The Importance of Living essays

The Importance of Living essays The Importance of Living written by Lin Yutang is not only a book telling what life is and how to live a life, but also display a contrast between cultures of U.S. and China. From several chapters about aspects of life, I get some understanding as below: A QUICK COMPARISON BETWEEN CULTURAL SYSTEMS OF U.S. AND CHINA Looking at Chinese and American cultural traits from a common sense perspective, we usually find the following preconceptions about the two national characters: group reference criteria individualistic desire for eternity eager to change The critical concern is to what extent this comparison holds true. Seemingly convincing conclusions based on assumptions or a deductive approach may risk the possibility of being biased or stereotyped. Generalization seems dangerous but necessary: dangerous, because an easy categorization may have no solid ground and, therefore, is prone to biases; necessary, because, understanding and adapting to a different culture can never be achieved without a certain degree of cross-cultural consensus. A generalization is valid if a commitment is made to seriously consider and evaluate the key forces underlying a particular culture. Generalized descriptions do not cover all individual behaviors or cultural phenomena. The fact that some individual Chinese are impatient does not disprove the generalization that the Chinese as a nation are patient. Ideally, statistical evidence should be available for generalizations, but unfortunately not all cultural facts are statistically testable. PRIMARY FACETS OF CHINESE CULTURE-CONFUCIANISM IN BRIEF As a moral system, Confucianism focuses on the relationship between man and man, which is defined by five virtues: humanity/benevolence (ren), righteousness (yi), propriety (li), wisdom (zhi), and trustworthiness (xin). Another focus is on the five hierarchical relationships between father and son, ruler and ruled, husband and wife, elder brother and y...