The other night, I was told that foreigners are better than Chinese, because they are simple and straightforward while Chinese people are too complex.
Resisting the urge to dive into a heated debate, I instead responded with a smile. I knew the speaker meant no harm and in fact was probably trying to compliment me/”us”.
A little while ago, I was reading a rather interesting article on architecture and cultural heritage in China when I came across this sentence:
“Unlike American and European culture, Chinese culture has a very long and mixed history and it will be a complicated and demanding task to set architectural priorities that will ensure the preservation of designs elements that embody the best values of the culture.”
Ok, you might be able to get away with saying the Americas don’t have a long history (forget about the natives as usual), but Europe? C’mon guys, that is really pushing it. Europe has just as much claim to a long and illustrious history as this fabled land does.
This is a notion I have encountered quite a few times in the past two years: that China is somehow more complex than the rest of the world. Steeped in a strong sense of cultural history, this idea is used to emphasize China’s unique position (dare I say superiority) vis a vis the barbarians at the gate. No one can understand China but the Chinese.
Perhaps there is truth to this statement; after two years I’m still often confused at what is happening around me, and why it is happening. But I feel this has more to do with my cultural displacement than any Chinese mystique; if I went to India or Iran for two years, I’m sure the effect would be similar.
I have tried to the best of my abilities to make some sense of this country for my own sake. I’m fiercely interested in politics, economics and other such societal power games, and my current home provide a treasure chest of thinking to do and questions to ponder on these particular topics. I cannot live somewhere for two years and not desperately try and find out what makes the place tick; that’s just the way my mind works.
So do I understand China? I won’t even try to make such an outlandish claim. But I am comfortable in saying that I understand some things enough to satisfy my own curiosity. I have worked super hard to make some sense out of 1.3 billion people in the throes of reinventing themselves (well, at least in the cities, anyway). And although I might easily be wrong, at least I try.
Therefore statements such as “I like foreigners because they are simple” smack of that cultural superiority I find a bit difficult to stomach. Of course, I take comments like this with a grain of salt, having heard the whole gamut of wild statements concerning foreigners and their homelands. But something about the “simple” comment hit me deeper.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the face I present to most Chinese people in this country, and have come to the realization it is definitely not my own. My critical thinking, my observations, my interest in societies and their politics; all of them have been heavily edited out to present a rather grotesque “gee whiz” foreigner persona. All my hard-earned thoughts and observations are quickly swept under the carpet before anyone gets wind of the fact that, god forbid, I might think critically about what I see and experience.
How has this happened? Not being able (for obvious reasons) to say what I really think is probably a major factor. Teaching English for two years is another: in Foreign Teacher mode, an invisible switch flips and I become incapable of talking about anything interesting or substantial. I call it the “Who is your favourite pop star?” syndrome.
The simpleton persona gets slightly tested when people start prodding me with questions like “What do you think of China?”. However, I resist the temptation to spill my intellectual guts and instead respond with something utterly profound like “it has a lot of people”.
I particularly feel for Americans when they must adopt this persona. I have witnessed numerous instances of people forced to smile and cheers while someone feeds them the usual rant about Bush, Iraq and the United States. I’m no fan of the Bush administration, believe me, but I still think there is something wrong with these attacks.
If any real, honest response is given beyond “gee you are right, I hate Bush and my country”, then you have trouble.
If a reprisal comment was made concerning the opposing party’s leaders, government or country, then possibly all hell would break loose. So the simpleton persona must prevail for survival’s sake. No one likes to be a political punching bag, but it’s preferable to being a real punching bag. Smile and nod approval. Compliment Chinese culture for some surefire bonus points.
Perhaps many people here are comforted by the idea of foreigners as benign, goofy simpletons, hence the immense popularity of Da Shan. I don’t knock Mark Roswell (his real name) at all, because he has simply taken the whole “inoffensive foreigner” bit to it’s most logical conclusion: a huge pile of cash. Who knows what his real opinions are, but it definitely wasn’t those that made him rich.
Could the real, opinionated me survive as a public face here? I doubt it. I guess two more months of not being able to use chopsticks or know when people are talking about me/what they are saying isn’t so bad. I will continue to not be able to read bus stops signs in Chinese (an impossibly complex language), nor buy anything in a supermarket by myself.
I will astound when I announce I can ride a bike, and reassure when I declare China to be a unique mystery impenetrable to the weak foreign mind. I will amuse with my goofy behaviour and my simple outlook on life. I will continue to avoid political discussions by dismissing them as “boring”. I will continue to substitute “heavy smog” with “beautiful and clean”.
If I’ve helped some Chinese people feel better about themselves and their country, then I’m glad to have been of assistance. But as my time here nears its end, the act is wearing thin. I have worn my mask in the name of necessity, but retirement from the stage can’t come soon enough.
I need some healthy debate.
HELLO, (ha! ;)
So I stumbled upon your blog while trying to read up on China as much as possible before going back to visit my grandparents this summer, and I’m going through all the archives (which is why you’re suddenly getting this response like 4 years later). I just wanted to say that I’m enjoying your insight, perspective, and oftentimes ironic humour quite immensely. Just two things.
I’d have to disagree with you that the statement, “I like foreigners because they are simple” is a result of self-perceived cultural superiority. In fact, I think that generally, the statement is true. It’s not that people who have grown up in developed countries lack intelligence or critical thinking abilities, or even complexity in the general meaning of the word; however, there is a kind of naivety from the simple fact that things are more straightforward here. I live in Canada, but I can navigate my way around England for a summer just fine. With a rudimentary understanding of the local language, I can just as easily backpack in France, Norway, and Italy etc. However, I would find navigating around in China that much harder, even though I can speak and understand Chinese just fine, and even though I have some idea of the cultural heritage (though not all that much). The systems and infrastructures are just more hidden and complex, and nothing can be taken at face value. Buying something is not simply looking at a pricetag. Getting documents done isn’t just finding the right building and filling out the right forms. What’s law on paper probably isn’t law in effect, and having that many people doesn’t help much either. When I went back 4 years ago, I was told all the time that I was naive. I didn’t keep money in hidden pockets and didn’t check for fake currency, I waited in lines, and I guess I wasn’t skeptical enough of everything. When someone calls me “simple,” it’s demeaning in a way, because he or she is essentially telling me I’m childlike and innocent in the ways of the world. But that’s not exactly an insult, or a declaration of cultural superiority. Yes, complexity is probably embraced under the umbrella of Chinese nationalism because it fits into the “2000 years of recorded history” line, but there is no inherent cultural superiority in needing to be more wary or skeptical. In a way, it is actually just a compliment. It probably means that someone thinks you’re honest and that your motives are so hidden. That being said, it’s always hard to resist retorting “No I’m not!” because I always feel like it insults my intelligence.
As for feeling type-cast into a goofy role with expected behaviours, I think that’s true to some extent for everyone who visits a foreign country. If some friends come to visit Ottawa for example, I’d probably expect the answer to the question, “How do you like it here?” to be a typical “touristy” response-probably something about how lovely the tulips are, or how tasty a beavertail is after a long skate on the canal (which is so incredible because it’s long, unlike skating in a rink in Toronto.) Now, being friends, we might get into some more serious discussions on the topic, but you get my point.
Anyway, since I’m still in school, I’m going to stop distracting myself from my essay and end it here. I apologize in advance for what has probably been a long ramble. Good night!