Chapter 3: Big Dyeing Vats

First of all, sorry this took so long!

In this chapter I’m going to be discussing some politics;l. While I don’t exactly believe that three months in China makes me qualified to write about Chinese politics, this is just what has been on my mind recently...

Chapter 3: Big Dyeing Vats

So, as I said in my last post, I feel quite comfortable talking to my host mother about a number of political topics that may be considered “sensitive” in China. I’ve spoken with her about 毛泽东 Máo Zé dōng, 习近平 Xí Jìn píng, China during the cultural revolution, the heavy-handed Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kong, and even Taiwan has come up once or twice. Likewise, we also discuss some American political topics, particularly two of the most internationally famous topics currently surrounding the US: guns, and Donald Trump.

However before I get into this, I’m going to say right now, this will not be about Donald Trump.

First, let’s begin with what it has been like living in China in general. Overall, life is actually quite comfortable. While there are more people, and things may not be quite as developed where I am (it’s difficult to speak for the entire country when there are also places like 广州 Guǎng zhōu and 上海 Shàng hǎi), I’ve observed that people are generally more laid-back. 

Yes, when it comes to crowds and traffic, things can get more aggressive and pushy. For instance, when I’m going to or from school, I not only have to avoid getting hit by cars, but also by the countless mopeds that drive both on the street and on the sidewalk. In fact, the divisions between parking lots and sidewalks are usually nonexistent, so I also occasionally have to stop for cars on the sidewalk! In addition, there are also all the other people trying to get to school/work/wherever it is they need to be, so usually when it comes to boarding a vehicle like a bus or train or boat, lines mean almost nothing; it essentially comes down to who can push their way in first. 

Despite all this, it seems that people here just enjoy life, which is something that I rarely see back home. When I simply walk along the street, all I see is people hanging out, having a snack, smoking a cigarette, maybe playing cards or a game of 麻将 má jiàng while they watch their kids run around and play. Also, at night when I’m out walking around I never feel worried that I’ll get mugged or kidnapped; my host mother even told me that there’s nothing to worry about here. In this regard, China is actually remarkably safe, and I would like to get into maybe why that is...

In my first week here, I distinctly remember my host mother telling me “China must have a powerful central government. If the government did not have as much power, with all of its 56 different ethnic groups, the country would fall apart. Historically, China has always been this way...” When she told me this, I suddenly realized that I, and most westerners, have a horrendously poor understanding of China. I think I can speak for most Americans when I say that before I came here I thought ‘Oh, China has a big, oppressive government. The people there are not as free as we are.’ And while yes, there is evidence to support that claim, I’m beginning to realize that that is not entirely the case.

I believe that the definition of “freedom” all boils down to the culture of a society. Lately I’ve been periodically checking Quora, an online forum where people can openly ask and answer questions of any nature, and although I would not say it is the most scholarly source of information, I do often find quite thought-provoking arguments that support my conclusion.

One argument that I have actually seen a number of times is that “China is more free than the US.” Absurd? I thought so too, at first. Then I began reading, and I realized that in some ways it is actually true! When it comes to many large-scale freedoms, like the right to vote and freedom of speech, I would say the US is still a much “freer” country. However, when it comes to industry and everyday things, I would say people in China are freer to do what they want. For example, if you’re a student under the age of 18 and you want to buy your own motor-bike to get to school on, you most likely won’t get into any trouble!(even though you should be at least 18 to drive one) Or you can also create a phone company that’s a blatant knock-off of Apple, call it “Oppo,” build it up to be one of the largest phone manufacturers in China, and nobody will stop you! This is because there is very little regulation in China in the way of production and small-scale civil activity. On the other hand, in the US, Oppo does not exist, nor can it ever, because our copyright laws are so strictly enforced that Apple would immediately be able to shut it down. Nor can you easily find yourself passing under the moving claw of a bulldozer because construction zones are usually fenced-off and guarded, which here is only sometimes the case. 

However, as a society I feel people are more free to be who they want to be in the US. For example, my host mother is a stay-at-home mom, while my host father is usually away for work. One time my host mother even said to me about my host father, “He does not manage anything that goes on at home.” Although, she didn’t mean this critically, rather she was just saying matter-of-factly that his job is to manage his work, not his home. The point where I could sense that there are some societal pressures for men and women to fill these roles was when my host mother said, “This is how it should be. A wife should stay at home, cook and clean so her husband can relax after a hard day at work, and so she can look over her child’s studies.” There’s even a name for this: 相夫教子 xiāng fū jiāo zǐ, which has been translated to “assist one’s husband and teach one’s children.” Essentially, this is the role of a “good wife” in traditional Chinese culture. After she told me this. I then asked her what if the woman went out to work while her husband stayed at home, to which she responded, “Then that man would be considered lazy.” By mentioning this, I do not mean to say my host parents were forced into these roles by society. In fact, before she started a family my host mother had a very successful career, once managing her own hotel; but, when my host brother was born, she chose to give that up, and to instead stay at home and take care of him. Yet, I still sense this aspect of society is less rigid back in the US, as my whole life I’ve been raised by a working mother and almost all of my friends’ mothers work as well, and here it seems that many mothers stay at home.

There are many other societal pressures that I’ve noticed here that I don’t feel are quite as prevalent in the US. Even I feel it sometimes when I go to my host mother saying I’m nervous for a race coming up at school and she responds, “You’re a boy, you shouldn’t be nervous.” Another thing is that teens aren’t allowed to date until high school, and this expectation extends so far that students can even get into trouble with the school if it finds out two kids are in a relationship Besides these, homosexuality still appears to be misunderstood, and is often used as a punchline in jokes, so it doesn’t seem to openly exist as much here as it does in the States yet. Black people are generally misunderstood as well, and are also the victims of many jokes. The pictures below are from a post on shadow puppets I found on a popular social media platform called 微博 Wēi bó. In the first picture, there is a shadow of a person’s face with distinctly African features, and above it is titled “black person.” However, in the second picture there is an image of a persons face with distinctly white-European features, and above it is simply titled “person’s head.” 

15. Labeled “black person”

9. Labeled “person’s head”

Although, despite seeing this I personally can’t speak on if there’s any racial discrimination against black people. Of course, I’ve lived in the liberal bubble of the Twin Cities all my life, so I can’t actually speak for the entire US when I say our society is “freer” in some of these aspects; nor can I speak for all of China as I’ve only spent three months in one city of two million, in a country of over a billion people and more than three thousand years of history.

But this all boils down to how your society defines “freedom.” In Western culture, individual freedoms reign king, and if you’re not able to be your own individual and follow your own ambitions, then you’re not “free.” Chinese culture on the other hand is not as individualistic, with the ambitions of the collective prioritized, not of the individual. This, first of all, makes China a perfect candidate for a socialist society (although it’s arguable how “socialist” China is these days). Another thing is that here “freedom” means peace and stability, which is why my host mother said having a powerful central government is so vital. By taking away some individual liberties given to citizens in Western democracies (such as the freedom of speech and the right to vote) the Chinese Communist Party is able to provide another version of “freedom,” one that is not known to the Western world.

Let’s look at how guns play into this. The topic of guns is actually the reason why I decided to write about politics, because I think it describes the most fundamental difference between our societies’ attitudes towards how a nation should be governed. In the US, any average citizen can own and carry a gun (or even guns), whereas in China you may only carry a gun if you’re a police officer or in the military, but even then their usage is strictly regulated. To people in China, it’s obvious why guns are prohibited. What’s not so obvious to them is why guns are permitted in the US, especially when within about a month’s time their news is blasted with stories of not only one, but two devestating mass shootings that occurred in the US. The reason for the US’s “right to bear arms” is rooted in a cultural fear of being ruled by an oppressive government. During the American Revolution, citizen guns were used to form militias to overthrow the rule of what they felt was a tyrannical British monarchy. The purpose of adding the Bill of Rights to the Constitution was to keep the new federal government from becoming too powerful; and The Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, was included so that if the federal government were to become too powerful, then the people would be able to form militias to oppose it, just as they had during the Revolution. China, on the other hand, doesn’t have this problem; if the government is powerful and sturdy, there is no reason to form militias as it means the country is stable and secure. Not to mention, if civilians could carry guns, it could lead to more domestic disturbances such as crime and terrorism, thus promoting chaos, which is feared in Chinese society. Therefore, guns in the US caters to the Western definition of “freedom,” in that it keeps the people free from restrictive governments and protects individual freedoms, while banning guns in China fits Chinese “freedom” by maintain peace and safety.

What’s been bothering me about all of this is the fact that lately I’ve been seriously questioning what makes the US any better than China? Since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed how the people here feel safer; how they can walk the streets late at night worry-free; how they they consider the US a dangerous place to live because of our gun violence. This is the question that’s really been on my mind: is it safer to live in China than the US? I cannot yet answer this, but at the moment it seems very possible that the answer might be “yes.”

Instead of finding an answer, the conclusion I have come to is this: there is too much concern over who is doing things “right.” In the US, many people are convinced that Socialism/Communism is evil, and because China calls itself “socialist” with its single-party rule, and it’s blocking of any hint of dissent online and in the media, it is “totalitarian” or “oppressive.” Meanwhile in China, people hear about a shooting that happens in Las Vegas where about 60 or more people are killed; and then they start to think of how in the US you can’t even go to a concert and enjoy some music without someone shooting at you from a high-rise building; and the next thing you know you’re sitting next to some guy on the bus who calls your home country a 大染缸 dà rǎn gāng (“big dyeing vat”= a harmful, polluting environment) as he waves his hand around in the shape of a gun; and then another time someone’s telling you how “you must feel much safer here than you do in the US”... I hear so much criticism coming from both sides, the US and China, and I just say to myself, “What does it matter?” Seriously! What do you care if they block Google on the other side of the world? What do you know about feeling safe in a place that’s thousands of miles away from you? Every country has its own methods if governing. Just because another person’s country does things differently from your own, that does not automatically mean they’re government is poorly designed or improperly run. What it can mean is that each way is better suited for different people. Until you go to another country, live there for a period of time, and get a real understanding of what life there is like, then you can finally decide which type of government better suits you.