Universal Cultural Systems & China

In his book The Cultural Dimension of International Business, Gary Ferraro states that all cultures of the world face a number of common problems and share a number of common features. These commonalities are referred to as "cultural universals." The five universal cultural systems that address the cultural universals are economic systems, social control, education, marriage and family systems and religion/superstition. This article will examine the cultural universal of education in China's Sichuan city of Fuling as portrayed by Peter Hessler in his account of his two years as an English teacher in said city.

Educational systems are a society's way of passing along to newer members the way of life of the society. Rightly so, Ferraro asserts that despite the common goal of educational systems the specific features of any given system can vary widely from culture to culture. I will attempt to describe education in Fuling, as a cultural universal, in the context of the three basic components of culture as described by Ferraro: things, ideas, and behavior patterns.

Things

Without a doubt, the things of education along the banks of the Yangtze river or among the "Old Hundred Names" are very different from the ones we're accustomed to - sampans, picks, shovels, sticks, buckets and other tools of survival. But the view of education we're exposed to more frequently in the text of River Town has more to do with the formal educational system seen in the Fuling Teachers College. In this setting, the things surrounding education in this particular culture are very familiar to us: a building dedicated for this purpose, desks, chairs, books, papers, chalkboards, administrative offices, dormitories, and more. From this perspective, the cultural universal of educational systems doesn't seem that different from our own here in the United States. Perhaps the biggest difference, in terms of things has more to do with the level of access to these things that ordinary people are able to achieve. More importantly, what access to these things truly means to people and the significance that lies therein is touching to say the least. The impact that access to formal education has on the children of farmers and peasants is remarkable. The weight it carries - it's not something that's taken for granted. When Peter Hessler asked one of his classes to write about the happiest day of their life, a student from a particularly poor part of the countryside wrote the following about the day he received notice about his admission to the college:

"On that day, I got up very early. As soon as I had breakfast, I went to the post office very quickly. I was very eager to see my score of entering college. The postman saw me coming toward him, so he shouted at me, "congratulations! This is your admission book." I caught it from his hand. I lifted it above my head. I shouted without consciousness, "I have succeeded at last!" At that time my happy tears came out of my eyes. This is the result that I worked hard for fifteen years. During fifteen years, I had studied very hard all the time. As a son of farmer, I wanted to go out of the countryside. It is the only way that I study harder than the people in city or town. I didn't disappoint the heavy expectation my parents and relatives had given. It was a turning point in my life. I can enter college to study a lot of knowledge. Thirty-first August 1994, I will never forget you. You are my happiest day of my life. You are what I got with my sweat and blood. "(p. 168)

Ideas

Ideas, in the Fuling Teachers College are not naturally occurring phenomena, but rather strict, hard facts passed on in an organized and repetitious fashion. Ideas that are not consistent and congruent with the ideologies that are taught are considered dangerous and are harshly rejected. In this particular culture, ideas are widely dominated by the political influences of the given moment. In this case, the ideas that students were brainwashed with were those of communist ideals and "socialism with Chinese characteristics." Formal education, in this sense, is the quintessential form of mind control. This idea of education as mind control is reinforced ironically in a conversation Hessler had with Ke Xianlong, an uneducated photographer. Hessler, surprised by the photographer's uncharacteristic political views mentions to him that nor the students or teachers at the Fuling Teachers College would agree with Xianlong's philosophies. Ke Xianlong responds that the students are too young to understand and too inexperienced. His remark about the teachers, however, is even more insightful. What he says, in a nut shell, is that the teachers have been brainwashed. "We Old Hundred Names can have our own ideas. I don't have to study that stuff they study in college." It was at this precise moment that Peter Hessler realized that as a thinking person, the photographer's lack of formal education was an advantage.

When Hessler comes across a student who does seem to have his own ideas, a boy named Rebecca, he is uncomfortable speaking with him behind closed doors. He is well-aware of the reputation this boy has for having his own "dangerous" ideas. Hessler's realization that the impotence behind those ideas will never bring about real change paired with his sympathy for the boy make for a poignant yet short relationship between the two. The long-tradition of mind-control in Fuling's educational system and the disapproval of individual ideas make the existence of people like Ke Xianlong and Rebecca both frustrating and futile.

Another idea about education as a cultural universal struck me as I read this book. The idea is one that I personally feel is truly universal across cultures and inevitable - even to the strictest communist Chinese teachers in Fuling. The cultural universal is the idea that teachers not only pass along information and ideas to their students, but that they also learn from them in one way or another. This is seen early on in Peter Hessler's classroom experiences, but is also evident in his later exchanges with his tutor, Teacher Liao.

Behavior Patterns

Most of the behavior patterns associated with education that were observed in this book were closely related to the underlying political control. It was evident from the very beginning of Hessler's contact with the students that political control was very tight and that politics and education were very closely tied together. Only those willing to follow the correct behavior patterns could hope to be academically successful. Free thinkers were not allowed to become teachers. The influence of free thought on education is prevented, as evidenced by Hessler's nervous attitude toward speaking with Rebecca about his thoughts. The restriction of free thought and expression in education was also confirmed in a conversation with a former biology student from Beijing. The young man explained how he was prevented from pursuing an academic career due to his involvement in political student demonstrations. Hessler noted that there is "a whole generation of young Chinese like this man, whose political record had pushed him to the relative freedom of business."(p. 117)

The influence of politics and mind control on behavior patterns in the context of education can also be seen in a conversation Hessler had with Teacher Kong about democracy:

"Our China is different from America, I think," he said. "The education level in America is higher. Most of the Chinese are peasants, and if they chose our leaders directly it would be dangerous, because anybody could lie to them, or trick them. China isn't ready for that yet. But that's just my opinion - I don't know if it's correct or not."(p. 142)

Aside from the behavior patterns that are directly influenced by politics, we also see behavior patterns between teachers and students that dominate the educational culture. Though it was obvious from the students' behavior from the beginning, that the relationship between teachers and students in China is very formal, it wasn't until his Chinese tutoring sessions commenced that Peter Hessler realized to what extent. He remarks that in China, a teacher is absolutely respected without question. The behavior patterns displayed by Hessler's students and his teachers demonstrated a culture in which "praise is meaningless."(p. 69) This behavior pattern and educational culture brought to mind the countless Chinese-American students I've come across in my academic career. It forced me to ponder their experience, and the culture clash they undoubtedly experienced - receiving praise and admiration from American teachers, only to hear "not good enough. Budui," at home. I suppose that realization brings the Chinese culture full-circle to blend in with American culture and it's wide and diverse sets of sub-cultures. I suppose that's a topic for a different article.