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 n

In contrast to the American way of thinking, Chinese minds, because of their unique tradition and living environment, think in terms of concrete analogy, which somehow puts the situation in a form easily grasped in its entirety. If the American way of thinking could be likened to "masculinity," the Chinese mind would be akin to "femininity" in many respects. (Assuming masculinity and femininity do exist worldwide.) For example, Chinese tend to favor the use of common sense - an integrated but often undefinable state of mind - when approaching problems, which indicates that less segmenting of the situation is involved. Synthesis, intuition, concrete image and proverbs, are often the first Chinese priorities. Like women who have a surer instinct of life, the Chinese depend largely upon their intuitive power ("sixth sense") for solving nature's mysteries. Chinese logic seems to be accompanied by some personal and subtle fabrics while American logic seems to have been prepared with more impersonal and explicit substances. In the Chinese language, the word "because" appears less frequently because the meaning of "because" is usually implied by the speaker or inferred by the audience with reference to the context. "The reason is because . . ." said by many Americans may suggest a strong motivation to reconfirm the cause-effect relationship ingrained in their mindset.

Some common words found in the essay are:
FAMALY-ISM Chinese, Set Goal/Objective, CHINESE CHARACTER, CULTURE-CONFUCIANISM BRIEF, American Intuitive, LIFE Traditionally, Country People, Lin Yutang, MINDSET American, Chinese American, chinese character, ideal life, chinese nation, american thinking, true character, basis chinese, chinese american, common sense, family life, chinese mind,
Approximate Word count = 1665
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)