From: hyx1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Harry Y Xu)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.hongkong
Subject: Re: HK "roots"?? << was: "I love Hong Kong, too! But why? >>
Keywords: Culture and People
Date: 12 Apr 92 18:41:59 GMT
Organization: Columbia University

pkk36438@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Polygon) writes:
>hyx1@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Harry Xu) writes:
>>
>>What took 200 years to develop is not "root".  It's Americana, what we now
>>consider to be American culture.  American culture needed to be developed
>>because the "Americans" didn't want to adopt to the Indian culture.  In the
>>case of HK, the culture came with the people.  In America, the culture at 
>>the begining was a misture of different European cultures that needed to be
>>"unified" to form an "American" culture.  That takes generations.  Where as
>>in HK, the culture is homogeneously Chinese since the foundation.
>
>	Don't completely agree.
>	Canton is a strange place.  Cantonese try their best to sperate from
>	the mainstram of Mandarin influence.  Just look at the effort we made
>	on preserving our language, Cantonese, since Tong dynasty; 

  Really?  Can any 1 throw me some evidence of such effort?  Tnx.

>	Therefore HK in 100 years ago was greatly
>	influenced by the Mandarin culture, but HK culture at that time is not
>	homogeneous with the maninstream "Chinese" culture.

  What's Mandaring culture?  Only think is can think of is that they eat
  a little differently and wear more clothings.  Anything else?  Tnx.

>>Concept of root is the sence of attachment to the culture/people/environment
>>in which a person grows up.  Time dilutes memory and nurtures adoption.  
>>As a result, time dilutes the sence of attachment to origin. After some time,
>>the word "root" is not operational anymore. 
>                        ^^^^^^^^^^^
>	I agree with you on this point.
>
>>[..]  Living condition, to a great 
>>extent, determines the sence of attachment/belong. 
>
>	Personal attitude alone is not sufficient to define "root".  An ABC
>may have a very strong sense of attachment to HK, but his root is not in HK
>because he does not have enough culture traits and cultural bkground to share
>with the real HKese. Culture traits means the tools we used to live our lives.
>(eg. food, landscape, public transportation vehicles, clothing, etc. ) And
>cultural background is referred to the knowledge which is available to every
>member of the environment of interest. (eg. TV news, education, movies, etc.)

  I don't think u can say that "ABC have ... sense of attachment to HK."
  He's never seen HK.  What he hears all the time famile/friends about HK
  might help develop HK envy, but I won't call that "attachment."
	If u say "culture traits means tools..." (not that I dasagree),
  then the ABC's and Anglos have the same "culture traits" except that ABCs
  might eat more Chinese food but they can live on American food just as well.

>   You may argue that this fact just proves that ABC is not HKese. However,
>a "root" has to mount on something.  That something is our culture traits and
>cultural background.

  True.  I believe ABCs are not HKese by any acceptable definition.
  Of course u can say that they have a HKese root because of HKese parents.
  ABCs might have THE "cultural background" (Cultural knoledge should be 
  more appropriate.), but they don't have the "attachment" to it.  If they
  do (God forbid) they must be living a very unhappy life in US--a place
  more or less out of touch the culture which they feel attached to.

>Peter

-harry/kb2lha,	Just my thoughts.
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  Harry Xu  (KB2LHA)	   Internet:  hyx1@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.hongkong