Entries Tagged 'Chinois' ↓

Most of us have been trained through out our tender years to think and confront opposites. “Either; Or” have been ingrained in our thinking mode. Great men of the like of Deng Xiao Ping became famous and were acclaimed for their creativity and success because they have been able to reconcile what seem to be opposites.

Communism had until the Deng Xiao Ping in the 80’s been in opposition with capitalism. Deng Xiao Ping moved and proved that China’s political policy could combine a new Communism with capitalism. In his reformed socialist model elaborated in 1987, he formulated the concept of “one country: two systems”. He very cleverly fought the ‘left wing’ of the ruling party with left trends at the same time gained the battle of the ‘right wing’ with the right trends whilst maintaining the four cardinal principles of Marxism inherited from Mao.

According to me, the success of the economic takeoff of today’s China is well rooted in Deng Xiao Ping’ genius and drive. I am proud that to note that Deng is another brother Hakka.

Deng Xiaoping had stressed all along that it is of strategic importance to bring younger people into positions of leadership and that the destiny of the Party and the state hinges on this question. He has stood firmly for abolishing permanent tenure in leading posts and has taken the lead in this connection. When new leading bodies were elected at the Party’s Thirteenth National Congress and the First Plenary Session of the Thirteenth Central Committee, he withdrew his candidacy for membership in the Central Committee and its Political Bureau, accepting only reappointment as Chairman of the Central Military Commission. However, with his high prestige and profound wisdom he will continue to play a great role in making major policy decisions of the Party and the state.

Through a lifetime of service to the people, Deng Xiaoping has earned the respect and affection of millions of his compatriots.

Reading the Hakka website, and following the definition of a Hakka by Luo XiangLin: I would qualify to be a Hakka as I satisfy all 3 criteria. Beyond the criteria I was born in a Hakka homeland.

Quote

The Hakka people are quite an interesting group among ethnic Chinese. As a branch of the Han Chinese, the Hakka is believed to be different from the neighbouring people. Most people follow the conclusions of Luo Xianglin, who claimed that the Hakka is the “noble pure blood Han from the Central Plain”, and have been migrating to the South since the third Century in five waves. Because they are late comers, they are named Hakka. Because they retain the most precious culture of the Chinese, they have a sense of superiority and refused to be assimilated. Instead they identify themselves as Hakka and keep their own language and culture even after centuries of migration.

Luo Xianglin had listed three criteria for Hakka:

(1) one’s ancestors lived in the Hakka homeland),
(2) identifies himself to be Hakka,
(3) able to speak the Hakka dialect.

 

Unquote

 

 It is worthy to note that the great majority of Chinese in Mauritius are Hakka. My family whose last dwelling in China was in Mei Xian according to our records had migrated to MeiXian some 600 years ago. We would have formed part of the third wave of migration from central plain China to the South.

I recommend you to read about the Hakka people who have their own customs & characteristics forged by their own history. The story of the Hakka woman is another interesting and telling event in the whole history of China which depicts the determination for survival of the people.

Another Quote from the preface of the book: The origin of Hakka People

I have been asked many times, “Why are you interested in Hakka? It is a dying language, and a disappearing culture.” My answer may be quite surprising to many, including Hakka. My interest started from the curiosity to find out about my own roots. It grew into the exploration of how cultures are preserved and how they interact with others.

The study of Hakka is a study of conservation and survival of an ancient heritage under constant impact of others, which is something all cultures are facing in today’s world. Some paraphrase Hakkas as Jews of Chinese. I think a more appropriate paraphrase may be dandelion. A little flower, tough enough to survive the harshest environment, travels to all corners of the world, plants its roots in the poorest soils and blooms with yellow flowers. It has a lot of useful culinary and medicinal applications yet few people know about them. There are many varieties, tall and short, large and small. They adapt to the surrounding, but still remain well recognizable as dandelion.

 I am proud to be a Hakka.

 

I was away for a fortnight in France for some business meetings and took the opportunity to spend a week at La Chapelle MontLiniard to undergo some Laser Poncture Therapy.
You may visit the website which gives a very good description of the therapy, its possible benefits and its history. In short, it is unique combination of two therapies Laser and Acupuncture.
Dr. Albert Bohbot, a very kind & generous gentleman, the researcher delivers personally the therapies presently. He intends to roll out a plan to start new clinics in various locations akin to the present one and to train qualified therapies.
I was enthused with the professionalism of Dr Bohbot’s team and the set up of the laboratory clinic which caters mainly for Spinal Cord Injury and Neurological disorder. After my first week of treatments, I have a small increase in sensation in my right limbs and more flexibility in my arms. Let us hope this is the start of some more improvements to be gained. I am now planning a new visit to the clinic.
Beside the treatment, thanks to my brother in law and nephew who accompanied us throughout the stay in the wine country of Nièvre in Burgundy region, we had a wonderful time staying in a countryside chalet with a fire place, delighting ourselves with the local products and visiting the nearby towns of Bourges and the surrounding wineries: the famous Sancerre area and that of Pouilly Fume.
 

I was glued to my TV this morning watching the press meeting of China’s Premier Wen following the National People’s Congress NPC and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).I even delayed to eat my breakfast prepared religiously every morning and with love by my wife.

The calmness of Premier Wen in addressing the very delicate & pertinent questions raised was for me the prime of my appreciation and interest. China has moved from a secretive authoritian ruling Communist party to greater transparency. Corruption and concentration of power were strong issues taken up. His replies were tactful, to the point, firm when necessary and sometimes appropriately filled with a tint of philosophical thoughts. He delivered structured, well thought of, easy to understand in short, perfect deliveries though being impromptu and on the spot He has also been humble and honest whilst at the same time being inspiring and very hopeful for the future, in issues regarding China’s failure to attain the target set for the level emission of carbon dioxide. He clearly made his point and that of China regarding Tibet and the Dali Lama issue made by a member of the French press. I enjoy learning from Premier Wen’s performance.

I must admit that I was happily surprised to hear and see the openness of Premier Wen in accepting to be questioned in some of the hottest issues. At one stage I thought that it was a make up to project “erroneously” the image of China. When I heard the question put in by the Taiwanese press, I changed my mind.

The Chinese slice of my genes stirred and I was proud to have been born in China and to possess this very Chinese portion in my metissage.

Time for rejoicing. Time to start anew. Time to look forward to a better year.

It is also the day of the highest movement of people in China. Traditionally all Chinese return home to spent the start of the year together with the family.

My daughter Stephane and her children flew from Montreal to arrive today to see us.

Happy year of the Pig to all of you. This year of the fire Pig is of particular significance to me as I shall be 60 and the 5 elements of the Chinese horoscope combined with the 12 signs coincides only every 60 years.

Year 2007 is a Chinese Red Fire Pig Year. Why did the Chinese name the year 2007 as the Red Pig Year? Chinese calendar used the Stem-Branch system to count the days, months and years. There are 10 Stems and 12 Branches in this system. Stems are named by the Yin-Yang and Five Elements (Metal, Water, Wood, Fire and Earth). The Stem sequence order is Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water. Branches use the animal names

From my childhood, I had at all times heard my grandpa, Koung Koung talking about harmony and the just middle way.His “Confucius” up bringing could only direct him to such language. The search for “Harmony” in all matters was his life quest. Harmony in human relations is what I cherish and have taken from him. For him “justice” is equivalent to “harmony” for all. The now, under study since 2005, the Chinese Government under Mr. Hu is taking harmony as his diplomatic driver.

A recent commentary in the People’s Daily newspaper begins by saying that “2006 has been the first year for the Chinese government to implement its `harmonious-world-oriented’ diplomacy.” The article recognises that when Mr. Hu first formulated the theory in late 2005, it left “world public opinion perplexed, not knowing how to put it into practice.”

The harmony of the Yin and Yang and the search of the equilibrium of the five elements are the essential of Chinese-ness is n’t it?

The big question is How to bring about this harmonious world? I found reading an editorial of ” The Hindu”, the Chennai based newspaper a hint towards Mr.Hu ‘s rolling out actions to the world. This comment was most probably triggered by the brother like conversations that the Prime Minister of India had with the China’s number 1 at Cebu yesterday.The neighboring great countries of the future seem to be starting off a honey moon.

Vive l’harmonie des nations!

Last night for the first night,we got a night off from our golden den. They are so caring here in IVAC when the Medical Doctor heard that we are eating out, he immediately wanted to make sure that the food that we were eating would be compatible with the diet prescribed. He also made recommendations on the type of food we should keep away from.

Through the Administrative Manager,Pramilla I got the phone number of the owner of the Chinese restaurant. I was told that they served Hakka noodles and it was ran by Indian born Chinese. I try my luck and got Mr.Yung on the telephone.I struck gold, Mr. Yung spoken Moyen hak, my mother tongue. He immediately told me that he would prepare food for home Hakka eating. Yoopi! that made my day. He had red rice(tsao) ginger chicken soup, followed by a pork dish, fish , Hakka crispy chicken and Pipangaille stir fried with chicken breast and tung choy. A feast it was!

The Indian couple who accompanied us for the occasion said that they had eaten several times at the same restaurant but never ever before they had such dishes.

I was told that the owner’s wife also ran a beauty saloon. As it is the case in India, most chinese mostly hakka oirigin were, in the past, only allowed to open businesses in leather, more precisely in cowhide and allied industries, restaurants and Beauty Saloons.

Well I would sum up and say that I felt great to have eaten this meal in Mysore and be connected to a brother of the Hakka Diaspora. 

It was also to thank Pramilla  for the kindness she extended to us, to meet her husband and finally to fete Marie Anne’s departure today to Mumbai on her way to Canada.

Last Friday, I had a wonderful chat with a friend I had not met for years. She has come back to Mauritius to visit her mother who is not enjoying good health these days. She has taken a sabbatical year from her American university teaching job to write on the influence France had on the Chinese society in the years 1850 onwards. Previously she had written a thesis on the Taiping rebellion which would be China of 1850’s. She will be traveling soon to China to collect data for her writings.

During our conversation, she shared her views on how the world is getting more complex and sophisticated, bringing in less authenticity in human behavior. She is for sure a learned person yet she has stayed very simple & humble.

On her trip from Paris to Mauritius, to her great surprise, she was told at the check in counter that she will be upgraded. The biggest surprise was she was upgraded to first class. She really felt awkward during her fight; she was a fish out of water, to travel in such an environment. Although she enjoyed the comfort of the amenities, the armchair turning to a flat bed, she felt uneasy with the put up show of service by the crew. There was no genuineness. She did not enjoy the lengthy bar service, choice of drinks and wines and the 3 course meals offered with much pomp and ceremony. What a waste she thought! What she missed was the warm atmosphere in the din and enthusiasm of the economy class travel where it was possible to exchange with your neighbors and to enter in a human to human conversation.

First class travel to her was physically super in comfort but lacking in human touch. The neighbor was polite but seems to transmit the message, “I have paid a lot of money not to be disturbed”. There was absolute silence and a cold atmosphere.

Like wise, she shared with me her excitement in traveling in public buses from Sainte Croix to Port Louis. The atmosphere though chaotic, noisy, even disorderly at times is lively and full of human interactions. Guys talking to each other across three rows of other passengers, the kids shouting, whilst the conductor was eating his morning roti are all part of the fun. She found there and then authenticity in life.

Indeed the lessons I retained from my friend: humility & simplicity yield authenticity.

The Reason, The feelings, The law.

Let us suppose you were asked to rank the criteria elements quoted above, which would motivate your behavior. Your reply could well be it depends for what behavior. These elements were used to establish the criteria used in studies to establish cultural differences. The most often used ranking of the criteria in the different behaviors would give an in sight of the cultural behaviors.

It was found that most Anglo Saxons would use “the law” as the highest criteria in decision making. People influenced by Descartes’ would place “the reason” as the main criteria whilst Confucius influenced culture would be more inclined to have “the Feeling” criteria as the driver. Sophie Faure who wrote Manager a l’ecole de Confucius taught me quite a lot on this subject when she visited us in Mauritius, some time ago last year.

Understanding this hierarchy of criteria do shed light on cultural differences. For example, in the western world, bringing gifts to a counterpart that you meet for the first time in a business situation, could be seen as a form of unwarranted softener. Such an action could be wrongly interpreted. However, such practice in the East would be the norm. As “sentiments” are the highest criteria, it would be natural to start off an introduction with an exchange of gifts to arouse the feel good factor and to show welcoming & start off the sharing.

We are in the “bouillon de cultures”. We are thus able to see the fine lines of the cultural differences perhaps unconsciously. Finding founding explanations to these nuances helps us to act properly and consciously.

I am very interested in the East- West interaction. For a Chinese, I could be a banana. A term use by the Chinese to describe a Chinese brought up in a western culture: Yellow out side and White inside. I need to get better understanding of my unconscious eastern upbringing nurtured by my family environment. I consider my self not too much white inside. Understanding the culture differences and more importantly identifying the source of the difference is very useful & telling. I have read a comparison of Socrates & Confucius philosophies and would recommend it to you. I would also like to read a comparison of Indian and western philosophies to identify converging and diverging thinking.

Le bouillon de culture à la croisée des courants de l’orient et de l’occident, d’Afrique et de l’asie.

extrait d’images de L’Ile de la Reunion

La boutique chinois
Le créole ne fera pas d’accord en disant la boutique chinoise, mais dans son esprit, il s’agit de la boutique tenue par un Chinois.

Les boutiques sont installées dans toute l’île et font partie intégrante du paysage des villes et aussi des hauts. Elles étaient appelées en général du prénom du boutiquier : “chez Marcel”, “chez Georges”, “chez Jean”. La devanture de la façade était décorée de morceaux de tôles clouées, sur lesquelles il y avait des publicités pour tels produits ou tels autres. Parfois, les autres publicités étaient sur papier, et tout cela mettait un peu de couleur à cette construction banale, il faut le dire. Les boutiques des premiers étaient bien modestes avec des portes qui se fermaient avec un système de levier à bascule. L’architecture des boutiques de ces migrants chinois était reconnaissable aussi bien extérieurement, qu’intérieurement avec la disposition des comptoirs dedans.

Jouxtée à cette construction, était la buvette qui rassemblait de nombreuses personnes autour d’un ou deux “p’tits verres”.

Beaucoup de boutiques étaient construites sur un socle en pierres taillées enduites de ciment et sur lequel était placé le plancher. Ce vide sous ces planches permettait une meilleure circulation de l’air, donc moins d’humidité dans la boutique. Les côtés sont en planches recouvertes de tôles (pour que le bois soit moins humide), mais aussi à cause des rats et souris qui dévasteraient davantage les denrées stockées à l’intérieur. Ces boutiques en général se dressaient à un angle de rue avec son toit de tôle ondulée à quatre pentes et un auvent. Ce dernier courait sur toute la longueur du bâtiment, protégeant avantageusement portes et passants du soleil et des intempéries. Sous cet auvent on pouvait voir se dresser parfois, un petit perron en béton permettant les compagnons de beuveries de s’y asseoir et discuter en dehors de la buvette. Traditionnellement la boutique est un lieu de convivialité où les hommes du village aiment se rencontrer.

L’intérieur c’était une vraie caverne d’Ali Baba, car ce sont de petits commerces de proximité qui proposent toutes sortes de denrées alimentaires et d’articles de première nécessité.

L’aménagement de l’intérieur des boutiques était pratiquement le même partout. Souvent à la porte, recouverte aussi de tôle, se dressaient, alignés, des “gonis” débordant de riz en vrac, de maïs en grains, de tourteau, de café, de sucre, de haricots en tous genre, Un peu plus au fond et à gauche, était dressée une vitrine. Celle-ci, de fabrication artisanale et réalisée en bois de tamarin, constituait un élément indispensable au mobilier du commerce. Le boutiquier se tenait derrière ce comptoir-vitrine. Une porte intérieure, menait à l’arrière du magasin. Cette partie ajoutait aux clients un mythe de l’Orient aux obscurités de cette arrière-boutique. Quand on demandait au chinois une chose rare, il disparaissait dans le “fénoir” de cette pièce et revenait longtemps après, avec la marchandise demandée ou autre chose d’équivalent. Il déballait lentement cette marchandise de son papier journal tout auréolé d’odeur d’épices, d’alcool à brûler et de poussière.

Sur la partie droite du magasin se dressait une autre vitrine. Sur une poutre derrière le boutiquier, à un crochet, pendaient des “cornets chinois” jaunis dans lesquels il emballait les marchandises (pas de sachets plastiques !). Ces cornets étaient fabriqués par le chinois lui-même, d’où l’appellation “cornet chinois”.

Sur la vitrine de gauche trônaient de grands bocaux contenant des bonbons à la menthe, aux fruits, des berlingots des sucres d’orge et autres. Et tout près de ces bocaux, était placé un boulier chinois, (pas de caisse enregistreuse, ni de calculatrice). Parfois, certains boutiquiers ne sachant pas manier le boulier (il est vrai difficile à s’y faire) posaient l’opération sur un papier journal remplis de chiffres, ou bien sur le cornet.

La partie supérieure de cette vitrine contenait les pâtisseries, des biscuits, les macatias de l’époque, et que les enfants ne quittaient pas des yeux. La partie inférieure contenait quant à elle des objets religieux, des outils, et autres. Toutes les marchandises se côtoyaient dans un espace réduit. Des chapeaux de feutre étaient suspendus çà et là pour les messieurs.

Ce commerce était une entreprise familiale tenue par le chinois, son épouse, et aussi les enfants. L’épouse s’occupait surtout de la vente des articles de la partie droite du magasin, soit, la toile, chaussures, boutons, galons, fil, livres parfums . Dons cette partie du commerce se tenait derrière son comptoir, la boutiquière, et derrière l’autre vitrine où des pâtisseries étaient exposées, le chinois se tenait devant tout un mur rempli d’étagères sur lesquelles s’alignaient les bouteilles d’alcool, de liqueurs, d’eau, de sirop aux étiquettes colorées. Les étagères inférieures contenaient des boîtes de conserves, allumettes, bougies, lampe à pétrole, eau de Cologne, Tout ces articles placés côte à côte, avaient leur place sur cette étagère. Des outils, des sabres, de la corde, des sacs de clous, des vis, formaient un coin bricolage. Une autre vitrine abritait les saucisses, le boucané et autres.

Sur un côté, se tenait un réfrigérateur vitré (quand on eut l’électricité) dont le contenu faisait envie à tous les enfants et aussi aux grands. Ce qui intéressait encore plus les enfants, c’était bien sûr, les sorbets avec leurs bois empilés dans le congélateur, que ces petits dégustaient aromatisés à la vanille, au chocolat, à la grenadine, au coco.

Une place spéciale était faite pour la balance Roberval et ses poids. C’est aussi à cette boutique que les enfants achetaient les plus gros pétards, et les plus beaux feux d’artifice pour les fêtes de Noël. Ces objets à allumer sont indissociables aux fêtes de fin d’année.

Ce qui faisait marcher ce commerce auprès de la population pauvre de l’île, c’est bien cette pratique des crédits (basée uniquement sur la confiance), sans intérêt appelé “carnets”. Le commerçant notait sur ces carnets tous les achats non payés de chaque personne vivant avec un crédit. Celui-ci était tenu en double exemplaires, et en fin de mois, quand le salaire tombait, le client venait régler le chinois, et c’était reparti pour un autre mois. Ainsi allait la vie.

Dans certaines boutiques,des denrées de base étaient stockées dans des bacs en bois (casier) dans lesquels les chinois plongeaient d’une main preste, une mesure en fer-blanc ou une sorte de petite pelle arrondie fabriquée localement. Ces caissons étaient surtout réservés aux grains, au café au maïs, au sucre. Dans ces denrées, le maïs était largement vendu, de la farine jusqu’aux grains, en passant par le fabuleux “maïs sosso”.

Pas trop loin de ces bacs, des billots servaient au découpage de la viande, de la morue séchée, dont l’odeur empestait toute la boutique. Il faut reconnaître que cette “boutique chinois” était un capharnaüm d’objets rangés ou suspendus puisque le magasin constituait la boutique d’alimentation où se dressaient des remparts de conserves, des murailles d’étoffes et de mousseline, des cartons de bouteilles ; on y trouvait un coin (pour ne pas dire rayon) bricolage, toiles, mercerie, librairie etc.

La boutique chinois, avec ses diverses marchandises, sa buvette pour le “p’tit coup d’sec” mettait sa grosse balance à la disposition des planteurs pour peser leurs productions de maïs, de manioc, ou d’huiles essentielles (qui sans doute se vendait au kilo !!). Là, s’échangeaient les marchandises mais aussi les nouvelles du quartier. La boutique faisait aussi office de banque avec crédit sur carnet ou avances sur récoltes (le plus souvent sur les huiles essentielles dans les hauts).

Parfois ces chinois avaient plus d’un tour dans leur sac, car au retour d’un enterrement dans le quartier, certains offraient un “p’tit coup d’sec” aux parents et amis du défunt. Ce geste touchait bien sûr la clientèle.

Plus tard ces chinois enrichis, leurs enfants bénéficieront d’un certain capital, et c’est ainsi qu’ils s’ouvriront une quincaillerie, ou une superette par exemple, mieux organisée que la boutique de leurs parents.

Le chinois est toujours en activité, mais le créole dira quand il verra un autre créole s’ennuyer, et revenir, et encore et encore, on lui dira qu’il est comme
« un chinois sans boutique ». Cela veut bien dire que le chinois est indissociable à sa boutique, sans celle-ci, il est perdu.

Pas loin avec les cousins Mauriciens!