Friday, June 30, 2006
Our Chinese roots
Neckties, body hugging tees, piercing and a host of things foreign to Asia are flowing in and have been received without question by our youth today. UnAsiatic it may seem to the elders, the young ones accept it without question in order to be 'cool'.
The 'kow tow', a once cherished practice of bowing to the elders to show respect is fast disappearing among the so-called modern Chinese. Pride has replaced humility. Some Chinese parents don't even teach their children the Chinese way of life! No wonder the young ones are turning their back on traditions, viewing it as backward and are even ashamed of it.
The way I see it : they are lost, as Thich Nhat Hanh says 'uprooted'. I believe the ones who are firmly rooted should do something to establish the lost back into the ground. The beauty of culture and tradition can only be cherished by participating and practicing it as a full fledged member of the community.
Won't you feel incomplete if, looking in the mirror seeing a Chinese face but in the heart knows nothing of the culture and do not participate in the rites that have evolved through the ages? A Chinese by the genes but not in spirit.
I have such people in my own family. They have converted to other religion. Each Chinese New Year, their children stand in a distance, peeping here and there when me and my family members perform thanksgiving prayer : Chinese style. There's clearly a feeling of loss in the children, being told they can't participate in something which they truely should inherit. I'm a Buddhist and I'm a Chinese too! I have Chinese friends who have returned to their roots, abandoning the foreign religion while some, who still have nostalgic feelings for the foreign religion practice both hand in hand. I admire the second group.
The 'kow tow', a once cherished practice of bowing to the elders to show respect is fast disappearing among the so-called modern Chinese. Pride has replaced humility. Some Chinese parents don't even teach their children the Chinese way of life! No wonder the young ones are turning their back on traditions, viewing it as backward and are even ashamed of it.
The way I see it : they are lost, as Thich Nhat Hanh says 'uprooted'. I believe the ones who are firmly rooted should do something to establish the lost back into the ground. The beauty of culture and tradition can only be cherished by participating and practicing it as a full fledged member of the community.
Won't you feel incomplete if, looking in the mirror seeing a Chinese face but in the heart knows nothing of the culture and do not participate in the rites that have evolved through the ages? A Chinese by the genes but not in spirit.
I have such people in my own family. They have converted to other religion. Each Chinese New Year, their children stand in a distance, peeping here and there when me and my family members perform thanksgiving prayer : Chinese style. There's clearly a feeling of loss in the children, being told they can't participate in something which they truely should inherit. I'm a Buddhist and I'm a Chinese too! I have Chinese friends who have returned to their roots, abandoning the foreign religion while some, who still have nostalgic feelings for the foreign religion practice both hand in hand. I admire the second group.
