When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do

February 14, 2010

 U.S., EU decry upholding of China dissident sentence. Since when do Americans or Europeans decide what isn’t proper in China? The fact that China doesn’t have an American Bill of Rights has nothing to do with Communism. China’s foundation was built on Confucianism, and Confucius taught five rules for relationships. 

Conficius

  • Father to Son – There should be kindness in the father, and filial piety in the son.
  • Elder Brother to Younger Brother – There should be gentility (politeness) in the elder brother, and humility in the younger.
  • Husband to Wife – There should be righteous behavior in the husband and obedience in the wife.
  • Elder to Junior – There should be consideration among the elders and deference among the juniors.
  • Ruler to Subject – There should be benevolence among the rulers and loyalty among the subjects.

 Look at the last rule. When a Chinese citizen publicly protests the way the Chinese government runs the country, that is seen as an act of disloyalty. You may not agree with what China does, but China has the right to do as it sees fit even if the act is considered inhuman by Western standards.

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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. 

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Education Chinese Style – Part 3

February 10, 2010

It seems that many of the six-thousand students I taught over thirty years felt the same way—that learning would make them mad like Acts says in the New Testament: 26:24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.

Emperor Wudi

In China, during the early Han Dynasty, a different moral standard was set where earning an education was valued. Emperor Wudi from 141-187 BCE (two hundred years before Jesus Christ and five hundred years before Constantine), solidified the ideological framework of official Confucianism with a blending of Confucian, Taoist, and Legalist elements.

It looks like China may be officially returning to Confucianism or some form of it. Confucius taught that a ‘gentleman’ is the ideal figure. Among the traits of this ideal man is continued learning to develop moral character and to gain knowledge that is useful in serving others.

In China, teachers are treated with respect. Not so in the United States. Although a few students were respectful when I was a teacher, many were not. To understand what I mean, read the prologue from my memoir, Crazy Normal.

See Part 1

Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning novels My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart.


China’s Heart and Soul

February 9, 2010

The Introduction for China, Heart and Soul by Stephen L. Koss says what I thought when I first went to China in 1999.  “My impressions had formed from decades of Cold War Red scares…” I am sure that most Americans who have never visited China still feel the same. Most of the Western media earns a FAILING grade when it comes to reporting on China. They are usually wrong in so many ways.

Forbidden City, Beijing, China

If you are open minded and want to discover the real China and learn the differences between what you read and hear in the Western media and from American politicians, I suggest you visit Tom Carter’s work and spend two minutes and forty-two seconds to see China through his eyes.  Or, even visit China from the eyes of someone special and precious to Tom Carter. This Blog is written in English and Chinese.

See The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China

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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. 

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Why Tibet?

February 8, 2010

A recent New York Times headline screamed, China Opposed to Obama-Dalai Lama Meeting. “China maintains that Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region was functionally independent for much of its history.”

Since Tibetan separatists have claimed that China “never” ruled over Tibet prior to Mao’s reoccupation in 1950, every time the Dali Lama wins another award for humanitarianism or meets a world leader, it is a slap in the face for most Chinese—not just their government. The Chinese are proud of their history, and they don’t like foreigners believing lies about their country.

Tibet was first occupied by China during the Yuan Dynasty (1277-1367), and it was a Mongol emperor or king who made a Dalai Lama the spiritual leader for Tibet. Before that, the Tibetans were a warlike race and were a plague on a peaceful China. Warlike Tibetans, not exactly the image the Western media paints, raided China for centuries from their mountain fortresses.

When the Ming Dynasty drove the Mongols from China in 1368, the emperor sent an army to Tibet. For the next six hundred years, the Tibetans were never easy to rule. Sir Robert Hart, considered the godfather of China’s modernization, said the same thing. He wrote in 1888, “China will regard England as an ally and helper in reducing trouble-some tributaries (meaning Tibet) to a proper sense of position!”

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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Google Recycled

February 5, 2010

The Western media buzzed about Google being hacked and censored by China. Google threatened to leave China if this didn’t stop.  Obama and Secretary of State Clinton demanded that China fess up.

What’s going on?  It isn’t as if Google is the primary search engine in China. In fact, this claim that they are being hacked by the Chinese may be their way to get out of China without the red face of failure. The truth is that the Chinese haven’t taken to Google like the rest of the world.

After all, “Just like Chinese search engine Baidu trumped Google, online bookseller Dangdang outsmarted Amazon in China with better merchandising skills while Alibaba-owned Chinese auction site Taobao took the lead from eBay ( EBAY – news – people ) by giving sellers a free listing of their goods and charging only for premium accounts.”  source: Alibaba.com News

As I wrote in Honor, Chinese Style, it’s obvious that the Chinese prefer things done the Chinese way and the word is out on the streets in China. The Chinese prefer Baidu over Google.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

Subscribe to “iLook China”!
Sign up for an E-mail Subscription at the top of this page, or click on the “Following” tab in the WordPress toolbar at the top of the screen.

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