China: Culture and Morality

I recently posted up an entry in the jetli.com forums related to Chinese culture and morality and thought I would post it up here as well.  It’s a long one so you might want to take it in bits and pieces.

You can read the original thread discussion starting here.  (My entry is on the next page of the thread).

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Pardon my intrusion into this topic, but I thought I would share some of my own (overly lengthy and obscenly verbose) thoughts on the issue of cultural adaptation for westerners in China. To be honest, I am not an expert in any sense of the word, so my opinions are really only that — my opinions. But hopefully they’ll add to the pallette of personal experiences and thoughts in this thread.

(Also, please excuse any typos since I wrote this without spell checking anything.)

It seems to me that there are two issues being discussed here: culture and morality.

First is the issue of culture. Anyone who moves from one culture to another goes through a period of adaptation, and this period of adaptation tends to be reflected by two main factors — both the external and the internal.

Externally, how different is the new culture to the “home” culture? When moving from the U.S. to Canada, you might not experience the severity as much as moving from the U.S. to Cambodia. An individual’s ability to adapt to new cultures has a lot to do with the divergence between one culture and the next.

However, adaptation to different external cultural environments is not something new to anyone. Regardless of whether we have moved to another country, On some level we’ve all had to deal with it. When we go from middle school to high school, that is a cultural adaptation. When we leave college and join the work force, that is a cultural adaptation. When we get married and join a new family, that is a cultural adaptation. To say that the only significant external cultural adaptation we can go through is when we move to another country is ignoring the extraordinary ways in which we adapt to new cultures on a daily basis without ever leaving our home towns. In fact, adaptation to new cultures is a part of the human experience.

The second factor in cultural adaptation is internal — how adept is the individual at accepting changes and paradigm shifts? Within their own heart and mind how easy is it for them to adapt to change? A lot of this has to do with the environment they grew up in and how they were taught to view the world. I’ve known people that take to new cultures like a fish to water, and I’ve known some that have problems just moving to the nearest big city in their own locality. Aside from the external factors of your “home” culture versus the “foreign” culture, a large part of an individual’s ability to adapt comes from within. This probably goes without saying for most of you, but I think the understanding that cultural adaptation isn’t strictly a matter of external environmental factors is significant. It shows that the ease with which we allow ourselves to adapt to a new culture isn’t strictly determined by the culture itself, but also by our own abilities and inclinations towards internal acceptance and adaptation.

And what tools are necessary when you adapt to a new culture? Naturally things such as keeping an open mind, or not being too judgmental come to mind. But I think at the core of this adaptation, and the point at which you make this new external culture a part of your personal identity, is when you realize that one culture is not necessary more “right” or “wrong” than another. That each culture has traits which can both enhance and detract from the human experience.

Jet has said it many times, but one view point (or culture) is no better or worse than any other. They are just what they are, and any labels we put on them as being “good” or “bad” are put there by ourselves as individuals. In one culture white is a good color, in another culture white is an evil color. Which one is right and wrong? Neither and both, of course, and it is by coming to this realization — by detaching yourself from labeling cultural traits and seeing them simply for what they are — that we can being the process of accepting and adapting to these new cultural environments.

But I said that there are two issues being discussed here. The first was cultural adaption. And to me the second issue we’re talking about is morality. Not morality in the sense of “right” and “wrong”, because as I just mentioned, those are individual labels that we put on external forces which, in and of themselves, do not have any such distinctions.

It is easy to misinterpret morality as a cultural phenomenom. There is certainly a type of cultural morality which many people bring with them into a new environment: “In my country it’s rude to do that, so the people here who are doing that are being rude to me too” or “In my home culture that is tabboo, so this new culture has a vacume of morality since they do that particular act”.

But again, this is not true morality in the sense I’m talking about. These are cultural peculiarities which we have given labels (”rude”, “tabboo”, “polite”, “good”, “bad”, etc.) but which really are not defined by those labels, but are defined just simply as what they are — cultural traits.

The type of morality I’m talking about is more to do with a global morality or social morality. It deals with our abilities to enhance the human experience not just for ourselves, but also for those around us. To provide for the common benefit of our community. While a particular “act” might seem positive or negative in light of certain cultural mores, this global morality is something which can be interpreted positively by all cultures.

In the context of China a lot has already been written about the apparent lack of a global morality in this country. From the paper on “Global Economies with Churches and Global Economies without Churches” which received a lot of attention (mostly by Christian evangelical groups trying to make a foothold in China) to a wide variety of articles written on the current state of morality in China (mostly from a business/ecconomical stand-point and the emergence of China as a global player) the issue of China’s seeming lack of “morality” has already been discussed far and wide.

And some of what has been written is worthy of recognition. In truth, China’s development as a non-spiritual country who’s main religion is that of allegiance to the communist party does seem, at least externally, to have inhibited many people brought up in this post-Cultural revolution world from deriving the benefits of certain religious teachings on morality.

Now, I am hardly advocating that everyone in China be converted to whatever brand of religion is most handy, but what I’m talking about is that, when brought up in a society with strong religious overtones (such as the judeo-christian western world) you are exposed to certain paradigms related to how an individual should treat other individuals; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” or “Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of every cry of the needy, a preserver of the sancitity of thy pledge”. These sorts of lessons, which certain environments encourage, do not seem to be as prevelant in China these days.

And that is not to say they do not exist. There is a strong Islamic tradition in China which teaches about a greater morality and attainment of virtues. There is a strong buddhist element which encourages detachment from worldly desires and affections. Even within the world of martial arts (and sports in general) there is a strong sense of “wu de” or martial ethics, which is engrained in the fiber of many athletes. This country is not without elements which work to promote a strong sense of global morality.

However, even given these elements is it clear to many who come to China that there is still a core moral strength that they can see missing in many of this country’s inhabitants. The sense that it’s “every man/woman for themselves” or that if you’re not careful someone will try to take advantage of you. Even the feeling that people don’t really line up and take turns, or they push each other out of the way to get on an elevator — When you come to China and experience these things it’s easy to decide that they are indicative of a rude and immoral culture, but I think that is not only taking the easy way out, but also quite innacurate.

The truth is, Chinese traditional culture is seeped in ettiquete and proper behavīor. It abounds in traditions which advocate a strict moral and social code of behavīor. It is important to realize the disctintion that many of these seemingly immoral traits have nothing to do with Chinese culture and society. It is my personal feeling that it stems from a general lack of education related to morals, both in the home and in the schools.

“But isn’t morality something related to culture?” you might ask.

To which I would answer, “Did you not read the paragraph where I talked about this already?”

As I discussed above, global morality is not necessarily related to culture. Cultural perceptions aside, global morality is something that can be seen from any perspective as being beneficial to all people.

But in a country like China, how does one deal with the fact that there seems to be a disparity in how each individual treats their neighbor? When the local shopkeeper charges the foreigner 10 times the price of a local just because they think they can get away with it, or when a taxi driver blames the person they hit for being in the way, even though they drove through a red light, you start to wonder if there is actually any solution to this occasionally depressing situation.

And like I said, I think there is. And it has to do with education. Not education with books or science or physchology — but an education in our individual responsibilities to society in general. It doesn’t have to be seeped in religious dogma and it doesn’t have to be coupled with a “believe in my God or else you’re going to hell” mentality. You can teach morality without religion (although, to be honest, belief in a religion certainly does makes moral education easier).

And this is actually being done in many parts of China. I know of a school in Beijing where they run a curriculum for children based on a course on virtues and morality. When a child does something wrong, instead of being punished, they are sent to an area of the classroom which is designed for reflection and meditation and asked to think about what they did and the consequences of those actions. After they have thought about it they are asked to come back to the group and discuss their thoughts. They are taught the importance of helping those in need, of working towards the common good, of the evils of backbiting and gossip and of a respect for their environment, both social and otherwise. And this is done without forcing religion down their throat. And while I personally feel religious teachings are a good thing, in the context of education in China, I think that (for now, at least) it is better to teach the benefits of religion’s spiritual teaching without the dogma. For one, too much evangelisism can get you put in jail, and for another, most Chinese people would just close their mind the second you mention the word “religion”. (But the word “morality” doesn’t get nearly the same negative reaction.)

But for me, and this is just my personal opinion, I think there is something that is truly at the core of what I’m talking about. When discussing morality and social propriety and working to help your fellow human being, there is one key factor that is at the heart of the matter. And to me that is love. As Jet has said many times, the fundamental commonality in the world’s religions is a teaching of love. And I think that at the core of working towards the betterment of those around you is a sense of love for your fellow man. As many people say, you won’t try to take advantage of someone you truly love, and if we all truly loved those around us, then our perspectives would change from one of “what can this person do for me” to “what can I do for this person?”. And just imagine how nice the world would be if that were to happen.

I’d like to tell you a story that can work to illustrate my point.

Last month during my search for a new apartment here in Shanghai I found a unit that I liked through a local real estate agent. (In China real estate agents deal with both rentals and sales of property.) My friend who was helping me translate and look around was having a discussion with the landlord of this unit over the phone while in the real estate office, and during this discussion the landlord has my friend memorize her phone number and asked her to call her back later after we had left, without the real estate agent knowing. My friend explained to me that, in China, both the leasee and leasor have to pay 30% of one month’s rent to the real estate agent as a finder’s fee. Many landlords circumvent this by trying to go around the real estate agent (such as my landlord tried to do by giving my friend her phone number).

The landlord was willing to rent me the unit and as we were discussing the specifics of the arrangement I kept thinking about the situation with the real estate agent. In truth, 30% of 1 months rent really only boiled down to about 840 RMB (just over $100 U.S.) and I found it hard to justify circumventing the real estate agent’s livelihood just to save a few bucks.

What I ended up doing was telling the landlord that I would pay for her 30% of the agent fee and that I would prefer to go through the agent. I figured that if her whole reason for going around the agent was to save the 840 RMB I would just pay it for her. Fortunately she agreed and I was able to move into my apartment with a clear conscience.

However, the one thing I repeatedly heard from my Chinese friends or even from the landlord was “Wow, you’re such a good person. No one would ever do that. That’s amazing.” To which I would reply “Doesn’t it say something that doing the right thing is considered ‘amazing’ here? Why doesn’t everyone do it?”

It is interesting that many of my Chinese friends tell me that I’m “such a good guy” (usually coupled with a “why are you still single? I need to find someone good for you.”) when all I was doing was what you’re supposed to do. But it has helped in one significant way — it has opened a door for me to discuss the importance of doing the right thing by others, instead of just doing the right thing by one’s self. And as a result I think that I’ve helped widen the horizons of some people’s perspectives just a tad.

It is through these sorts of efforts — when given a choice to do what seems to be right in the context of a global morality — that I am also helping to educate others on what it means to work towards a society in which you don’t fear being taken advantage of and in which you don’t work to take advantage of others. Ultimately I’m just trying to spread a little love around, and hope that it takes seed in some of the hearts I come in contact with.

This isn’t to say that living in China doesn’t have it’s difficulties. I’ve become frustrated with people cutting in line at McDonald’s more than once. I’ve been annoyed as someone ignores traffic and walks into the middle of the street as if they own the road. I’ve come to my wit’s end trying to understand the logic of some of the things I’ve seen here. But the truth is, most of those things are not problems with the environment around me, but are shortcomings of my own abilities to adapt to this environment. The truth is, things have been working just find here for a very long time before I ever showed up and just because I have a hard time understanding or appreciating the context in which people do things, it doens’t mean that they are wrong in doing so.

But even more than that, it is by expressing my genuine love for other human beings, and by working to provide a better environment for those around me, that my environment will, in turn, work to love me back. They say that love is the only thing that, the more you give it, the more you get it back, and I think that applies in the context of cultural adaptation as much as anywhere else. So while living in China I try (sometimes unsuccessfully) to live by a strict code of conduct which boils down to the following:

1. Don’t take anything personally — detach myself from the “meaning” of a situation, and work to experience the “substance” of it instead. (This actually makes watching people cut in front of you in line more entertaining than annoying.)

2. Spread lots of love — especially to those people who don’t spread it themselves, because they are the ones most in need of it.

3. Do the right thing — even if it is inconvenient. Because truth be told, anything done out of love, is never really a “sacrifice” at all.

Believe it or not, I actually had written a whole bunch more than this, but some of it was beating a dead horse so I tried to keep this relatively brief. If you made it this far down the post, congratulations! You win a pixie stick. If not, no harm done. If I hadn’t typed this out, I probably wouldn’t have been able to read it either.

• Mark

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