The Influence of the Traditional Chinese Value Orientations on Contemporary Chinese Values, Li Mengyu, Ph.D. and Michael H. Prosser, Ph.D. (in press). Communicating Interculturally. Beijing: Higher Education Press. [Post 172]
no commentThe Influence of the Traditional Chinese Value Orientations on Contemporary Chinese Values
From Li Mengu and Michael H. Prosser (forthcoming). Communicating Interculturally, Chapter 5. Beijing: Higher Education Press
China is a country with an approximately five-thousand-year history, in which Confucianism has exerted a major influence in shaping its unique culture and values. Confucius (550-478 BC) and all his followers throughout the centuries have been very much concerned with the secular life of the real world or what Kwang-Kuo Hwang (2007) calls the “life world,” and the Chinese people as a whole have been practically-minded, exhibiting an unquenchable interest in pragmatism and rationalism.
Confucianism basically holds the beliefs of “Five Constant Virtues ”(Wu chang五常), known as “benevolence” (Ren, 仁), “personal loyalty”(Yi,义), “courtesy or politeness or propriety” (Li,礼 ) , “wisdom” (Zhi,智)and “faith” (Xin,信). As a result, the beliefs and doctrines of Confucianism have served as the cores of Chinese values. As has been discussed above, generally speaking, Chinese culture is collectivism-oriented, which pays more attention to group identities, emphasizes interpersonal and mutually dependent relationships within the group , shows great concerns for mutual faces, stresses consensus, cooperation and harmony .These value orientations have provided a rich cultural legacy to Chinese, other East Asians, and Southeast Asians. June Yum (1988) has identified five influences that Confucianism has had on interpersonal communication (jiaoji) both in China and elsewhere: particularism (opposite universal patterns); role of intermediaries (heavy influence of ritual); reciprocity (guangzhi); in-group/out-group distinctions (freer and deeper talk for the in-group versus more superficial talk for the out-group); and an overlap of personal and public relationships (with business and social life intermixed).
However, Confucianism also has its negative influences, even among some that Yum mentions. The traditional Chinese culture is a typical patriarchal ruling model, in which “Gang Chang” ethics acts as the basic value principle. Confucianism lays great emphasis on the family, and regards it as the basic unit of the society. The clan system constitutes the basic structure of the country, in which the family is regarded as the extension of the nation. In terms of relationships among the family members and society members, it belongs to a kind of patriarchal type, in which the emperors, rulers, fathers, and elder brothers are endowed with controlling powers, while female members, such as wives and daughters are placed in low positions. These have led to the tragic fates of the womens’ lives in the old China. The most famous contemporary Chinese writer lu Xun once criticized the negative feature of Chinese in his masterpiece The Wildman’s Diary.
The Contemporary Chinese Value Orientations
Materialism
With the rapid contemporary development of the Chinese economy and the process of modernization and urbanization, now the Chinese people pay great attention to their material life. In most of the Chinese people’s minds, houses, cars, money and related material things are their major concerns for themselves and their family. Owing to the influences of the traditional Chinese value of owning personal houses, most Chinese people own their own houses or apartments; hence, there has been a thirst for buying houses or apartments. From big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to medium cities like Qingdao, Hangzhou, Chengdu, to the small cities and towns, there have been new apartments and new buildings being rapidly built, leading to a housing glut in the 2007-2009 international recession. This is one factor that leads to the rapid increase of the house prices in China at the present time. Besides, now it is a fashion for Chinese people, particularly urban people to buy cars, world famous brand clothes, cosmetics, and other luxurious items. Today’s Chinese people, in particular the youth, attempt to seek a life of material satisfaction and quality. They desire success, and spend more time in traveling, entertainment and group gatherings. They prefer personalizing things and an enriched life; they love music and sports, and long for more personal freedom and happiness.
The Family
Chinese contemporary people still cherish their family and there is a caring, loving relationship among family members in most Chinese families. Unlike traditional extended family patterns, now most Chinese families tend to be nuclear families with parents and one child in each family due to the Chinese government’s one child policy, perhaps with grandparents included. In most families, especially in cities, children are often spoiled, (“The Little Emperor” or “Little Empress”) since much attention is paid to them. In most cases, children are not trained to be independent from their families; instead, parents and grandparents try their best to take care of their children, almost doing everything for them. An emerging problem in Chinese families is that often when young people marry, they become responsible over time not only for their child, but also for their parents and one or two grandparents.
Education
There has never been such a time that the Chinese people have attached so great an importance to education, with the most students in any country in the world. Since the 1978 opening up to the outside world, Chinese people have held the firm belief that knowledge can change people’s fate, “knowledge is power” as Francis Bacon said. Both in the city citizens’ and rural peasants’ minds, education is the first important thing. However, their understandings of education are sometimes quite narrow-minded, as to most of them, they hope that their children can be accepted by good or even prestigious universities and colleges, especially the famous ones, since they believe these are the right ways in which their children could have the opportunities of finding good jobs. In cities, in addition to the regular school learning, most parents send their children to attend various classes, such as piano, drawing, singing, dancing, ping pong, and English classes to help them gain more competitive skills. While at school, the middle school students have a large burden of learning, memorizing knowledge and taking exams. At colleges and in universities, some students are also very practical in learning as their quests for learning have some personal purposes of finding satisfactory jobs with high salary and a stable life. In China, there is a saying: “The hardest working people are the students.” University graduations in China have increased 250% since 2000. Unfortunately, due to various reasons including the greater and greater number of university and college students and graduates, the university graduates’ employment rate is not high enough, and the students are under great pressure to find suitable and well-paying work. Therefore, generally speaking, the academic atmosphere of pure pursuit of knowledge and learning is not yet strong enough in today’s Chinese universities and colleges. This turns out to be a serious and increasing problem.
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[...] Michael.H.Prosser » Blog Archive » The Influence of the … Confucius BC) and all his followers throughout the centuries have been very much concerned with the secular life of the real world or what Kwang-Kuo Hwang calls the “life world,” and the Chinese people as a whole have been Therefore, generally speaking, the academic atmosphere of pure pursuit of knowledge and learning is not yet strong enough in today's Chinese universities and colleges. This turns out to be a serious and increasing problem. [...]
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