By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: How much of an impact does fear have in China?
Keep the people stupid and scared and you can pretty much do what you want...epecially in an autocracy like China.
I think that the propagation of fear in China was created to silent the working class needed to achieve success very similar to the US only China has an added advantage being able to control the media completely.
From a sociological point of view...how has the propagation of fear (engineered of course) impacted modern Chinese culture?
Children are brought up with "If you do this something bad will happen"
Grown ups fear getting their hair wet in the rain. That is pretty stupid.
Scandinavian:
if it doesn't burn through an umbrella it probably won't hurt the scalp.
Interesting topic. My grain of salt, very open to critics, probably miss a lot of points, definitely a quick broad brush.
* Yes, I think so, people here are sensible to fear and use it as a guide. I think it's a human thing, people are guided by their fear anywhere. Fear to die one day, fear to be alone, fear to have nothing, fear to loose everything, fear to be hurt. In the same way that pain is what teaches you to not put your hand in boiling water.
* So what kind of fears are specific to Chinese society ?
** Fear of responsibilities. I real feel anything to avoid responsibility goes, keeping the face comes before anything.
** Fear to do mistakes, very very risk-adverse. Again, the face thing, and also the education. Parents are very protective, too protective, it goes up to extreme. Single child is a commonly cited reason. Hum.
** Fear of the outside. Japan, pretty much any bordering country minus Pakistan, Mongolia and North-Korea.
*Is fear used as a tool of government ? I would say, it's 80% culture & society, 20% political exploitation. Fear of the outside, definitely engineered, building upon good old Qing-era xenophobia, centuries-old political tool. The other fears I mention, I would say it's a product of the culture and it's self-reinforcing ie. kids raised with those fears will transmit such fears.
Now, look at the USA to see a society with a different set of fears (ie. War on Terrorism that destroy far more outside USA than USA have lost within its borders, super-sized military despite gigantic debt). Back home (France), common fears are losing one privileges, rising communutarism, and people in general are not really keen on adventures and enterprises.
thedude:
You make some great points similar to what I have been thinking.
The fear of losing face alone...at all moral or ethical costs...has been my biggest observation in China.
coineineagh:
Great list, but you seem to have overlooked a large aspect of Chinese culture: Family. People make decisions based not on what is best, but what will minimize loss of face. They fear that disapproval of any kind will cause them to lose status within their families, or their entire family to lose status. They beat up their own kids for any vague/contrived disappointment, and are not above punishing family members for perceived weakness either. Mianzi is real in China because they make it real. Recent history has been bloody and unjust, and has hammered home the importance of group approval. Poor leadership has caused people to be publicly executed, and the risk of this is greater if you don't have guanxi connections. And in between the poor decision making, you don't want to be one of the (millions of) people who ends up neglected and starving to death, all because 'glorious leader' (who is still praised for his administrative competence to this day) thought it might be a good idea to demand that farmers stop farming, and try to smelt steel.
A fascinating issue that all cultures and societies (not to mention individuals) ponder and struggle with on a day-to-day basis. Doc upstairs, for example, has outlined some key points and ideas that are most worthy of development. And if I am not mistaken, Doc is a rational thinker, a Cartesian Frenchman whose intellect is rooted in a 17th-century philosophical bent that to this day influences France in every conversation held from shopkeepers to fruit vendors to 5-hour business meetings with France Telecom! Ha ha!
(I know. I spent 2 years in Paris and the phone company was a partner of ours. Meetings lasted up to 5 hours... counting cigarette breaks...)
This is not a stab, but a salute to the French mind. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Francophile. Salut, le mec !
diverdude1:
Revolutionarie or Bonapartist? or Ancien Regime...
I must admit I may be the worst of the worst,, wishing could just draw the best of the best from each....
Dude, You could write a book about this. It's such an overwhelming topic.
I find it interesting that so far no one has brought up the fact that the foreigners on this very site live in more fear than the chinese ever will. Have u ever been on a road in China? Chinese people dont even fear death. They are very entrepreneurial although not especially creative but i think it goes against the whole chinese are risk averse idea.
I know this sounds like im a chinese loving hippie but anyone that knows me on here knows that this isnt the case, its just that facts are facts and a quick read on this site shiw that most people here are far far more risk averse than the chinese.
Stay in crappy cities and jobs because of visa. fear of being kicked out, or black listed or duped by the next company.
This un rational fear that everything is out to get the laowai, and fear of any conflict which could bring this upon you. for example
wont drive, not because ill die, which is super reasonable, but because if any mishap ill be blamed.
funneling your money out of the country or refusing to invest your money because of a fear of everything being taken away at a moments notice.
fear of punching some disrespectful douche in the mouth because youll be deported.
you hear about a police crackdown or something and everyone gets all antsy even though we have never experienced this whole conspiracy that the chinese are out to get us personally, weve just heard second hand. And pass it along untill it becomes overblown.
The fact is that pretty much everyone on this site live in more constant fear than the chinese ever will.
Fear of police, banks, government.
royceH:
Last year I had a class of 4 and 5 year old kids and, yep, you've already guessed....I was scared.
But I don't havve them any more...so what scares me now?? Probably the thought that, as I eat too much restaurant food, I'm likely to die of a heart attack before the footy season starts.
Scandinavian:
The reason why Chinese people don't seem to fear death is that they fear poverty more. Go see the IV rooms at hospital, the acupuncture departments. People are desperate to stay alive.
I am personally not scared of anything but the pollution. The rest of my ranting about China is being annoyed, not being afraid.
thedude:
I completely understand your argument but not all foreigners in China have this mentality....maybe a lot on this forum...but certainly not all.
After some time in China I became the opposite due to circumstance.
Being wined and dined and treated like a rock star made me mostly fearless in China...even favor at the PSB due to business partners speaking on my behalf.
For me the China experience so far has been more about dealing with over confidence mixed with some stupidity because of my reason for being in China .
People who are always scared in China should simply not be in China.
I do have some fears living in China . I fear being fired from my job , because my employer periodically reminds me that the company can take away our visa and have us blacklisted . I fear not being able to control my anger in public being surrounded by such ignorance . I also fear being held responsible for an accident in my classroom , lots of my students are 4 years old . I am certainly learning patience in this country .
Scandinavian:
This is a nice example of fear in China. An employer using fear to keep employees in place. Threats.... if you don't behave the boogieman will come and take you.
