Asian Values

Encounter with Diversity

Josiane Cauquelin, Paul Lim, Birgit Mayer-König, Josiane Cauquelin, Paul Lim, Birgit Mayer-König

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781136841323
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethnic Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

This book opens with an examination of values themselves, grappling with western assertions of individual human rights and the eastern emphasis on duties, and analysing selected Asian philosophical and religious traditions. Several case studies follow, on countries the Philippines, Japan, China, Malaysia and Thailand. The purpose of the book is to help westerners in particular to understand and appreciate better the changes taking place in Asia, to handle relations more sensitively, and thereby to help bring Europe and Asia together.

Chapter 1 Understanding Asian Values Josiane Cauquelin, Paul Lim and Birgit Mayer-König

1.1 Introduction

Globalization is changing activities in all spheres. On the economic, political, professional and private levels, Europeans meet Asians, Asians travel to Europe, and Europeans travel to Asia. We have the chance to find out how the people in other parts of our globe really live and work. What are their customs, and what are the ideas at the root of these customs? What are the ideals which they strive to follow in their lives? What are the values which give them orientation, inspiration and direction? In all human contact, we know that there can be misunderstandings, these can sometimes be amusing but at other times they cause unintended problems. With the aim of peace and mutual understanding in mind, we ask whether Europe and Asia share common values, or are their values indeed different? Can a line be drawn between European and Asian values? And what about the differences between Asians and Europeans?

Europeans look at Asian values with Western eyes, while Asians view Western values with Asian eyes. Being an outsider is partly an advantage, partly a disadvantage, when investigating the values of others. As Lévi-Strauss rightly stated, ‘It is from inside that we can apprehend the ruptures but from outside that some effects of coherence appear.’ While the insider has access to the details, the outsider has to rely on limited first-hand experience and secondary sources. However, the horizon can be wider with a more distant view, as in the Chinese proverb: ‘The frog lying at the bottom of the well cannot speak of the sea.’

Although we aim for an objective, not a subjective view we are aware that our own history and experiences influence our choice and treatment of the subjects of study.¹

In section 1.2 we look at the definition of values and search for corresponding notions in the languages of Europe and Asia. Values are distinguished from codes of conduct. In tracing the origins of values, we return to the sources of religions and philosophies and recognise the importance of the ways of thinking. In section 1.3, we investigate the structure of thought in depth and find practical examples which point to values. In 1.3.1, we study the way of thinking in China, in 1.3.2, in South Asia and in 1.3.3, we distinguish the Western Cartesian and Eastern holistic ways of thinking.

1.2 What are values and where do they come from?

As a first step towards a definition of values, we consulted a standard English dictionary. Values are there defined as ‘the moral principles and beliefs or accepted standards of a person or social group’.² This definition is very wide, encompassing not only virtues and ideals, but also convictions and models followed individually or collectively.

The concept of values exists in all the regional varieties of Western culture; there are synonymous terms in all European languages. Western values are united by common roots in Christianity and by historical events. This is not necessarily the same in Asian cultures. Indeed, it becomes evident in translation that Asia values are expressed in terms which hold connotations different from those in European languages.

The word ‘value’ in four main Asian languages is as follows:

• In Hindi and Sanskrit: dharman, artha, vishvâsa, guna (all singular)

• In Urdu: qaderê (plural)

• In Chinese: jia zhi guan³

• In Japanese: kachi ka

In South Asia, with the imprint of Hinduism, Islam, and the historical influence of Buddhism, the people are very aware of values. But efforts to translate the word ‘value’ show that the main languages do not provide a single equivalent word. Words cover different interpretations of ‘value’. There is no distinction between value, religion, way of thinking, belief, purpose, or custom as in Western languages. For example, dharman refers to a person’s religious, moral and social principles and customs; artha refers to the aims, goals and aspirations; vishvâsa to beliefs and attitudes in general; guna to the qualities or virtues which excel. The meanings of these words are partly distinct, partly overlapping. In Chinese, it must be noted that jia zhi guan is not really used in the European sense (see below). Chinese people have values, although these may be different from those elsewhere.

After the terminology, the nature and content of values are investigated. Values may be distinguished according to different categories: religious, moral, social, political and aesthetic. While the specific values which are cherished by an individual or society may vary, in general, the following may be considered: truth, honesty, harmony, order, liberty, democracy, justice, mercy, compassion, forgiveness, patience, love, respect, children, family and kinship, friendship, politeness, charity, beauty, simplicity, poverty, chastity and obedience (the monastic values), education, wisdom, good health, common weal.

It should be noted that none of the religions or philosophies particular to Asia (Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism, Animism) draws a distinction between religious and secular values. The religious scriptures contain guidelines not only for worship, but also for correct conduct in everyday life, even including politics, economy and the arts. There is also a tendency to trace modern developments back to the ancient religious sources, with the aim of conferring importance on the ancient texts or of providing support to modern issues, as in the case of democracy and Islam.

Some values are easily identifiable, while doubts remain about others: it is difficult to draw a clear line between values and codes of conduct. Take, for example, shaking hands. Does this code of conduct express the value of politeness or is it a value in itself? We tend to deny that such conventions are values. Codes of conduct can be seen as the practice or expression of values such as harmony and respect in everyday life.

Values as such are abstract. Harmony, respect, justice are approved by many: which religion or society would not preach them? They are probably common values. However, when they are put into practice, we observe a variety of outcomes. It is not enough to know which values are cherished in Asia if we want to understand Asians and communicate, share, and build bridges. We need to know what determines the selection of the values and endows them with specific characteristics when they are put into practice. Often the problems that occur in communications between East and West reveal a lack of understanding of behaviour. What does it mean when the partner smiles, offers a gift, or speaks of ‘tomorrow’? It is not enough to enumerate the values from the religious and philosophical sources: we need to know also what marks the Asian ways of thinking as well.

The origins of Asian values can be traced in religious and philosophical texts and traditions. But other factors too have an impact. What about historical experiences, developments in society, the rise of the market economy with the phenomena of urbanization and industrialization, geographical and climatic conditions, experiences of wars and ecological disasters?

Societies and their values change; habits are adopted from colonizers and world powers. The present changes are often described as an erosion of values in East and West. Instead of honesty, corruption is widespread. The special importance of the family is not favoured by separate housing, increasing divorces and economic divisions. During this process, values are rediscovered and reconsidered.

When we look at Asian societies today we find a great diversity of life styles. Traditional Asian ways and Western and modern trends exist side by side. However, a Japanese in a Western suit does not mean that his way of thinking has become Western. Basic attitudes remain the same. They are investigated in the following sections.

1.3 Ways of thinking as the determinants of values and codes of conduct

1.3.1 The Chinese way of thinking

China differs from Europe but how and in what way? Two concepts will be explored in this section which may bring us nearer to an understanding. Chinese thinking is monist and morphological, which means it emphasizes the study of the forms of things.

A general idea of the yin/yang concept

The concept of yin/yang appeared in Kouei Tsang, the book of divination, which according to tradition, was written during the Yin dynasty (eighteenth–twelfth centuries BC). The text refers to the son of Hi Ho, the mother of the suns: ‘look at him climbing up to the sky, one light, one dark’. This concept is based on alternate and complementary dyads. The yin/yang principle of going and coming movements, of expansion and contraction, is the root of the cosmic harmony. For Chinese thinking, harmony was the origin of the world.

‘At the beginning there was an alternation’, says the Confucian classic, The Analects. The basis of Confucius’ teachings is harmony. Chinese thinking considers the alternating opposites, for example autumn–winter/spring–summer, rest–activity, night–day; and complementary opposites, sky–earth, left–right, and so on. Day and night alternate. When the sun sets, the moon rises: moon and sun push and pull each other for the benefit of life, as the Chinese remember that there were once eight suns and life on earth was miserable. The cycle of seasons follows the same interdependent action, for spring and summer are the times for the blossoming of nature, autumn and winter are the times for its withdrawal. But it is during the dark seasons that nature is nourishing its energy, waiting under the earth to emerge at springtime. These images illustrate the regular cosmological flow.

The yin/yang concept leads to a monist way of thinking

Chinese thinking is monist, and works in terms of and/and, while Europeans are dualists, and think in terms of or/or and either/or. One notion cannot be considered without the other, both exist only in their relationship to the other; one is implicit in the other. Chinese writing reflects this duality, as many basic characters are composed of opposites, for example landscape is seen as ‘mountain+water’. ‘One yin–one yang, here is the Tao: at the same time yin – at the same time yang, here is the Tao’, says the Zhouyi Xici, annexed to the Book of Changes. But having a translation is already an interpretation, because yin and yang are melting into the Tao, and then Tao alone persists.⁴ Yin and yang continuously alternate and this alternation gives the Tao.

Since Chinese thinking refers to a natural order which creates harmony, there is no absolute goodness or badness, no immortal soul, no creator, no absolute otherness. No creator, because this coherent system leaves no room for a transcendental creator. No immortal soul, as life is like day, the time for activity, and night is like death, the time for rest. We can just say one is visible and the other one is invisible. There is no absolute otherness. In China all non-Chinese people are ‘barbarians’. In texts one can read the expression ‘raw and cooked barbarians’, whether Chinese or not.

The yin/yang as visible/invisible

The grammatical category ‘gender’ does not exist in China but Chinese thinking is dominated by the male and female categories of yin/yang. Everything, every notion, is organized under the yin/yang concept, even the visible and invisible world. The first is yang and the second is yin. From ancient times, the two worlds have communicated. Anything, good and/or bad, happening within the visible world on earth is due to the invisible world of the spirits. The spirit world is not impersonal, two worlds have always communicated with mediums or shamans (both categories exist in China).⁵ The supernatural world of the spirits gives to human beings who in turn give back their due to the spirits, then the spirits will give again, and so on. This is a world of the ‘give and counter-give’ interconnected system.⁶ Even today, some Chinese and Japanese agree that the practice has strong impact on their lives. Many Japanese businessmen would not undertake any business without first consulting the medium.⁷

Another expression of this dyadic concept is the culture of the ‘indirect’ where it becomes an aesthetic value in poetry and painting.⁸ The art in painting is to paint the visible to reveal the invisible. The emptiness of the sky animates the landscape, just as wind animates nature. The un-said, which belongs to the invisible notion, is yin. From the Book of Poetry (compiled between the ninth to sixth centuries BC), the Chinese have expressed themselves through poetry. Whenever a mandarin wanted to bring something to the notice of his superiors, or to criticize the Imperial Court, he wrote a poem describing landscape, birds, or butterflies for instance. But the allegorical message was always understood by the one(s) to whom it was dedicated. For a contemporary reader, it is always difficult to discover the real meaning of a poem, as he has not only to understand the poet’s style, but also his biography. Confucius used metaphors and allegories.⁹ All civil servants in China are poets! The Official Chronicles tells that when welcoming diplomats from neighbouring countries, Chinese princes and their ministers recited poems from the Book of Poetry and used allegories in conversation with their guests. This roundabout way of expressing one’s thoughts is still in favour today. For example Vice-President Zhou Enlai died in January 1976; then in April, the Chinese worshipped All Souls’ day. Nobody knows how it happened, but within a few hours Tian An Men square was white, it was covered with flowers and anonymous poems with no poetic value, but full of puns and metaphors hostile to the government. The government understood: the square was cleaned, spick and span, in one night. Poems hold a social, moral and political message – not merely for the writer, but for all.

For the Chinese, the un-said or the use of other words does not hide the meaning but expresses it more deeply, a cultural trait which may have prevented the democratic process in China. This contrasts with the European approach. From the fifth century in Greece, Europeans have learned that there are two sides to every argument, they have learned the art of rhetoric and oratory, the culture of ‘face-to-face’, which seems to have contributed to the tradition of democracy in the West.

Examining the use of poetry for expression may be esoteric, so let us take a more prosaic approach and look at contemporary newspapers. It is not enough to understand the Chinese language to read a daily n...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Notes on the Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Understanding Asian Values
• 2 Rights, Duties and Responsibilities
• 3 ‘Asian’ Values and the Heart of Understanding: A Buddhist View
• 4 The Relevance of Confucianism Today
• 5 Islamic and European Values: Similarities and Differences
• 6 Hindu Values
• 7 ‘The Market’ in Asian Values
• 8 Asian Values and Their Impact on Business Practices
• 9 The Encounter Between Europe and Asia in Pre-Colonial Times
• Index