Chinese virtue

Chapter 56 Lack of altruism (4)
In China, there are so many things that harm others and benefit oneself, so many that no one takes them seriously.A boatman or a groom, hired by foreigners to follow their own route, sometimes expressly refuses to do things.Chinese coachmen are as stubborn as their donkeys.When the donkey came to the edge of a dirty puddle in the middle of the road, it would fall into it all at once, and bathe in the dirty water. No matter how hard the coachman whipped it, it didn't work.

The donkey just lay there, motionless, as if hit by a fly.In a sense, Chinese people are not as stubborn as donkeys. There is no change in mentality in the stubbornness of donkeys, but there are great changes in the stubbornness of coachmen.The coachman is very stubborn when he is on the road. No matter what the employer asks or warns, he will go his own way, but before the end of the journey, he will spend half a day begging, even kneeling, to ask the employer for forgiveness, even if it is the employer. Always looked down on him.Therefore, when foreigners travel in China, they will first sign a written agreement with the driver and boatman.This is done in order not to give these people any trouble, because they, as mentioned earlier, are good at misinterpreting other people's words.

For a Westerner, it takes a lot of energy to learn to deal with Chinese people. First, you have to lose your principles, and second, you have to have super endurance.Generally speaking, no agreement is reached, and even the best of friends do not satisfy each other when it comes to money.When it comes to the final payment moment, it is not certain that the person who seems to be out of his mind and unable to make any offer will cause trouble. It stands to reason that he should use a seemingly polite way of refusing to achieve his goal. .

Our readers, have you ever had the pleasure of working with Chinese contractors and architects?If so, would you like to do it again?The craftsmen in China who get paid by the number of days go to work late and leave early, and what is even more embarrassing is their wandering around all the time.A friend of mine, having observed the work of these craftsmen, at last felt obliged to show them how the work should be done, but he was warned not to touch the laths, or they would be ruined.This friend earned money by sawing slats in his early years, and he was not a person who knew nothing, so when the craftsmen went to eat, he picked up a bundle of slats and spread them all on the ground with nails in his mouth. Just put them in place.

In this way, while the craftsmen were eating, he alone completed the work that four craftsmen could not finish in half a day.

Chinese craftsmen also have an important means of grinding, that is, tools need to be repaired.However, if foreigners provide tools, such embarrassing things will not happen.Although no one touched it, the tool broke, and no one knew why.These craftsmen often say this sentence: "I will not be there when the tools are broken." They use poles and branches to insert into the wall, and then tie them with ropes bought nearby, and the scaffolding is supported.On the same scaffolds, there are still neighbors’ sirloin and lamb loin hanging. Every day, inexplicable dangers appear, and the previous experience is completely invalid.Even the sand and dirt are not as ineffective at this time as before.

We have described the ability to absorb and master something before, but the importance of this thing in Chinese society is greater than what we first encountered.Take the various restrictions imposed by foreigners on Chinese people, basically they have no effect.These Chinese people will break into the hostess' bedroom angrily because of a little thing, and they will naturally go to the foreigner's house while no one is there, look here, look there, leisurely, as if nothing happened, and caress Make flowers and plants.When foreigners questioned his actions, the answer he got was simply "walk around".

Regarding the handling of this kind of thing, one type of foreigner is a tolerant group, and the other type is a hard-line group.In any case, a nonchalant attitude is the most effective tool.A shopkeeper who is greedy for petty gains, has already received a tip in the evening, and when the foreigners are leaving the next day, they still go up and ask for tips with a smile.The foreigner resolutely refused, saying that if you have additional requirements, why didn't you say it when I checked out last night?The owner of the shop had already figured out how to deal with it, and said last night that I thought I would see you again today.The hard-line foreigner said, then I think I will see you tomorrow, and then drove the donkey away.

For those Chinese who are always trying to get the best of them, if you are always resisting them, you will undoubtedly be a bad person.It has already been described how the Chinese are blackmailed by friends at obligatory weddings and funerals.For those who are responsible for handling these complicated matters, if they fail to meet the expected benefits of their associates in the process of handling these matters, then he will receive a typical Chinese-style retaliation.

While he was busy with his own business, the friends would sneak up to him and sprinkle water over his new clothes with a bamboo sprinkler.Such practices are so widely accepted there that we have to pay attention.An elderly Chinese man who I know very well recently told me that when he presides over a funeral, he always wears an old piece of clothing.

For a long time, the debate often involves a question, that is, whether the Chinese know how to be grateful.Apparently they don't look like that, just like the Hawaiians couldn't even say thank you in their own language in the first place.However, this does not mean that the Chinese don't know what they don't say.At the beginning, when tens of thousands of famine victims received unexpected relief, they expressed their gratitude very sincerely.There are other examples of this kind of thing, but it is not easy to list them.

With regard to gratitude, it can be seen not only when providing relief to the victims, but also in people around pharmacies and hospitals.Chinese people are very reserved and not used to showing their feelings, so when they really want to express their gratitude, the people who help them may not be able to feel it.It turns out that those who live closer to pharmacies and hospitals are less likely to express gratitude.They gradually regard these neighboring places as facilities built especially for them, and the medical staff there also have an obligation to take care of their health, no matter whether it is off-duty time or not.They will say, open the door quickly and get me the medicine, I have something to do, it's too late.If the pharmacy's rules are rigid, they don't get extra care, and they leave unhappy, cursing the hospital and everyone involved.I will come again next time when he needs it.

Foreigners traveling in China often encounter such a thing: the Chinese people who are on the road together have no money, and they hope that foreigners can help them complete the trip with money.If this kind of thing happened to other people in other places, the consequences would be easy to imagine, but it is different in China, this kind of thing is everywhere.If a Chinese traveler meets another acquaintance, that person will ask the acquaintance to borrow travel expenses, and this kind of thing is generally no exception.I have heard of a case where dozens or even hundreds of Chinese patients went to a foreign hospital to see a doctor and needed a very serious surgical operation, but the sum of money brought by all of them was saved even if it was spent. Not enough for food and lodging for the first two days.Another thing, two people with cataracts wanted to go for treatment, but after walking 150 miles, they had to return the next day because they had spent all their money.I also heard such a thing, a Chinese blamed a foreigner for being rude, because he traveled a long way to see him, and he didn't even ask if there was still travel money.Foreigners are simply baffled by such a problem, but it doesn't take long to discover that it is a very common problem.A traveler would say to a beggar in Naples, Italy: "But I don't know you." The beggar quickly responded: "That's why I asked you for money, sir." Instead, they'll say I know your father and you have to help me.Or, just say that I know your father, and you must help me.Either way, they feel they deserve help.If they're asking for help just to write an article or something, they'll say, that's it, but if it's a loan or something, it's never enough.Experience has shown that Chinese servants should not be praised, as praise will stimulate them to do things repeatedly.There are also people who think that you should not tip the Chinese people. If you tip them, they will leave some of their work undone. If you don’t tip them, they will quit.

A foreign doctor living in a certain province in the inland was once invited by a rich man to treat his concubine. With the doctor's determination and persistence, he finally saved her life.Not long after, the husband sent two taels of silver to the drug administration as a token of gratitude.A relative of the man who happened to be the foreigner's teacher was very disgusted with such a false thank you, and he said angrily: "If this man is not saved, it will cost more than 200 taels of silver!"

Chinese people seem reserved, but only when facing foreigners.Even so, sooner or later, their hostility will be expressed inadvertently through the mouths of gatekeepers and servants.

(End of this chapter)