The History of Chinese New Year

The History of Chinese New Year The most important holiday in Chinese culture around the world is undoubtedly Chinese New Year, and it all started out of fear. The centuries-old legend of the origins of the Chinese New Year celebration varies from teller to teller, but every telling includes a story of a terrible mythical monster preying on villagers. The lion-like monster’s name was Nian (Ã¥ ¹ ´), which is also the Chinese word for â€Å"year. The stories include a wise old man who counsels the villagers to ward off the evil Nian by making loud noises with drums and firecrackers and by hanging red paper cutouts and scrolls on their doors, because Nian is scared of the color red. The villagers took the old man’s advice and Nian was conquered. On the anniversary of the date, the Chinese recognize the â€Å"passing of the Nian,† known in Chinese as guo nian (è ¿â€¡Ã¥ ¹ ´), which is synonymous with celebrating the new year. Lunar Calendar The date of Chinese New Year changes each year because its based on the lunar calendar. While the western Gregorian calendar is based on the Earth’s orbit around the sun, the date of Chinese New Year is determined according to the moon’s orbit around the Earth. Chinese New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. Other Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam also celebrate the new year using the lunar calendar. While Buddhism and Daoism have unique customs during the New Year, Chinese New Year is far older than both religions. As with many agrarian societies, Chinese New Year is rooted in a celebration of spring, like Easter or Passover. Depending on where its grown, the rice season in China lasts roughly from May to September (north China), April to October (Yangtze River Valley), or March to November (Southeast China). The New Year was likely the start of preparations for a new growing season. Spring cleaning is a common theme during this time. Many Chinese families clean out their homes during the holiday. The New Year celebration could also have been a way to break up the boredom of the long winter months. Traditional Customs On Chinese New Year, families travel long distances to meet and make merry. Known as the Spring movement or Chunyun (æ˜ ¥Ã¨ ¿ ), a great migration takes place in China during this period as many travelers brave crowds to get to their hometowns. Though the holiday is actually just a week long, traditionally its celebrated as a 15-day holiday when firecrackers are lit, drums are heard on the streets, red lanterns glow at night, and red paper cutouts and calligraphy hang on doors. Children are also given  red envelopes  containing money. Many cities around the world hold New Year parades complete with dragon and lion dances. Celebrations conclude on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival. Food is an important component of New Year. Traditional foods to eat include nian gao  (sweet sticky rice cake) and savory dumplings.   Chinese New Year vs. Spring Festival In China, New Year celebrations are synonymous with Spring Festival (æ˜ ¥Ã¨Å â€š or chÃ… «n jià ©), which is typically a week-long celebration. The origins of this renaming from Chinese New Year to â€Å"Spring Festival† are fascinating and not widely known. In 1912 the newly formed Chinese Republic, governed by the Nationalist Party, renamed the traditional holiday Spring Festival to get the Chinese people to transition into celebrating the Western New Year. During this period, many Chinese intellectuals felt that modernization meant doing all things as the West did. When the Communists took over power in 1949, the celebration of New Year was viewed as feudalistic and steeped in religion, not proper for an atheist China. Under the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese New Year wasnt celebrated some years. By the late 1980s, however, as China began liberalizing its economy, Spring Festival celebrations became big business. Since 1982, China Central Television has held an annual New Year’s Gala which is televised across the country and via satellite to the world. Over the years, the government has made several changes to its holiday system. The May Day holiday was increased and then shortened to one day, and the National Day holiday was made three days instead of two. More traditional holidays, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Tomb-Sweeping Day, are emphasized. The only week-long holiday that was maintained is Spring Festival.

Contemporary Developments in Business and Management Dissertation

Contemporary Developments in Business and Management - Dissertation Example The dedicated food service worker, chef or manager, almost always finds it to be a rewarding, lifelong career. Thus, so many cookbooks written by these chefs have been published and almost all of them shout out and proclaim their love for this art as if they have finally discovered their nirvana. To the nutritionist, however, food is considered a means of therapy and in hospitals, food is one means of attaining recovery to health. Other than financial rewards, running a restaurant gives to its owner another high i.e. the opportunity to meet all kinds of people and to satisfy their palates via the use of their culinary talents. The restaurant business can be financially rewarding if the restaurateur comes to it prepared with all the knowledge and training and the management skills culled from years of academic training in management or hands-on-training on the same business. So many restaurant entrepreneurs have found their pot of gold in this business with the effect that myriads of other people are encouraged to follow suit. " According to the National Restaurant Association data, the industry is comprised mostly of small businesses. There were almost 731,000 locations offering food service in the USA as of 1993. It is estimated that almost half of all adults are food service patrons on a typical day, and over 43% of the consumers' food dollar goes to meals and snacks away from home. The industry is a major employer- more than 9 million are employed in food service, and employment is expected to reach over 12 million by the year 2005. In 1993, sales of restaurants of all types topped $236 billion" (Alonzo 1996, p. v).

Operation Management asignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Operation Management asignment - Essay Example In formulating and implementing the organisation’s strategy, the operations management takes the organisation through the main strategic levels (Slack 2003, p23). The managers of these departments ensure the strategies are formulated through three different levels. These are the corporate level, the business unit level, and the departmental level. In the corporate level, the operations management plays a role in selecting the businesses that the organisation has to compete. Additionally, in this level, the operations managers often develop and coordinate the growth of business by ensuring the organisation has achieved its overall goals (Robinson 2012, p 56). In the Business Unit Level, the operations management department works independently in coordination of operating units that sustains the competitive advantage of the organisation’s goods and services. It is in this level that the operation managers implement the changes in demand and technologies. They bring on board the strategies that accommodate them (Mahadevan 2010, p 45). The operations management plays a vital role in the departmental level. In this level, the operations managers deal with strategic issues that relate to value chain and business activities. Additionally, in this level, the members of the operations department coordinate the resources that are important for the operations of the business. In any business, managers are aware strategies are important in maintaining the competitiveness and survival of a business. Such situations demand the top leadership of any business to strengthen their operations management section. Consider the Citizens Advice Bureau in England; it is a successful advice corporation, which pursues profits through a range of operations. The company has ten core business segments. For the growth of the business, the corporation must manage its portfolio of businesses. The operations manager

The Cold War: A New History

The Cold War: A New History By 1945, World War II came to an end, but there was no victorious celebration or a promising future of hope for peace. The members of the Grand Alliance had already toasted their success in winning the war. However, the United States and the Soviet Union became wary of each other as they had very different goals regarding how to deal with Germany and eastern Europe. The competing visions of the two countries had led the world to fall under the shadow of the Cold War. In his one-volume-book The Cold War: A New History, John Lewis Gaddis examines the dynamics of the political conflicts that dominated the world from the end of World War II to the late 1980s. John Lewis Gaddis is currently the Robert A. Lowett professor of history at Yale University. He is a distinguished historian who had written six other books on the subject of the cold war. In 2005, he was also rewarded a National Humanities Medal by the National Endowment for the humanities (Gaddis, back of front cover). Unlike his previous six books, Gaddis was convinced by his students and agent to write a short, comprehensive, and accessible (Gaddis, pg x). He had intended to write his book for a new generation of readers for whom the Cold War was never current events' (Gaddis, pg x). From many research from the works other Cold War historians and as well as his own analysis, Gaddis created a masterpiece of work that leads his reader through the history of a fearful era and behind-the-scene strategies and thoughts on both sides of the war. His objectives were to reveal the underlying dynamics of the political struggles of the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union that shaped, and threatened to end, our lives (Gaddis, back of front cover) while intertwining with his own judgments of the historical events. The superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, may have collaborated together to end the World War II; however, their visions of shaping the postwar settlement of Germany and eastern Europe could not have been more different. As Gaddis had stated in his book, The tragedy was this: that victory would require the victors either to cease to be who they were, or to give up much of what they had hoped, by fighting the war, to attain (Gaddis, pg 6). Stalin of the Soviet Union desired security for himself, his regime, his country, and his ideology, in precisely that order (Gaddis, pg 6). He solely believed that his country deserved a lot of territories because of the wartime expenditures that caused the countrys land to be ravaged and the notorious, bloody casualties of an approximate of 27 million civilians that died as a result of World War II (Gaddis, pg 9). He also had a zealous dream which was influenced by the Marxist-Leninist ideology that communists would soon dominate Eur ope through patience because capitalists cannot comply with one another for long. On the other hand, unlike Stalin, the Americans had a less determined goal of grasping security and global influence of their democratic ideas. Most part of Americas history was isolated from the rest of the world until its involvement in World War I. Americans did not have to worry much about security since they were apart from the other continents up until their involvement in the world wars. Within time, the distrust between the United States and the Soviet Union intensified by major issues such as the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and especially the fear of the atomic bomb. President Truman announced to provide military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey along with a speech that publicized the aid program in supporting the free people to make their own destinies (which became known as the Truman Doctrine). As the Americans searched for an explanation of the Soviet behavior, George F. Kennan, a Foreign Service officer who served in the American embassy, found the problem that the Soviet Unions internally driven hostility toward the outside world (Gaddis, pg 31). After the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan was devised as a solution to Kennans identification of problem, which was committing the United States to provide economic aid for the reconstruction of Europe. The Marshall Plan was intended to produce psychological benefits that would prevent Europeans to not tu rn towards communism as a solution for their hunger and poverty. According to Gaddis, the Marshall Plan was a trap to get Stalin to build the wall that would divide Europe, which was the blockade of Berlin (Gaddis, pg 32). The fear of the atomic bomb was probably most intensifying cause of the distrust between the two superpowers. The atomic bomb was developed by the Americans and British (without telling the Soviet), called the Manhattan Project, to use against Germany. When the bomb was used on Japan, Stalin reacted strongly, War is barbaric, but using the A-bomb is a superbarbarity (qtd. by Gaddis, pg 25). Not soon after, Soviet scientists devised atomic bombs in August 1949 to Stalins relief. Silently, Stalin and Truman both knew well enough how the atomic weapons can hardly be used without destroying the world. Gaddis analyzed how the two sides did not go into war, especially with the nuclear weapons involved because those weapons could very well end the world. The Cold War spends a good amount of time in examining the emergence of autonomy during the Cold War. However, Gaddis was not focusing on the decolonization of the various countries. Instead, the author dove into what was beneath the surface by showing how the non-alignment of independent countries had an advantage by not committing to either side of the Cold War. As Gaddis writes, if one superpower became too great, a smaller power could defend itself by threatening to align with the other superpower (pg. 124). Other countries such as North and South Korea, North and South Korea, and East and West German kept the two superpowers on their hooks. The weaknesses of those countries became their strength because if their countries collapsed, the countries may turn to communism (which is what the United States does not want) or capitalism (which is what the Soviet Union does not want). The best way to put to is in Gaddis words, a compelling form of Cold War blackmail: if you push me too h ard, my government will fall, and youll be sorry (pg. 130). In this short, comprehensive, and accessible book, Gaddis did an impressive job to discuss and condense down his judgments and the history of the entire era of the Cold War in a fewer than 300-pages of text. Gaddis divided his book into nine different chapters, in which each chapter covers a different topic that were occurring on both sides of the Cold War. Although each chapter covers a different topic, Gaddis subdivided each chapter into smaller sections, yet still able to compel the events or topics in a sequenced manner which allows the reader to follow along without confusion. In each topic, Gaddis does not only provide the hard facts that happen but examines and provides insightful analysis of how the events or ideologies influenced the leaders of the superpowers. This made it difficult to summarize and capture everything of what the author has to offer to the reader about an era that is commonly written about. In the center of the book, Gaddis provided sixteen pages of black-and-white photos that are organized in chronological order of the important people that made up the history of the Cold War as well as events. In addition, there were maps of Europe that added as a visual aid for the reader as the author explains territorial changes, bases, and alliances of the two superpowers. The author was very straightforward with what he had to say, which makes it easy to read and understand, and revealing to his audiences of what the superpower leaders were truly thinking of and their strategies in reaching their ambitions. However, there are flaws or bad choices of events that the author decided to take time to talk about. For instance, Gaddis spent two to three pages on the Watergate crisis, which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. As a reader, one may find how such an event is irrelevant to the Cold War. Overall, it was impressive of how the author organized the numerous events of the Cold War into a one-volume book. The writing style of Gaddis is very absorbing, which makes the book to be enjoyable to read. He chose great quotes from leaders and other people during that time that backs the judgments he makes. Also, he included little anecdotes that supplement his grand narrative of analysis of the various events of the Cold War. For example, every person who has some background knowledge of the Cold War knows that the atomic bombs were not used since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, he started out on the second chapter telling the reader how General MacArthur commanded five atomic bombs to be dropped on the Chinese advancing down the Korean peninsula and two Soviet bombers took off from Vladivostok (Gaddis, pg. 48-49). I was momentarily fooled by this little fiction Gaddis created. The purpose of the story was to show how close the world was to have a nuclear-violent war that could virtually destroy the entire planet. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who anyone who is interested in the Cold War because the book is not just a history book that provides hard facts about events, but also deep analysis of how the events influenced leaders during that era and the future of today. The book is not difficult to read but it would be better if the reader already had some background knowledge of the World War II and the Cold War. The book is worthy for a reader to take their time and absorb the analytical thoughts, examples, and anecdotes that the author conveys. Gaddis examines the different aspects of the events switching and back and forth between the perspectives of the two superpowers. While doing so, he guides the reader through the history of the Cold War without missing any of the commonly-known landmarks of the era providing a well-written narrative of the authors own interpretation and the history itself.

A World Class Education Ch 3

The bigger the change, it seems, the more difficult the task. Education is one of the most important things in a child’s life, so what happens when someone decides to present new challenges to our way of thinking? Vivian Stewart attempts to bring some very good points to light in chapter three of her book A World Class Education. Most successful systems tend to have the same basic elements when it comes to education.Strong leadership with ambitious vision is necessary for a profitable future in American instruction. High quality teachers and administrators who focus on global and future orientated goals help guide their students toward a more equitable state. Teacher accountability is also extremely significant; the nation board standard number four states that teachers should strive to strengthen their skills as an educator and critically examine their practice in order to improve their performance.Lastly, teachers should always keep an open mind for the future and continuous ly learn new ways to develop curriculum. This relates to national standard number five. In physical science, students are required to manipulate mathematical equations in order to solve for a range of variables. Here in the United States, we use the English system as our standard for measurement: However, nearly everywhere else in the world, the metric system is used.I apply global orientation to my classroom by teaching my students the metric system and explaining why it is important for scientists to have the same system of measurement. We should be mindful of learning the way others do things and less consumed with the our own systems when we can all benefit from a unified structure. Stewart, V. (2012). A world-class education: learning from international models of excellence and innovation. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

Best Law Schools in California

Lateral Violence Has On The Work Environment, Teamwork,...

Lateral violence also known as horizontal violence, incivility, or bullying has been a phenomenon researched for over three decades according to nursing researchers. This paper aims to discuss the impact that lateral violence has on the work environment, teamwork, self esteem, and patient care. Lateral violence is a phenomenon that has negative implications on the nursing profession due to the fact it can be avoided but still occurs. Lateral violence has been defined as any unwanted abuse or hostility within the workplace and â€Å"nurses covertly or overtly directing their dissatisfaction inward towards each other, towards themselves, and toward those less powerful than themselves (Griffin, 2004, p. 257), as quoted by (Roberts, 2014, p.36). According to Sanner-Steieh and Ward-Smith (2014) â€Å"lateral violence may be verbal consisting of persistent criticism, gossiping, yelling or berating; or nonverbal consisting of behaviors of undermining, sabotaging, clique formation, failure to respect privacy or confidences, and assigning unmanageable workloads†. Lateral violence has negative implications that directly affect patient care because it creates high incidents of nurse turn-over which results in hospitals often being short staffed, the nurses on shift work longer hours with bigger caseloads, and the patient’s are the ones who experience an unsatisfactory quality of care. Studies estimate that 44% to 85% of nurses are victims of lateral violence and up to 93% of nurses reportShow MoreRelatedWhat Is Lateral Violence Within The Nursing Profession?1690 Words   |  7 PagesTeamwork, collaboration, and empowerment are descriptive terms that many current and future nurses expect to be incorporated within their working environment. It is not unusual for nurses to work as a team with other health care professionals as well as one another to provide the best care for a patient. Therefore, one would think that a primary goal among nurses would in fact be collaboration. Yet, as a general step towards attacking all types of violence, many researchers have exposed violenceRead MoreLateral Workplace Violence : Effective, Destructive, Or Harassment Behavior1344 Words   |  6 Pages Lateral workplace violence is described as aggressive, destructive, or harassment behavior in the workplace between nurses or other members of the interprofessional team (Yoder-Wise, 2015). This type of behavior can occur within every aspect of life including professional, social, and personal life. The behavior can include gossiping, withholding information, or ostracism extending outside of the workplace and can occur in person or in cyberspace (American Nursing Association, 2011). LateralRead MoreLateral Violence And Workplace : Essay1556 Words   |  7 PagesLateral Violence and Workplace Incivility Introduction The lateral violence comes in many forms and in many ways, such as abuse in the workplace that occur between colleagues, it can be verbal or nonverbal aggression, intimidation, bullying, harassment, discrimination, stereotyping, gossiping, criticism, and other related mistreatment behavior at work. Institutional lateral violence also happens between manager and subordinate where they can use their higher position to perpetrate assault to theirRead MoreWhat Is Lateral Violence ( Lv )850 Words   |  4 Pageschose to discuss is lateral violence (LV) in nursing. LV is a deliberate and harmful behavior demonstrated in the workplace by one employee to another, it is a significant problem in the nursing profession (Christie, 2014). LV is the same thing as bullying someone. Studies estimate that 44% to 85% of nurses are victims of LV; up to 93% of nurses report witnessing LV in the workplace (Christie, 2014). LV can affect the victim’s physical and mental health, it can affect p atient care and safety, andRead MoreWhat Are Lateral Violence?2018 Words   |  9 PagesWhat is Lateral Violence? A major issue in nursing among employees is lateral violence and bullying in the workplace. Lateral violence, also known as horizontal violence, is a deliberate act to an individual from one employee to another in which gossip, bullying, and spiteful talk is occurring. The act of lateral violence can come from another employee who may or may not be at the same level as the other. Studies have shown that there is a 44% to 85% rise in nurses that fall into being a victimRead MoreThe Effects Of Workplace Violence On The Workplace947 Words   |  4 PagesAccording to The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health workplace violence is described as any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse that takes place in the workplace. Violence includes all behaviors ranging in aggressiveness from verbal harassment to murder. Currently there is no law that requires protection for violence which occurs in the workplace. However some states throughout the country has reach ed out to legislation an established prevention programs. As of todayRead MoreThe Effects Of Lateral Violence On The Professional Setting1968 Words   |  8 PagesThe purpose of this integration paper is to educate about lateral violence in the professional setting, more specifically within the nursing profession. Lateral violence is defined as â€Å"profound and pervasive source of occupational stress with physical and psychological and organizational consequences.† (Cervalolo, D). Types of lateral violence include rude comments, verbal attacks, condescending language, sexual misconduct, lack of collaboration, professionally attacking a person integrity andRead MoreThe Effects Of Lateral Violence On The Professional Setting2250 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction: The purpose of this integration paper is to educate about lateral violence in the professional setting, more specifically within the nursing profession. Lateral violence is defined as â€Å"profound and pervasive source of occupational stress with physical and psychological and organizational consequences.† (Cervalolo, D). Types of lateral violence include rude comments, verbal attacks, condescending language, sexual misconduct, lack of collaboration, professionally attacking a personRead MoreHorizontal violence and The Effects on Nurses and Patients Essay1234 Words   |  5 Pages Horizontal violence is not a topic that medical faculties discuss on a day-to-day basis, but it is an enormous problem within the health care system. In this research the author looks at bulling from a registered nurse (r.n.) aspect .The effects on patient centered care can be detrimental for patients and r.n.’s. The work place needs to be a safe place for not only the patients but also the employees. With the rise of new graduate nurses who are employed by the medical facilities, they too areRead MoreLeadership Theory Of The Nursing Practice2611 Words   |  11 PagesExecutive Summary Major changes need to take place within the nursing leadership in order to change the culture of the nursing practice. Evidenced- based research has proven that a transformational leadership style, solid emotional intelligence, effective communication skills, and a new culture of nursing leadership are the key for growing the nursing practice. The problem is change is not happening at the top level of nursing administration, so the entry level, or clinical nurse is still practicing