HSC – Social and Cultural Continuity and Change

practice questions 2
1. Explain how ONE force of change has impacted on traditional society in the country you
have studied. (4)

Modernisation is one force of change that has impacted on traditional society in China. This is evident
through economic and social changes such as urbanisation and westernisation. An example of these
are the migrant workers that are moving from rural to urban areas as the husbands that leave home
earn five times more than what they would usually earn and this shift is increasing rapidly. This is due
to China’s developing economy where globalisation has been a major influence leading on to
capitalism. Capitalism is on the rise as individuals are influenced less by past traditions such as family
and now aim to be part of the modern world which is working in city and earning money.

2. Is all change necessarily progress? Discuss this statement with specific reference to the
country you have studied. (4)

All change is not necessarily progress. The One Child Policy came into place in 1979 and was not
progress. It was something that suddenly happened however it did have an effect on China. It delayed
the age of marriage, people received benefits for delaying and there were consequences if the One
Child Policy wasn’t follow. Another aspect that wasn’t progress was urbanisation. Urbanisation has
been fairly recent and is due to China’s immense pick up of the economy.

3. Briefly describe the main characteristics of traditional family in the society you have
studied. \\\ (3)\

The main characteristics of a traditional family in China were that they had strong family
connections. This strong connection was the main reason for success in office positions and
commercial life and contributed to a mystical relationship between the family and its land. The
importance of family was emphasised by placing the last name infront of the individual’s first name.
The men were dominant in the families as filial piety was a must. The father-son relationships were
highly respected and placed above any other relationship which was also influenced by Confucianism.
Another characteristic was having the grandparents living with their children. There was the concept
of 4:2:1 which meant that 1 individual would look after 2 parents who would all look after the 4
grandparents which meant that 3 generations were living under one roof.

4. Select ONE topic concept and explain its relevance to the country you have studied. (2)

One topic concept that is related to China is society. The traditional society in China was
Gemeinschaft. It was agrarian, communist based and a part of the neo evolutionary theory. The
society was based on Confucianism meaning there was great respect for elders. The society
maintained these values throughout traditional times however change did take place. Society
gradually became more westernised, globalised and urbanised following the evolutionary theory.

Dulshini Wijesinghe Yr12 SAC Mrs. Doyle