Music

     The East (Chinese) and the West (Americans) have significantly different ways of showing appreciation for music. While playing the cello for the fisherman's family, Mark is slightly offended when everyone starts talking and doesn't show that they appreciate his music in a way he is accustomed to, "I must admit that I felt disappointed that their first exposure to cello, and to Bach, was generating  so little interest. But then I remembered what a Chinese friend had told me one night at a performance of instrumental music where the audience talked, laughed, spat and walked around during the show. I mentioned to him that the audience seemed unbelievably rude, and he answered that, on the contrary, this showed they were enjoying it" (123). Unlike Americans, the Chinese show their enjoyment of music/musical performances through chatter and socializing. Americans see classical performances, such as Bach, as formal events where silence is an expectation, because not interrupting a performer and focusing our attention completely on the performer is our way of showing respect. If someone ever talks, laughs, spits, walks, or even whispers during a music event in the West, such as the symphony, they'll get chastised and scorned until they're ashamed enough to stop. This is much different in the East, where music is an encouragement to gather and bond, rather than relax in an uptight environment with an implied rule of silence. This point in the book pokes fun at the main difference between Western and Eastern music customs: oneself vs.ones' community. In the West we thrive off of individual needs, so of course we appreciate music by quietly and intently listening to music, gaining our own individual spiritual ore relaxation experience, which shows the performer we appreciate them because we aren't disrupting them and are giving them our undivided attention. In the East, a lack of attention to the performer shows appreciation of the art because its based off of a more community oriented experience, in which socializing and bonding are the focus, rather than an individual experience. The performer gains appreciation because they know that by causing joy and fun in the community they are appreciated.