Chinese virtue

Chapter 42 Identity and Diversity

Compared with other races, the temples of African blacks are very unusual. The British Minister to China, Rutherford Alcock, once described this phenomenon.It is surprising, however, that in this the Japanese are so much like them that it is only apparent upon close inspection.The Japanese don't care about this at all, they think this is a major feature of themselves, and from the actual situation, it is indeed the case.If you look at the Chinese from this angle, you will find something different.A group of Chinese people gathered together is like a swarm of bees in the grass, black ants on the ground, and black worms flying in the air.Even occasional expats in China can spot this, thinking that the Chinese around them have no personality whatsoever.However, it should be said that the Chinese are still very distinctive. If you put them together with people of other races, you can still distinguish the Chinese at once.While possessing such characteristics that can be distinguished at once, their uniform braids, uniform clothing, and uniform expressions make people mix them together.This point is very conclusive, even if the scope of observation is continuously expanded, the same situation can still be found.

If you are a bystander, no matter how smart and experienced you are, you will not be able to see the obvious differences between Guangzhou people, Fuzhou people, Shanghai people, and Tianjin people. Instead, you will feel that they are the same.Perhaps the only thing that can be found is that the closer the Chinese are to the north, the taller they are.In fact, even if you can't find the difference between them, don't be surprised. Since they are all Chinese, why must there be a difference?But that only sees one side of the problem. If the bystander or sojourner can live in a certain place for a long time, especially in several different provinces and cities for a long time, then he will have a new understanding and will find that The view that there is not much difference between Chinese people is actually very superficial, and it even goes against the facts at all.Comparing the Chinese in central and southern China, you will find that they differ not only in body shape, but also in language and temperament.The difference between the Chinese in the South and Central China and the Chinese in the North is also very obvious.Once this difference is presented in the field of vision, they will never be mixed together again.

The Chinese customs of respecting the elders, returning fallen leaves to their roots, and guarding graves to worship ancestors have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years. This has greatly suppressed the characteristics of the Chinese people and completely formed fixed rules.One character in Ritchie's novel wildly claims that the Prime Meridian is in his head.It seems to me that all Chinese people play this role unconsciously.In the eyes of the Chinese, the village, county, city, province, and even the whole country where one lives belongs to oneself, and everyone outside of this is regarded as "outsiders." (By the way, many Chinese refer to their fellow countrymen as "outsiders", and those "outsiders" also call him the same name. In this case, why should we be surprised that they call us foreigners "" What about "outsiders"?) In addition, it should be noted that for those people from other provinces, Chinese people not only call them "outsiders", but also express their contempt very directly.The shrewd businessmen and skilled workers in Guangzhou called the northerners of China the Yankees; while the northerners called the people in Fuzhou and Guangdong in the south the Southern Barbarians.

Both southerners and northerners sneered at their neighbors from the north—the Shanxi people with long heads and most of them were very ugly.And Shanxi people always tend to fight against all other provinces, so those people from other provinces will also stand up and fight against them.Even so, they can achieve some success and wealth, although their lifespan is usually relatively short.From a practical point of view, they value wealth more than their own lifespan.

Chinese people will definitely not regard someone from their "hometown" (the scope of China) as their "relatives". This is a universally applicable truth throughout China.Because he is from a "outside province", he is automatically an "outsider".If ordinary Chinese see their compatriots in this way, let alone those foreigners who flocked to China and lived in villages in rich areas.

The above conclusion is not from a traveler, but from a person who has lived in China for a long time.I am not speaking of any one Chinese here, but of many Chinese, a group united by various dialects, various customs, literature, history, and government, but fundamentally very different people.

Of course, you can also say that these judgments about China and the Chinese people are wrong and biased.Facts have also proved that although the differences between provinces are very large, and there are also various differences between regions, a deep observation of the connections between various parts of China will reveal that China is still a united whole.Few travelers have been fortunate enough to set foot in the eighteen or twenty provinces of this land, but quite a few have been able to experience most of them, and the more they experience, the more distinctly they perceive the unity , rather than its diversity.A very shrewd young teacher once warned his students that when traveling in China, they must pay attention to those things that are very "natural" in the eyes of the Chinese.The houses in some places in China are all two-story buildings, while in some places they are all thatched houses; in some places, the consonants after words are pronounced, while in other places they are not pronounced; Winters in some places are extremely cold, while winters in other places are as warm as spring.But in any case, we can still believe that our conclusion—on the whole, Chinese people have the same identity; more and more it shows its reasonableness.If this conclusion is considered correct, then naturally, we can draw an important inference from it, which may have a huge impact on this great nation, which is that China urgently needs change.

We should have no doubts about this inference.There is a sense, even among the traditionally pessimistic, that reform is possible even in China.

But from the perspective of China as a whole, those regulation and preparatory policies that can promote reform are still castles in the air.But no matter what, there is no way to stop the reform, and it will always be carried out.

Perhaps in this century, China will undergo a major transformation, the scale of which will exceed any transformation from Qin Shihuang to the present, and it will make the provinces more uniform.If such a situation really happened, would she achieve unity, or would she split into fragments of different sizes like some icebergs, each discrete?We firmly believe that her inner cohesion is far beyond the power of destruction and separation.As a great country in the East, she will surely stand among the world's great powers.

(End of this chapter)