Understanding Chinese Cultural Values: A Historical Perspective

You (2012) presented a summary of Chinese cultural values, categorized into six groups with respect to the orientation of a value. His discussion closely relates to cultural values of Chinese people’s attitudes and behaviors in daily life.
(1)Past-time orientation: Chinese society holds high respect for their ancestors and Chinese history. There is a saying in Chinese that history is the mirror of the present. Chinese people are always instructed to make their decisions based on the experiences or knowledge of their predecessors, and they frequently quote old sayings or classic essays to support their arguments. The historical mindset of the Chinese people also results in a preference for “old” interpersonal relationships. Therefore, Chinese people tend to trust people that they know more than they do strangers, and they put a lot into maintaining a

Modesty is the first step to establishing a successful relationship because modesty not only represents one’s respect for self-perception, but it also indicates politeness and respect to others. Modesty requires people not to challenge authority, but to respect the authorities. Also, in many cases, an appropriate response to compliments would be a humble disagreement, indicating the compliment is more than what one deserves. Not many studies of Chinese cultural values include modesty as a separate cultural value; however, modesty is actually a favored personality feature in modern Chinese society. In sharp contrast to this, American culture promotes confidence over modesty in favor of self-realization. In addition, expressions of modesty in daily practice are very different in Chinese and American culture. The Chinese’s response to a compliment could be considered rude by an American. Thus modesty is included as a separate value in this list. Harmony with others is considered by many as “the cardinal value of Chinese culture” (Hu,