Chinese Culture

OK. The USA chose to mess with us Turkey, so here is my revenge. 

Joke aside, I'm creating this thread mostly for selfish reasons, as I'm very much interested in Chinese culture and want to learn more.

My interest began during my university education, when I began taking elective Chinese (culture) lessons.

Our teacher had spent about 20 years in the Far East, mostly in China; and came back to Turkey for being a university teacher. The strange thing is that, his countenance was very much like Kung Fu grandmasters, haha.

I can narrate some of his recollections from there, here...

First of all, Chinese culture is very different mainly because their mindsets were mostly inspired and shaped, not by religious or political figures as in most cultures, but by a philosopher: Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius). (I know he was into politics too, but mainly he was a thinker.)

Their language is very different, and nuances are very vital in communicating. Even if you're an advanced Chinese speaker, you may end up in ridiculous situations just because of a minor "off-sound". For instance, imagine you're asking for napkins, but if you are not nuanced enough, they may bring you salt. Hahah. Actually it is not a vowel or consonant error, more like a nuance in the sound.

Plus, if you cannot perfectly pronounce the words, Chinese people may not understand ANYTHING at all. Think it like, you're in a soup restaurant and say to the waiter: "Hello, I want a tomato soap," (in Chinese of course). My teacher said that their mind cannot process it at all, and if you cannot pronounce "soup" correctly, they'll only stare at you and do nothing. Haha.

Also, their main attitude is like: "let every man skin his own skunk". It can sound very cruel and inhuman to us, but they even don't save a drowning baby inside a pool. Our teacher experienced something like that. While he was walking, he saw a small child drowning in an ornamental pool. He jumped inside and saved the kid. The thing is, Chinese people ridiculed our teacher by pointing their fingers to him and laughed up their sleeves. The kid's mommy finally came and couldn't believe her eyes and was at loss for words to thank our teacher, and show her gratitude enough. If s/he is not their kid, they don't even bother to get wet in a shallow pool.

The traditional Chinese man's perfect day: Step 1: Being able to eat his fill. Step 2: Feeding all his family. Step 3: Having some alcoholic drink for the night. Step 4: Having enough food and alcohol for a guest. Step 5: Playing games in the vein of Rock Scissors Paper (lots of advanced games there) with the guest and making him dead drunk. (If you lose, bottoms up!). If this man is very old and financially well, a young person has no chance of winning any game, because of the difference in experience. The old host only loses deliberately whenever he wants to drink.

Chinese men don't fight with the unwilling. With their index and middle fingers, they hit the chest of the person with whom they want to fight. If the other person responds to it with the same move, they fight; otherwise it is like a great sin to fight for them. One can understand the strength of the other after the chest hitting thing, and can simply choose not to fight by not counteracting. Also, our teacher said that a reasonable young man NEVER dares to challenge an old guy. As, Chinese people like ALWAYS improve their fighting moves, while in the queues, waiting for the next bus etc. So a typical old Chinese man can beat a young man, like folding an envelope. That easily.

Some of the Chinese Kung Fu masters are so fast that, in the movies they were slowing the motion of the scenes by editing, otherwise one cannot see the moves. If some real Kung Fu masters are the actors, what you thought as "Hey, these moves seem fake, they speeded up the flow," is probably just the opposite.

Chinese people are fascinated by the foreigners who can speak Chinese fluently. Like adoration, in fact.

If you say to a Chinese: "Are you Japanese?", he might not speak with you for the rest of his life. (Same thing, vice versa, for the Japanese...) Similarly, they liken the blond and blue-eyed Europeans to each other. Keishiro, if you're reading this I want to ask: is this correct? Is it still the same?

Do any of you have anything to share about this topic? If so, please do write here. I'll be happy. Thanks!

P.S. Globalization thing is accelerating, so some of the stuff I mentioned here might be outdated.

Edited by Shadowyzard - December 14 2020 at 15:50

My teacher said that, for the foreigners Japan and South Korea are fantastic places to live. But for the Japanese and Korean men, it is ineffably stressful. Keishiro? Waiting for your input. 

80s' American-Japanese cartoons were excellent. I like Japanese culture too, but Chinese culture seems more mysterious and alluring to me. I see lots of Japanese people here, there's a hotel near my house here where countless Japanese tourists come and go. I've had some nice talks and experiences with some of them too. Plus I had a Korean student when I was a high-school teacher. Great guy. I don't know about the Chinese (I only ever have had a Chinese Facebook friend and he seems like a nice guy), but South Korean and Japanese people are very respectful, as far as I've observed. They are a bit too much obsessed about taking pictures, though. 

Edited by Shadowyzard - December 14 2020 at 14:40

Shadowyzard wrote: OK. The USA chose to mess with us Turkey, so here is my revenge.

Edited by Woon Deadn - December 15 2020 at 09:09

Chinese culture is fascinating. The longest continuous civilization on the planet. My roomie is a Chinese guy who is a Dr in traditional Chinese medicine as well as a cardiac specialist in Western medicine. He's also traveled extensively throughout Asia and is like an encyclopedia of Chinese history most of which i know nothing about. This is definitely a culture i'm very interested in given its multi-millennial history and its contributions to the world. I started learning Mandarin but it's a difficult language to learn given the endless characters and the tones.

Shadowyzard wrote: OK. The USA chose to mess with us Turkey, so here is my revenge.  Joke aside, I'm creating this thread mostly for selfish reasons, as I'm very much interested in Chinese culture and want to learn more. My interest began during my university education, when I began taking elective Chinese (culture) lessons. Our teacher had spent about 20 years in the Far East, mostly in China; and came back to Turkey for being a university teacher. The strange thing is that, his countenance was very much like Kung Fu grandmasters, haha. I can narrate some of his recollections from there, here... First of all, Chinese culture is very different mainly because their mindsets were mostly inspired and shaped, not by religious or political figures as in most cultures, but by a philosopher: Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius). (I know he was into politics too, but mainly he was a thinker.) Their language is very different, and nuances are very vital in communicating. Even if you're an advanced Chinese speaker, you may end up in ridiculous situations just because of a minor "off-sound". For instance, imagine you're asking for napkins, but if you are not nuanced enough, they may bring you salt. Hahah. Actually it is not a vowel or consonant error, more like a nuance in the sound. Plus, if you cannot perfectly pronounce the words, Chinese people may not understand ANYTHING at all. Think it like, you're in a soup restaurant and say to the waiter: "Hello, I want a tomato soap," (in Chinese of course). My teacher said that their mind cannot process it at all, and if you cannot pronounce "soup" correctly, they'll only stare at you and do nothing. Haha. Also, their main attitude is like: "let every man skin his own skunk". It can sound very cruel and inhuman to us, but they even don't save a drowning baby inside a pool. Our teacher experienced something like that. While he was walking, he saw a small child drowning in an ornamental pool. He jumped inside and saved the kid. The thing is, Chinese people ridiculed our teacher by pointing their fingers to him and laughed up their sleeves. The kid's mommy finally came and couldn't believe her eyes and was at loss for words to thank our teacher, and show her gratitude enough. If s/he is not their kid, they don't even bother to get wet in a shallow pool. The traditional Chinese man's perfect day: Step 1: Being able to eat his fill. Step 2: Feeding all his family. Step 3: Having some alcoholic drink for the night. Step 4: Having enough food and alcohol for a guest. Step 5: Playing games in the vein of Rock Scissors Paper (lots of advanced games there) with the guest and making him dead drunk. (If you lose, bottoms up!). If this man is very old and financially well, a young person has no chance of winning any game, because of the difference in experience. The old host only loses deliberately whenever he wants to drink. Chinese men don't fight with the unwilling. With their index and middle fingers, they hit the chest of the person with whom they want to fight. If the other person responds to it with the same move, they fight; otherwise it is like a great sin to fight for them. One can understand the strength of the other after the chest hitting thing, and can simply choose not to fight by not counteracting. Also, our teacher said that a reasonable young man NEVER dares to challenge an old guy. As, Chinese people like ALWAYS improve their fighting moves, while in the queues, waiting for the next bus etc. So a typical old Chinese man can beat a young man, like folding an envelope. That easily. Some of the Chinese Kung Fu masters are so fast that, in the movies they were slowing the motion of the scenes by editing, otherwise one cannot see the moves. If some real Kung Fu masters are the actors, what you thought as "Hey, these moves seem fake, they speeded up the flow," is probably just the opposite. Chinese people are fascinated by the foreigners who can speak Chinese fluently. Like adoration, in fact. If you say to a Chinese: "Are you Japanese?", he might not speak with you for the rest of his life. (Same thing, vice versa, for the Japanese...) Similarly, they liken the blond and blue-eyed Europeans to each other. Keishiro, if you're reading this I want to ask: is this correct? Is it still the same? Do any of you have anything to share about this topic? If so, please do write here. I'll be happy. Thanks! P.S. Globalization thing is accelerating, so some of the stuff I mentioned here might be outdated.

Shadowyzard wrote: ^ My country (Turkey) also tries too hard to be like a "little USA". I hope we fail in that.

Shadowyzard wrote: Erdoğan can accept ANYTHING you can imagine, except for anarchism. He has to rule, you know?

someone_else wrote: I'd like to suggest that we here in Western Europe should celebrate Chinese New Year instead of New Year's Eve, under the preconditions that the lockdowns have ended and the ban on fireworks is lifted.

Cool......