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Welcome to Takeaway Chinese, I'm your Hong Lin with Steve Heatherly, here in the studio.
Hi Steve. Hi, how are you doing today?
I'm very well, and I'm super excited, because we can pick up where we left the previous episodes about the fun asian cultures yeah we were talking in the previous episode about the cultures in Asia from country to country how they're different somehow and how they're similar somehow they're similar somehow and we had a lot of great chat about foods in the last episode we got some great messages from takeaway Chinese listeners in some Asian countries talking about their foods and And that led us down a culinary path of conversation.
Oh definitely, I have to slip in this one sentence.
When I was living in Europe, at first, when I stomach, I call it my Chinese stomach, meaning that I crave for Chinese food, I go search for Chinese food and it was hard to find because I was in Belgium with, relatively speaking, a smaller Chinese community.
meaning that there will be less Chinese supermarkets and Chinese restaurants.
And then I started to try some Asian food.
And I realized that the feeling of home and family and the comfort can come from Asian foods as well.
That's how similar they can be sometimes.
Yeah, the dishes, of course you can find differences.
And that's because there are so many different dishes.
But yet somehow there's a connecting it could be a connecting ingredient right?
It could be the noodle, it could be the rice, it could be the sauce or the flavor, or the spice might be similar in one country and another country so there might be something even though it might not be the exact dish that you're looking for.
Oh that's the fun part.
Yeah right. You got the sense of similarity and it surprises you a little bit with the difference.
It's quite nice. So today, we go on the journey of talking about different cultures, different, yet similar cultures here in Asia, beyond China to discover how neighboring countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, etc. share traditions, but also celebrate their uniqueness.
So for our dear listeners, if you're interested in Chinese culture and in this episode asian culture and you want to get a grip on the chinese language then this is the show for you stick with us for 30 minutes and you soon see the rewards and for more fun chinese learning follow our facebook page LearnChinese to watch many fun videos and live streams so let's talk about similarities in different asian cultures to start with i think you've we touched upon this a little bit in our previous episode already.
That is the Confucian values.
Yeah, and Confucian philosophy has an impact on cultures not only here in China but neighboring countries, too, and the one that I know about the best is Korea because I lived there for so long.
We talked about the respect aspect, right?
In our previous episode, how talking with elders, dealing with elders you do so in a very respectful manner, that's one shared thing.
But that applies I think to education, the importance on education as well.
And it's not to say that there isn't an emphasis on the important of education in Western culture.
Of course everybody knows that education, having getting an education is important.
But even that being said it feels like there's more of an emphasis on it here.
We put a lot of importance on the academic work.
Yeah, and I remember my time in Korea just knowing that middle school students, elementary school students, maybe not so much, but middle school students and high school students, they're just constantly studying, just constantly, just non -stop study, all the way through to the end of high school.
And of course, at the end of high school in China, you have the Gaokao, which is well known to be one of the hardest tests in the world.
In Korea it's called the Sunung, it's kind of a similar test, it's a mind -melting multi -hour college entrance exam and that just shows you know there's a real emphasis on education.
Yes and it's more than just that because for Confucius for example he does not only stress the importance of education but also family value, also social harmony, shared values in the community, maybe, or in the culture.
Yes, and these are all very much appreciated and shared among Asian cultures as well.
And actually on the 25th and 26th of April CMG, our organization held a forum in the hometown of Confucius in Shandong Province here in China.
Cool. And the picking, the selecting of this location is also because even in today's society, even if we are fast, we are in the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
And we focus a lot on technology development, actually the core is still to benefit the people to be benevolent, to make sure that the living standards of each and every individual is improved properly.
it's not just about the numbers on a bill or on a check it's much much more about benefiting the entire society yeah so those kind of values are pretty much appreciated here in China and among a lot of Asian countries as well there's also a lot of festivals that are shared in different parts of Asia of course you have the Chinese New Year the spring festival that's celebrated in China and Korea and Vietnam and among ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia as well.
You've got the Mid Autumn Festival that's recognized in China of course, but also Vietnam, and maybe to a a little lesser extent maybe in Korea and Japan.
But these festivals, even though they may differ a little, even though they may have a different name on them, they often share different themes, or similar themes, excuse me, like moon worship or family reunion, seasonal change, harvest, just things like that yes china is a country big on agricultural development industry and it's same in many asian countries as well i think because we depend on the soil the land to feed us yeah and i mean that's the same in canada and the united states right we have thanksgiving which is all about the harvesting of the food at the autumn times so some similarities
there between the east and the west. So we know that activities like dragon dances, wulong, and lion dances, wuxi and also the appreciation of lanterns, shang, tung, so different, very majestic, beautiful huge lanterns, and also the kind of traditional Chinese costume related parades, you xing, hua qiu you xing, with this wagon and different kinds of sculptures are big in Chinese festivals as well as in festivals celebrated in other Asian countries you think they're similar yet you see the real decorations you see the paintings you see the details of the little dragons and the lions they are different
yeah it's fun yeah it is fun and that's what someone from the outside if you will, looking in wouldn't necessarily realize, but when you're in the inside, and you have an opportunity to see it close up, that's when you learn about the little tiny differences that exist from culture to culture, and those should be celebrated too.
Yes, and many of these celebrations, many of these festivals have tales, fairy tales, old wives tales related to it and when I talked to friends from these different cultures I realized that wow the major plot of the stories are the same and then there are surprising endings for different stories or sometimes a plot that I have never heard of it's kind of like that god took a detour in that country and comes back it was so fun yeah right yes and another similarity we notice here is the use of Chinese character.
Yeah, and again I know I keep referencing Korea because that's where all my experience was before China but you can see Chinese characters in everyday Korean culture and the easiest example is in the newspaper.
A newspaper to read it you'll see Korean characters right next to in a headline especially I think if I remember correctly you'll see a lot of Korean characters and then you'll see a Chinese character there.
Yes. And actually Vietnam used the Chinese characters before adopting the Latin based script, which I think many country have experienced that they realize that using Chinese characters solely is no longer what they want for that historic period.
They want to switch gears to some other which is quite okay and understandable in a lot of occasions.
We're so proud of our Chinese characters, but it's okay for you to use it as also okay for you to opt for other characters.
So it's definitely something fun for a historian to study.
And actually, we've also asked the question of what's the similarities and differences between your culture and the Chinese culture to many of our listeners out there in other Asian countries?
And we've got some very interesting answers.
Yes, we do. And a few answers from India, as a matter of fact, I really want to go to India someday, bucket list. Sutapa Singh says Chinese culture and my culture are totally different.
That's a funny answer, too.
Yeah, there's no examples of how, it's just that's where the sentence ends.
Anindita Chakraborty says some similarities, smart communication, the education system, along with respect for each other.
Oh yeah, that's for sure.
I think that's partly because many Asian countries are heavily populated.
So like India, for example, since we have a large population, the density of the city would be similar between certain cities in China and India.
And that would lead to competition in the talent market, which leads to a great emphasis on education, on putting more skills on your skill set in your pocket so you gain edge when you compare yourself with others, it makes a lot of sense.
We see a lot of stand -up comedians talk about, or we see this represented in pop culture a lot in films or television shows in the West, about how tough and how strict Asian parents are.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
Have to study, have to study, have to study.
You've got to be a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer or some sort of scientist or something like that.
And I think from the west when we see those types of comedians we don't really understand.
We get what they're saying of course, but we don't know why, right?
We just see it and we kind of laugh along with comedians or enjoy the films, but we don't really understand why.
But when you're here and and you see the population sizes and you see how competitive life is in terms of education and in terms of career, that's why parents are strict about having their kids study so much. Am I correct when I say that?
Yes, yes. And also with the development of the society, definitely you have more options, you have more opportunities to choose different career, different skills you want.
Yet it's still in parents blood for you to think about the academic performance of your kids.
Sometimes we tell ourselves, even I only have a two -year -old, I'm pretty sure it will come to me some day.
That is, I know I only want him to be happy.
I know it's okay if he chooses something that I might not feel it's in my dream.
I still would like ask a little bit about the score.
I still would encourage him to do well academically.
It's - I think it's in our blood.
It might change for future generations.
I was just about to ask you that, because from my observations in Korea, there is a difference now, with younger parents...
...where the emphasis for their child seems to be more on their overall wellbeing and happiness.
Now, that's not to say Korean parents or Chinese parents didn't want their kids to be happy in the past. I don't mean that at all.
It seems like there's more of a you know, you choose your own path Yes, as long as you're happy then that's cool with me too.
Is that happening here in China?
Definitely it is happening here in China and for some of my friends from other Asian countries, it's happening in their families as well and especially in this day and age when the communication between or among Asian countries is actually getting stronger or tighten and tighten.
So, we see a lot of exchange students from other Asian countries as well.
And, for example, in Malaysia, I believe there are a lot of Chinese students in Malaysia and vice versa.
And especially with the Chinese community thriving in Malaysia, some of the Malaysian exchange students, we cannot even tell that they're Malaysian.
They speak perfect Chinese they look a little, Chinese.
And nevertheless, I feel like it is changing.
So it is getting less and less pressured from the parent side to the kid side.
And young parents are focusing more on whether or not the kid is happy.
So maybe after two or three generations, the comedians on stage cannot talk about...
They'll need new materials.
They will need new materials, but definitely it's also a nice thing to see that while China is changing because of the communication, and exchange culture, exchange people to people, exchange the change of attitudes towards education is also happening kind of like together here in Asia.
Oh interesting. That part I didn't know about.
Yes and also we've got some replies from Philippines, oh this is a long name, Skyscraper city San Fernando city, and La Union province, it's a name.
I think those are areas.
Yes! It says, as a Filipino we inherited some of the Chinese culture particularly on food.
We have pancit, siopao, siumai, lumpia, Shanghai, mami, I hope I was saying those correctly.
The Filipinos and the Chinese both love basketball, in fact the Philippines and China are the only two countries in Asia where basketball is the most popular sport.
Oh interesting, Filipinos and Chinese are both very family centered on financial management.
Filipinos differ though from the Chinese.
Typically, for Filipinos, if we have money we spend in malls and restaurants and shopping centers etc. and we poorly manage our finances.
But for the Chinese, they're pragmatic and they usually spend and manage their money wisely.
Oh that's a very interesting answer, I didn't realize that.
We say Lì Cài all the time, really all the time.
Lì means to organize, to have plans for.
Cài means financial or finance.
Lì Cài. Lì Cài means you put your money in somewhere that you believe new money would come from the old money.
So Lì Cài. And Chinese parents would even, at least for my parents, they would even say, I want to train your intelligence for managing money or I'd like to cultivate your intelligence in managing money.
Wow, it sounds like a university class.
It's more like having an idea about how to spend and how to have a plan.
And now here in China, some people would even give their really young kids a set amount of money in a certain period of time saying, okay, so this is your allowance, this is your pocket money, but it's for half a year.
So if you spend it on something very expensive and not worth it, then you are high and dry for the rest of the half year.
Oh, that's kind of a yeah.
I mean I'm sure some young people make a mistake with that, but that's a good way to learn too.
For sure. And we've got some answers from Bangladesh.
We have Muesina. Yeah, Muesina Nazni said in China the staple food is rice, and that's true for us, too, but with many similarities there are also some differences.
differences, yeah. Oh, tell us what are the differences.
You didn't finish your thought.
Finish your thoughts so we can learn.
Nuroel Huda says, both cultures have lives oriented around traditional practices.
Yeah, I find that to be a difference, perhaps, especially, you know Canada's such a young country, right, that we're not old enough yet to have a lot of our practices based on tradition.
So it'll take a maybe another hundred or couple hundred years of Canada as a country to establish those types of things.
But here in Asia countries have been around for so so so so long, so there's so much to draw upon historically speaking, right, traditionally speaking.
Definitely, I think it's something big here in Asian countries about ji zhu, means to pay respect to something that might no longer exist in the world, so we zi tian for example, it's a ritual to pay respect to the heaven.
zi zao, it's like pay respect to the god of the kitchen, yes there's a kitchen god, and also zi...
oh can I have that because can I use that as my nickname at home when I'm cooking?
Tell me that one more time.
zao is actually the oven.
zao shen. zao shen, or zou wang yi, but I think zao shen works.
Zou shen? Zou is the utensil you use to cook, it's kind of like the fire in ancient days but now I think it's the oven, and Shen is a god, so kitchen god.
Kitchen god. Kitchen god.
The god of kitchens.
Yes, Ji Zao would be Ji Dian, it's like pay respect to this kitchen god, and Ji Zu means pay respect to the ancestors so the qi character is used for things that are not here anymore or in the humanly world and so qi zou will pay respect to the ancestors, something very big among Asian countries.
Oh I see. The time might differ for different countries and even different regions here in China we do this sometimes during spring festival seasons because it's the start of a new year.
you want your ancestors to bless you with good luck and sometimes it's designated festivals and I believe in different Asian countries this action is also very common. Oh, I see.
We have one more message.
Let's go to Nepal for this one.
Damodar Bhattarai says, respect for elders and joint family...
Oh yes! Extended family is also big in Asian countries yes that's right how often do you meet with your extended family members I was gonna say it's more difficult maybe these days these days right because you know people live and work in different areas and people are super busy with their jobs as well so it might be more of a challenge yes but when I was a kid my family like my mom and dad would bring me to see my grandparents every I feel like at least every once a month.
And we do that together, which means when I visit my grandparents, I also get to see my cousins, my aunts and uncles, and we do things together.
And it's still the same for my parents generation.
My aunts meet quite often with each other.
They do things together, especially now.
I think some of them have already retired.
They would definitely spend time together, travel to short distance destinations together.
It's awesome! And the thing is, the responsibility is definitely also shared when it comes to organizing important family meetings and doing family things.
Like when I got married, all of my aunts, uncles, and distant uncles and aunts, and even those that I do not know how to address in Chinese, because in Chinese it's super complicated.
It's very specific.
Very specific, you have to do the calculation and stuff, but they would gather together and they would view this family event as something of their responsibility.
Happily, it's a happy occasion.
They want to participate.
They want to, not only attend the event, but also help organize the event.
And, that is very common in the Chinese culture and the culture of a lot of Asian countries.
With my family and Canada, similar to China, geographically speaking, in terms of size, right, it's a huge place, and with my family members all spread out in different parts of the country or different parts of the world, it's hard to have everybody meet up all together, and that's what social media is for.
Yeah. Yeah, so one member of the family will post about something and then all the comments come from the other members.
That's lovely too. And how often do you have extended family meal?
What do you mean? Like a gathering altogether?
Yes. Very rarely. Really?
Yeah, of course. Jap ding zhu zhan is also very important to Chinese culture and I believe a lot of Asian cultures as well.
I mentioned wedding ceremonies already but I think wedding ceremony of one of my friend in Cambodia and there must be hundreds of people for that wedding ceremony.
Oh I thought you meant for me personally these days, in general yeah of course.
All the big events, the big life events, the family will all get together for those.
And what about the in -laws families?
I would say that might depend on family to family, that would be different from family to family, and it might depend on geographical convenience too, right?
Because the person that you get married to, their family might be from very far away.
Even if it's the same continent, they might be very far away from each other.
So I think I think that kind of depends.
Yes. But again, family oriented is definitely one hugely important characteristic in Asian cultures.
and another thing in Asian cultures that I can think of would be aesthetic.
Do you feel like you can tell an Asian style in painting or in calligraphy as well as in, for example, indoor decoration and everything?
Yeah. If you look at older Chinese art.
Now, I'm not an art expert at all, this is just a guy looking at some paintings, But from what I've seen, older Chinese art is very detailed, right?
It's very fine as if the...
There are very fine ones, there are also the ones that we say xie yi so it's writing the meaning of something...
like expressing the meaning but not the shape so there are definitely these two different types I see, I've seen the delicate ones and you can tell that they were done with a paintbrush with a very fine end yes right in korea too is very similar in that style not familiar with art from other countries like japan or any other asian countries but yeah i've noticed those and i thought ah those are quite similar in the artistic style yes and also when it comes to music i can totally appreciate or kind of identify a music style if it's from asia or for example outside of asia again i am neither a music
expert or someone studying these part of the culture, but still it's nice to see different cultures blending with each other a little bit, especially in today's society where social media becomes a major part of our lives.
We started to notice the younger generation communicating with each other more often on social media platforms. People outside of China are using WeChat.
People here in China are big on Retinote and TikTok sometimes.
And when we interact with each other, we fell in love with each other's culture and start to dig into it, enjoying it.
I have colleagues here in this building, in this floor, go joining a drumming lessons, a traditional, not even traditional, more like popular drum style kind of music in Malaysia.
It's popular in Malaysia, especially in Malaysian, younger generation in Malaysia, especially in the younger generation in Malaysia.
And also, some of my friends have been working on learning traditional braids or it's kind of an R .T.
craft in Cambodia and also in Vietnam.
Yeah. These are some cool cultural exchanges in the younger generation.
Yeah, and again, the more we learn about those, the more opportunities we have to learn about those.
The more time we spend with each other, talking with each other, asking questions, sharing experiences, the better friends we can become.
And that is why there is this Chinese saying.
It was firstly used in a political setting, talking about let's look for the similarities we have but at the same time respect each other's differences.
Yet I feel like it can apply to a lot of different scenarios and that Chinese idiom is called What's that mean?
櫻 mean to seek, to look for, 櫻 means similarities, the same things.
So we look for the same things, we try to find our common ground 櫻自櫻 櫻 means to save, to store, to keep YI means differences.
TUAN YI. CIO TONG TUAN YI.
CIO TONG TUAN YI. Yes.
When we say CIO TONG TUAN YI, we mean we appreciate the differences each other's have and we celebrate the similarities.
One is in a cultural context.
Ah I see. Oh there's a lot going on in that very short expression.
Appreciate differences and also the similarities too.
CIO TONG TUAN YI. Yes.
And that brings us to the end of today's Takeaway Chinese.
I'm Nianhong Lin with Steve in the studio.
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Gan xie shou ting, wu man xia, xun zha jian.
Xie xie, see you next time.
you
