859 or 1.9% spoke Cantonese. Cantonese speaking people were the 2nd major language group in NSW (Arabic is the largest).

(2001 Census)

Some Cultural Aspects of Chinese Life

The Confucian doctrine seeks to develop a framework for a stable and harmonious society. Within that framework, mutual responsibilities and obligations are defined between ruler and subjects, husband and wife, parents and children, father and eldest son and eldest son with other siblings.

China was defined and still largely operates as a male-centred society, in which the family name is passed down through the male line. The eldest son is charged with performing important annual rituals involving reverence for deceased ancestors and parents. Veneration for ancestors is an important part of Chinese life with most Chinese homes having a small shrine for ancestors.

Family plays a fundamental role within Chinese culture and there are strong conceptions of what marriage and family should be (the mother is responsible for providing love and care to the children). This is coupled with a long tradition of respect for the elderly and love and care for the young. Age is respected mostly as something positive and is seen as a sign of wisdom.

China's artistic and cultural achievements over the past 3,000 years are a source of great pride for many Chinese people. Central to the country's cultural identity is its written language that has been the vehicle for many of these achievements. The art form that has received the greatest prestige during the past 2,000 years is calligraphy. Poetry, theatre, drama, painting, sculpture, music and dance are also considered important and play an integral part of China's rich artistic and cultural traditions. Education is highly valued by the Chinese society and continues to be important for advancement within society.

Attitudes towards People with Disability

While China is officially an atheist state, the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism cannot be underestimated and these provide the underlying philosophical and spiritual framework for much behaviour and thinking. In addition, there are also many people in the Chinese community who are highly superstitious.

Within the Chinese community disability may be considered a stigma. Oriental metaphysical concepts consider each individual's life span as a link on a chain, where each individual is seen as the 'product of all the generations of his or her family from the beginning of time'. Due to this link with ancestors, the existence of disability is sometimes explained as coming from ancestral spirits, trying to rectify some wrong that was done.

Within the Chinese community disability may be viewed as a consequence of a lack of morality or virtue. People with disability and their families may think that they are paying a debt that was owed in the past, in other words that disability is a kind of punishment for cruel and malicious deeds committed by ancestors.

On the other hand, within the law of moral causation which explains the problem of people's suffering, there is also an emphasis on the mystery of fate and the inadequacy of mankind. This would appear to indicate that within this framework the existence of disability can be tied to understanding the purpose of our existence.

Parents are seen to be generally responsible for their children's well being. Parents of a person with a disability may feel this responsibility more heavily if they are exposed to social criticism.

Sui
Sui is 26 years old and has Cerebral Palsy and a speech impairment. She wants to live independently from her parents. Although her parents are aware that they are getting older and will not be able to look out for Sui in the future, they feel the conflict between their parental responsibilities and their desire for Sui to become more independent.

Sui has moved into her own flat, but her mother still does everything for her so she is not developing the necessary living skills.

Khim
Khim acquired her disability when she was 10 years old. Her parents were devastated but they did their best to reassure and support Khim. The foundation for their support is a phrase from an ancient Chinese poem which says that people are God's creation and they are created for a purpose, whether or not they have a disability.

Khim is very grateful for the love and encouragement she received from her parents which enabled her to pursue her education and reach her full potential.

 

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