Some outsiders look at China and see a strange land with an anomalous culture and mind boggling rules, policies and laws. However, not everything is so black and white. Some of the things Chinese people do (no matter how harsh or brutal they are in foreign eyes) are not only necessary but beneficial to society. In some instances, China couldn't possibly live without some of these cultural/political institutions. Listed below are just a few of the most prominent things that appear rough on the surface but in reality make China a better place in the long run.
1) Hukous
A hukou is China's legal household registration system. Apart from registering births, deaths, marriages, etc., it categorises citizens as either rural or urban. So if you're classified as a farmer, the act (even after recent reforms) still makes it difficult for you to migrate to a more prosperous city. Many see the hukou system as callous since it denies freedom of movement and, like the Indian Caste system, refuses peasants the opportunity to climb the social ladder.
However, it would be hard to imagine China without such a law. If this system weren't implemented, a large portion of China's 800 million peasants would move to the industrialised coast. According to experts, such a migration would likely cause an increase in crime, burden city authorities, overpopulate strained metropolises and drain the agricultural sector dry. It would be similar to abolishing passports, causing a wave of immigrants from impoverished nations to the developed world. So while many complain about China's hukou system, passports in the international community more or less serve the same purpose. The hukou system can be seen as discriminatory and unfair at times, but it plays a crucial role in the long term development and greater well being of China's future.
2) The One Child Policy
The One Child Policy is a touchy subject inside and outside of China since many claim it's responsible for forced abortions, female infanticide, sterilization, a gender imbalance and preventing 300-400 million births since it was first introduced in 1979. Despite negative international press, the One Child Policy, according to PRC officials, has contributed to China's outstanding developmental success.
The radical law was first implemented for economic purposes to reduce unemployment, excess consumption of resources and increase GDP per capita. Controlling fertility has also allowed the country to curb overpopulation which, in return, reduces disease/epidemics, extreme poverty and pollution emission. In a cross country comparison, the One Child Policy may even explain why China has done a better a job at reducing poverty than India (another overpopulated nation faced with similar developmental obstacles). With no population control measures in effect, India, according to the World Bank, has 37% of its population living in poverty while less than 15% do so in China.
It seems that the One Child Policy, along with other crucial institutional changes, have greatly helped transform China into a major world player, a factor which may explain why 75% of Chinese approve of it. In contemporary times, however, many governmental officials are calling for an end to the policy since the country has now reached a level of stability and prosperity, making the end of this controversial plan with close reach.
3) Educational system
When I was a teacher, my Chinese students couldn't believe I used to ride my bike, play soccer and hang out with friends after school. Their childhood is very different. Many Chinese students go to boarding schools away from their families, attend class from 7:00-19:00, go to school during the weekends, are dished out hours of homework a night, attend cram-schools (or extracurricular courses) and are given lengthy homework assignments during their short summer vacations. Even more astonishing is the fact that universities place early curfews on their students!
Family and society puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the youth to perform well, so much that it makes their social life and non-academic pursuits almost nonexistent. Indeed, the Chinese education system is tough, but that's probably why Shanghai ranked first place in all subjects in a recent OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) administered international examination. In retrospect, sacrificing a "little bit" of leisure time for a brighter future is worth it, especially when it contributes to the country's three decade economic miracle that's brought hundreds of millions out of poverty.
4) Guanxi
Guanxi means "relationship" and it's a fundamental characteristic of Chinese society. It's similar to the English expression "it's not what you know but who you know." Guanxi (or personal connections) is essential in the dynamic world of Chinese business and, for that matter, all other aspects of Chinese society as well.
On one hand, guanxi has a dark side. It's associated with nepotism, cronyism, stealing, bribery, collusion, exchanging insider information and other immoral/illegal acts. It can be unfair and even infuriating when you offer the best deal in a negotiation and lose to someone who purchased the associate a Ferrari.
On the other hand, guanxi in theory has its benefits. According to Forbes, in a working culture where lying and cheating is part of business, guanxi allows two entities to build trust, work together and uphold one another to a mutual respect. Guanxi is also reciprocal, so it's understood that a favour done for you should be repaid at some point. This notion helps strengthen and maintain personal bonds between two parties for future endeavours. It's apparent that guanxi undoubtedly undermines meritocracy, but in the end it helps companies and people alike get things done effectively in a cut throat environment.
5) Chinese characters
Chinese characters make Mandarin one of the world's most difficult languages. But if you think about it the only thing harder than using characters to read Chinese would be a system that didn't use them at all. With so many homonyms, using an alphabet or pinyin (the Latinized writing scrip for Chinese) would be a catastrophe. The word "shi," for example, has over 140 different characters meaning anything from scholar to animal feed. Even if you denote its tone in an alphabetical system (as you do with pinyin and the Taiwanese phonetic writing system called Bopomofo), there's still numerous homonyms with the exact same tone and pronunciation but possessing completely different meanings.
Realising the convoluted nature of characters, the government has taken controversial steps to make the written language more accessible. In 1952, Chairman Mao simplified hundreds of characters from the 2,000 year old script to improve the country's poor literacy rate. Now 96% of Chinese are literate, but traditionalists are furious over the change. Recently, the PRC reduced and regulated the official amount of characters that can be used in names. The decree definitely limits personal freedom of choice, but it's ultimately necessary to prevent people from using obscure, ancient characters that are unknown to the masses. Indeed, learning characters is a daunting task and the simplification process (despite making it easier) has ruffled a few feathers, but when it comes down to it they're essential for a homonym structured language like Mandarin.
Related links
Death of Only Adult Child: Little Support for Grieving Chinese Parents
Ox-Demons and Snake-Gods: Will Chinese Characters Ever Die Out?
Change in the Air for the Hukou? Experts Speak Out
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Keywords: Guanxi Hukous necessary hardships China limits in China one child policy
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Hukous are simply a means to control a vast population and to keep a large percentage of that popoulation in either absolute poverty or at least relative poverty working the land in order to provide food for the more prosperous towns and cities.
The one child policy whilst sensible at first sight has too many unforseen consequences later on, such as the boy and girle who marry and between the both of them have four parents to support just on their income. I was watching a program about this a couple of weeks ago which was filmed in the town/small city that the government has allowed to be the control experiment. No-one here is subject to the one child policy, everyone is free to choose how many children they have if any at all. The interesting fact that came out of it weas that the population growth in this town where everyone has free will in this respect is actually lower on average than that of the rest of China.
The article praises the results of the Chinese education system, yet does not explain why students are unable to actually think fo themselves. Total recall of facts is not the same as fully understanding the subject. This is indoctrination not education. It also fails to question why Chinese education standards are generally not found to be acceptable by overseas universities, aside from a few exceptions. when my stepson wanted to come to England to do a masters degree after graduating from Nanning university he was told the degree he had would be ignored and he would have to take a foundation course followed by the usual three years to obtain a degree in England first.. I remember hearing a famous quote many years ago saying that the best thing about going to university was being taught how to think. that simply does not happen here. If the education is so good why do you think everyone would like to send their child abroad to complete their education.
Guanxi does nothing to aid business here, it is nothing other than bribery. For China to succeed in business she has to step up to the same standards as the rest of the world. She needs a well educated workforce who innovate, not copy. a workforce who is not afraid to speak up due to some convoluted idea about loss of face by a superior when a good idea is offered from the shop floor. She also needs to move away from the image of being the worlds producer of cheap goods and move into the area of supplying high quality goods that are desired by the rest of the world.
Jun 26, 2012 00:59 Report Abuse
This is a terrible article.The Hukou system is there simply to control people,to stop people from moving elsewhere to work is ridiculous. The One Child Policy is a blatant violation of human rights. Regarding the Education System, are you honestly saying that the ridiculously long hours are actually making Chinese children smarter? because we all know that is not the case and they are still having the same problems with a lack of creativity and the ability to think laterally. You are clearly the type of person who can be heard saying things like"democracy would never work in China". All the things you have mentioned are designed to legitimize and reinforce the power of the State by controlling the people they are supposed to serve.
Jun 25, 2012 21:11 Report Abuse
I find it hard to see why the one child policy is a violation of human rights. Without it most of the population would be living in squalor like India and enough food to go around. If China was even more populated then even their basic human rights, like getting education and and a roof over their heads. Surely the government would be violating human rights by letting people live like that.
Jun 26, 2012 21:42 Report Abuse
Because People should be big and the government small. I don't believe that the state should have the right to tell people how many children one can have it is beyond their remit. It is also causing as many problems as it is supposed to solve, especially the "4-2-1" problem where expecting one child to support two parents and four grandparents is very difficult in a country without an adequate social security system.
Jun 28, 2012 10:41 Report Abuse
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