Book Review: Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for Americans

Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for Americans was written by Hu Wenzhong and Cornelius L. Grove. The book takes the two perspectives of the authors, one an American and one Chinese, to help explain the ways of the people of China, so that they can be better understood from an American perspective. Merely explaining the customs of the Chinese to an outsider would be superficial. To really understand where the Chinese are coming from and how it affects their beliefs and rituals in everyday life, one must be able to relate and understand why it is they do what they do. This book does a beautiful job at detailing every aspect of Chinese life and creating a way to help the outside reader grasp Chinese culture.

The book is a great tool for someone who will be taking a trip or perhaps going to live in China and has no idea what to expect. I found it very helpful to understand the ways of the traditional Chinese people that I've encountered here in California. The book is careful to point out the differences between the two, and explains differences between the older and newer generations of Chinese people. Wenzhong and Grove point out many different aspects important in Chinese culture, a huge one being respect. They write on situations in which respect can be extremely important and explain customs so that Americans can treat each carefully as to not show disrespect in any way. The book touches on conversational restrictions in China and how they differ from those in the United States. The authors explain that in China it is very common for women to be asked their age, even by complete strangers, and that talking about anything sexual is extremely forbidden and looked down upon. The authors go into greetings and farewells, and explain common Chinese sayings equivalent to "hey" and "how are you?" in English. They write that meals are extremely symbolic, and with each food comes a greater meaning such as prosperity, luck, or good health. The book explains how and why Chinese give gifts to one another, and says that "used" items are not considered second-hand or worthless in any way to the Chinese, but instead very valuable.

Of fundamental importance is the background information on the Chinese way of life that the authors give at the beginning of the book. Every Chinese belongs to four primary groups. The authors identify these groups as family, school, work unit, and local community. It is within these primary groups that individuals live their daily lives and from which they draw their most significant personal relationships.

Three fundamental values of the Chinese can be seen in and operating within these primary groups. Collectivism, in which "individuals subordinate their own personal goals to that of the collective group", is one of the fundamental values that the authors mention. This is opposed to individualism, in which the goals of individuals take priority over the goals of the group. The second fundamental value is large power distance. Power distance refers to an unequal distribution of power among individuals in institutions and organizations, resulting in a hierarchy. In Chinese society, the people accept this unequal distribution of power. This is reflected in the respect that the people have for age, seniority, rank, males, and family background. The third fundamental value is harmony within groups and avoiding overt conflicts in interpersonal relationships. The Chinese place prime importance on this third fundamental value. These three fundamental values play a vital role in the lives of the Chinese who experience life in the primary groups that they belong to. The authors successfully attempt to interpret the reasons for Chinese behavior, and at times relate the three fundamental values to the topics of Chinese culture that they treat, giving the reader an idea of how much these values influence the behavior of the Chinese.

I found Encountering the Chinese to be extremely informative and helpful in my ability to get a better understanding of Chinese culture. The book helped to break down the barriers that naturally come when an American tries to understand a culture of which they have no direct involvement with for an extended period of time. The two perspectives of the authors increased my knowledge and capacity to understand and relate to a culture that was previously foreign to me on many levels.