Books, movies, sites, etc. to help learn me about Chinese culture.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I plan to be moving to China soon and thought that it might be prudent to know something about the culture. I already bought an excellent book entitled “The Chinese Have a Word For It” and have mostly learned what a daunting task I have ahead of me.

It is cliche that the East and West think in radically different ways, any recommendations to help me bridge that gap?

2

I don’t know much about Chinese culture, but I know that I’ve been taught woefully little Chinese history. I found that Larry Gonick has been treating Chinese History in his Cartoon History of the Universe, and I strongly recommend these as a painless intro to the subject. Just take him with a grain of salt – some of ghis opinions are definitely his own. and a comic isn’t the place to present historical uncertainties and controversies.

I also have a wonderful book called Chinese Beliefs that tries to present the philosophy and religion of the Chinese "Man (or woman-) in-the-street. But the book is almost 20 years old, and I don’t recall the author.

3

It might sound too simple to be useful, but I think just reading and re-reading the (translated) I Ching and *Tao Te Chung * could help you better grasp, at least to a point, the Eastern way of thinking.

It is true that not all Chinese use, access or “believe in” the *I Ching * or Tao Te Chung. Nevertheless, I feel the writings have taught me a great deal about Chinese, Taoist, some Buddhist philosophies.

I think it’s a perhaps ironic mark of the differences between East/West thinking that some westerners would not find the *I Ching * or the *Tao Te Chung * very helpful in understanding eastern thought. That’s how big the difference in the thinking is, I believe.

4

Personally I don’t think people are any different anywhere in the world. What is different is their school learning, learned prejudices, government, etc. and certainly those influence society towards certain proclivities.

But if you understand the government, prejudices, school system, etc. of that place, there is really no mystery.

5

You should go listen to their pop music. It doesn’t matter if you can’t understand it. I can’t understand it either. I think it pretty accurately represents Chinese culture these days.

6

In my experience, very few Chinese in China know much or care about the Dao, Buddhism, Kung fu, etc. I remember going to Taiwan in 1982 all fired up to take my martial arts to a much higher level with a real master. Boy, was I disappointed to find that martial arts are about 100 times more popular in the US.

Hookay, back to the OP. People are people the world over, however there is some background and baggage the Chinese have that you don’t. Please keep in mind these are broad generalizations and YMMV.

  1. Lack of Christian guilt. It just doesn’t exist in the Chinese culture and the way people may react is without this piece of culture that does permeate the US for example. You don’t have to be a Christian to have “christian type guilt” but being raised in a culture of Christian guilt versus one without results in inidividuals reacting differently in the same situation
  2. There are 1.4 billion Chinese. People just act different when there’s a lot more of them. Cutting in line isn’t rude, it’s second nature and a survival skill.
  3. Chinese are fierce individuals. Don’t believe for a second the “all the same” communist BS.
  4. There is no win-win concept. If you win, then I lose.
  5. Understand China had about 100 years of really nasty warfare up until 1949. The 1950’s were no picnic but generally an improvement on the previous 100 years. The Cultural Revolution affected everyone to a certain degree. Then with the economic liberalization, the Chinese “iron rice bowl” system disintegrated and cradle to the grave communist life went out the window with people suddenly unemployed and other’s learning “to get rich is glorious”
  6. Since 1989, the Chinese economy has doubled - twice. Households in the cities generally all have phone, hot water, mobile phone, TV, DVD player, refridgerator, heater/air conditioner, etc. An awful lot are buying cars (too many IMHO but that’s progress and everyone wants their piece of the pie).
  7. First time in Chinese history peasants from the countryside are able to leave their surfdom. That may also mean the freedom to starve in the big city or become a prostitute. However, I see this as the greatest sea change. Real money is going back to the countryside for the first time ever and I see this as the great hope that economic dualism will not tear apart China.
  8. Oh ya, no one is communist any more.

I would learn something about the past 100 years of chinese history. Definately learn something about the cultural revolution (Secret Life of Chairman Mao is probably fiction but based on highly classified internal documents). Fortune magazine had a big China special within the past year that can give you a good snapshot on the present.

Talk to as many people as you can once you get here. What are you going to do and what city will you be in?

7

After three years living in Korea/Taiwan, I came to the opposite conclusion. Some things are different, to be sure, but in the end I was struck most by the commonalities. The differences are usually matters of degree and emphasis, rather than absolutes.

8

get this movie to have an idea of what ordinary people went through in the 50’s and 60’s in China. Director Zhang Yi-mou’s movie To Live (huozhe)

http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/To_Live.html