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Thread: Are you an Asian with Western influence, or a Westerner in yellow skin? How to tell?

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    Default Are you an Asian with Western influence, or a Westerner in yellow skin? How to tell?

    This is influenced by Laviathan's comments in this topic, in which he proposed:

    Jin Yong's novels are modernizations of traditional Chinese literature. It has many Western inlfuences, but the style itself is still Chinese. Gu Long, knowing that he would never be able to surpass Jin Yong in this style, changed his style into something completely different. Gu Long novels are in fact Western style novels, written in Chinese.

    So: Jin Yong = Chinese novels with Western influence, while Gu Long = Western novels with Chinese themes


    Which got me thinking. If we take the same idea and apply it to ourselves--our styles, our way of thinking, etc, what does that make us? And how did you arrive at the conclusion?
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    I left Beijing at the age of eight.

    I'm not sure what "Chinese" mentality means any more since the last couple of decades have wrought such massive changes there. Cultures can change greatly in short periods of time, and once you are removed from it your impressions are frozen while that society continues to evolve.

    Also value systems picked up in youth will often not withstand the rigors of the real world so even barring any cultural shifts, it's bound to be different than someone who grew up in that culture.

    It's a long winded way of saying I'd like to think of myself as an individual with my own values and interests cherry picked from multiple cultures... which is probably a Western concept.

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    This is a good question. How to differentiate between Asian and Western values?
    Individualism vs collectivism? Is it really true that Westerners have more of the former while Asians more of the latter?

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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    It's hard to answer as a whole, but if applied to just writing style, I'd say that my writing style is undeniably Western.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ian Liew View Post
    It's hard to answer as a whole, but if applied to just writing style, I'd say that my writing style is undeniably Western.
    Interesting comment, Ian. Please elaborate on why you say your writing style is Western. Is it because you write in English?

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    Senior Member PJ's Avatar
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    One distinction to consider is what you know vs how you actually act. For example, I know and even prefer some Western values, but in the end I still act upon the Chinese ones (because of comfort level or family constraints, for example). In those cases I would consider myself more Chinese.

    When I think about this, the question I ask myself is, do I feel more comfortable in a Chinese group or a Western one? Which do I identify with more? Which do I understand more? What are you underneath it all?

    Ultimately I think I'm a JY: Chinese with Western influence.
    忽见柳荫下两个小孩子在哀哀痛哭,瞧模样正是武敦儒、武修文兄弟。郭芙大声叫道:「喂,你们在干甚麽?」武 修文回头见是郭芙,哭道:「我们在哭,你不见麽?」

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    Senior Member Ian Liew's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wkeej View Post
    Interesting comment, Ian. Please elaborate on why you say your writing style is Western. Is it because you write in English?
    It's not so much because I simply write in English, I read English far more than I read Chinese. I am confident I can write just about anything, including a wuxia, in English, but I have no confidence in being able to write anything non wuxia in Chinese. When writing I'd think in English too. I don't think Jin Yong went that far, though.

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