"Why Rituals and Ceremonies Are Important to a Culture

353 Words2 Pages
Rituals and ceremonies are indispensable parts of a culture due to they are capable of providing a kind of identity and recognition. Without them, a culture will greatly weakened and people's identity will be diminished. However, apart from rituals and ceremonies, other important elements also help form the identity. To begin with, rituals and ceremonies both sever for the purpose of uniting people; strengthen their belief and passing historical information. Most of rituals and ceremonies are set for historical events, or memorizing some figures, or expressing symbolic values, or severing religious goal. So when people participate into these rituals and ceremonies, they are capable of getting familiar with their own history, famous figures, myths and legends and acquiring a sense of belonging while experiencing the shared spirits and values. For instance, Chinese spring festival hold the chief spirit of prospecting for a New Year and people get together with their families eating dumplings, sending lucky money and watching lion dance and dragon dance. All these events can reinforce participations' relationship with others and the society as a whole. Consequently, without rituals and ceremonies, people would lose a perfect opportunity of knowing their own culture or religion and conveying their belief and values. For instance, the Tibetan pilgrimage in which a village of people walk and prostrate to the Holy Mountain or temple. To complete the ritual, one must walk and prostrate for several miles or even more. Thus, the ritual not only express pilgrims' belief but also steel their spirit and body. Without it, pilgrims would find themselves weakened both physically and mentally which would damage their identity. In addition, apart from rituals and ceremonies, history, art, literature and language can also help define a culture and form the identity. Even
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