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China: A Nation Coming of Age

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Coming of Age: A Nation and It’s People
1,360,720,000. 1.36 Billion. The population of China is the highest among the world and growing. 30 percent of the world’s population is under 30 years old. China accounts for 20 percent of the entire world’s population. These statistics are staggering. China’s youth is essential to the world and will extremely affect how the entire earth will progress over the next 100 years. The progression of the Chinese people, from childhood to adulthood, is necessary in understanding how the world will change in the future. Determination, taught through the coming of age process, is what propels China to be the world’s largest economy. For centuries, youths came of age through family centered ceremonies and customs in ancient China, now, the coming of age in modern China is rooted in becoming more western.
Youths come of age in a series of ceremonies. Currently, Chinese youths are expected to marry young because of the intense focus on the family. In China, “Most Chinese expect to get married, because family is considered the most important thing in a person’s life” (“China” Culturegrams 5). The majority of Chinese value marriage because marriage is the pathway to family. Chinese men and women begin to come of age when they are teenager, but marriage officially symbolizes adulthood. Marriage is the last and final step from childhood to adulthood and is of the utmost paramount. In modern China, western ideas are continue to grow increasingly attractive. Marriages are becoming less like the past traditional ones and have more of an American style. Historically in China, children are expected to come of age through traditional ceremonies due to respect for history and custom. In traditional China, “Young...

... middle of paper ...

...ountry is falling behind. 1.36 Billion people all driven for success.

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