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The Xenophobe's Guide
to the Chinese
by Zhu Song
A guide to understanding the Chinese that provides an irreverent look
at the oriental outlook of the largest nation on earth.
| Inveterate inventors |
| The Chinese are inordinately proud of having invented, among a
whole host of other things, the compass (without which the world
would have got lost), paper (without which books would not exist),
the printing press (ditto), porcelain (no pretty matching chinaware),
silk (no decadence), pasta (what would the Italians eat?), the wheelbarrow
(how would civilisation have fared without it?) and the bristle
toothbrush. |
| How now re nao |
| To be re nao, or hot and noisy, is extremely desirable. This is
why the Chinese invented fireworks – life as they knew it simply
wasn’t hot and noisy enough. This is also why the ear-splitting
and body-swaggering lion dance is Chinese, rather than the comparatively
tranquil ballet. Can anyone who has witnessed the cacophonous spectacle
that is Peking opera doubt its quintessential Chinese-ness? Festivals
call for the loud clanging of cymbals and tooting of horns, and
traditional weddings are as red and raucous as church weddings are
white and hushed. Re nao represents life and vigour. |
| Slip of the tongue? |
| One of the worst insults for a Chinese is to be called a ‘banana’
– yellow on the outside, white on the inside. |
| Yes, no, maybe? |
| The words ‘Yes’ and ‘No’, crucial in other languages,
are not deemed so in Chinese. Instead the answer depends on the
verb used in the question. The reply to "Is she your daughter?"
is either "Is" or "Is not", and to "Have
you been to Disneyland?" is "Been" or "Not been".
This may seem simple enough, but beware when asking a negative question:
"That bag isn’t yours, is it?" will confusingly elicit
"Is, it isn’t" (yes it isn’t mine). |
| Character flaw |
| Chinese is one of the few languages where you can very easily be illiterate
even if you are fluent. The characters are notoriously hard to remember.
Learning them is a matter of rote and repetition until etched onto
the brain, and requires the daily exercise of the national mantra:
‘practice makes perfect’. |
| The Xenophobe's
Guide to the Chinese is exactly what it claims to be on its back cover, 'an irreverent
look at the beliefs and foibles of (the Chinese), almost guaranteed to cure xenophobia. |
| Catherine McKinley, China
in Focus |
| The book
proceeds like a meal of dim sum, a succession of piquant little items, light but
nourishing. The author is succinctly illuminating on the Chinese peculiarities
likely to be relevant to a foreigner - the remarks on 'modesty' should be read
weekly by Western linguists. | | The Spectator |
|
Xenophobe's of the world unite. There is hope that through these small but observant
books you may be able to overcome ingrained prejudice. |
| Gibraltar Chronicle |
|
Nationalism
& Identity
Character
Language & Conversation
Attitudes
and Values
Behaviour
Manners
Leisure & Pleasure
Sense of Humour
Culture
Eating & Drinking
Custom & Tradition
Health & Hygiene
Systems
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| Author:
Song,
Zhu |
| Format:
96
pages, pb |
| Published:
Coming Soon |
| Updated:
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| Price:
£4.99 |
| ISBN:
978-1-906042-26-4 |
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