I Miss the Smell of China

April 27, 2010
Bob Grant

Originally Published at Speak Without Interruption on April 16, 2010 by Bob Grant — publisher/editor for Speak Without Interruption. Posted on iLook China, April 27, 2010 at 12:00 PM

 For various reasons, my business in China declined a little over two years ago, and I have not had occasion to visit there during that time period. A lot has happened—both within the U.S. and China—since my business went south.

I do miss China – its people – its culture – its smell. This might seem like an irrational statement since China is suppose to be one of the most polluted countries in the world, but it is not the smell of pollution that sticks in my memory.

Our China office was located in Guangdong Province, which is in the southern part of China near Hong Kong. Traveling around that province, I always remember the fresh scents of flowers, rain, trees, grass, and meals being prepared for daily consumption.

I tended to visit factories that were in outlying areas—their conference rooms, factories, reception rooms, and gardens all had a smell that I grew to welcome during each of my visits. As I made trips and visits to other parts of China, I felt they each had their own unique smells and aromas that I have not found any other place in the world that I have traveled.

I have written other posts regarding my feelings about the Chinese people—those have not changed.  I am not certain that I will ever have occasion to visit China again but the smells and memories of that country and its people will remain with me forever.

Follow this link to see more by Bob Grant “Transporting Goods by Road in China” http://wp.me/pN4pY-jf

Leave a Comment » | business, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese food, economy, food, tourism | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Lin Yutang Explains Christianity in China

April 27, 2010

“For most Chinese the end of life lies not in life after death, for the idea that we live in order to die, as taught by Christianity, is incomprehensible, nor in Nirvana, for that is too metaphysical, not in the satisfaction of accomplishment, for that is too vainglorious, nor yet in progress for progress’ sake, for that is meaningless. The true end, the Chinese have decided in a singularly clear manner, lies in the enjoyment of a simple life, especially the family life, and in harmonious social relationships.

“The Chinese are a nation of individualists. They are family-minded, not social-minded… It is curious that the word ‘society’ does not exist as an idea in Chinese thought. In the Confucian social and political philosophy we see a direct transition from family, ‘chia’, to the state, ‘kuo’, as successive stages of human organization …

Lin Yutang

“The Chinese, therefore, make rather poor Christian converts, and if they are to be converted they should all become Quakers, for that is the only sort of Christianity that the Chinese can understand. Christianity as a way of life can impress the Chinese, but Christian creeds and dogmas will be crushed, not by a superior Confucian logic but by ordinary Confucian common sense. Buddhism itself, when absorbed by the educated Chinese, became nothing but a system of mental hygiene, which is the essence of Sung philosophy.” Source: My Country and My People, Lin Yutang. Halcyon House, New York. 1938. Pgs 94; 101; 103; 172, and 108)

Learn about Superior versus Civilized

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Popularity is a Fad

April 26, 2010

 My wife and daughter returned from China before the 2008 opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics and said Christianity is popular in China. They said that wearing the cross was the stylish thing to do.

2008 Beijing Olympic's Closing Ceremony - the Human Pillar

I find it disturbing when religion is the stylish thing to do. That’s sort of like wearing clothing that is the latest fad and fads change often. If people are in a religion because it is stylish, what will those people believe next?

Once I started to understand the Confucian foundation of Chinese culture, I found it difficult to blame China’s Communist Party for how organized religions are treated in China. If an Emperor ruled China today instead of the Communist Party, would things be the same or worse? After all, Emperors and popular peasant rebellions are responsible for slaughtering or throwing foreigners and their religions out of China more than once before communism was a concept.

See “Chinese Face” http://wp.me/pN4pY-7V

 

1 Comment | China, Chinese history, politics, religion | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Taking the Spiritual for Granted

April 26, 2010

Most people that live in Western democracies grew up fearing and hating the word “Communist: during the Cold War. The media brainwashing that went on for decades to paint the word “communism’ as evil did a great job.

Christianity in China

A conservative, Republican, born-again Christian, evangelical friend of mine that has never visited China was proud to E-mail me and say that Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China. He also told me that ‘communism’ was evil.

Taking one word and using that word as a definition for evil is wrong. Mao did evil deeds during the twenty-seven years he ruled as China’s modern emperor. Stalin and Hitler also were responsible for horrible atrocities. Words are not evil. Using a word to describe evil is dangerous. It leads to stereotyping. If what my friend said was true, than my mother-in-law, the closet Christian, would be evil since she lived in a communist country.

See “An American Shadow Over the Philippines” http://wp.me/pN4pY-6Z

 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Christianity in China

April 26, 2010

My wife’s mother was a Chinese Christian convert. It was not safe to belong to a religion during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. To survive, she became a closet Christian. She prayed at night but never let her children know that she was a Christian.

She told her husband that having children was for God. Whatever her religious beliefs were, she kept to herself. Since she had a statue of the Virgin Mary and held it when she prayed, it should be safe to say that Catholicism influenced any form of Christianity she believed in.

I understand Catholicism. When I was a child, I was baptized a Catholic and my family went to mass each Sunday. I also attended a Catholic elementary school for a few years.

I write about what I know, and I know only a little about other cultures outside the United States.

However, I do know something about China. After all, my wife is Chinese. I have been to China a dozen times since 1999, and we have a flat in Shanghai.

After nine years of researching China, I published my first novel, which takes place in 19th century China. For the last ten years, I have immersed myself in discovering China and have learned that there is more to discover. I have barely scratched the surface.

See When in Rome, Do as the Romans

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar. 

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese history, religion | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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