Owen Hamilton
March 5, 2014
Brio
"As soon as I entered his home I realized that it had been considerable trouble for him and his family, for not only was the entire three-room apartment spotlessly clean, but a nine-course banquet was waiting for me on the dinner table" (Pg. 46).
Why does Chinese Culture demand that hosts give such nice treatment toward its guests?
According to China Highlights, Western guests respect the ways of the hosts, but contrarily in China the host gives the guest much respect, and gives the guest many privileges. For example, the guest has the unspoken permission to smoke in the house, even if the hosts do not smoke.
Wikipedia says that eating a good meal is one of the most common ways to honor guests. The Chinese people believe in good hosting manners because it brings them good luck, and shun bad manners because it brings shame.
This was hard to research, so it would be great if people added on. I hope I got some good info, though.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of articles about how to treat a guest in China, but I wanted to know why.
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ReplyDeleteAnother example of Chinese hospitality is when Mark is brought to meet the family of a fisherman he met by the river, "Before I knew it, I had more food than I could eat in a week set in front of me, the men crowding around me shaking my hands and slapping my shoulders with joy, the women asking me questions all at the same time, and the children fighting to get in line to touch me" (71).
ReplyDeleteUpon looking at the similarities between our quotes I wondered, "Why do they always seem to bombard their guests with food?" Wikipedia says this is because the Chinese have certain customs and traditions pertaining to etiquette, such as always offer the guest a large meal upon entering. But this doesn't answer your question, "Why does Chinese Culture demand that hosts give such nice treatment toward its guests?" I then realized the answer to this question is all based off of tradition and that many Chinese traditions and customs are rooted back to Confucius teachings. I dug deeper into this and searched for the moral teachings of Confucius relating to etiquette and hospitality. According to wikihow.com one of the main teachings of Confucianism is, "Dedicate yourself to attaining perfection and freedom from ignorance." Under this category fell, "Li - Ritual propriety and etiquette." I then researched more about this on Wikipedia and discovered that Li is about life interaction, community, how we treat others, and most importantly selflessness. It also mentioned that Confucius talks about food and drink, along with learning, grieving, governing, etc., when discussing Li. All of these actions embody aspects of Life Li is reflected in. After I learned this, I then wanted to confirm my new found knowledge from a source other than wikipedia. I found this poem on allpoetry.com, written by Confucius himself, that provides evidence which supports my answer to my original question about why food is so prevalent in Chinese customs:
Hospitality
A few gourd leaves that waved about
Cut down and boiled;--the feast how spare!
But the good host his spirits takes,
Pours out a cup, and proves them rare.
A single rabbit on the mat,
Or baked, or roast:--how small the feast!
But the good host his spirits takes,
And fills the cup of every guest.
A single rabbit on the mat,
Roasted or broiled:--how poor the meal!
But the guests from the spirit vase
Fill their host's cup, and drink his weal.
A single rabbit on the mat,
Roasted or baked:--no feast we think!
But from the spirit vase they take,
Both host and guests, and joyous drink.