gao_bo_han Posted June 29, 2004 at 09:53 PM Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 at 09:53 PM Disenchant, Stop hiding behind specialized vocabulary and just speak plainly. I have always been under the impression that if a person cannot say something clearly, then he/she does not really understand it. It's pathetic. Your posts read like so many articles I read in my anthropology/sociology classes. What a bunch of gobbledy-gook. BE SPECIFIC. Give us some concrete examples of Chinese culture that cannot possibly be understood by us stupid laowai. I think the reason that you are hiding behind long diatribes and arcane language is because you yourself do not really understand this pathetically flimsy theory that you're touting. So come on, let's have it...TEACH US. Feel like you're talking to a brick wall, Green Pea? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldc Posted June 29, 2004 at 11:20 PM Report Share Posted June 29, 2004 at 11:20 PM Surely saying that a westerner will never understand Chinese culture is just a politer way of saying that a westerner will never be accepted as Chinese by the Chinese (well not at the moment anyway). I don't think they'd say a Korean or a Japanese could never understand Chinese culture, as they can learn the language, culture and then just blend in. A westerner will always stand out. There don't seem to be that many examples of westerners who have settled in China and put down roots. Other than the old white lady in Hong Kong whose name escapes me, I can't think of any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holyman Posted June 30, 2004 at 10:20 AM Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 at 10:20 AM there are a number of american pows during the korean war that settled in china. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSkillet Posted June 30, 2004 at 11:08 PM Report Share Posted June 30, 2004 at 11:08 PM There don't seem to be that many examples of westerners who have settled in China and put down roots. There's plenty of famous examples - Anna Louise Strong, Agnes Smedley, Emily Hahn, John Powell, Harold Issacs, Sidney Shapiro, Isreal Epstien - plus I know plenty of Westerners who have lived there since the mid-80s personally* (Okay, not plenty, but at least 4 or 5) If you add in Hong Kong - Mike Rourke changed his passport from UK/EU to HKSAR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disenchant Posted July 7, 2004 at 11:40 PM Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 at 11:40 PM Like an actor, haven't you ever seen people just go from one operating culture to the next? To do this well, one has probably created emotional responses to amplify their ability. Their language and voice changes, expressions and posture even change. Primary culture is whatever one is needed at the moment, or put another way, some families and societies imprint the ability to understand and operate in different cultures. Yes I have seen such characters, and given enough observation of their antics, you don't even need to understand the inherent culture in order to dismantle the guise. Culture isn't a performance; it's not made of constitutents of easily reenacted conventions. Individuals and families may adapt 'survival habits' to partially assimilate themselves in an alien culture for convenience sake, but entire societies do not have to do so nearly as much due to a higher self-subsistence base. Conversely, ethnic/cultural groups tend solidify themselves when faced with a foreign majority, and enact isolation in some degrees. Look at any modern, sophisticated military indoctrination programme. Funny thing you should bring that up. Go read this. Easy as 1, 2, 3, correct? --- BE SPECIFIC. Give us some concrete examples of Chinese culture that cannot possibly be understood by us stupid laowai. I think the reason that you are hiding behind long diatribes and arcane language is because you yourself do not really understand this pathetically flimsy theory that you're touting. So come on, let's have it...TEACH US. I did give a very specific example, tot. Now go study it. You could make up any rationalization about my "pathetically flimsy theory", but the only thing right now I'm feeling toward the topic and 'you' is phlegm. Amazing you accused me of being unnecessarily tedious, when you just spewed out two paragraphs that could be truncated down to two words. --- Oh, and I almost forgot. Holyman -- you have once again gone on a fallacious tangent. I don't speak of the Han ethnicity as all Chinese people post-Han dynasty -- I'm talking about the term Qing officialdom coined two hundred years ago separate the ruling Manchus from their subjects. Otherwise, terrific red herring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted July 8, 2004 at 12:10 AM Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 at 12:10 AM I don't care but the only thing right now I'm feeling toward the topic and you is phlegm Well, things don't seem to be getting any better. Let me close this largely childish, bad-tempered topic, and you can see if you can find a topic that makes you happier. I'm tired of seeing interesting topics become bickering matches between the same handful of people. Perhaps it won't happen again and we can all live in peace and harmony . . . If anyone wants to reopen the topic, they're welcome. Hopefully it'll be more useful second time around. Roddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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