My Country and My People by Lin Yutang

Book Review: My Country and My People by Lin Yutang
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Institutional Affiliation
Book Review: My Country and My People by Lin Yutang
Outline
Thesis: The essay is a five-page book review that comprises a summary of the main points and a critique of the book “My People and My Country” by Lin Yutang. Also, it demonstrates my understanding of the book by displaying the connection between Chinese and North American Society and Culture, and a reflection of my knowledge of the book
Summary
* Chapter 1- Characteristics of people in the Chinese community
* Chapter 2- Character traits
* Chapter 3- Things that Chinese people are mostly concerned with
* Chapter 4- Life ideal in China
The Connection between Chinese and North American Culture and Society
* Cultural similarities and differences between Chinese North Americans- what motivates the two communicates
* Communication methods used by the two societies
* Differentiate the Chinese and North American Culture in terms of urbanization and the use of social media platforms
Reflection
* The book mainly contains information about the Chinese people and the Country
* There exists a significant association between the Country and its people
Summary
Lin Yutang wrote the book, “My Country and My People.” Lin Yutang was born in 1895. He was widely known as a philologist, essayist, lexicographer, philosopher, and novelist. He published the book, “My Country And My People” in 1935, whereby he explored the moral and mental constitution and principles of people, way of living, and literature in China. Yutang divided the book into two sections, such as Life and Bases. He further divided each section into various categories that presented distinct aspects. The first section, ‘Bases’ had four chapters, including life ideas, Chinese people, the mind of Chinese, and Chinese Characters.
The first chapter of the book mainly focused on outlining the five characteristics of people in the Chinese community. The attributes included the cultural unity of the Chinese people that bound together. However, the Southern Chinese differ slightly from the northerners in term of their habits, physique, temperament, and emotions. According to Yutang, Chinese culture has always been based on provincialism and nationalism. The second aspect discussed in the chapter includes the fact that people in China have adapted themselves to cultural and social ecosystems that exhibit negative strength, resistance to power, and stamina. As a result, they lost a significant part of physical and mental conquest power, also including negative strength. The third aspect of Chinese people, as discussed by Yutang, is that they exhibit a robust racial vigour known as the ‘the new blood infusion’. The fourth aspect is that the racial vitality and stamina of Chinese people enable them to regenerate themselves and survive political disasters which are both cultural and political. The fifth aspect explains that Chinese people are considered as young in terms of their race, but old culturally.
The author further discusses Chinese’s character traits in chapter two. He explains that civilization qualities were more beneficial than conquest and progress qualities because they enhanced endurance and strength among Chinese people. However, Yutang (2011) indicated that Chinese people had the most striking and worst characteristics, such as old dishonesty, indifference, and patient. Their patience was enhanced by racial adjustment, whereby economic pressure and overpopulation could not allow them to move about. Besides, indifference was primarily caused by their lack of constitutional guarantee and legal protection for individual liberty. Moreover, old roguery was contributed by their unavailability of a better word that could express life. The nonviolence of china was contributed by human understanding and positive temperament. Contentment and cheerfulness were found in all social groups ranging from the low social class to the highest, which established the racial tradition of Chinese people. As such, people were determined to see others succeed, desired to enjoy what their colleagues had, and did not regret whenever they failed. The humor for Chinese was more in deed than in words. As such, the portrait if the Chinese character would not be complete without mentioning its conservation.
Lin Yutang discussed in depth the things that Chinese people were mostly concerned with, in chapter 3. According to Yutang, Chinese people are ...