Unit parison of Chinese and Western cultural values Section 1. Definition of values▪What are values？▪V alues are broad, abstract concepts which provide the foundation that underlies a people‘s entire way of life.▪V alues are a learned organization of rules for making choices and for resolving conflicts. These "rules" and guideposts are normative and teach us what is useful, good, right, wrong, what to strive for, how to live our life, and even what to die for.Types of values▪1. Universal values▪2. culture-specific values▪3. individual valuesExercise: point out the values reflected in the following proverbs▪1. Blood is thicker than water. (origin: Scotland)▪(the bonds of family and common ancestry are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people ,such as friendship) family, loyalty▪2. Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. (origin: England)▪(if a particular type of behavior is acceptable for one person, it should also be acceptable for another person ) fairness▪3. Too many cooks spoil the broth. (origin: England)▪(The combined efforts of the group end up with something that is not so pleasant to eat) the individual4. The early bird catches the worm. (origin: England)▪(Success comes to those who prepare well and put in effort.) action▪5. God helps those who help themselves. (origin: Greece)▪(We can rely on nobody but ourselves) self-helpCautionTwo noteworthy features of values▪1. Contradictory values are found in a particular cultue.▪E.g.All people are created equal.▪E.g Sweep the snow in front of his door, and not bother about the frost on his neighbor‘s roof.▪A gulf between the values that are articulated (idealism) and the values that are acted out (reality)▪2. V alues of a culture change with time.V alues▪Five orientations proposed by American anthropologist, Florence Kluckhohn▪Human NatureChinese value on human nature▪Man, by nature, is good; people‘s inborn characters are similar, but learning makes them different;▪The story of Mencius‘ mother moving three tim es in order that her son could be in a good neighborhood;▪Y our character will be tinted ―red‖ if you are in the company of redness, but ―black‖ if you are in close contact with ink.▪安于现状，知足常乐，仁者爱人，仁至义尽▪Relationship of human to natureChinese traditional medicine shows the cultural value of harmony with nature▪Westerners: A minor illness like cold - work as usual; human body is an object that can be studied and then controlled---leading to the invention of powerful medicines, but the medicines may have unpleasant or even dangerous died effects.▪Chinese: cold- stayed home to give body a chance to recover. The human body is part of nature and needs to be brought back into balance. Medi cine should work with the body‘s own resources. It should be integrated with the body, so it will take longer to work.▪Sense of timeActivity---case study▪When a middle age American couple showed up to help a young Chinese couple move into their new apartment, they were surprised that the Chinese couple would not allow them to do any work. Instead they found a place for them to sit and gave them tea.▪Why?▪Activityconflict▪Westerners: experience the talk and behavior of Chinese people as performance, as dramatization of the self and as not very relevant to what is important; their conversation is lacking in information.▪Chinese: showing that they are friendly, virtuous, or sufficiently important; they are educated, polite, humble, high-ranking or hospitable.▪―我爸是李刚。
