Cultural Permanence

How was the Chinese people able to survive political catastrophes and not be submerged by them? What is this racial strength, this ability to absorb foreign blood? The so-called racial strength and vitality are partly constitutional and partly cultural in nature.

Among the cultural forces, the foremost is the Chinese family system, which was so well organized that no one could forget their family's identity. This form of social immortality, which the Chinese valued more than any earthly possession, is in some ways religious in nature—the respect for ancestors emphasizes this characteristic—and this awareness deeply penetrated the Chinese soul. This well-organized and religiously perceived family system proved to be a powerful force when the Chinese race encountered a foreign people whose family consciousness was not as strictly defined. Children of barbarian tribes were eager to be accepted into the family, desiring to partake in immortality with the belief that when a person dies, they do not truly die, but continue to live within the great process of family life. Family life also encouraged fertility: for a family branch to endure, many children had to be born. It was only thanks to the family system that the Chinese could absorb the native Jews. The Jewish racial consciousness could only be forgotten by the stronger family-oriented racial awareness, which was no small ethnological achievement. When it came to a people with less racial awareness than the Jews, such as the northern Tatars, the Chinese had a great advantage.

Another cultural promoter of social stability was the complete absence of fixed social classes, and the opportunity for everyone to rise in the social hierarchy through the imperial examination system. The imperial examination system carried out a quality selection and provided a means for talent to contribute to the race's preservation and growth. Its foundation was the deeply rooted Chinese belief that no one is born noble. The imperial examination system was established in the 7th century and continued until 1905: it offered opportunities for the poor to rise to power and fame. The exams were somewhat mechanical and were not intended to bring out true geniuses, but they were suitable for selecting talent and can be considered an intellectual examination. This system enabled a constant influx of talent from rural areas to cities, compensated for the loss of racial strength in the upper classes, and maintained the cycle of internal renewal that was crucial for the health of society.

More importantly, the ruling class did not only come from the countryside but also returned to the countryside because they considered rural life ideal. This rural ideal, in art, philosophy, and life, greatly contributed to the healthy state of the race today. The founders of Chinese lifestyle acted wisely when they drew the line between civilization and primitive ways of life. They chose agricultural civilization, loved simple living, invented the comforts of life but did not become its slaves. Those who are close to nature are healthy in body and soul. Rural people do not degenerate; only urban ones do. The rural life ideal is part of the social system, whose unity is the family, and the political-cultural system, whose unity is the village. The basis of the rural ideal is the sense of brotherly community with the poor peasant, which is natural for a Taoist soul; the desire to maintain the family is closely related to the Confucian system. If simplicity can preserve the integrity of the family for a long time, it can have the same effect on the nation's integrity. "Those official families whose children learn expensive customs only flourish for one or two generations, ... but where there is filial piety and the virtue of friendliness, they flourish for eight or ten generations" (Tseng Kuofan). The ideal of diligent, simple family life endured and was recognized as the healthiest moral inheritance of the nation. The family system intertwined with rural lifestyles and could not be separated from them. Human happiness is so uncertain that its best protector is a return to nature and simplicity. The Chinese wanted to keep their family alive, and they kept their nation alive.

Lin Yutang "Mi, kínaiak", Európa Könyvkiadó, Budapest, 1991