Session 1

[Zoey McKinney]

Dr. Yan's lecture challenged my beliefs about societal structure in modern China. I certainly associate Chinese culture with patriarchy and familism, but I see now how that idea is based on my knowledge of China's traditions. Chinese culture is certainly steeped in those ideas, but I was unaware of how these have been changing since the turn of the twentieth century. A point that was particularly interesting to me was that one might find those traditions better preserved in Chinese societies outside of mainland China. It certainly makes sense to me that people in Taiwan, Singapore, the U.S., etc. would go to extra lengths to maintain and pass on their culture as they knew it, for fear of losing it. On the other hand, people in China would not feel as pressured to preserve their culture, since it is all around them. This can relate to my students since most of them are first or second generation Americans, with the majority of their parents coming from Iran or East Asia. How do we reconcile the culture that we (or our parents) left behind with the culture that has been evolving ever since?