Getting to know Chinese people and understand Chinese culture can be hard. Most people are never going to have the opportunity to really get close to Chinese culture, either because they don’t speak any Chinese, they don’t live in China or because even if they do live in China they rarely get to spend time with Chinese people outside of the work environment. In this guide I am going to attempt to shed some light on how Chinese people think and what I believe is the origin of that thinking. An ambitious goal I know but one that is well worth attempting. My hope is that even if my guide only scratches the surface of Chinese culture, people will have more positives views of China and Chinese people and will perhaps be encouraged to learn the Chinese language. (My belief is that learning Chinese is the key to it all: only then can you get real access to the society).
Let’s begin with gift giving as a sign of respect towards higher authorities
Respecting 天 The superior Being or the superior”It”
The openness of “gift giving” in China is often seen by westerners as a shocking example of corruption in society. Of course sometimes there clearly is something less than honest going on. However to say that all gift giving to people with power is bribery and corruption is not putting things into a cultural context. The origins of this gift giving should be seen in the context of religion and Chinese people’s attempt to appease nature.
Chinese people have a saying: 看天吃饭 ( kan tian chi fan), which means ‘relying on the sky (the weather, the superior IT) to eat (survive).’ The Chinese people’s impression of ‘sky’ is that it has its own personality and has its own moods. It is ruthless, indifferent, indiscriminate, powerful, unpredictable and hard to please. However, it is also kind and generous as well as being a sustainer of all life. That’s why we have many religious or rituals activities to appease and praise 天. We tolerate and accept its capricious behaviour and at the same time we are in awe of its omnipotence. We do not resist it as we know there is nothing we can do to fight against its power. We just go along with it. This, I believe, is where the 没有办法 (mei you ban fa., which means ‘nothing can be done’,) attitude came from.
Just as the superior being has total control over us, so do the authorities, work superiors and parents. Nothing can be done about this, it’s just the way of things. However, perhaps we can have some influence. Perhaps if we show respect and gratitude we can be spared the anger of those above us. Perhaps they might even grant us favour. A small offering may help. Go to any Chinese temple and you will see people burning incense and paper in a stove . This is actually “money” special currency that can be used in the other world. Maybe the “gift” will be appreciated and the gods will look kindly upon us. This is not an attempt to bribe the gods you understand. It’s just showing respect; acknowledging their power and superiority. As for the other world so for this world. People in superior positions might also expect gifts. Little tokens of appreciation for their hard work and to acknowledge their status.
I am not of course trying to make excuses for officials who take kickbacks, nor am I trying to advocate bribery as a way of getting what you want in Chinese society. What I do want to do is to show you the fatalism in Chinese nature, how that came about and how it manifests itself in the cultural norms of Chinese people.
In the next few article in this “Beginners’ Guide to Understanding Chinese Culture” I’ll be exploring other ways in which fatalism shows up in Chinese culture.
A great way to really get an insight into Chinese culture and mentality is to learn to speak Chinese. Why not sign up for a Chinese course with Medlock Method. You’ll be speaking Chinese in no time.
Tags: Chinese culture
I like the attitude to give the student some knowledge of the Chinese culture along with the language.
I never thought about the connection between obeying heaven and elders and so on.Haven – there is nothing we can do about but why the others as well ???
Flowing River
Because the others such as your parents have power over you. You might think if the parents are being unreasonable you can just forget about their opinions. However, disrespecting your parents in Chinese society might stain your reputation. You might even be excluded from the ‘clan’. Mind you some other people or authorities are able to make your life difficult as well, just like the 天tiān .