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1QilongLUInterculturalcommunication151UnderstandingofcultureRecently,I’vebeenstudyingInterculturalCommunicationclass,sointhisessayI’mgoingtodiscussandanalyzehowculturestoinfluenceourcommunication,behavior,andconcept.Ithinkthisisaveryusefulclassformebecausethisclasscanhelpmetoopenmyworldviewandunderstandmyself.Idividethisessayintothreesectionsforreaderstounderstandhowthecultureaffectus,whicharepast,presentandfuture.Past-FamilyContextInthispart,I’mgoingtodiscussaboutmyfamilybackgroundandandmystorytoshowhowIwasinfluencedbyChineseculture.IwasborninMaTouVillageTaiAnCityChina.MyhometownisatypicalChinesevillagewhereispoorandpeople’sideologyisfeudal.Myfamilyhasbeenlivinginmyhometownforoverhundredyears.EvenwhenIjustcouldrememberthingsthatIwastaughttolearnhowtounderstandandthinkaboutothersandoneofthemostpopularstoryinChinawhichis”givingthebigpeartoothers”.Therefore,wethinkdedicationandsacrificearenormalforusbecauseweweregraduallyinstilledthisconcept.CulturalBackground-ModerationCollectivismhasdeeplyimplantedinChinesepeople’sheadsforthousandyears.CollectivismisusedanywhereinChina,suchsocial,business,2repetitionandetc.IthasformedChineseownspecialculturalvalue.OneoftypicalChineseculturalvaluesismoderation.ChinesepeoplebelievethatthoughChineseadvocatemoderation,itdoesnotmeanChinesedonotpursueperfection.ManyforeignersthinkChinesepeoplewithoutpersonalitiesbecauseChineseadvocatemoderation.InChineseculture,peoplethinkmoderationisasortofwisdom.Itdoesn’trepresentthatrequirepeopletobenormal.Peoplejustuseittocontrolnaturalgreedandweakness.Forexample,whenweacquiredabigsuccessweshouldn’tbearrogant,buttoreflectourselveswhyIcangetasuccessandothersarenot?Throughmoderateselfreflectionthatcanhelppeoplewon’tloseourselvesinthebigsuccess.Whetherpeopleareinsuccessesorfailures,keepingapeacefulmindisthekeyofmoderation.Makingconcessionsisapartofmoderateculture.Sometimesmakingaconcessioncanillustrateaperson’sopen-mindedness.InChineseculture,peopledonotthinkmakingconcessionsmeansyouareweakerthanothers,butitrepresentsyouhaveastrongerheartthanothers.Forexample,IwatchedaninterviewaboutalovingcouplelastyearwhenIwasinChina.Thejournalistaskedthecouple,whycanyouloveeachotherforover50yearsandneversayyouwillleaveeachother?Thehusbandsaidthat,thekeyit’stomakesomeconcessionsinlife.“Whenmywifewantstoquarrelwithme,Ialwaysadmitmistakesfirst.Lifeisnotacompetitionthatonlyhaswinsandfailures,“hesaid”.EvenifIwinanargument,sowhat?Theonlyconsequence3isthatinducesmywifetogetupset.Moderationisnotonlyaattitudebutit’salsoalifestyle.Ifpeopleallpursuedso-calledsuccessexcessively,noonewouldbehappy.Present-TypesofCultureAsweallknowthatculturehasportrayedasignificantroleindifferentcountries.Differentcultureswillleadacountrytoadifferentwayofdevelopment.Nowadays,scholarshavedividedculturesintotwotypeswhicharecollectivismandindividualism.Westerncultureistypicalindividualculture,suchastheUnitedStatesandtheUnitedKingdom.Inindividualculturepeopleemphasizeselfandindividuals,soindividualisthecenterofindividualculture.Individualculturalfeaturesarepeoplemoredirectandexplicitwhentheyexpresstheirfeelingsandemotions.Ontheotherhand,incollectiveculturepeopleemphasizecollectiveandgroupbenefitsaremoreimportantthanindividuals.Incollectiveculturethatpeoplearemoreconcernedaboutothers’feelingsratherthanthemselves.Becauseofthisconcept,sowhentheytalktoothersthattheyaremoreimplicitandcareful.Whatever,whichcountrypeoplecomefromactuallytheyhavebeendeeplyinfluencedtheirthoughts,behaviorsandcommunicationwaysbytheirownculture.That’swhypeoplehavedifferentdefinitionsonthesamething.self-positioningThoughinmycountyadvocatescollectivism,Ipreferindividualism.Inmyopinion,peoplefirstshouldbeindividual,thentheyaregroups.Actually,4Chinesesocietyofdevelopmenthasprovedthatindividualismismoresuitableforcontemporarysociety.Theadvantagesofthecollectivismarepeople’saveragelifemightbemoreequalandpeopleliveincollectiveculturearemorethoughtful.Thedisadvantagesofcollectivearealsoveryconspicuous.Noteveryonedoesthesamework.Theaverageofworkingquantityisnotsameaswell.SomepeoplewillcompetewithothersthatwhyIdidmoreworkandgetthesamemoneywiththepeoplewhodidnotdoasmuchasIdid.InChina,thiskindofsituationwecall“DAGUOFAN”.Itmeanspeopleeatinthesamebowl.ThefactshavedemonstratedcollectivesocialsystemwaswrongintheChinesesocialdevelopmentbecauseinthatcollectivesystemperiod,peopleevencouldnotfullup.Actually,individualismfacilitatesChineseeconomicdevelopment.Chinahasbeguntodevelopsince30yearsago,becausetheChinesesecondpresidentDengXiaoPingwhobrokenthiscollectivesocialsystem.Hesaid,“wemustletsomeofpeopletohavemoneyfirstandletthosepeopletofacilitatesocialdevelopment”.Sincethen,Chineseconomicdevelopmenthasbeengettingfasterbecausehecutdownthese“redundantconceptualconfinements”ofChina.Collectivismlikesaropetiesonourbodieswithmorality,soitconstrainsourselves.Theonlythingthatweneedtodoistocutitoffandreleaseourselves.Peoplearebornforfreedomratherthantoberestrictedbecauseeveryoneisuniqueandequal.5AsIsaidbefore,Ialwaysbelieveeveryoneisequal,sowhenItalk