Monday, August 12, 2013

Cultural Perspectives: Personal Space and Filial Piety


One thing I was struck by upon returning to Taiwan was the feel at the airport. And really, it’s a feel that is kind of intrinsic to this place. You just get the feeling that everyone is doing something together and are part of, in a way, the same family. It’s been said before. The West has more of an “individualistic” point of view and the East is more “collective”. I would say this is true and even extends to the concept of physical space here.

For example, in America, when people are passing one another while walking, they kind of awkwardly navigate around each other so that there is minimal infraction of personal space. Americans are really quite uncomfortable being close to each other. And it’s funny, because although we sort of think of Asians as more strict and conservative than we are, they are actually warmer and more sentimental with touch and attitude. Their work environment is stricter and their work ethics and study attitudes are more severe.
However, the idea of caring for each other as family is even reflected by the language used to refer to someone who is a stranger. They call each other, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, mother and father. Because many Taiwanese people are essentially the progeny of people from the Chinese Han dynasty, this attitude of social harmony and filial piety is said to have come from Confucius. Check this section out from a wikipedia article on “Confucianism”.

“Confucianism is an ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (孔夫子 Kǒng Fūzǐ, or K'ung-fu-tzu, lit. "Master Kong", 551–479 BCE). Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han Dynasty
Social harmony—the great goal of Confucianism—therefore results in part from every individual knowing his or her place in the social order, and playing his or her part well. When Duke Jing of Qi asked about government, by which he meant proper administration so as to bring social harmony, Confucius replied:
There is government, when the prince is prince, and the minister is minister; when the father is father, and the son is son. (Analects XII, 11, trans. Legge)

Relationships are central to Confucianism. Particular duties arise from one's particular situation in relation to others. The individual stands simultaneously in several different relationships with different people: as a junior in relation to parents and elders, and as a senior in relation to younger siblings, students, and others. While juniors are considered in Confucianism to owe their seniors reverence, seniors also have duties of benevolence and concern toward juniors. The same is true with the husband and wife relationship where the husband needs to show benevolence towards his wife and the wife needs to respect the husband in return. This theme of mutuality still exists in East Asian cultures even to this day.
The Five Bonds
  • Ruler to Ruled
  • Father to Son
  • Husband to Wife
  • Elder Brother to Younger Brother
  • Friend to Friend…

"Filial piety" (Chinese: ; pinyin: xiào) is considered one of the great virtues and must be shown towards both the living and the dead (including even remote ancestors). The term "filial" (meaning "of a child") characterizes the respect that a child should show to his parents.”


So now, going back to the concept of physical space or personal space. Taiwanese people, to an annoying and even dangerous extent, ignore personal space when walking and driving. They just kind of walk straight and then don’t even adjust until it’s absolutely necessary, or sometimes, not at all. 
This space concept can also be observed in a convenience store for example. In America, I will wait for the person in front of me to complete their transaction and allow them a comfortable space to collect their things and get going. In Asia, they just swipe right in front of you, sometimes nudging you or bumping you in the process. They do not wait for you to move. This has been very difficult for me to adjust to and I still get angry at people for doing this. Just the other day, I was standing in front of a lunch counter ordering, and this teenage boy, instead of just stepping around me, decided to traverse the one foot of floor space in front of me and the counter without even saying excuse me or looking at me. I mean, these people literally have NO IDEA about a concept that what they are doing might be rude (clearly because this is a cultural thing).
And the cars, especially taxis don’t stop in the crosswalk. They just keep plowing on into you even while you are directly in front of them. I mean, when it comes down to it, they’ll stop if they absolutely have to. But generally, they will keep moving at all costs, making the pedestrian extremely uncomfortable. I know many foreigners who live in fear of having their heels run over. 
So that’s another huge difference between here and the states. Pedestrians walk on water in the states. In Asia, they are expected to get the hell out of the way or be run over. I mean, when I was in America, I had cars stopping for me even when I wasn’t even trying to cross the street and it just looked like I wanted to. On an empty road at night as well, people would stop and let me go. Drivers in America are petrified of encroaching on pedestrian personal space, and pedestrians walk with gusto, having the knowledge that things are this way. It is kind of funny to see western pedestrian gusto and eastern driving gusto collide. Every time a foreigner crosses the street, it's like a showdown at the OK Corral. This analogy is less hyperbole than it seems.
The lack of personal space is especially evident in small alleys where day or night markets are being held. The day markets are like farmers' markets and the night markets are more like a carnival combined with an outdoor mall. At any rate, there are a whole lot of people packed into these alleys with a whole lot of merchandise and there are a whole lot of consumers walking round the place. Yet lo and behold, you will see people driving...cars and trucks through the markets. Scooters routinely drive on through too and it just leaves you wondering, why not pick a different road to go down? Once again...totally normal here in Taiwan. 
Same thing goes for if you're sitting out on the sidewalk at a cafe or restaurant. I remember my friends and I were sitting eating a meal, and a scooter came barreling towards me. Without thinking twice I stood up and moved my stool, allowing him to pass as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. My friend commented, "I like how you just do that automatically now". Haha. Yea well some things you get used to and others you don't. Actually, in the States, I felt awkward at times when cars would wait for me and I actually intended for them to go first. You kind of feel pressured to move faster. There are good and bad things about both ways although it is almost unarguably safer for a pedestrian in the States.
Also, my walking style kind of changed since I've been in Asia. I'm more a of a beeline walker now. You could tell people were kind of taken aback by that when I was walking back home. It's just the unwritten rules of walking. It's just funny that we take it for granite. It took my personal space being violated over and over again for me to finally start redefining my concept of personal space.
Well, that's it for this chapter in my on going chronicle, "The Empire Strikes Back, a pithy memoir of my brief visit back home." By the way, your comments are welcome if you feel like leaving one.
-Sloppy

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