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Q: Is their current culture REALLY a thousand years-old?
Aside from keeping sewage in the streets, their written language, and perhaps their superstitions and marital customs, what parts of modern Chinese culture can really be traced back centuries? Is hatred of one's parents part of their glorious traditionalculture? What about their contempt for compassion and gentleness? What about their contempt for religions and spirituality? Are these a thousand years-old?
Have you ever quipped to any of them that the Chinese culture of which they claim to be so proud effectively died several decades ago?
That's funny, lots of relatively new accounts/anonymous posting seen before questions ranging from suspicious hostility to full blown racism.
kingme:
Sorry, love. It's not me. I haven't posted any anonymous questions. It's my first time posting anything on here in about a year, and last year I was one of those Westerners who'd just arrived in China and still thought it was a nice place with good people.
kingme:
I won't even identify my old account. I was such a tool back then and saw China through rose-colored glasses. All of you were just bigots who refused to give China a fair chance, I used to think. Now I've come to realize the expats here are right.
sm90:
Yeah, new accounts keep appearing after old accounts accused of being wumao magically disappear...
kingme:
Aye. I was actually accused of being woman back then, but in reality I was just a new laowai looking at China through rose-colored glasses.
expatlife26:
yeah I agree I think kingme mighta been CFTU guy or somebody no good.
it's so easy to tell someone who is having a bad day from someone who is pushing an agenda.
I don't know why he bothers...it's way more likely that we'll chase someone legit off than that we'll let him stay on without being called out.
I get so sick of hearing about Chinese culture. I have never been to another country where people ask '',,do you bla bla (Chinese) culture?''. What culture? Culture : the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.
I originally expected Chinese people to be very polite, do the praying hand gesture when greeting, like the Thai. I expected women would either walk behind a man to show respect or walk ahead of a man to look for land mines, which shows more respect. What I saw was rudeness, inconsiderate behavior and often acts of pure stupidity, ex, line pushing, spitting, cars actually trying to hit me. Chinese need to learn about Chinese culture or what it should be.
I seem to have stumbled into a racist circle-jerk. When do we don our white hooded robes and ride roughshod over the countryside lynching all the evil Chinese that we can catch? Oh we don't? We just hide in our homes and make bitchy anonymous comments on expat internet sites? Pussy.
kingme:
Kiwi, at some point in your life someone gave you the wrong definition for racism. Culture and race are two different things, and it's to belittle the latter that conveys racism. Would belittling of a head-hunting culture in the Congo make one a racist?
kingme:
And again, I'm not the one making anonymous posts. I'm sure the administrator can clearly see who is making them, though. Don't blame me in a drunken frenzy.
dongbeiren:
@NZ I agree with you that the tone of many on this site is pretty hostile and negative towards the Chinese but you should be a little more understanding that 1) this is an internet forum that lets people blow off steam that they can't blow off in real life and 2) complaining about uncivilized behavior by individuals does not equate to racism. A lot of my Chinese American friends back in the United States are some of the most mild mannered, gentle and kind people I have met. They are embarrassed by the behavior of people in mainland China. There is a difference between attacking a corrupt society and attacking a race. Racism condemns people for factors they can't control. People on this site generally complain about contemptible behavior, behavior that repeats itself again and again in mainland China.
The modern Chinese culture was born in 1949 and spread nationwide during the cultural revolution.
If you want real Chinese culture head to Taiwan or among Overseas Chinese communities who emigrated before the birth of the PRC.
There are aspects still here from centuries ago. People would bribe their way into a succesful pass in the civil service exams to ensure a good job. A disregard for real education for the lower classes. Thanks to Confucious the idea of filial piety and knowing your place in society, although that is changing now.The old idea of holding the emperor in total awe compared with holding Mao and the CCP in total awe. Mao did a good job of completely trashing this country during the cultural revolution and convincing the country that an awareness of the countries history and education were not relevant or needed but behavioural traits still show through. Are they one's to be proud of? I think we can all make up our own minds on that one.
