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On the unique Chinese experience of acculturating their conquerors
wchao37 Updated: 2004-03-27 09:23
What indeed is the reason behind the acculturation of nomadic conquerors by their Chinese subjects, and how does this process extend to Western cultures in the world today?
Western culture is replete with examples of "qi shan par uh." Which translates to "they will trounce on the meek and respect only strength."
Chinese culture is not like this, as is reflected in the way we treated minorities all through the ages.
The proof is in the historical fact that even the Jews, the people equally unsusceptible to assimilation, went to Kaifeng in the Sung Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.) and was totally assimilated by the Han Chinese. The Manchus, who were so xenophobic as to the point of forbidding intermarriage between Hans and Manchus, were by and large assimilated by the end of the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911 A.D.)
So were the Mongols, the most racist of all minorities, who relegated their conquered Chinese subjects north of Changjian (The Long River) as Northern Chinese, Third Class Citizens, and the Chinese south of that mighty river as Southern Chinese (Nanren), Fourth Class Citizens. The Chinese under the Mongols suffered racial discrimination on their own land. After 89 years, in 1368, all the Mongols were driven back to their steppe and desert lands north of the Great Wall. The ones who stayed behind were again totally assimilated.
Numbers alone would not have been sufficient to explain this phenomenon of Han Chinese assimilating foes who conquered them in war, only to find that in due course, it was the conquerors who were totally assimilated.
Whether it was the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arab Moors, the Turks, or the Europeans after 1500, there had been numerous instances of cultural dominance of the minority over the majority. Even in India, a nation that boasts a population of nearly a billion as of 2001, second only to China's, uses English as their official national language. The major paper in New Delhi is the India Times --- in English, of course.
The major reason is that Han Chinese do not cherish racial discrimination, which again is due to the absence of monotheism in Chinese culture. There has never been a religious war in China in its 5000 years of recorded history. Uprisings from hungry peasants who took up religious facades were not revolting in the tradition of a Islamic Jihad or a Christian crusade.
For instance, 'Yellow Turbans' and 'Red Eyebrows' at the end of East n Dynasty and the White Lotus rebels in Qing Dynasty were peasants masquerading themselves as Sectarian enthusiasts of Daoism, and not religious fanatics per se. In a sense, this explains why the Chinese governments cracked down on the Felon Goons because they know the cult's main thrust was its anti-government political agenda, all the while pretending to be a religious movement.
As another example, the Jews who came to Sung China in the Tenth Century as one tribe in their Diaspora, were totally assimilated by the Chinese at Kaifeng, capital of China at that time. This could occur only if the Jews were accepted as equals and treated with respect and not as ghetto residents in the worst portions of Kaifeng, as in the case of Warsaw before WWII.
In contrast, if you notice that in the tiny, self-important island of England, there is racial prejudice down the centuries even up to the present time. Remember the movie "Braveheart" starring Mel Gibson? Remember also the "Right of the First Night" practised by the English on the Scottish newly-wed women? No wonder they cannot assimilate people even on their own islands. Mainstream Anglo-Saxon Americans are cultural descendants of the English. What can you expect from them?
That's why all Anglo countries, i.e. all former British Commonwealth nations like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, plus the former British colony the United States of America, have this tradition of discrimination against all non-Anglo peoples.
And to realize that the English used to send their prisoners to Australia and North Carolina and that those are the areas with the most racist governments and regimes in place.
And for descendants of these people to feel superior towards the Chinese!
Such is the mockery of history.
| The above content represents the view of the author only. |
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