There are several good things about Chinese culture. This article will basically discuss 3 of them; the strong work ethic, the respect for elders, and the fact that they concentrate more on the group than the individual. Although of course the culture is not perfect (which one is?), I prefer to focus in this blog on the positive aspects of different cultures, rather than the negative ones.
One of the things I have noticed from tutoring Chinese students is that they have a very strong ability to do a lot of work. They want to get good grades. They want to do well in school, and are not lazy. Although they struggle with the finer points of the English language, they are often very intelligent with a lot of self-discipline. They know the importance of education and school in their lives, and they are very willing to do the work necessary to get what they are supposed to get from university.
I think one reason why they have such a strong work ethic is because they are raised to be like that from the time they are born. Perhaps this is because they want to please their elders. They want to do honour to their parents. Often in the Western civilization, children do not have the proper respect for those who brought them into the world. In the Bible, it says to honour our fathers and mothers. Sometimes I feel that the Chinese do this better than we do. I see a lot of examples of Chinese (and Arabs also) respecting their parents’ decisions and obeying them even if they do not the personal wishes or desires of the Chinese child, teenager or young adult.
This brings me to my next point. Chinese students I have met, and I think this extends to the larger culture and population, think about the needs of the group more than they do the individual. This is true when it comes to family more than anything. In the West, people are often selfish to the disadvantage of the group over the individual. Don’t get me wrong: there are many wonderful things about the West. I am not picking on my own culture. I’m just saying that perhaps in some ways Westerners would do well to imitate the Chinese in these areas.
