Chinese Culture, Chinese Values, and Chinese Dramas

Watching Chinese dramas is a great way to get to know the Chinese. Being a Chinese myself, I could see a lot of values, beliefs, and culture being reflected on those shows. Some show the good side, some show the bad side. Chinese dramas have unique elements that set them apart from their Western counterpart.

Let me list down some of the elements found in Chinese dramas, and how they reflect the Chinese in real life.

The protagonist of the story has a good heart. She is being maltreated by the villains. Despite that, she does not retaliate and maintains her good actions.

That may be an exaggeration of kindness, but Chinese people indeed are martyrs. Not that they like people stepping on their toes, but they put other people (that is, their families) above their own needs and interests. For instance, if they are poor and have limited food supply, they would feed their parents or children first before themselves, even if they are hungry. Another example, old people experiencing symptoms of illnesses try to endure the pain and conceal them to their children to avoid having to spend a lot of money for their medications.

 
When something bad happens to the protagonist, he just accepts it as his fate.

That I believe is a very common characteristic among the Chinese. I've heard it a lot of times during conversations. They believe in fate as an act of the heavens. Their life is being controlled by outside forces and they could only do little or nothing about it. They have no choice but to accept fate.


A large family is living under one roof. The elders are the bosses. The sons bring in their wives in the house. The eldest male grandchildren is the favorite of the elders.

This shows the preferences to Chinese males. Chinese have the practice of lighting incenses to their ancestors to honor them. When they die, they too would like their children and grandchildren to honor them. Having male descendants would mean there is someone to continue the ancestry line. Therefore, male babies are preferred, while girls are despised. Fortunately, this preference is occurring less and less among families.


The Chinese father is the disciplinarian. He makes all the rules in the house.

Well, some very traditional families still carry this belief. The man in the house makes all the decisions.


Two people get married as a result of prearranged marriage (especially in dramas set out during the ancient times). 

Prearranged marriages are uncommon nowadays, but matchmaking still exist. The type of matchmaking that is very common these days is through introductions of families, friends, or agencies. In the Philippines, Chinese expats prefer to marry their own race in order to preserve their culture. With only a small percentage of Chinese in the Philippine population, it is harder for them to find the rightful partner - therefore resorting to matchmaking.