Chinese Language Forums - Chinese Etymology Institute

5 (Harsh) Things China Can’t Live Without
The importance of a Hukou. Photo: p358.com

Some outsiders look at China and see a strange land with an anomalous culture and mind boggling rules, policies and laws. However, not everything is so black and white. Some of the things Chinese people do (no matter how harsh or brutal they are in foreign eyes) are not only necessary but beneficial to society. In some instances, China couldn't possibly live without some of these cultural/political institutions. Listed below are just a few of the most prominent things that appear rough on the surface but in reality make China a better place in the long run.

1) Hukous

2) The One Child Policy

3) Educational system

4) Guanxi

5) Chinese characters

carolgreen702 wrote:...

Some of the things Chinese people do (no matter how harsh or brutal they are in foreign eyes) are not only necessary but beneficial to society. ...

You are basically correct. But, I differ from you on two points.

1. The One Child Policy --- this is not a part of Chinese culture but is a temporary politic measure. It will be removed when the circumstance changes.

2. Chinese characters --- from 1920 to 2006 (before the publication of Tienzen’s book of “Chinese Etymology”), both Chinese scholars and Chinese government desperately wanted to abandon the Chinese characters. See the article “The history of despising the Chinese characters, words-of-the-week/ww-012-the-history-of-despising-the-chinese-characters-t143.html”.