tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289767334873849288.post8834639807098885021..comments2023-04-14T16:16:31.185+08:00Comments on Life in the Middle Kingdom: China, get out of my head.Alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11822958002686797262noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289767334873849288.post-2667501649961697072010-11-01T20:58:04.962+08:002010-11-01T20:58:04.962+08:00These are good questions.
Your first question is ...These are good questions.<br /><br />Your first question is related to the fate of traditional Chinese values as China modernizes (and in some ways, Westernizes). Most of my students seem to think that traditional values are weakening, especially in big cities.<br /><br />It's hard to pinpoint exactly what beliefs underlie some values. Boy preference has some fairly practical explanations: Children are responsible to care for parents in their old age. When girls marry, traditionally, they become a part of the man's family, and thus spend more time with his parents and contribute more to his parents' care. So if you want to see your child more often, have your child take care of you in your old age, and continue the family line, your child should be a boy.<br /><br />There are other values that don't seem to have such clear-cut explanations. For example, Chinese traditionally have had conservative ideas about purity before marriage and heterosexuality. I'm not sure exactly what belief underlies these values; perhaps that's one reason they are crumbling.<br /><br />Anyway, so much for my under-informed ramblings. I'll do some more posts in the future about China's changing values.Alisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822958002686797262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289767334873849288.post-85584570868371411052010-10-30T03:56:33.742+08:002010-10-30T03:56:33.742+08:00I'd like to read a post sometime that expands ...I'd like to read a post sometime that expands on cultural differences in light of "modernization." This particular infatuation with male children is deeply ingrained, but how long will it last when China is no longer a subsistence culture? Can we take cues from America's feminist movement, or will Chinese culture remain stubbornly chauvinistic as in Japan? <br /><br />You should also post sometime on what beliefs underlie the Chinese values system, and how open they are to Judeo-Christian values. It seems to me that all cultures would benefit from more awareness of their value-belief matrix, meaning their values are consistent with their beliefs. Everyone knows that when beliefs change, values change too. However, the flip side is that when values start to be compromised, the logical reason is that they do not really believe what they claim! <br /><br />So understanding the foundation for belief (and worldview) is really important, and I imagine you have challenged your students with that question. Do they stop to think whether any absolute truth underlies their traditional beliefs? <br /><br />BTW, when you start believing you should drink more milk to whiten your skin, THEN start worrying!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com