Son of a bitch in Chinese

Only 10% of young Chinese believe that hard work, a good education and intelligence will help them in life

Only 10% of young Chinese believe that hard work, a good education and intelligence will help them in life. And more than 80% are sure that their success in life depends primarily on their parents, on what family they came from

The Chinese analogue of our MK and KP, in general, a youth newspaper, found out through an Internet survey: only 10% of young Chinese believe that hard work, a good education and intelligence will help them in life. And more than 80%, answering differently formulated questions, believe that their success in life depends primarily on their parents, on what family they came from.

What that same Chinese newspaper says about this is understandable - it worries and claims that there is a factor of instability in Chinese society. But let's look at the situation from a slightly different angle. What is this society? The shortest answer is traditional to the extreme. Conservative. And the essence of conservatism is precisely in “family values”.

Right now in China and wherever there are Chinese, the “spirit month” is ending, the peak of which will be the “night of the hungry ghosts”. This is the time of commemoration of the ancestors, and the souls of not the most supportive of the ancestors are pacified by burning all sorts of offerings on the altars, mostly from paper (like money, like cars, like new houses - sending to the other world).

There are attempts in science to introduce the concept of "Chinese religion", which comes down to the cult of ancestors. Kung Tzu, aka Confucius, was something like the rector of the academy of government, but because he was a very good rector, he gradually became the one who - since he is already a spirit - is sacrificed at the altar. In general, God. The same thing happened with Lao Tzu, the Buddha. But the first in this chain are the deceased ancestors: fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers. They are all gods.

So, we have a country where respect for the family is practically religious in nature. Of course, under the previous regime, religion was bad, and there was also a “cultural revolution”, when the authorities quite seriously tried to destroy traditional culture. Including forcing children to defame their fathers. The current regime, which can be considered communist only through ignorance, is a completely different matter. And the Chinese under him gladly returned to traditional religion and culture. In which family, ancestors are a very important thing.

China is not alone; there is also Central Asia. In practice, respect for the family and ancestors is illustrated there by a phrase that arose a couple of years ago in a skirmish between the Americans and the people of Afghan President Karzai: “Your son of a bitch is a person who helps his relatives advance, we have a son of a bitch who does not do this.”

I remember how, while working on an episode of one of my books, I turned to Professor Dmitry Mikulsky, who is well acquainted with Central Asia. The question was: how were children from good (yes, rich) families treated in the 8th century? What is the VIII century, he answered me, there and now such children are preferred in many situations. They are most often the best educated, they carry the traditions of politeness, but in addition, if there are problems with them, you know which clan or family to contact.

So, is it good or bad? In fact, we are faced with an eternal question: where is the golden mean between social mobility and the inheritance of the best traditions of society. Too much mobility is a revolution that destroys and destroys everything for decades to come. Too many traditions - this is stagnation and, again, the threat of revolution (and the Chinese are also concerned about this, as we see).

The fact that the Central Asians and the Chinese are on the right flank of traditionalism and nepotism has already been said. Who's on the left? Well, in the USA it is considered right when the son of a millionaire leaves home, works at McDonald and generally makes himself a man without the help of his parents. But then what about the American veneration of clans like the Kennedys? Right now, the eldest of the Kennedys, Caroline, is packing her things there, preparing to move to Tokyo for the post of US ambassador. Why she? Because - education, experience of communicating with any kind of people, because if she calls Barack Obama directly, he will pick up the phone, and because traditional Japanese people are terribly pleased when Kennedy is sent to them.

And what about Russia? How would our young men and women answer the same Chinese question? In the days of Brezhnev - it is known how. Today? Maybe the golden mean is us?