Chinesse Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Chinesse Culture - Essay Example The aim of this paper is to do just that, as well as discuss several other particular issues, which are: the history of China in the United States, the traditional Chinese perceptions of health and illness, the traditional Chinese healing methods and views on death, and the current healthcare problems of China. By thoroughly addressing and discussing all of these issues, we will be able to come to a much more informed and knowledgeable understanding on the subject matter at hand overall. This is what will be dissertated in the following. The early history of China is rather complicated, primarily by that of the lack of a written language during this period, coupled with the existence of documents from later time periods which attempted to described certain events which occurred several centuries beforehand, thus obviously causing quite a bit of confusion and complexion. However the earliest comprehensive history of China, the Records of the Grand Historian, which were written a Chinese historiographer named Sima Qian in the 2nd century BC, and as well the Bamboo Annuals, are both able to trace and consequently show Chinese history from about 2800 BC, with an account of the Three August Ones and the Five Emperors. It is actually considered as being unknown as to who the first Chinese was to set foot in America, it is thought that more than likely it was a fisherman and that it was in San Diego. In the early 1850s, many Chinese came to California in search of gold, and later on they came as contract laborers to work on the railroads and other construction projects, and as gold mining was increasingly difficult for them and the construction projects were completed, they soon then began to seek other means of livelihood. From San Francisco and Monterey Bays the Chinese then began to go south to San Diego, where they ended up establishing a base to fish the waters all the way to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. "They established a fishing village at Roseville in Pt. Loma and another at the foot of San Diego's New Town, the latter village to become Chinatown. They dominated this industry until 1890, and during its peak built and sailed as many as 18 junks. Besides a wide variety of fish, they had exclusi ve domain in the pursuit of abalone. They were able to supply all the fresh fish requirements of San Diego and to export dried fish products to other Chinese communities worldwide" (Lee, 1996). Then, starting in about the 1880s, the activities that were completed by the Chinese in San Diego increased, including construction of the Californian Southern Railroad between National City and San Bernardino, and as well they were involved with the work that was done on the San Diego Flume, which carried water from the Cuyamaca Reservoir to San Diego for 36 miles on 315 redwood trestles and through 5 tunnels. What's more, is that besides providing labor for large projects in irrigation and flood control, the Chinese were also involved largely in the mining of gold and precious gems in the mountains that centered in Julian. Besides fishing, which was one of the activities th