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German traits similar to China's Confucian virtues
By Nicole Nierrad-Schalke |
April 9, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
STEREOTYPES make life easier by reducing the complex social environment into categories. So what do Chinese people think about Germany and "the" German character, if it really exists?
The interest of Germans in their foreign perception appears to be enormous. Especially, the interest in the Chinese image of Germany continues to grow along with an increase in bilateral cultural and economic cooperation between the two nations.
Four main images of the German character exist all over the world: the militarist, the (Bavarian) beer drinker in leather trousers, the accurate engineer and the corpulent, wealthy German.
These stereotypes can be found in China too. But Chinese people tend to regard Germans more as a role model of efficiency, effort, self-confidence, seriousness, sense of duty, and politeness.
One reason may be that these special German characteristics are very similar to Confucian virtues and are important for Chinese society even today.
German culture and history may not be the main focus of Chinese perception. Nevertheless the demand for cross-cultural exchange and German-Chinese dialogue is growing in China, which bodes well for German culture scholars.
(Nicole Nierrad-Schalke,Nanjing)
The interest of Germans in their foreign perception appears to be enormous. Especially, the interest in the Chinese image of Germany continues to grow along with an increase in bilateral cultural and economic cooperation between the two nations.
Four main images of the German character exist all over the world: the militarist, the (Bavarian) beer drinker in leather trousers, the accurate engineer and the corpulent, wealthy German.
These stereotypes can be found in China too. But Chinese people tend to regard Germans more as a role model of efficiency, effort, self-confidence, seriousness, sense of duty, and politeness.
One reason may be that these special German characteristics are very similar to Confucian virtues and are important for Chinese society even today.
German culture and history may not be the main focus of Chinese perception. Nevertheless the demand for cross-cultural exchange and German-Chinese dialogue is growing in China, which bodes well for German culture scholars.
(Nicole Nierrad-Schalke,Nanjing)
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