Study Of Cultural Elements Of Laiyang From A Semiotic Perspective

Traditional studies on urban culture generally stay on the level of written texts, which constitute an intellectual discipline far away from spot. This kind of study conceals the presence of substantial objects, and peels off the foundation that culture derives from. The study of physical symbols and cultural elements from the perspective of semiotics attempts to recover the substantiality of culture, and make the objects speak by and for themselves, instead of being represented by written words. Thus we get a concept of cultural elements by involving physical symbols into cultural analysis.This paper is divided into four parts according to the whole structure. In the first part the world culture is analyzed to explain its complex meaning between the context of China and west. Then it will analyze and review all cultural elements. Thirdly classify all cultural elements according by their functions——the root element, the basic element and the card element. Root elements are the basic conditions which contain the occurring, development and existence of the regional culture as well as the parent unit sustaining the whole cultural system. Basic elements is the cultural elements that based on the root elements and have local influence in the cultural system. Card elements is the cultural symbol that is most famous and the most widely spreading among the local culture. Card elements maybe not the one that play the basic role in the local culture, but it must be the famous element known by many people and is the label of local culture. By studying the position of theses elements in Laiyang cultural system we find that the two opposite level in the cultural structure of Laiyang——ocean and inland, commerce and aerial farming and the mediacy between them.It is an experiment of the physical symbols and cultural elements theory to analyze the regional culture of Laiyang. We try to portray the structure and constitution of Laiyang culture by classifying physical elements rather than that of written texts.