菊与刀英文读书报告.doc

Book-report of The Chrysanthemum and the SwordChina is not the only country in the east. When the sun arises, the first country to see it is Japan, our neighbor. Most Chinese are ill disposed towards Japanese because of their invasion in history, their denial of history, their ambition in Diaoyu Island. It seems that out of these reasons, between Japanese and Chinese, there is ice that will never melt and oceans cannot be crossed. However, do we genuinely know well about this neighbor? As Chinese, have we ever tried to observe and analyze this country objectively? Actually, answers to these two questions are the same: no.Consequently, we choose a classic book studying Japanese culture and character, hiding behind their lifestyle, entitled The Chrysanthemum and the Sword written by a well-known American anthropologist Ruth Benedict.Introduction of the author Ruth Benedict (June5, 1887-September17, 1948) was an American anthropologist and folklorist. She was born inNew York City, and attendedVassar Collegeand graduated in 1909. She entered graduate studies at Columbia University in 1919, receiving herPhDand joining the faculty in 1923.Benedict held the post of President of theAmerican Anthropological Associationand was also a prominent member of the American Folklore Society. She became the first woman to be recognized as a prominent leader of a learned profession. Among her works, Patterns of Culture and The Chrysanthemum and the Sword are the most famous.Background In June of 1944, America has captured Okinawa. World War II was approaching the end, but American politicians not fully understood Japanese culture and the way Japanese think. So Americans didnt know how to deal with Japan. In reality, two major questions appeared at that time. Would Japanese government surrender? Should the US government abolish the Emperor and then reform Japan into a democratic country? So they needed detailed information about Japaneses instinct, value orientation and customs. TheU.S. Government recruited a group of cultural anthropologists to work on war-related research and consultation about how to handle Japan afterWorld War II, among which Benedict was the leading one.The research methods author usedThe fact that the US and Japan were at war inevitably meant a disadvantage. The author had to give up the most important technique: field survey. She could not go to Japan and live in their homes and watch the strains and stresses of daily life, see with her own eyes. Instead, she interviewed Japanese in America who were reared in Japan, the vast literature on the Japanese and many good oriental observers who had lived in Japan. She also watched movies as well as made great effort to integrate massive daily life and custom details into a whole cultural system which, to some extent, build up Japanese general and common personalities. Whats more, Benedict made full use of comparison method. She compared Japanese with Chinese and Westerners especially Americans. For instance, if a Japanese man can afford it he keeps a mistress but he does not add to his family this woman who has caught his fancy; American condemnation of suicide makes self-destruction only a desperate submission to despair, but the Japanese respect for it allows it to be an honorable and purposeful act.From what we have discussed above, we can easily find that the methods she used are worth learning but the results of Benedicts research may not be credible and convincing enough. Her study didnt take peoples age, occupations, social class, gender, and Japanese complicated history into account. Besides, it has been more than 50 years since the book was published so countless changes happened in Japan. In that, we shall not regard this book as a Bible and believe everything concluded in book. On the contrary, we should alert the shortages in case that misunderstanding generates.The structure of the bookHierarchy and influence of itHierarchy is an arrangement of social classes. Everybody belonged to his own class. The highest level was the Emperor, the second was shogun, the third level is daimio which referred to vassals and the lowest level is the civilians. In Japan, take ones proper station is a good example of hierarchy and it displays in the family, the society, and international relations.First, the hierarchal arrangements affected their family life. It means every single person would take his own proper station according to generation, sex, and age within his family. The hierarchy in the family as follows: the wife bows to her husband, the child bows to his father, younger brother bows to elder brother, the sister bows to all her brothers of whatever age. Secondly, Japan is still a hierarchal society now, although it has been westernized in the past decades of years. All greetings and all interpersonal relations must indicate the kind and degree of social distance between men. Every time a man says Eat or Sit down, he uses different words if he is addressing someone familiar or is speaking to an inferior or to a superior. There is a different you that must be used in each different case and the verbs have different stems. The Japanese have, in other words, what is called a respect language.Thirdly, the Japanese also used hierarchy to think about the international relations. In their opinions, the world would involve in anarchy as long as every nation had absolute sovereignty. Consequently, it was necessary for Japan to establish a hierarchy worldwideJapan on the highest level. They thought they had obligation to help weak country like China. And in order to build Greater East Asia, Japanese people should eliminate the threats from the United States, Britain and Russia. And then they would help every part of the world takes its proper place, fixed in an international hierarchy.In conclusion, this sort of ancient hierarchy thing is abnormal in some degree, it twisted Japanese national character. In modern society, hierarchy still exists in some fields, but not very severe and fierce.Comparison between ancient Chinese values and Japanese valuesAlthough the author didnt mention much historical details in her book, but we all know that in 7th century, Japan ever sent envoys to the Tang Dynasty to observe and imitate culture especially our feudal system and educational scheme. It is not difficult to see certain same concepts both in Chinese culture and Japanese culture such as jen, chu, ko and on. Jen means benevolence. Chu means loyalty, and while ko means to be obedient to patents. On represents kindness and favor you received. These concepts in our two countries are both similar and different.Chinese postulated an overriding virtue which is a condition of loyalty and filial piety. It was a condition upon which ones loyalty was predicated. Almost everything Occidentals mean by good interpersonal relationships can be called Jen. However, Jen was never be accepted by Japanese. In their eyes, nothing was allowed to occupy higher estate than the Emperor, so Jen couldnt overmatch chu. Doing Jen was used another sense of outside the law. Chu in ancient China was conditional. One should be loyal to his emperor only under the circumstance that his emperor was doing jen. If not, it was righteous of people to rebel against him. But Japanese held the opposed ideas. They advocated submitting to the Emperor unconditionally. No matter what the Emperor asked him to do, he mustnt refuse.Being similar to Chu, Ko was conditional in ancient China but unconditional in Japan. Ko, filial piety became in Japan a duty one had to fulfill even if it meant condoning a parents vice and injustice. It could be abrogated only if it came into conflict with ones obligation to the Emperor. Whats more, even until now, Japanese do not value piety except to those remembered in the flesh and they concentrate on the here and now. They limits the obligation of ko among living persons. Nevertheless, we Chinese encompass the line of ancestors for centuries back and the vast proliferating living clan descended from them.Therefore, Chu, Ko and Jen all existed in two countries but were distinctive. Hierarchy influenced Japanese too deeply.Last but not the least, two nations concepts of on which didnt change from the past until now, are same in some aspects and differ from each other. If Chinese and Japanese got favor and kindness from others, both of them will try to repay it. Nevertheless, the Japanese regard it as a debt; under no circumstance could a person not to pay it. Generally speaking, Chinese will not treat on as a debt, but Japanese already make it a burden. Because of the shame culture, they may feel ashamed if the debt is not paid.Table 1 Differences between Chinese and Japanese valuesChineseJapaneseJenAn overriding virtue;The condition of loyalty and pietyNot accepted;Racketeering and gangsterdom.ChuconditionalunconditionalKoconditional;encompass ancestors for centuries.unconditional;value families they rememberOnBe thankful and try to return is ok.A debt and an obligation.Table 2 Similarities between Chinese and Japanese valuesChineseJapaneseJenNo similarity.ChuA basic quality people should have.KoTreat your parents well.OnShould return if you accept others kindness.Comparison between shame culture and quilt cultureBenedict defines Japanese unique culture as shame Culture. This culture is, to some extent, a kind of mentality that depends on suppression of outside. It means that the Japanese people wont feel guilty when they made some mistakes as long as nobody finds out. When Japanese are still children, their parents particularly their mothers often laugh at them or threaten to abandon them in order to make them face everything maturely. Due to that, when they had grown up, they are scared to be contemned. Besides, because of that, Japanese regard reputation as a value and think highly of fame. So they hate to be disgraced. Thats how their personalities shaped and then the nation cultureshame culture comes into being.After the World War ,because they lacked enough international suppression, they appeared to be not guilty when they faced the history that they had aggressed some countries such as China, Vietnam. They refused to apologize to these victim countries. They thought apology may damage their reputation and make them lose face. Whats more, because of Shame Culture, Japanese dont like to fall behind others and try their best to do everything, leading to economic growth. Different from the Japanese, Occidentals grow up under the nurture of Quilt Culture. Quilt Culture is related to religion. The theory comes from original sin written by a western Christian theologian. Original Sin says that everyone has shortcomings, which means no one is perfect. Therefore, they need to repent to the god who controls the whole nature. Westerners live according to absolute moral in their hearts. They feel guilty after introspecting themselves, and then repent.An individual lives in Quilt Culture society will be remorseful for doing something incorrect. Though he repent, he knows that his remorse actually couldnt be eliminated by repent, which accounts for his continuous guilty in mind. A good representation is that, after the World War , Germany chancellor even kneeled down before the Jewish Martyrs Monument to repent. Benedictr just introduced us these two kinds of culture but not judge which one is better. However, we tend to support the Quilt Culture. Admitting faults we have made is a basic quality we should have.What good qualities we can emulateWe are expected to have a great mans breadth vision and try to acknowledge that the Japanese people have some strong points worthy of emulation.Firstly, they have good concepts of gratefulness. They take on as an obligation, a duty. In their opinion, one should go to great length to pay the obligation. As their common saying has it: “One never returns one ten-thousandth of an on.” It will be beneficial to us to learn to be thankful. Secondly, their philosophy of learning from the strong is what we can use for reference. Because of the special geography condition; Japan is an island on the Pacific and Russia and China, two powerful countries are its neighbors; Japanese have a strong sense of crisis and awareness of invading other countries which aims to acquire what they lack. So they have strong willing to be mighty, they adore the strong, they learn characters, architectures and life styles from ancient China and industrialized Western countries.Something really rare and commendable is that they not only learn from others, but also preserve their own precious and priceless culture relics. We Chinese do badly in this. When we visit Changan, capital city of Shanxi province, hardly can we find traces of the Tang Dynasty, because we are crazy to copy western cities. But in Kyoto, Japan, many Tang-style architectures, which has already become a part of Japans traditional culture, can be found. As we learn from others, never should we forget our own cultural treasures.The meaning of reading this bookNowadays, every country is involved deeply in globalization as never before. No country is able to develop prosperously without cooperation. Under such a situation, communication plays a magnificent role. Mutual comprehension obviously is the very foundation of communication. Japan has studied us so well in the way doctors dissect patients, so we Chinese should also study them carefully instead of holding a part as the whole. Though these decades of years have witnessed tremendous changes in Japan, this book still can make a great contribution to help us know more about Japanese equitably, impersonally and roughly. The Japanese are, to the highest degree, both polite and arrogant, conservative and easy to accept changes, rigid and adaptable, militaristic and aesthetic. They are terribly concerned about what other people will think of their behavior, and they are also overcome by guilt when others know something of their mistakes. That our life profits from Japanese products is a fact, so what we should do is to learn from their good qualities and strengths.In addition, it is we, the young generation, who will contribute to our nations development in every field in next decades of years.