by groom's family to the family of the bride would be made when the couple married. Dowry,including money,jewelry,or other gifts,from the bride's family usually accompanied the bride.The structural process of this matching process for the young people in traditional Chinese society clearly reflects the functions of culture.This practice not only maintained the stability of the Chinese society for many hundred years but also ensured the financial security of the female family after a daughter moved out to stay with the other family. Characteristics of Culture From the definition of culture given above we can generate four basic characteristics of culture:it is holistic,dynamic,and pervasive. First,culture is holistic.This characteristic underscores the complex nature of culture.As a holistic system,culture can be broken down into several subsystems, including a kinship system,an educational system,a religious system,an association system,a political system,and so on,but the various aspects of culture are closely interrelated.In other words,any change in a subsystem will affect the whole system. For example,as Samovar and Porter (1995)indicated,the American Civil Rights Movement brought about changes in different facets of American culture and altered American attitudes,values,and behaviors. Second,culture is learned.Because culture is a shared symbolic system within a relatively large group of people,the only way for group members to integrate into, reinforce,and co-create this shared symbolic system is through a learning process.We begin to consciously and unconsciously learn our culture in our early life through the process of socialization or enculturation.Interaction with family members and friends is the most common way for us to learn about our culture.Other sources for learning our culture are schools,church,media,folk tales,and art.The process of learning our own culture will inevitably foster a phenomenon called ethnocentrism.Ethnocentrism leads group members to tie themselves tightly together and to be proud of their own heritages by subjectively using their cultural standards as criteria for interpretations and judgments in intercultural communication. Third,culture is dynamic.Cultures are constantly changing over time.Some cultures are more open and accepting of change,others tend to resist it.Culture change in the process of transmission from generation to generation,group to group, and place to place.Four major mechanisms account for the change of cultures: Technological invention,disasters,cultural contract,and environmental factors Technological invention,such as the discovery of communication and transportation tools referred to in Chapter 1,normally elicits a different set of social habits and behaviors that eventually alter the pattern of a culture.Disasters include natural and human calamities.The American Civil War and China's Opium War brought great social and cultural changes to both societies.Likewise,the vanishing of the city of Pompeii in Italy was due to the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano.Cultural contact gives each culture a chance to borrow things from other cultures.For instance,Italian pizzas and Chinese egg rolls have become staple dishes in American,while American fast foods and pop culture have greatly changed the way Asian people live.As forby groom’s family to the family of the bride would be made when the couple married. Dowry, including money, jewelry, or other gifts, from the bride’s family usually accompanied the bride. The structural process of this matching process for the young people in traditional Chinese society clearly reflects the functions of culture. This practice not only maintained the stability of the Chinese society for many hundred years but also ensured the financial security of the female family after a daughter moved out to stay with the other family. Characteristics of Culture From the definition of culture given above we can generate four basic characteristics of culture: it is holistic, dynamic, and pervasive. First, culture is holistic. This characteristic underscores the complex nature of culture. As a holistic system, culture can be broken down into several subsystems, including a kinship system, an educational system, a religious system, an association system, a political system, and so on, but the various aspects of culture are closely interrelated. In other words, any change in a subsystem will affect the whole system. For example, as Samovar and Porter (1995) indicated, the American Civil Rights Movement brought about changes in different facets of American culture and altered American attitudes, values, and behaviors. Second, culture is learned. Because culture is a shared symbolic system within a relatively large group of people, the only way for group members to integrate into, reinforce, and co-create this shared symbolic system is through a learning process. We begin to consciously and unconsciously learn our culture in our early life through the process of socialization or enculturation. Interaction with family members and friends is the most common way for us to learn about our culture. Other sources for learning our culture are schools, church, media, folk tales, and art. The process of learning our own culture will inevitably foster a phenomenon called ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism leads group members to tie themselves tightly together and to be proud of their own heritages by subjectively using their cultural standards as criteria for interpretations and judgments in intercultural communication. Third, culture is dynamic. Cultures are constantly changing over time. Some cultures are more open and accepting of change, others tend to resist it. Culture change in the process of transmission from generation to generation, group to group, and place to place. Four major mechanisms account for the change of cultures: Technological invention, disasters, cultural contract, and environmental factors. Technological invention, such as the discovery of communication and transportation tools referred to in Chapter 1, normally elicits a different set of social habits and behaviors that eventually alter the pattern of a culture. Disasters include natural and human calamities. The American Civil War and China’s Opium War brought great social and cultural changes to both societies. Likewise, the vanishing of the city of Pompeii in Italy was due to the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano. Cultural contact gives each culture a chance to borrow things from other cultures. For instance, Italian pizzas and Chinese egg rolls have become staple dishes in American, while American fast foods and pop culture have greatly changed the way Asian people live. As for