Nationalism

For my midterm project in Chinese Contemporary Studies, we had to do "field research" (read: go out and interview people) in our topic of interest. The question of my project was "Does Chinese Nationalism cause Xenophobia?" I interviewed three people: my host mother, my little brother, and my friends roommate. I asked them a host of questions such as:

Are you proud to be a Chinese citizen?
Since China has over 5,000 years of history and the US only has 230 years of history, do you believe that China is a better country than the US?
Do you think that Americans are too arrogant?
Do you believe that Chinese people are sometimes afraid of foreigners and foreign influence?

It was extremely interesting to hear their responses. For one, of course, they were all very proud to be Chinese citizens. I think if the question had been asked of Americans, it would not have been such a positive response. Also, they pretty much agreed that the American government is too arrogant (ie it frequently tells other countries what to do), but that American people are not. One of the most interesting things was what my host mom said. She said that the one most prominent example of Westernization is the way in which western influence is fundamentally changing the structure of the family in China-- which as we all know, is thus changing the structure of society. She said not only are people living together before marriage, but also that people are no longer as willing as they were before to take care of their parents in their old age. She said that this is definitely a result of Westernization and that such ideas have never been an issue until about 10 years ago.

For my presentation, I looked into the implications behind the word Nationalism in the US, versus Nationalism in China. In the US, Nationalism generally has a negative connotation associated with it. Additionally, there are some stereotypes surrounding China, such as that its Nationalistic tendencies cause some mistrust of foreign nations and people. Also, that Chinese people regard themselves as being from the "Middle Kingdom" or the center of the universe.

In contrast, Nationalism in China is regarded as one of the most important cultural values, right up there with Harmony, Relationships and Family. Nationalism was also one of the Three Principles of Dr. Sun-Yatsen. The Chinese people that I interviewed thought that my questions were very curious and did not understand why I was asking them. I explained the stereotypes about China that surround the concept of Nationalism, and then they seemed to understand somewhat, but it was hard to break the language and cultural barrier for this one. Still, interviewing people and hearing what they have to say about China--for example, they hate the French because Sarkozy once said in an official statement that Tibet should be its own country--was one of the most interesting experiences I've had yet.

I'm leaving tomorrow (October 23) for our "Chengdu Module" which is an awesome opportunity to go on a week-long trip with my program to Southern China. We'll be going to Lijiang and Shangrila in Yunnan Province and Chengdu in Sichuan Province. I'll be sure to write about it when I get back next week, on Sunday, November 1st. Until then, I'll be out of touch but feel free to email me, as always, if you need anything!