Serenade Chairman Mao and pay homage to the Communist Party as Nigerian born Uwechue Emmanuel (in Chinese, 郝歌 (Hao Ge)) managed to do on CCTV through popular Chinese song, “草原上升起不落的太阳.” Chinese people love their motherland and harmony. Intonation must be impeccable. Race is irrelevant.
(Tudou.com version here)
silentvoice says
Asians are easily wowed when a non-Asian speaks excellent Mandarin or Japanese, because they are so rare. Conversely, many Asians speak English. You’ll be hard pressed to find one who don’t speak it.
raventhorn2000 says
I would say “easily wowed”, since so few non-Asians learn to speak Chinese. Obviously, it took a lot of hard work on the part of the few non-Asians who learn to command the language well.
I have a lot of respect for any one who managed to immerse themselves in other cultures.
YinYang says
Btw, I should add that I also love the sound from the morin khurr.
For me, when foreigners learn to speak your language, I think there is a certain level of acceptance on their part. Over the weekend I showed this video to my parents, and I thought their reaction was similar to mine.
Of course, if you are in places like the U.S., such sentiments are already taken for granted.
What do you guys think causes this difference?
silentvoice says
That’s a question not easily answered. I think Sam Huntington came close when he analyzed America’s national identity and found that America is not really a ‘melting pot’, as all immigrant groups subsequent to the first anglo-protestant group are expected to adopt their cultural norms. Also obviously the West’s overwhelming military and economic superiority in the last 200 years have something to do with it being so dominant.
Slightly off topic, I wonder if you guys think Africans are more accepting of other cultures? Recently I was watching NHK and there was this program showing an African staying in Japan and playing Shamisen (a Japanese musical instrument). He speaks Japanese and his skills with the instrument wowed the audience…. similar to yinyang’s example.
raventhorn2000 says
I think Western culture historically emphasized on the need to “assert one’s own identity”. This is from their historical pattern reaching back to the Vikings, the Greeks and the Romans, use identity as the agent of enlightenment to transform the world around them, including other people. You can also see it in their political philosophies of “Rights”.
However, this is somewhat contrary to their melting pot notion. And thus, again, I see their “assimilation” as more a historical pattern of the majority dominating and asserting one set of identity.
*
The other cultures, especially Eastern cultures, emphasized on the need to “adapt to society for stability”.
Fundamentally, the Eastern cultures do not see identity as a fixed quality, but rather something that is shaped by the environment, and thus human beings should transform themselves to suit their environments.
This, naturally causes the people to be more accepting of a great deal of change and chaos. And people strive to imitate their surroundings to reach “harmony” and acceptance.
I don’t think Africans are more accepting of other cultures. I think the few public examples are merely anecdotal.