Chinese and Western Fusion

    In this era of highly developed media culture, young people have more contact than ever with foreign culture. According to CNNIC statistics, by June 30, 2004, China had had 87 million Internet users, most of them young people.

Traditional Chinese attire is now a fashion trend. [sohu]

    Coupled with the openness and diversity of modern society, this means that young Chinese people now seek their cultural orientation within the ambit of Western culture.

    In contrast to the youth that wholeheartedly allied themselves with the liberal trends of the 1980s, however, today's young Chinese have a more rational stance over Western culture.

    They do not unconditionally accept Western concepts, nor do they regard Western culture as the be all and end all of civilization; today's young Chinese people absorb elements of both the East and the West.

    In 2000 a sample survey carried out on 2,500 participants in Tianjin on the topic "Chinese youth, their values and outlook on life" showed the number of those that follow Western concepts of marriage and sex to be minimal.

    For instance, only 7.7 percent of students and 7.2 percent of young people in other occupations agreed with the proposition: "Sexual liberation is the landmark of modern civilization and an inevitable aspect of love;" while an overwhelming 73.3 percent in both groups refuted it.

    Most young people interviewed also rejected feudal moral concepts, as demonstrated by the 54.4 percent of students and 51.4 percent of other young people whose answer to the question: "Is the life of chastity expected of women a traditional suppression of humanity?" was "yes."

    This is another sign that Chinese youth do not accept Western mores wholesale and that their attitude to traditional culture is influenced by informed and rational contemporary cultural theories ¨C a sign of social progress.

    On the surface, certain aspects of the Western/Eastern youth lifestyle have so blended as to make them indistinguishable.

    The commonly held view among young people, as expressed by one representative, however, is that: "Certain social changes relate to social development. For instance, many of my friends have decided not to marry until they reach 30, but this decision is based purely on the pursuit of a higher quality of life fostered by social development. No one sees it as stemming from Western influence, yet two decades ago, such an attitude would have been condemned," says Wang Zhuo, who chooses to stay single.

    In the Tianjin survey of 2000, 50 percent of students and young people in other occupations agreed with the statement, "Chinese and Western cultures both have weaknesses, and should develop in tandem as they learn from each other." Nearly 30 percent of respondents thought that, "World culture will eventually merge."

    Hu Shouwen, president of the China Youth Press, states that although the entry of Western culture into China is a challenge, 'We should not shun Western culture as it contains so many essential attributes that we still need to absorb." Zhang Qizhi, a well-known ideological and cultural historian agrees. He advocates education in China's fine cultural tradition, as its solid foundations allow a finer, more objective appreciation of Western achievements.

(Source: China Daily)