Discovery’s First Step

March 26, 2010

If you haven’t traveled in China, your opinions about that country are probably wrong. I’ve traveled there often, and I’m married to a woman who was born and lived in China during Mao’s Cultural Revolution.

That’s why I found it interesting to read “The Non-Existence Of A Chinese World View” at Two Fish’s Blog, where Lin YuTang was quoted.

While writing “My Splendid Concubine” about Robert Hart in China, I read “My Country and My People“. Hart is mentioned on page eleven of the 1938 edition. Pearl S. Buck (who wrote the introduction) felt that someone who knows the Chinese should write a book about the people and culture. She urged Lin YuTang to be that author. Even though YuTang’s book was published before the Communist Revolution, this book is still relevant in all things Chinese.

Lin YuTang

YuTang’s style is a mixture of history, philosophy, psychology, sociology with wit and wisdom.

I smiled when he pointed out contradictions about the Chinese way of thinking and helped me discover what motivates many Chinese to act the way they do — even the Chinese in a government often blamed for what they do because they are Communists when in fact, they act that way because they are Chinese.

______________________________

Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the lusty love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

IMAGE with Blurbs and Awards to use on Twitter

Where to Buy

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.

About iLook China

China’s Holistic Historical Timeline


Honor Chinese Style – Part 3

February 5, 2010

In 1935, Lin Yutang wrote, “Face cannot be translated or defined. It is like honor and is not honor. It cannot be purchased with money, and gives a man or a woman a material pride. It is hollow and is what men fight for and what many women die for.

“It is invisible and yet by definition exits by being shown to the public. It exists in the ether and yet can be heard, and sounds eminently respectable and solid. It is amenable, not to reason but to social convention.

“It protracts lawsuits, breaks up family fortunes, causes murders and suicides, and yet it often makes man out of a renegade who has been insulted by his fellow townsmen, and it is prized above all earthy possession.

“It is more powerful than fate and favor, and more respected than the constitution. It often decides a military victory or defeat, and can demolish a whole government ministry. It is that hollow thing which men in China live by.” (Lin Yutang, My Country and My People, Halcyon House, New York, NY, 1938, page 200)

Chinese like Yue Fei and Guan Yu were honorable men and gained much face because of their beliefs and behavior.

When anyone in China reacts to anything, politically or personally, honor plays a big role. It doesn’t matter if one is a member of the Communist Party, a farmer or a factory worker or one of the wealthiest members of the new capitalist elite.

Most Chinese measure what is important in life by a different standard than the rest of the world.

Discover Honor Chinese Style – Part 1

______________

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.

About iLook China


Earthquakes, Spoiled Formula and Kidnappings – Part 2

February 3, 2010

Terrible things did happen under Stalin and Mao.  Tens of millions died due to the policies of these dictators.  However, that isn’t true today.

Most Chinese do not like to display their dirty laundry in public for the world to see.  I believe I talked about this on the The Dr. Pat Show, or one of the other radio talk shows I was a guest on in 2008.

The primary reason for the way the Chinese handle embarrassing situations like these is that most Chinese do not like to lose face. If one Chinese citizen does something wrong and gains the attention of the world’s media, most Chinese feel as if they are seen as guilty too. To learn more,  See what Lin Yutang wrote about face.

See Part 1

Further reading:
Time: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100121/wl_time/08599195464400

 Associated Press: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100122/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_google

Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning My Splendid Concubine and writes The Soulful Veteran and Crazy Normal.