A newly-released blockbuster movie is shaking China. The black-and-white "City of life and death" has a powerful Chinese title "Nanking! Nanking!" and gives the audience and the public an extremely emotional ride.
Nanking - usually spelled Nanjing these days - is a city with rich history. It served as China's capital during six dynasties. The word Nanjing literally means "south capital". When thousands of years of feudalism finally ended in 1911, Nanjing rose again to be the capital of the Republic of China. Growing up, I paid many visits to Nanjing, about an hour from my hometown. At least a dozen times, I went on school-organized tours to pay tribute to historic sites, including the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre, which is the main theme of "City of life and death".The truth is: you can't understand the Chinese people without understanding their history. So much has happened in 5,000 years, including glorious moments and dark times as well. After years of living in the U.S., I've realized that many Americans (and other Westerners) have a hard time sympathizing with Chinese people's feelings toward history. They have legitimate reasons. From the 1840s to the 1940s, China and its people were invaded, colonized, enslaved and slaughtered. One of the world's earliest and best places of civilization was in the dark for a century. Not long after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the Great Leap movement led to severe famine, followed by the Cultural Revolution that damaged not only economic growth but also cultural heritage and people's values and faith.All that, associated with shame, anger and distrust, is still vivid in Chinese people's minds. In my eyes, much of China's economic miracle has been created with the will and motivation to make the country strong, independent and respected again.I know, 1.3 billion people, they are all different. Some people show more patriotism than others. But it will serve you well to keep in mind how Chinese people feel about the past two centuries. If Nike had done so, it wouldn't have come up with the ad featuring LeBron James slaying a Chinese dragon and a kung fu master, which was deemed an insult to China's national dignity. The ad was consequently banned.Chinese people's emotional sensitivity also stems from the culture. They don't have the sense of American humor. From a Western perspective, they take everything way too seriously. They don't give themselves a break. But that's who they are. That's what history has made them into. Perhaps you can't make sense of it, but please, at least accept it.SEARCH
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on May 5, 2009 11:37 AM.
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China culture & business (3): Inescapable history
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COMMENTS (4)
Nina:
A reader reminded me in an email that I didn't make clear the impact of the Nanjing Massacre in this blog post. I'll give a little more background in the next installment of the series.
Mel:
We soon hope to start doing business with a Chinese company, which is family owned. A big part of our success depends on this association. Soon I will be traveling to Shanghai, any comments on how to handle myself will be greatly appreciated.
Nina Ying Sun 
:
:
Hi Mel, just go there with open eyes and an open heart, by which I mean observe as much as you can, do what the locals do and accept the differences. For example, you don't have to actually use chopsticks to eat noodles in order to show respect, but it may be fun to try them first and most thoughtful Chinese hosts will give you silverware afterwards. The one minute or so you spend learning about and playing with the chopsticks will be an interesting experience for you and a good sign that you are willing to embrace different cultures. If you have any specific questions as they emerge during your trip, you can either post them here or email me nyingsun@crain.com. I'll be happy to help.
Good luck!
Posted by Nina Ying Sun |
May 9, 2009 10:43 AM
janet carmosky:
America in particular has a very emblematic relationship with China. Both large, powerful, and patriotic nations; one ancient and one newest among all world powers; one sees itself on a continuing if slowing "roll" that began 200 years ago, another is coming back from a few hundred years of difficulty - including several wars in which America played a significant role.
America fought against China in the Korean War; backed the government that Mao Zedong overthrew in 1949; defeated China's brutal occupying power in WWII (thus freeing the Chinese when they could not free themselves). missionaries, merchants, mercenaries, or financial backers were also at the beginning or end if not the center of four major conflicts of China's 19th century: the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the Boxer Rebellion, the Taiping Revolution, and the Opium War. Given this, a strong American athlete killing a symbol of Chinese power is a lot closer to the nerve than, say, some cute underdog (an ice dancer from Finland?) getting lucky and beating up a cartoon dragon.
Aside from all the historical context - although in China, context is everything - try putting the shoe on the other foot. How tasteful would it be for a Chinese company to air a commercial in the USA, showing Yao Ming or Jet Li strangling a Bald Eagle?