人类学家米勒的问答集 01 [美国媒体]

What do you think of Chinese people?

你如何看待中国人？





Eric Miller, Ph.D. in Cultural anthropology, research professor and applied anthropologist
Answered Jun 21, 2014
How does one answer such a question?  I certainly find the generations to be different--those born in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s for example have had such different life experiences.  I have a hard time fathoming the lives of the older generation, though I love to hear them reminisce.  I also have a hard time understanding the younger generations who have seen less change in China than I have (The first time I lived in China was 1988).

这样的问题，一个人不好回答啊！
我觉得中国的几代人是不一样的--例如50后、70后和90后，他们有着不同的人生经历。
虽然我喜欢听他们老一辈的回忆，但我还是很难揣测他们当时的生活环境。
我也很难理解中国的年轻一代，因为他们看到的中国变化没有我多，因为我第一次住在中国是1988年。

Chinese people can include Chinese Americans, Chinese in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and so on, who are quite different.  
Individually, of course, Chinese people also vary just like people everywhere.  I can't make any universal pronouncements about Chinese based on my experiences, but that doesn't keep me from making some generalizations.  The caveat is that I know these things are not rooted in some racial difference, nor is there some core Chineseness somehow magically imbedded in all Chinese people for all time.  

中国人，还可以包括美国华人、台湾华人和香港华人等，他们都是不一样的。当然，中国每个地方的人也是有区别的。
我不能根据我的经历，去发表关于中国人的任何普遍性的结论，但这不妨碍我做一些概括。
需要注意的是，我概括的这些东西，并不是关于种族差异、也不是关于中国化，而是中国人身上那种如影随形的东西。

I've traveled in India, and Indians are way more outgoing inviting me to their homes for meals right after meeting for example. So I think that Chinese, while friendly, are a bit reserved.  Not that different than Americans, actually.
Chinese are very polite.  Chinese are great hosts, very generous and concerned about their guests comfort.  Sometimes it is a bit much as an American, and I would be happier to be left alone, but generally it is nice.  Also, as a foreigner, I have a hard time reading the truth behind all of this.  Do they really not want a second helping of my awesome cheesecake, or are they just being polite?  Do they really want me to have more tea, or do they wish I would leave already?

我也在印度旅行过，印度人是那种非常外向的人，比如刚见完面，他们就邀请我到他们家中吃饭。
而中国人，虽然也很友善，但还是有些保留。这点其实这跟美国人差不多。

中国人很有礼貌，他们是很好的东道主，非常慷慨，他们的照料会让客人感到非常舒适。
有时候，因为我是美国人，他们会对我照顾多一些，虽然我更想独处，不过中国人的关照总体还是不错的。
同时，由于我是外国人，有段时间我很难读懂他们这些行为背后的真正含义。
例如，我做的那么好吃的芝士蛋糕，他们是真不想再要一份，还是只是出于礼貌拒绝的呢？
他们是真想留我多喝几杯茶，还是希望我早点走呢？

Chinese are quite negative.  This applies to mainland China.  Holy cow.  People are convinced that everything sucks and everything always will suck.  I have a hard time understanding this, as I have seen immense progress over the last 25 years, but I hear all the time how hopeless everything is.  They also don't really trust other Chinese people they don't know.  I trust them more than they trust each other.  They tell me not to.  

中国人非常的消极。
这点适用于中国大陆人。天啦，他们相信一切都很糟糕，而且一切都会变糟糕。
过去25年间，我看到了中国的巨大进步，但我总还是能听到他们说一切都没有希望，有段时间我很难理解这个现象。
他们也不信任那些他们不认识的中国人。我对他们的信任，远远多于他们互相之间的信任。
他们告诫我不要去相信陌生人。

Overall, I find Chinese people to be a bit shallow.  Not all Chinese people care only about money, but then I go to a mall and see people with expensive clothes and here a story about another gold-digger.   Of course Americans  can be pretty shallow, too.    But China has a lot of rich and deep artistic and philosophical traditions, and I wish more people were into them.  In China, I gravitate towards people I can relate to--professors, artists, people who have lived abroad.  

总的来说，我觉得中国人有点肤浅。
虽然不是所有中国人都只关心钱，但当我去逛商场的时候，看到人们穿着昂贵的衣服，却在谈论着又有谁又有谁发大财了。
其实美国人也挺肤浅的。
中国也有着深厚丰富的艺术哲学传统，我也希望更多的中国人能喜欢上。
在中国，我倾向于跟教授、艺术家和旅居国外的中国人打交道。

Chinese are really unselfconscious.  (Compared to Americans).  They are happy to sing loud karaoke even if they can't sing well.  They'll dance in a Park.  A man will hop on a bright pink bike with pony decorations and ride off to work.  They will walk up and touch your fuzzy arms.  They will stop in the middle of the street and cause a huge traffic jam.  They will take a nap in Ikea.  They will answer their phone and talk loudly no matter where they are.  They will light up a cigarette right under a no smoking sign.  Much of this I find refreshing.  Sometimes I consider it a bit rude.  (Really, you are just going to park your car here and block those people in?)  When they go to the U.S. they have to pay a bit more attention to social expectations--the U.S. is a much more uptight place.   

跟美国人比起来，中国人真的很自然、不做作。
一个人，即使唱歌不好，他们也很乐意大声地去唱卡拉OK。他们也会毫无顾忌地在公园里跳舞。
一个大男人，也会踩一辆小马图案的粉红色自行车去上班。他们也会直接走过来，摸摸你那毛绒绒的手臂。
不过，有的人会停在马路中央，引发一场交通大堵塞。有的人也会在宜家的床上睡觉。

有的人无论在哪都会大声地打电话。有的人也会在戒烟牌下面点一支香烟。
很多这种事情，在不断地刷新我的认知。
有时候我会觉得这些行为很粗鄙。（你把车停在这儿，就是为了不让那些人进来，当真？）
一旦去美国的话，他们就得多注意注意社会规则了--美国可不是让人随心所欲的地方。

I do not find Chinese to be so amazingly family oriented (now I will piss people off).  I saw a government program about food, and it got all dreamy about how Chinese love their families more than anyone else in the world.  Chinese people care about their families, and everyone is sad if they can't get home for the big holidays.  But so do people all over the world.  And I work in and research elder care.  It isn't really that dreamy.  Often it is kind of sad.  Sorry.  (Americans are supposed to really, really love their children, but some people are still terrible parents.)  I do find that Chinese think they are amazingly family-oriented and that this is a really important aspect of Chinese identity for Chinese who interact with foreigners or who live abroad.

我发现，中国人没有想象中的那么以家庭为导向。说这话，可能会得罪不少人。
我看过政府的一个食品宣传计划，那里面流露出中国人比其他任何国家都更爱自己的家人。
里面中国人细心照料自己的家人，如果大的节假日回不来了家，他们每个人都很伤心。
但这样的画面，其他国家也是这样的啊！

而且我在中国，也做了养老方面的研究，真的没有想象的那么美好，经常会出现让人悲伤的事情，对不起，这方面我不想写太多。
可以参照美国，美国人被认为非常爱自己的孩子，但是有些美国父母确实挺糟糕的。
我发现，中国人认为自己非常的以家庭为导向，这个特点是中国人身份认同的重要方面，这也是他们认为区分外国人和国外华人的重要一点。

In the urban generation born in the 1970s and still in China, the group I know best, I find them to be unhappy with their lives.  Mostly they have families and jobs, but they don't like their jobs, often wonder if they should divorce their spouse, and they hate the educational system but feel like they have to go along with all of it.  Their lives feel a bit empty and without meaning.  They are starting to feel that more money won't make them happy, but don't seem to know where to turn.  (The happiest have started their own businesses and are traveling in China or internationally.)   

那些在70年代出生中国城里人，是我最了解的一群人，我发现，他们对自己的生活不满意。
大部分来讲，他们都有家庭、都有工作，但是他们不喜欢他们的工作，也经常在想是不是应该离婚。
而且他们也讨厌现行的教育体系，但是他们又觉得应该配合这种教育体系。
他们的生活有些空虚、没什么意思。
他们开始觉得，更多的钱没法让他们开心，但是他们又不知道该去哪里寻找。
他们中，过得最滋润的那批人，开了自己的公司，在中国和世界各地旅游。

What do I think of Chinese people?  I think they are people, just like people anywhere.  Most are nice; some are jerks.  They are impacted by the circumstances of living in a particular time and place, and that makes for some differences.   
I hope people don't take these things as bad, as I realize these are just some very general--but honest--observations that do not apply to everyone.  I'd be interested in people's thoughts on my observations.

我怎么看待中国人？
我认为他们是人，就像其他地方的人一样。
大部分都是好的，一小部分是混蛋。
他们在特定的时间、特定的地点，受到了周边生活环境的影响，这让他们之间有了差别。
我希望大家不要把这些事情看成是坏事。因为我意识到，这只是一些大概的、但诚实的观察，这不可能对应每个中国人。
在我的观察中，我对人们的想法非常感兴趣。