What are the dark sides of the Chinese culture?

中国文化中有哪些糟粕？

以下是Quora网友的评价：

J. Liang

In my opinion, the dark side of Chinese culture is the widespread belief that only an extremely tiny minority of people can walk unconventional paths.

This is why, if you’re raised in a Chinese family and want to be something other than a doctor or lawyer, you will almost certainly hear some variation of the following:

You think you can be like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk? Well, those people are only one in a million, and there’s no way you can ever be one in a million.

Like seriously, I don’t think wanting to be a journalist or whatever is that special.

在我看来，中国文化的糟粕之处在于人们普遍认为只有极少数人能够不走寻常路。

这就是为什么如果你成长于中国家庭，但想成为医生或律师以外的职业，几乎肯定会听到以下几种说法的原因：

你以为自己是史蒂夫·乔布斯或埃隆·马斯克那样的人吗？这些人都是万里挑一，你不可能其中之一。

说实话，我觉得想成为记者或想从事其他职业，都没有什么特别之处。

I think that the key strength of Chinese civilization, its centralization and discipline, is also its key weakness. A culture as stable as China means that it only experiences true chaos once every 300–400 years.

And it’s only in those brief chaotic periods that truly unconventional people have the opportunity to rise to the top.

So in thousands of years of recorded history, the average Chinese person can see unconventional people succeeding literally every couple hundred years. In that sense, it really is one individual in a million who can make a mark.

我认为，中国文明的关键优势，即和纪律，也是它的一大弱点。像中国这样稳定传承的文化，意味着每隔300-400年才会经历一次真正的混乱。

只有在那些短暂的混乱时期，真正的能人异士才有机会出人头地。

因此，在数千年的历史长河中，普通中国人每隔几百年才能看到这种成功。从这个意义上说，确实是百万分之一概率的人才能有所作为。

This is why the key historical figures in Chinese history are almost always the founding leaders of a dynasty or era. This is your Emperor Wu of Han, your Mao Zedong, your Qin Shihuang and so on. Give or take five emperors/leaders in, the quality of leadership starts to seriously degrade, and the last emperor of a dynasty is always the shittiest.

This is because frankly speaking, a stable society gives a lot of room for people to be lazy. Or if not lazy, then uncreative. Those who put their head down, study hard and chug along have a lot more social potential than fringe hippies who might have an interesting perspective but don’t match the conventional metrics for what a successful individual should be.

这正是中国历史上的重要人物几乎都是某个王朝或时代的开国领袖的原因，比如汉武帝、秦始皇等。历经五任皇帝或领导人后，领导阶层的质量就开始严重下滑，各个王朝的最后一任皇帝都是最糟糕的。

这是因为，坦率地说，一个稳定的社会给了人们很大的懒怠空间。或者说不上懒惰，只是缺乏创造力。那些埋头苦读者的社会潜力比非主流的嬉皮士大得多，嬉皮士的前途也许也不赖，但绝不符合成功人士的传统标准。

Personally speaking, I find it sometimes downright hilarious how much Chinese parents can underestimate the real intellectual potential of their kids.

In family and friend gatherings, it makes me roll my eyes how much the adults in the room love to talk over their kids, lecture them and give them the same cookie-cutter advice over and over again with no regard for the context of differences in culture or changing societal landscapes. You’d think they were discussing ways to more effectively program robots than raising actual sentient humans.

就我个人而言，我发现有时中国父母会低估孩子的智力潜力，这实在太可笑了。

在家庭和朋友聚会上，成年人都喜欢对他们的孩子说三道四，对着他们说教，一遍又一遍地给他们千篇一律的建议，他们不会考虑文化背景的差异或不断变化的社会现实，我对此只会忍不住翻白眼。他们让人感觉他们在讨论的是如何更有效地给机器人编程，而不是抚养有情感有感知的人类。

In my observation, it is far too tragically common for Chinese parents to respond to any expression of individuality in their children by simply crushing their spirits.

This is all the more tragic because at its heart, Chinese culture is deeply sensitive, artistic, and introspective. The poetry of the way Chinese people see the world is embedded in our language, history, and literary and artistic heritage in a way that few if any other modern cultures really resemble today.

This paradox of brutish pragmatism and poetic sensitivity is probably the one aspect of Chinese culture that will keep me scratching my head for the rest of my life.

据我观察，中国父母对孩子的个性展示都是简单粗暴地进行打击，这一点非常可悲。

因为中国文化的本质是非常敏感的、艺术化和自省的，所以这就更加可悲了。中国人看待世界的方式的诗意根植于我们的语言、历史、文学和艺术传承中，在某种程度上，没有哪种现代文化能真的与之相似。

这种粗野的实用主义和诗意的敏感之间的矛盾，可能正是中国文化的一个面，在我余生里一直困扰着我。

David King

There are a lot of phrases in Chinese that revolve around “competition”. In my opinion, the Chinese culture is a culture of competition.

中文中有很多短语都是围绕“竞争”展开的。在我看来，中国文化本质就是一种竞争文化。

Take the concept of “no pain no gain” for example. Under normal circumstances, this is not a bad thing. Gaining through hard work is the fuel that drives personal development.

But, in Chinese culture, “gaining” is measured by whether you are better than others. So, Chinese equivalent of “no pain no gain” is “吃得苦中苦, 方为人上人”. This translates to “You can only be the best of the best after suffering the bitterest of the bitter .”

So, in terms of personal development. In the western culture, you would compare your current self to your past self. But in the Chinese culture, you’d compare your current self with others.

比如“没有付出就没有收获”的观念。在正常情况下，这并不是一件坏事。努力工作是推动个人进步的动力。

但在中国文化中，“收获”与否是根据你是不是比别人强来衡量的。所以，“没有付出就没有收获”对应的中文版本是“吃得苦中苦, 方为人上人”。这句话的意思是：“只有经历了最深的苦难，你才能成为最优秀的人。”

所以，就个人发展而言，在西方文化中，你对比的是现在的自己和过去的自己。但在中国文化中，你会拿现在的自己和别人作对比。

What this promoted was unhealthy competition. China has a HUGE population, and there are not enough resources/opportunities for everyone. So in order to get ahead, people are working extra hard. But, since enough people are also working extra hard, you are still at the same spot as before.

This is known as 内卷 （involution). Think of it as an inflation of effort. Everyone are putting in more effort, thus making your effort worth less.

这导致了不健康的竞争。中国人口众多，没有足够的资源和机会给到每一个人。所以为了出人头地，所有人都在加倍努力。但因为有太多人都在加倍努力，所以你的处境依然还和过去一样。

这就是所谓的内卷。它就是一种努力的通胀。每个人都在付出更多的努力，所以你的努力就不值钱了。

The effect? Organizations are promoting this unhealthy competition. There is a famous term: 996. It means working from 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week. Why are people willing to do that? Because if you don’t, you are out of the race. The worst part is, your boss doesn’t have to force you. If you are unwilling, then they can simply replace you with people who are willing.

Ultimately, this promotes the idea of social Darwinism. Chinese preserve their self-esteem by looking down at people who are in worse situations. They also view potential competitors with a hostile attitude.

至于效果？很多机构在宣传这种不健康的竞争。有一个词就火出圈了：996，意思是从早上9点工作到晚上9点，每周工作6天。为什么人们愿意这么做？因为如果你不这样做，你就出局了。最糟糕的地方是，你的老板都不需要强迫你这么做。因为如果你不愿意这么做，他们可以马上找到愿意这么做的人取代你。

最终，这促进了社会中的达尔文主义。中国人用瞧不起处境不如自己的人来维护自尊。他们还会用敌对的态度对待潜在的竞争对手。

On a side note, in places where there are more opportunities and less competition, this mentality actually works great. In the US for example, Chinese immigrants are sending their children to top tier universities left and right. This is not because Chinese children are significantly smarter, but that they work harder and are pushed harder. It’s pretty typical for Chinese American children to learn Algebra around 1st and 2nd grade. Algebra is usually a middle school course.

顺便说一句，在机会更多、竞争更少的地方，这种心态确实很管用。例如，在美国，中国移民把孩子送入了各所一流大学。这并不是因为中国孩子更聪明，而是因为他们学习更努力，父母的敦促也更多。很多美籍华人孩子在一二年级左右就开始学习中学才开设的代数课程了。

Tan Teka

I’m not Chinese.

I actually would like Chinese people to correct me on this if I’m wrong, because i’ve always been curious about this.

The Chinese culture is work intensive.

Millennial might see someone like Li Ziqi, a beautiful youtuber and chinese media star, who does an exceptional job of just about everything.

Now, I actually do not buy her story.

我不是中国人。

如果我说得不对，希望中国人可以纠正我的说法，因为我对此一直非常好奇。

中国文化是劳动密集型的。

千禧一代可能会出现李子柒这样的人，她是油管上的美女用户，也是中国媒体上的明星，几乎在所有事情上都做得非常出色。

但其实我对她很无感。

I do think she is magnificent. I do think some of her work is her own. But I think where I don’t believe her is that I do think she’s getting help in many aspects, not just from people around her, but from the government, etc.

She’s not willing to be transparent, and I completely understand, as she would face competition, and she uses these media outlet for her earning.

我觉得她真的很了不起。我也相信她有部分作品是自己完成的。但我不相信她是因为她在很多方面都得到了帮助，不仅是她周围的人，还有政府等。

她不愿意公开，我完全理解，因为她会面临竞争，而她是利用这些媒体渠道来赚钱的。

But gluttony, secrecy, dark competition in gaining from others and not returning the favor…. you would find it anyone where people put in massive amount of work, but I think you see this as a dark side of Chinese culture, because the idea of work itself has been a very central part of the culture.

Which is why i adore Li Ziqi, just don’t believe her, in that she does all of this work alone.

I think there are many like Li Ziqi who are not ever recorded, etc. Particularly farmers and people who live in subsistence.

但贪心不足、遮遮掩掩、不正当竞争，从别人身上获益却不做回报....很多人都投入了大量的工作，但我认为这是中国文化的阴暗面，因为工作本身就是中国文化的一个非常核心的部分。

这就是为什么我喜欢李子柒，但我就是不相信她，不相信她一个人完成了所有的工作。

我相信还有很多像李子柒这样的人没有被记录下来，尤其是农民和勉强糊口的人。

Jason Huang

Chinese culture is shaped heavily by Confucianism, which is a very conservative ideology that has it’s pros and cons.

中国文化很大程度上受到儒家思想的影响，这是一种非常保守的意识形态，有自己的优点和缺点。

1.Confucianism places a great importance on filial piety, but it also respects men more than women. In fact, women couldn’t participate in politics during Ancient China. Another problem with Chinese culture is that young people don’t receive much respect, if a child dies in a family, no funeral is held. Elders disrespecting children isn’t seen as a problem, but unfilial children are seen as a big problem.

1.儒家思想非常强调孝道，也更重男轻女。事实上，在中国古代，女性是不能参政的。中国文化的另一个问题是年轻人也没有得到足够的尊重，如果家中有孩童夭折，人们不会举行葬礼。长辈不尊重孩子，算不上什么问题，但孩子不孝则是一个大问题。

2.One of the other biggest problems of Confucianism is that it is too conservative. One of the main reasons China was far behind the west was because too many Neo-Confucianism conservatives had power in the imperial court, and because of many of the values and principles of Confucianism, many plans to reform backfired and got rejected by high-ranking civil officers.

2.儒家思想的另一个最大问题是过于保守。中国远远落后于西方的一个主要原因是，新儒学保守派在朝廷中拥有强大权力，而且因为儒家的价值观和原则导致许多改革计划适得其反，被高阶文官否决。

3.One thing I hate about Chinese culture is how it places China as “number 1“ of everything. Many Chinese nationalists go overboard with this and start claiming everything while insulting the culture of other nations.

3. 我讨厌中国文化的一点是它认为中国在所有领域都是“天下第一”。许多中国民族主义者对此非常狂热，会侮辱其他国家的文化。

4.In Chinese culture, money and good grades are seen as the key to success, whereas emotional intelligence is more important.

4.在中国文化中，有钱、会读书就是成功，情商非常重要。

Bob MacKenzie

Every society has a dark side. It could be crime. poverty, inhumane treatment of its population, drug abuse, lack of justice, murderous police forces, racism, endless interference with other country’s interests, murderous military adventurism.

You can not look at a county’s dark side without comparing it to others. In that case China is a far safer society to live in than many others. It has a more peaceful foreign policy based on trade not military domination.

每个社会都有不好的地方，也许是犯罪、贫穷、对百姓的不人道行为、毒品泛滥、缺失社会公平、警察手段狠辣、种族主义、不断干涉其他国家的利益、军事冒险主义等。

你不能只盯着某个国家的阴暗面，忽略其他国家的情况。中国已经比其他许多国家都要更安全了。中国的外交政策更加和平，在国际关系上采取的是以贸易为基础、而非军事控制的做法。

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