As Benedict de Spinoza puts it “determination is negation”, essentially indicating that in order to precisely define a matter, one must juxtapose it to the opposite. This principle of binary opposition is clearly seen in the way European civilizations have perceived overseas nations. The differentiation between “West” or “Occident” against “East” or “Orient” can be traced back to the times of Ancient Greece, in which the name Anatolia (Current Turkey territory) had the same meaning as “Orient” in Latin – ‘to rise’, referring to the sun. Such contrast became even more prominent at the height of Roman Empire and succeeding European nations, that first tended to employ “Orient” to refer to less developed “Barbaric” realms of the Northern Africa …show more content…
The question of whether a nation is an individualistic or collectivist society seems to define much of its domestic policy, therefore it is crucial to give the right answer to it. Before the communist revolution, at the times, when Confucian values were more prominent than nowadays one could say that China is primarily collectivist country, however, scholars have produced numerous works on individualism in Classic Confucianism which raises a question whether China is in fact a collectivistic country or this notion is merely a stereotype, produced by western thinkers, eager to define their homeland through opposition to the East. The differentiation is even more important nowadays as China is becoming more open to the rest of the world. In the eyes of the West, China is not only shifting towards individualistic mode of thinking because of the “one-child policy” introduced in 1979, but some even claim that children of this generation are less socially adaptable, less independent and even selfish as compared to the children, that have …show more content…
Blake (1981) introduced a resource-dilution theory, which states, that parents with larger number of children may not invest as much in their children as they would, if they had a single child. Such resources include not only material and physical resources, but also factors such as care and attention that contribute to the higher level of intimacy that children share with their parents and their greater psychological security. Therefore only children are on one hand are seen to be selfish, unsocial, highly dependent and even arrogant, whereas other studies provide evidences for such children to be more cooperative, more autonomous and even have better leadership skills than those children that have
In the generation they lived in mothers and fathers living under China 's one-child policy, they sacrificed everything and placed their dreams into the hands of
What China was trying to achieve with the One Child Policy was fix a problem they had caused in the first place, when, Mao Zedong, encouraged having more children to have more future workers, and discouraged the use of birth controls (Intro). The One Child Policy came into place in 1980, effected the ethnicity of Han Chinese and was definitely not one of China’s best ideas. It caused many hardships for the citizens of China. The policy was unnecessary for many of three reasons: the fertility rate was already dropping, there is a huge gender and age imbalance, as well as it is to blame for some of the youth’s social issues. From 1970 to 1979 there was a big reduction in fertility rates in China from 5.8 to 2.7, which was prior to the One
Confucian beliefs within the Han dynasty shaped a government of benevolence that believed social relations and education were necessary for function, while Legalist principles of the Qin dynasty influenced governmental hierarchy and the discouragement of education. In the Han dynasty, Confucianism stressed the idea of Filial Piety which was the recognition of reverence for the source of life. Filial Piety was put in place to enable both parent and child to flourish through their cooperation of one another. Confucians were fond of applying the family metaphor to the community so when families were thriving, communities were considered thriving as well. Politics within the Han dynasty adopted this technique and soon believed that rulers should set example through moral leadership and exemplary teaching based on the way families operated.
Who’s going to buy him a car when he’s 16. And will he really need one?”(Forestner 2). Though children may feel embarrassed that they do not have all of the latest things, the mother will sadly also feel bad that she can’t provide her child with all of the things the child wishes for when she longs to give them everything they want. Children may also scarcely be able to visit their other parent because the cost of flying long distance can be too much for a one person income to afford. Not being able to visit or hang out with their father can have children grow distant from their father and they may not want a relationship with them later on in life.
“Now of happiness there is none greater than the confirmation of one’s line, of unfilial conduct there is none worse than childlessness. The monks forsake wives and children, reject property and wealth, Some do not marry all their lives.” In China, having a family is crucial. To the monks, family is just another pleasure that they do not need. “Wives, children, and property are the luxuries of the world, but simple living and inaction are the wonders of the Way.
This essay will compare and contrast both the similarities and differences between traditional China and the community in the Giver, while analyzing below are base on the government control, and then come to a conclusion. The first similarity is the quantity of children in each family unit. In Lois Lowry’s the Giver, children are given births by the selected birth mothers; later, when they come to be a-year-old, they are going to be assigned to an unfamiliar family as children. Each family can have a maximum of one boy and one girl who are in
R. Reid wrote Confucius Lives Next Door to illustrate how the teachings of the ancient philosopher and political activist, known in the west as Confucius, have influenced East Asian cultures as they have risen in economic power, how Confucian ethos are expressed in contemporary Japanese’s culture and how Confucius’s teachings revolve around loyalty between individuals and the groups they belong to. Those groups include one’s family, his neighbors, the company he works for or the school he attends, and any other group of people he associates with. Being a responsible member of a group is central to East Asian culture versus the Western, particularly American, focus on individuality. Reid’s book provides both anecdotal and empirical evidence on the cultural results of this group focused philosophy on
Family by Pa Chin is a captivating novel that describes what life in China was like in the twentieth century. Confucianism, a big religion in China at the time, was heavily focused on filial piety. Filial piety is the relationship of obedience, in which the elders are to be respected by the younger generation (Wu, lecture notes, 2015). This religion was one of the main structures on how the society was ran. Chin represents how the younger generation was upset with how the old traditions of the Confucian system were ran and that they were ready to change it.
the Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe 's greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilization and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of “the Other.” In addition, the Orient has helped to define Europe (or the West). (1) Othering is an inherent classification and differentiation of peoples or cultures. This specific definition of Othering involving Europe and the Orient can be applied to other colonial constructions in which one society defines and reifies its centrality in juxtaposition and in comparison to another, neighboring community: the relationship between North Dormer and the Mountain.
East and West, Orient and Occident are words we often see in political debates or cultural articles. History has been a battleground of each, and in which mostly the latter takes over the other. People usually speak of how West is superior to the East and most still believe that it had always been that way in the history. There are many exceptions to this; in the Middle Ages, it was the Orient which had the upper-hand. The Islam took over almost the whole Mediterranean, afterwards European frustration with the East led them to the Western explorations of the New World.
In fact, it is through orientalism that the West sees its culture as complete and uses it to see itself as whole. Andreeva (2007) believes that placing the Orient against Europe helped Europeans to define their own self-identity in juxtaposition to orient the
Neher wk 2, Ruth (1 day late – vacation) In this section, I am choosing China to do my research of the cultural dimensions. Individualism and Collectivism in China are not even considered. Individualism is about ones self and doing what needs to be done for yourself not others, based on independence. Collectivism is based on group goals rather than individual goals.
Learning to appreciate the differences between the two cultures is important and helps to broaden the understanding of cultural differences. Western cultures are based on individualism rather than collectivism. In many Western societies, emphasis is placed on individual rights unlike Chinese culture, where the country, society or family are based above self. At first glance, Chinese is obviously different from Western Culture.
In this paper, we’ll study some of their famous pedagogy thought to explore what influences they have brought to the Chinese and westerners’ cognition and behavior and why the two civilizations developed in same period would diverge in such a degree. Furthermore, I
I. Introduction A. P. J. O 'Rourke once said “Everybody knows how to raise children, except the people who have them” (O’Rourke, Pg.10). Parents always want their children to be better than what they used to be when they were at their age; that is why they care about every detail in their children’s life especially when it comes to behavior, obeying them and listening to their words. B. Background Information: i. People came to realize that physical punishment is a rough, atrocious, unacceptable mean of punishment that should be banned for its appalling, horrifying effects. ii. Facts about physical punishment (sources used) 1.