Definition of Culture and Cultural value
Introduction
In this article，I would like to discuss and analyze two issues raised from the editorial from the journal Cultural Trends.Firstly，I want to investigate the question about how to define or measure the concept of culture，discussing the boundary of culture definition.The central question here is how to understand culture comprehensively.Secondly，I aim to talk about government and cultural value，to analyze what cultural value means and consists of，and to discuss what should government do with cultural value，to which part of culture should government offer a subsidy and give more support in the industrialization context.The central question in this issue is the cognition of cultural value.
Background
In the process of cultural policy making，the definition of culture and the value of culture are the initial and essential issues to be considered.To understand what culture means has a direct affection on the relationship between policy and culture.To understand cultural value could help to clarify the purpose of organizations，to improveorganizational management and accountability，to assess the success and progress，to make the most of government's funding（Davies and Selwood 2012）.However，because of the indefinite properties and the inhomogeneity of culture and cultural value，there are lots of misdirection existing in relevant investigation.Unilateral and extreme views may lead to mistakes and influence the whole society，so the issues are well worth discussing.
Definition of culture
Whythere has to be a definition of culture？Since it is a very broad，complicated and comprehensive concept，what is the meaning of seeking an answer？This question is also determined by the definition of culture.To define culture is to define humanity and society，to make a better understanding of the world and the relationship between individual and community，to help people make better decisions and live a better life.In the last analysis，the definition of culture comes from human activity and goes to human activity after all.
Culture，a wordwhich is familiar to everybody，has a variety of different explanation within different perspectives.It is a very broad concept，to make a strict and precise definition could be very difficult.Hall，S.（Ed.）（1997）believes that“Culture is one of the most difficult concepts in the human and social sciences and there are many different ways of defining it”（p 2）.According to statistics，there are at least two hundred definitions of“culture”.Different disciplines have different understandings of culture.
From a philosophical point of view，culture is the manifestation of philosophical thinking essential.From the point of view ofexistentialism，culture is a description of lifestyle of a person or a group of people，not only used to describe the external behavior of a group of people，but also explain the self-consciousness and the way of perception of individual.From functionalist's point of view，culture includes material and spiritual aspects，specific physical phenomena and abstract social phenomena.Culture is a set of tools and a set of customs，and habit which is either human body or human mind that meets human's needs indirectly.
As it is mentioned in the editorial，being a scientist working in the cultural sphere，Mike Dixon，director of the Natural History Museum and Chair of the National Museum Directors'Conference，is clearly irritated that culture is taken to mean“the arts”by default，thinking that culture can mean the whole of society and its behaviors other times（Davies，M. ＆ Selwood，S.2012）.This suggests that the concept of culture should be treated more comprehensively and historically，focusing more on the broad sense.Culture should not be defined in a limited sense on certain items，since it is rooted in human society at the very beginning.
Anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor（1920）believes that culture is a complicated complexity，including various of social phenomena.“Culture，or civilization，taken in its broad，ethnographic sense，is that complex whole which includes knowledge，belief，art，morals，law，custom，and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”（p 4）.Culture is defined as a specific lifestyle as a whole，including ideology and behavior，providing moral and rational norms.It is behavior from learning，not from biology，and it is possessed by all members of society.Culture is a carrier of information，knowledge and tools，reflecting the social living environment.Being a kind of institution and spirit product，culture expresses a sense of history，making people feel proud，and deepen understanding of existence of human life，the significance and the status of a person in the universe.Culture is all the achievements of human social practice.
Raymond Williams（1985）expounds the evolution history of the word“culture”，claiming that in different eras，the word has different explanations.At the early stage，the main sense of the noun is regarded as a process of human development，mostly refer to the tending of crops and animals：“The primary meaning was then in husbandry，the tending of natural growth.”The definition of culture used to attack mechanical inhumanity，only distinguished between human and material.Until 1C18 and eC19，the independent noun‘culture，started its complicated modern history.At the modern stage，culture describes a general process of intellectual，spiritual and aesthetic development and the works and practices of intellectual and artistic activity，indicating a particular way of life.
Williams（1985）also holds the opinion that“A culture has two aspects”in the article Culture is ordinary，explaining the two aspects as“the known meanings and directions，which its members are trained to；the new observations and meanings，which are offered and tested”（p 3）.Williams believes that culture can be both traditional and creative，both the most ordinary common meanings and the finest individual meanings，both a whole way of life and the processes of creativity and exploration in the arts.Hence，although culture is a complex in terms of anthropology，it still has two main directions to approach an appropriate definition.
Therefore，to sum up with a metaphor，culture is just like water，as diverse，variable and colorful as water is.Speaking of diversity；just like water has no fixed shape，culture also can be carried in various forms，such as knowledge，belief，art，moral rules，laws，customs，etc.In terms of variability，like water has different features through different stages，such as being steam when heated or becoming ice under freezing circumstance，culture also has different interpretations in different historical stages：in the 18th century，it is mainly considered as the‘natural tendency to grow，and the process of cultivation；in the 19th century，it refers to a certain state of mind or habits，and later known as a general state of knowledge development of society，then defined as an overall of all kinds if arts.Until the end of the 19th century，culture began to mean a materially and spiritual way of life.Culture is also as colorful as water on terms of different characteristics in different regions.Like water could become streams or rivers or lake or seas through different landforms，culture shows various charms in different regions as well，in terms of countries，races，languages，histories，customs，traditions，lifestyles，literatures，arts，thinking patterns，values and so on.Moreover，just like water，culture always has headstream or root however it will change all along.It is about human lives，about the essence and nature of humanity.Intrinsically，culture is the externalization of a nation，of people themselves.Culture is the spirit and soul of a nation，the decisive factor of a nation's real power，the congenital gene of a nation's destiny.As Jowell，T（2004）points out，“Culture defines who we are，it defines us as a nation.And only culture can do this.”（p 17）.
As water could be defined from both physical and chemical point of view，culture can also be interpreted from both horizontal and vertical notion.Despite the complexity of the evolution and implication of culture，the keyword of definition of culture is“two”.Culture can be considered both vertically and horizontally.Vertically means to define culture in terms of history and evolution，in chronological order.Here the“two”includes ancient period and modern period，during which culture is mainly seen as cultivation and civilization respectively.Horizontally means to take the breadth of culture into consideration in order of importance.In general terms，culture is the sum of human material and spiritual wealth created in the process of social and historical development，especially refer to social ideology，which is directly linked to economy and politic.Culture is a concentrated reflection of the ideological and economic.
Of course，every coin has two sides，everything is a totality of contradictory，and water and culture both have their“two sides”as well.Water can quench thirst and even save a life，but can also cause floods or drowning.It can bear a boat，it can also sink it.Similarly，there are positive，useful，healthy products of culture to improve human development，there are also negative，harmful and danger cultural products that may obstruct human development.It should be treated dialectically within comprehensive context.
Cultural value and governance
Because of the multifaceted nature of“culture”，when government makes financial decision，making a judgment on the value of culture is unavoidable.Although the value of culture can not be measured，it has to be measured.But how can something not measurable being measured？The crux of the matter may be not the measurement，but the conversion，to transfer immeasurable value into a measurable one.
John Holden（2005）put forward a triangle diagram of different values of culture，including intrinsic values，instrumental values and institutional values.At the top of the triangle is intrinsic value，related to the subjective experience of culture intellectually，emotionally and spiritually.It is this value that people refer to when they say“I like this.It makes me feel good”or“This tells me who Iam”（p 9）.The second type of value is instrumental value，describing instances where culture is used as a tool or instrument to accomplish some other aim.The third type of value is institutional value，which is all about the way that cultural organizations act.Holden believes that the three values are equal validity and should be considered together.
In this essay's opinion，the three values of culture should be considered together，but they are not equal validity.The instrumental and the institution value are displaced from the intrinsic value of culture，and they are just a certain replaceable part of the intrinsic value，but not the whole.The instrumental value is the motivation of instrumental policy，which seeks to use culture or creativity to achieve non-cultural specific ends（Pratt 2008）.Therefore，basically it has nothing to do with the real value of culture itself.The intrinsic value is more about artistic，aesthetic，and subjective.Hence，evaluating strictly，these two values are actually out of the cultural field，but more in the political and society fields.They can be taken into consideration together with the intrinsic cultural value，but they are not real cultural value.
Value is used to describe the“morals，principles，or ideas that serve as guides to action”（Mason 2002：7），where value reflects the meaning and importance of cultural activity（Miles and Sullivan 2010，Reeves 2002：35），rather than the economic conception of value.This conception of value employs a similar focus on the characteristics of cultural activity as a way of narrating value.With the industrialization，culture has been more linked to money worship，and the cultural value has been twisted，economic value here is involved.It is often reflected in market prices，where there is no market for a good or service and therefore no price（Reeves 2002）.The concept of market is stressed.The replaceable part within intrinsic cultural value which can convert into economic value，is market-oriented.However the intrinsic value is completely unrelated with the market.The culture of a country must have its peak like the spire of the pyramid，marking the height which the culture of a nation can achieve in an era.The spire of the pyramid includes a number of excellent literary and artistic elite and classic works，as well as national arts and cultural organizations，facilities，and historical and cultural heritage.This should be the intrinsic value of culture，being treated with the attitude of“art for art's sake”（Guerard，A.1936）.
The over-commercialization of culture has confused culture with cultural industries，yet the two are essentially different.Cultural industries hassomething to do with business and money，it is geared to the needs of mass consumption，located at the bottom of the pyramid，while artistic value of culture is on the top and will always be there.Not everything can be fell under a cultural industry，the pinnacle of a nation's real culture is not for industrialization.Just as Scott（2010）says that“measurable does not mean valuable”，and when public funding decisions rely solely on measurable results，then“we are back in the bind of instrumentality”（p 285）.
Therefore，the triangle of Holden should coincide with a country's culture pyramid，the intrinsic value of culture stays at the spire，cannot be measured or industrialized，while the instrumental and institution value are at the bottom，conducted by government and facing mass public.
But there has always been an unfairness of the support from government todifferent parts of culture.The artistic part has usually been attached importance to，far more than the entertainment.Just as Tessa Jowell（2004）asked：“Why do we subsidize symphony orchestras but not pub bands or pianists？Why do we subsidize performances of Shakespeare and Mahler but not Coldplay or Madonna？”（p 4）.The value of entertainment could be explored from the intrinsic value to economic value of culture，facing to mass public and mass consumption.So are the popular culture and public culture.They should be linked to democratization of culture and governance.The economic and commercial value they carry should bring more subsidies to it，in order to improve commercialization and industrialization of culture.To achieve this goal，democracy should be taken into consideration.
Cultural democracy aimsguard the right to culture for every member in society，to encourage participation in community cultural life and cultural policy decisions，to assure fair access to cultural resources and support.Funders should carefully analyze the possible repercussions for cultural democracy of making fundamental changes to existing governance arrangements between business，government and society（Gattinger 2011）.For example，many European countries like Italy and Germany，have drawn new public management into administration，empowering citizens to promote more efficient，entrepreneurial，and results-oriented management including“steering rather than rowing”（Osborne，D. ＆ Gaebler，T.1992），shifting cultural value from private to public.While in some eastern countries，like China，has over-attached importance to the political and social function on the value of arts and culture，seeing the value as utilitarian which service for political indoctrination and propaganda education，ignoring the intrinsic value of culture and lacking of democracy in cultural funding.Since culture has been extremely derogatory or utilitarian used，cultural funding become quite limited and unbalanced distributed.Hence the industrialization of culture is hindered，cultural democracy and public participation are in poor state of strengthen.Therefore，to make cultural enterprise develop better，cultural democracy must be considered.
To conclude，theintrinsic value at the top of cultural pyramid can not be measured or industrialized，but can become instrumental and institutional value located at the bottom after conversion.And the bottom part of culture should be subsidized more with cultural democracy，since it is oriented to mass public and market.
Conclusion
As the product of human behavior habits，culture should not be considered just in terms of limited，one-sided，certain items in narrow sense，butshould be placed in multi social and economical context in broad sense.Especially in the contemporary era，it should not be separated from commercial，industrial and other economic factors，which are part of the product of human behavior as well.Moreover，policy makers should hold a fair attitude towards the cultural value.Cultural value is complex，the pure artistic value of culture can not be measured，but can be converted into instrumental and institution value to produce economic and commercial value in market.And however people treat the value of culture，to put the public back into value is always an essential consideration.Culture comes from human，only when being peoplecentered does the value of culture have meaning.
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