How Successful and Respected People Are In Ancient China and America
After arriving in America, I have got some questions about the differences between USA and China. Recently, an idea occurred to me, that maybe I should think about the differences and common points between USA and ancient China about values of being successful or being respected.
The other day I had a talk with Liam Connolly. At first, the topic we talked about was how to work hard to improve sports skills. Somehow it changed to how to try to be professional athlete, and then he told me something that I think is really important and valuable which also attracts me a lot. He said that in America people admire the kind of men who work hard and never give up while facing difficulties. He then showed me three bands on his wrists that said, "Push yourself" on two of them and "What have you done today" oh the third. I suppose that the spirit he meant was that the people who try their best to do everything that they think is important; who fight for what they want until the last second; who introspect themselves at any time in order to make progress, always have honor and respect. As there are many similarities between American culture and ancient Chinese culture, I intend to make a study on how successful and respected people are in ancient China and America.
Similarities:
1. We all respect people who are strict with themselves and always keep high standards for themselves.
It is so interesting and such a coincidence that in the civilization of ancient China, there was an intellectual person who had a great influence on Chinese culture, who told the same words as well. His name is Confucius. His thoughts, speeches and outstanding philosophy have obviously affected a great many people. In a book called Lun Yu, one of Confucius's students said," I introspect many times a day, about whether I have done my best to help my friend while being trusted, about whether I have done everything correctly to be honest, about whether I have reviewed what I've learned from my teacher."------That might be the same meaning as trying to be good at any time and staying away from getting worse. But in my opinion, the difference that I can tell is that it's more positive and active in USA ways; however in Chinese philosophy, it seems a little negative. What I mean is, Americans always try to do more than they are expected to, while Chinese try to keep doing their jobs well.2. People who control themselves well and always try to make progress are also regarded as successful.
There is also an ancient Chinese book called Zhou Yi, which has been another great record of Chinese philosophy and mental theory. It said," The nature has run so strongly and steady that it is always getting changed to be new and better, that it is determined and will never turn back, that it will never stop or be slack. So are the great men." What this sentence means is closer to the belief in USA, I think. This one is talking about the balance and the peaceful situation that we should keep. Despite that everything is changing at every second, there must be something remained all the time inside our mind. It determines what we do and how we think, so it determines how we are as well, and as a result, our destinies depend on it. The great men are strong inside, so they would never stop. I guess those people who lived in ancient China and wrote the book would say so. Keeping this balance had always been what ancient Chinese men kept trying to do, but few obtained, as most of them were stopped or changed, even from inside. They lost their goals and aims that they had kept dreaming of, maybe because of the temptations like possessions, reputations, and so on.
3. Confident, self-dignified people always have dignity and will always be admirable.
I have read a book called Jane Eyre, which mainly tells a story about a woman named Jane Eyre. She said something really famous all over the world, “Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionality, nor even of mortal flesh;- it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God's feet, equal,- as we are!” This story ends up in a pretty satisfying ending. I think it’s all because of Jane’s self-respect and her defending or protection of her own dignity. We know how bad things would happen if she hasn’t been so, and we can say that her great character saved her and prevented her from being one of the victims in that pathetic system. So in this case, being self-dignified can change one’s life. There are also some similar words in Lun Yu, which said, “A man must be self-dignified, or he won’t be respected by others; or neither can he do well in his job.” Ancient Chinese knew how vital the dignity had always been. Comparing with other kinds of creatures, it’s another improvement for human beings to have senses about proper pride. In another Chinese composition called Han Feizi-Gui Shi, the author told what he thought, “People with honesty, kindness, self-dignified and sincerity are called the venerable elders.” What I learn is that others will respect you only after you respect yourself.
Differences:
1. In the USA, useful men who can do great work are often respected, but exactly not the same as in ancient China.
When certain people get really rich in America, they will do a great much philanthropy. These behaviors not only show how nice and kind they are, but also what they are supposed to do. The society asks them to do so, the people ask them to do so, and they ask themselves to do so. They needn’t to be told, for it has become like an invisible rule or a law that’s not on paper but in minds. Devotions are also needed, and not only in this way as well. The whole country expects people to devote actively by having their own ideas in how to develop them. Then, as every single citizen is developed, the country makes its own progress at the same time. The government might just need to unite, organize and manage the situation. So we can say that the more useful a person is, the more devotions he can make, as a result, the more respected he is.
People were differently desired in ancient China. They were told to keep the etiquette and the law that ruled them so much to make them easy to control and affect. The emperor forbade too many things that might seem normal today, in order to control the people in both physical and mental ways. Being an organized production tool without thoughts and ideas was what the rulers exactly wanted the people to do, and actually in a long period, the people did. They didn’t need to look forward to making progress, but only needed to listen to the master to know what to do and do so. So we can say that in ancient China, an obedient man was a good man.
2. In the USA, People who never stop chasing their dreams are considered as successful men, but not exactly the same as in ancient China.
Ernest Hemingway said," A man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated." It might mean that the power of dreams is incredible. People in ancient China rarely had their own dreams, for they had already been divided into different classes since several thousand years ago. That’s also one of the differences between ancient China and modern China. In American, people all have opportunities to achieve great things by working really hard, by their intelligence, or by their bravery. But in China, it was totally a different situation. People were born to be themselves and born to do their jobs, with almost no chance to make better livings. Emperor was emperor, peasantry was peasantry, and merchants were merchants. The lower classes the people were, the fewer chance they got to change their lives. “Why don’t they fight for their freedoms?” you may ask. The answer is that they had fought, but as their minds had already been ruled, real freedom never appeared. As for freedom, I have to say that America has become a symbol of freedom and liberty. Just as I assumed, American citizens have much more opportunities than ancient Chinese. So there are many American heroes or stories that are famous for fighting for freedom, such as the movie called The Brave Heart. Meanwhile, studying really hard and getting a good job in the empire or government was the most important thing for most ancient Chinese students. Only after they’re hired and get a good job, they would be admired.
Conclusions:
In a word, there can be a lot of various reasons that can explain the differences between American culture and ancient Chinese culture, but I think the most vital thing is that both nationalities advocate honor, justice, self-respect, self-control, confident, self-dignify, enterprise and love for humanity. That’s not only why Chinese nation has lasted for so long, but also why the United States of America has developed so fast. It shows that the national personalities sure will determine the national destinies. There are still a lot of things that we should learn from each other and make cooperation in order to get win-win.
Resource list
1. Title: Lun YuAuthor(s): Confucius and his students
Year of publication unknown
Shandong, China.
2. Title: Zhou Yi
Author(s): Unknown
Year of publication unknown
China
3. Tile: Han Feizi, Gui-Shi
Author(s): Han Feizi
Year of publication unknown
China
Author(s): Han Feizi
Year of publication unknown
China
4. Title: Jane Eyre
Author(s): Charlotte Bronte
Year of publication: 10-1847
Sheffield, England
5. Liam Connolly also provides lots of information. (Personal communication, 7-24-2011)
