China (And East Asia In General) Should Return To Its Cultural Roots

[leonmarino]

There is nothing wrong with wanting to be "westernized", but honestly.....it's getting quite annoying now.

I believe this thread you have started and the arguments you have given score higher on the annoyance scale than the current "westernization" of countries.

For people who are not interested in reading my post, but do like to know what my standpoint on this matter is, please skip to the last paragraph.

First off, I would like to say that Communism is a political ideology, and Taoism and Confucianism are not. You're comparing apples with horses.

Anyway, as others have said before, the world is not a cultural museum that has to preserve its heritage. The world consists of people, groups, nation states, political regions etc. that are increasingly intertwining because of globalization. You're saying that some countries are "losing their identity" but isn't it so that countries are just evolving!?

You might hate all the modern apartment blocks in Japan all you want, but notice that these kind of buildings are very efficient to build. Sure, you can go and try to build wooden 5 story old-fashioned Japanese houses, but this kind of operation will be very expensive. Too expensive for any common man to pay anyway.

Also, notice that although it all looks the same, actually they are not. I can tell whether an apartment block is Japanese or Dutch, by just looking at it for half a second. Both have distinct styles because of many factors: weather, geography, personal preferences, local laws and regulations etc. Heck, I can even tell the difference between a Dutch one and a Belgian one if I must, honestly.

So in this case, what you call Westernization, I would like to call overall modernization.. And a lack of "taking a good look".

And I don't understand your clothing style argument either. Let's start with the business suits. I don't know in what field you are working/studying, but business is about communication. And as you might know, this can be verbal or non-verbal. Verbal communication is tricky, but can be accomplished if both parties speak the same language, know the jargon of their field, and respect each other. It is essential though, any interference in the communication might damage the business relation.

Anyway, there is also non-verbal communication which is not only about what gestures you use, but also how you present yourself. And yes, clothes do matter. "The West" starting using suits a long time ago, and other countries adopted it too. So what!? Their aim was to be taken seriously by all other parties. There is something called etiquette to which you have to conform in order to be taken seriously, like it or not. If you don't conform, that is going to interfere with the communication negatively.

And about other clothes like jeans and t-shirts.. Well I guess they're so popular because those people want to wear them, right? Do you blame them for wanting something they want to wear?! Where there is demand, there will be a supply. If you want to prevent that, go and implement fierce state control.. Hey, sounds like communism!!

Besides, there are still some aspects with regard to clothing that are different. I mean, many Japanese girls wear short skirts in the winter whereas in "western" countries it's often worn during summer months. I have no preference about in which season I would like to see short skirts so I'm totally fine with it, but I find it a very funny observation.

By the way, how do you react towards "western" people who wear Japanese clothes in their spare time? Should they stick to their cultural heritage too? How about them American J-Rock fans dressing up like their Japanese idols? Would you rather have them wear clothes like any domestic rock star?

To cut a long story short, culture evolves, like it or not. Where there is international communication, there will be international adaptation.

[lenajiang]

To cut a long story short, culture evolves, like it or not. Where there is international communication, there will be international adaptation.

I agree with this opinion

[Silverbackman]

Just to clarify a couple things........

While Daoism and Confucianism can be considered a religion, they can also be considered political philosophies, because they have plenty of political philosophy within them. Likewise, while Marxism is often seen as primarily a political movement, it does have a religious philosophy which is of course rejection of religion as the "opium of the masses" as Marx put it. Even Mao's communism ultimately originated in the West, because Marx is the father of communism. Now as an atheist myself, I have no problems with this but many Chinese Taoists and Confucianists were put to death for adhering to their philosophies, both of which taught different politics of their own. Chinese communism destroyed China's traditional more advanced culture in place of some collectivist anti-freedom philosophy.

And why did the Chinese have to give up their clothing and architecture styles? Like I said, East Asian Architectural styles are not impractical in the modern age. All they have to use is different materials (substitute steel for wood). And hanfu clothing was used well into the modern age before the Qing invaded so they aren't impractical.

The CPC screwed everything up. If the KMT won the civil war China would be a superpower today with their entire culture preserved.