Rituals And Ceremonies

374 Words2 Pages
The speaker indicates that any culture or a group of people need rituals and ceremonies to help them to find a self-definition. Otherwise, they will hardly to sense who they are. I agree with the speaker insofar as one purpose of ritual and ceremony in today's world is to present culture identify. Many people do specific things in different places or in different seasons to present who they are. Rituals, from brushing our teeth to the grand rituals responding to birth, life, and death, are associated with our everyday lives and cannot be ignored easily. A driver who let pedestrian cross the road first is a kind driver. A man standing when ladies rise seats or enter a room is a gentleman. A person who always bows 90 degree is Japanese. So rituals not only mark events and preserve memories but also can help us to define people. There are a great variety and diversity of ceremonies. For example in order to bless the upcoming year, most people in Taiwan will choose a pair of red Spring Festival couplets written good propitious words and place them on both sides of the front door. The red papers mean a traditional custom. Without those red papers, it is hardly to make everywhere full of celebrating and happy atmosphere in Chinese New Year. There is nothing can support a simple symbol to identify who we are. Some rituals and ceremonies, such as wedding, coming of age, or graduate ceremonies are always held in different forms. A graduation ceremony is one of most common ceremonies, whatever it is held in the ocean, in the mountain, or just in the school. Those graduation ceremonies all carry same meanings to celebrate people who can another step into the future in our human society. The ceremony is also needed for people to express their happiness. Without the ceremony, the graduation seems to mean less and no celebration anymore. Whatever the ritual and
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