How Does Chinese Culture View Dogs

Dogs are known the world over as man’s best friend. But in China, dogs are also eaten as food. Looking past the oftentimes offensive stereotype regarding the treatment of canines in Chinese society, how does Chinese culture view our four-legged friends? Dogs in Chinese History We don’t know exactly when dogs were first domesticated by humans, but it was probably more than 15,000 years ago. Studies have shown that genetic diversity among dogs in highest in Asia, which means the domestication of dogs probably happened there first. It’s impossible to say exactly where the practice began, but dogs were a part of Chinese culture from its very genesis, and their remains have been found in the country’s most ancient archaeological sites. This doesn’t mean that dogs of that age were particularly well cared for, though. Dogs, along with pigs, were considered a chief source of food and were also commonly used in ritual sacrifices. But dogs were also used by the ancient Chinese as helpers when hunting, and hunting dogs were kept and trained by many Chinese emperors. Several breeds of dogs were developed in China, such as the Pekingese, Shar Pei, and Tibetan Mastiff. In more recent history, dogs were common in rural areas, where they served in part as companions but mostly as work animals, performing functions like shepherding and assisting with some of the farm labor. Although these dogs were considered useful and often given pet names—as is true for Western farm dogs—they weren’t generally considered pets in the Western sense of the word  and were also considered a potential source of food if the need for meat ever outweighed their usefulness on the farm. Dogs As Pets The rise of China’s modern middle class and a shift in attitudes about animal intelligence and animal welfare has led to a sharp rise in ownership of dogs as pets. Pet dogs used to be quite uncommon in Chinese cities where they served no practical purpose because there was no farm work to be done—and they were banned in many urban areas in the early 1990s. However, today dogs are a common sight on streets in Chinese cities nationwide, partly because of the health benefits of dog ownership. China’s government hasn’t quite caught up with the modern attitudes of its people, though, and dog lovers in China face a few issues. One is that many cities require owners to register their dogs and forbid the ownership of medium or large dogs. In some cases, there have been reports of overzealous enforcers confiscating and killing large pet dogs after they were ruled illegal in local law. China also lacks any sort of national laws regarding animal cruelty, meaning that if you see a dog being mistreated or even killed by its owner, there’s nothing you can do about it. Dogs As Food Dogs are still eaten as food in modern China, and indeed it isn’t particularly difficult in major cities to find at least a restaurant or two that specializes in dog meat. However, attitudes towards the eating of dog vary widely from person to person, and while some consider it just as acceptable as eating pork or chicken, others are vehemently opposed. In the last decade, activist groups have formed in China to attempt to stamp out the use of dog meat in cuisine. On several occasions, these groups have even hijacked trucks of dogs bound for the slaughter and redistributed them to proper owners to be raised as pets, instead. Barring a legislative ruling one way or the other, China’s tradition of dog-eating isn’t going to disappear overnight. But the tradition is less important to, and often more frowned-on by, the younger generations, which have been raised with a more cosmopolitan worldview and have had more exposure to the joys of owning dogs as pets. It seems likely, then, that the use of dog meat in Chinese cuisine may become less common in the years to come. Sources and Further Reading Feng, Yanyan et al. Prevalence and characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius in pets from South China. Veterinary Microbiology 160.3/4 (2012):517–524.  Headey, Bruce, Fu Na, and Richard Zheng. Pet Dogs Benefit Owners’ Health: A ‘Natural Experiment’ in China. Social Indicators Research 87.3 (2008): 481–493.Koiviola, Zhanna. Chinas love-hate history with dogs. GB Times, June 13, 2016.  Zhang, Han et al. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in Stray and Household Dogs in Guangzhou, China. The Journal of Parasitology 96.3 (2010):671–672.

A Comparative Essay On Hope - 899 Words

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Politics of Goof and Bad Writing free essay sample

In his first inaugural address, George bush displays bad writing through the use of meaningless words, dying metaphors and verbal false limbs and as a result creates a bored audience. Meaningless words or phrases are accumulated throughout each paragraph of the Bushs speech, like our nations has sometimes halted or faith in freedom and democracy. These words are not meaningless but when used in the context of a political speech, they are repeated so many times by so many politicians that they lose meaning to the audience causing a less powerful speech. Secondly, Bushs statement, Americas faith in freedom and democracy was a rock in a raging sea. Now it is a seed upon the wind, taking root in many nations is entirely made up of dying metaphors which make the speech loose vividness. Bush repeats the offense by stating, some needs and hurts are so deep they will only respond to a mentors touch or a pastors prayer. We will write a custom essay sample on Politics of Goof and Bad Writing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Finally, Bush uses verbal false limbs like, which give direction to or to call for, to add information or more words to the speech but in turn they take away from the purpose of the speech. Therefore, Bushs use of meaningless words, dying metaphors and verbal false limbs results in a inattentive audience. In contrast, good writing uses parallelism, imagery, rhythm ,evokes emotion and is tied together with precise words that are simple yet authoritative. Even at the beginning of his acceptance speech of 2012, Obama exemplifies these traits by stating, Whether you pounded the pavement or picked up the phone Whether you held an Obama sign or a Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference. The sentence shows parallelism through the repetition of equally weighted phrases and paints a mental image of the people of America on the streets of their country. Also alliteration is shown with the words pounded, pavement, picked and phone. With the use of parallel structure in his speech, the poetic rhythm that Obama is known for can be heard to give his speech more emphasis and give the ending a climatic build up. Obama goes on to say, I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America. These sentences not only embody the characteristics of good writing but flood the audience with emotion due to respect for their president and their country and result in an inspirational and attentive mood. In summary, Obama effectively utilizes good writing techniques, such as parallelism, imagery, rhythm and emotion, to empower and inspire the country he runs. In conclusion, bad writing techniques such as meaningless words, dying metaphors and verbal false limbs used frequently result in an unclear message and a dull, disengaging speech; good writing expertly uses parallelism, imagery, rhythm and evokes emotion to create a clear message and inspire the audience. George Orwell states in his essay Politics and the English Language, language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes. Politics is the art of persuading people on a topic or an individual level but in order to persuade, language and writing should be used to express the point clearly rather than hide the point ambiguously.

The Role Century Poetry In Resisting Nationalism Essay Example For Students

The Role Century Poetry In Resisting Nationalism Essay Just chronologically but perhaps also depending on the specific socio-cultural contexts. Resistance itself becomes an important feature of this system of critique; from the resistance of Nationalism as a partisan system that promotes what Jacques Lagan would call the overriding attitude of unmediated opposition, to the resistance of Nationalism as an institution itself in favor of personal perception, to the resistance of any kind of institution whatsoever in favor of locating the Nation within the poetic self. Of course, this is not a singular chain of events, nor does the process take place in a linear, consistent manner. But having looked at the different pieces of poetry chosen for this discussion, it would seem that the critique and resistance of Nationalism are inseparable from each other; a criticism of the institution of Nationalism would invariably present itself as a process of resistance, because the very machinery of Nationalism dehumidifies and compartmentalizes, going against the basic nature of individual spirit, that tends to octet itself in the physical world. We will write a custom essay on The Role Century Poetry In Resisting Nationalism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Poetry, always one of the most powerful instruments communicating the spirit of the personal, confronts this restraining nature of Nationalism and critiques it through a chain of resistance, ultimately culminating in the personal itself; to understand Nationalism is to resist Nationalism, as the only way possible for the concept of Nation to be compatible to the liberated human spirit is for the Nation to be located within the self.