Chinese Cultural Traditions and Modernization - Personal Statement Example

Lecturer: presented: The sun had just risen, casting a golden blanket over the land, but even the beauty of nature was swept away when my eyes drifted down to the valley. Last summer my father and I went on a journey deep into the vast western plains of China. We were headed for a remote countryside village where my father used to work as a farmer and a primary school teacher. That area had always been callous to the inhabitants; for months storms and floods would endlessly batter the town and when they subsided in came the scorching heat that rendered outdoor work intolerable. When we finally arrived at the village, the first sight we saw was the poor countryside filled with small thatched cottages scattered across the foot of a huge mountain. "The life did not seem to change much in these years, unlike other parts of China", said my dad. We walked for an hour and finally came to the school where he used to teach. I was taken aback for it was merely two simple rooms, one for the classroom and another for the teachers living quarter. The classroom had a lecture desk in the center surrounded by three rows of students one for each year. It was about lunch time when we arrived, so I saw students storming into the kitchen where they could warm their homemade meals. My curiosity arose when I noticed that the boys’ lunch boxes contained some salted vegetables and rice, but most girls only had rice. I asked my dad quietly why the food was different for boys and girls. He replied "some families still have views of valuing men over women"; then he added "it is at least better than the times when we had no food". Life seemed so harsh for the villagers but as I turned around, a group of children were dancing blissfully around my dad. I found it hard to believe that they seem to cherish life a great deal more than people who could have anything they wanted. One of the chief purposes of coming here was to accomplish a bridge building project. Every morning, a teacher had to carry the children, one by one, across the river. However, in the flood season, the river could unexpectedly become much higher. This was a place where children died almost every year. So my father went to many places to get consultation and donation to build the bridge. I was part of the team that worked on gauging the building stone with respect to the design drawing. It was a painstaking process, but nothing was easy to carry out in the nature of that terrain. When we went to the village we were warmly greeted. The villagers talked and shared stories of the past with us. Then when it was about time to leave I felt reluctant so I asked my dad if we can stay overnight. My dad was startled and said "You can stay, but remember it is not a hotel". The most memorable item in the room was also the only one; it was a straw mattress with florid painted edges. The walls of the room were baked as if a chef had purposely done it to give the room a singed texture. Surprisingly it felt serene to live in a place poles apart from what I was used to. Night comes much earlier in the countryside than it does in the city. Many villagers and their kids came to our room. Somehow late at night there still were a few children who still didnt seem to want to leave from our room. We waited for a long time; however they still hung around so we asked them politely to leave. One of boys finally said "the candy you gave me was very tasty". I suddenly remembered I did give them some candies and I still had some left over. From their expression I could feel the craving. They indirectly asked, by saying "it was very tasty". Right away I gave them all the candies I had and they soon dispersed blissfully into the night. That night was coarse and my room seemed to shake at the sudden gusts of wind. My dad was already asleep but I could not for I kept thinking of the boy who asked me for candies and the bridge building project. In the morning of the second day, we visited a few families and said farewells. When we were about leave from village, I suddenly saw a boy running to me. I recognized him as the boy whom I gave the candy to last night; he said “Sorry we dont have anything for you to take home but here are some wild flowers." In my heart I said, “You have given me a lot”. The sun looked majestic from the pane; I only wish to be a part of the sun that lights up every corner of the world. I was engulfed by feelings of separation from a community that I was beginning to develop a great deal of interest in. “why is there a great difference between this place and where I belong? I would think over and over again. I came to the realization that much has not yet been discovered around this place. I strongly believed that I had the power to change things, so long as I knew what they were. However, I knew little regarding this place, a fact that made me think of coming back at one time to establish the cause of the great disparity between the people from this region and those from my home country. In essence, I conceptualized the idea of coming back in future to undertake research regarding humanistic issues. I felt that this could help me to understand better the society living in this poor region as well as to realize what to expect in case of such an experience in future. After our arrival back home, I did not reveal my dreams of going back to the village to my father. I had to relax for several days from my normal duties. That is when I felt the real impulse to understand the background of the community which we had gone to assist with my father. For a start, I embarked on reviewing the literature of the Chinese people living in the western plains. In my research, I realized that with the believe amongst the locals that they are the middle kingdom, that is, the core of the universe, there is a likelihood of the feeling of superiority in regard to ethical and divine principles and the sense of decency, regardless of the problems that they would be undergoing at any particular time. I realized that if at one time I will get back to the community, it would be important to understand that the people have a culture of humility, endurance, self-importance and high regard for traditions (Wang 1997 p 63). I also came to understand that in any negotiations that I would have to engage in with the community, I would expect other qualities associated with the culture of this region of China. Since culture is a long term issue, its influence on negotiations meant to that the outcome would be long-term. This was a brilliant realization, since I really wanted to establish a lasting relationship with the community, in order to accomplish the desired goals. This was enhanced by the fact that the members of this community usually focused on establishing relationships with people from outside their own habitation, whom they believed would bring with them new ideologies that could help them out of their daily predicaments. Indeed, I would make a real good associate to the community since I was willing to help them out of their problems, but for the fact that I did not know exactly what their expectations were, or what they intended to be in future. However, this rested in the research that I aspired to undertake once I got back to the community. I believed I would understand more regarding the community, a development that would enable me to offer valuable assistance to the people, especially women and children. I also realized that they attached more value to their principles than they do for money or other benefits (Wang 1997 p 67). Their principles included hospitality to visitors in the community, whom they believed would bring knew knowledge regarding how to deal with the perennial problems of drought and malnutrition. I knew that to effectively assist these people, all situations needed to be handled carefully, considering all the aspects of their culture that formed the fundamentals of their actions and living styles. I had the strength and the will to embark on my research, and financial support was not a problem since my father hand already set a good track record in the effective utilization of funds meant to assist the community, in which case I was always part of the implementation team. With this understanding, socially responsible organizations would be willing to fund my initiative. However, there was an issue that arose in my research regarding the community in particular social matters that I could neither understand, nor want to be part of. It took several months to prepare and solicit enough funds to facilitate my research in this remote part of China. I knew it would be tough to spend several months away from my usual place of residence, but my desire to know more regarding the community, and also to accomplish the most valuable thing, which was to assist the community out of the problems that was affecting them. I understood that it would be difficult, but I believed that with the help of donors and well wishers, I would be successful. My never to be forgotten experience began when I set off to the village. On arrival, I had to look for a place to spend the night as well as a find a person who would serve as a guide in the days that ensued. There were no hotels or lodgings where I could find visitors like myself or conditions similar to the ones that I was used to back home. I had to spend the night in a particular homestead that belonged to one of the villagers, who would later guide me throughout my stay in this isolated area. We spent the night in a dark hut that served as a kitchen as well as the sleeping room. My host told me that visitors used to sleep in such a hut. Looking above, I could see the brightly shinning moon through gaps on the roof, which my host informed me, had been caused by heavy downpours that the village had experienced in the previous month. By the look of the surroundings during the day, I had noted that there were signs of draught and dryness, since the farms were bare at a time when many other places in China were harvesting. From my little knowledge that was acquired in my short literature review regarding this community, I remembered the need to be patient; hence I would not begin being too inquisitive immediately. There was need to establish a relationship with my new friends, and understand each other so that I could learn from them. The dawn of the following day began with a distress call from the neighborhood. I was almost getting worried when my partner muttered something like “another one is gone”. He explained to me that people were starving to death in the village due to lack of food to eat or water to drink. Now I realized that before I could succeed in anything else, I had to help them to deal with the starvation that was facing the community. As we moved around, the few snacks that I had brought for my days out got finished the first day. I just wondered if I too will become part of the community and die of starvation. There was no where to rest and eat since people were hungry and all we carried every day for our lunch had to be shared. I began my research without exposing my intentions. There was a time that I learnt a lot regarding the community’s culture. However, to my friend, revealing some of the cultural principles to an outsider was considered an abomination to the community. But on my side, I knew that culture was interrelated with the problems that the community was facing. For example, I learnt from my guide that there was a god of the rain and a god of the sun. The god of the sun was more superior to the god of the rain. After torrential rainfall the water would be allowed to move beyond the boundaries of the community as fast as possible or else the god of the sun would be angry and bring draught. Some of the problems I realized were out of ignorance, while others were mainly due to believes and strong traditions, which no one was known to have argued against. But I had to act in order to bring the community to understand that their own culture and traditions are the causes of the problems. For example, instead of allowing rain water to flow in the river to cause dangerous overflow that would lead to loss of lives and property, I had to let the people know that this was not a factor to associate with gods. The water could be harvested and used during the dry season for livestock and agriculture. This became my major objective after remaining in the village for 3 weeks. I also learnt that there were no hospitals, which made the pregnant women and children vulnerable to diseases. The first action to undertake was to approach the local leaders and talk over this issue. My earlier research regarding the community helped me to handle issues that arose in my discussions with the community leaders. However, at a certain point, I was summoned and given an admonition regarding my activities in the village, which the leaders said were conducted behind their back. I understood that this was an issue that I had overlooked. From then I would seek permission even to visit the most explicit community sites. The leaders came to understand that I was not there as an intruder, but rather as a source of new ideologies. My ideas made them to apologize for the warning they had given me earlier and they agreed to mobilize the locals for a meeting, in which I would lead. While in the meeting, I was flabbergasted by the talented traditional dancers who thrilled every one. I almost called my friends back home to come and witness the undiscovered potential of a dying community due to starvation and malnutrition. However, I had to stick to my objective of ensuring that the people understood the need for harvesting rain water. The driving force towards implementing this decision was that signs of rain were evident, and I would not wait to see all that water getting lost through flooding. But I never forgot the idea of cultural tourism that could be a source of income to the community. The most difficult part was the fact that few people around this region understood English. Even the leaders had problems communicating, but my self appointed guide would translate. Now I had a good chance of meeting most of the community members at a common place. I explained in detail regarding the importance of water harvesting, and the various ways of doing it. I learnt that the points were clear due to the manner in which the crowd reacted towards my long presentation. I had made clear illustrations through drawings, and hence the interpreter had an easy time elaborating facts. There were many positive interruptions as people sought clarification, which gave me the power to continue. While in the middle of the presentation, I noted the boy whom I had given biscuits during my first visit. I knew he was longing for the time that I would notice him and offer some more biscuits. That is when I remembered to highlight the issues of hunger and malnutrition. I informed the audience that harvesting rain water would mean the end of all their food problems. At this point, there was an applause that made me believe that the sensitization meeting was successful. The leaders led the planning stage whereby they organized the digging of a dam in the village, as well as trenches on the farms to hold the run off. They also agreed to plant trees in order to improve the local climate. Each farmer was required to plant at least twenty trees along trenches dug on the farm. A committee was selected to oversee the implementation of the agreement. I remained in the village to witness the accomplishment of my objective. I knew that I had a lot to narrate to my people back home, and that they would be pleased once they came to the village to see how my initiative worked for the community. The rains began in three weeks after the digging of trenches and the dam. Trees were to be planted immediately it started to rain. I was somehow worried since my finances were dwindling, but I could not afford to leave before witnessing the great transformation of the village. The onset of the rains was highly anticipated in the community. I learnt from the community that the rains that fell were unusual. I observed the dam filling in a few days, but the most encouraging thing was that the river did not flood. I left the village a happy man, only to revisit three months later to find that the villagers had plenty of water to use in spite of the scorching sun. The farms had crops growing, which indicated that there was enough moisture. In this visit I brought along friends from home to be entertained by the locals as they celebrated the end of hunger and Starvation. My friends offered to support the traditional dancers with some funds to establish an enterprise involving cultural tourism. This was one of my greatest achievements since I completed my education, which had a great impact on me, since I realized that I can transform communities for better lifestyles through ideas, and I will always look for a chance to do so. References Wang M. Chinese Cultural Traditions and Modernization, Council for Research in Values, 1997 Read More