杂志汇中国与非洲

China is a society where family is highly valued. “Family harmony is the basis for success in any undertaking” is a motto that Chinese people believe in. Only when the family is harmonious, can society remain stable, the country prospers and personal careers progress smoothly. Therefore, everything is based upon family harmony, and many parents become concerned over the marriage and family of their children, hoping that they will not forget how important their family is when they are busy with their jobs.

Chinese personal relationships are also fully reflected in the family. The parent-child relationship is an integral part of Chinese culture. Parents work hard to give their children the best upbringing possible. They also look after their grandchildren. Conversely, Western family relationships are more independent as parents have fewer responsibilities when their children have reached adulthood.

In China, children are raised by their parents, and parents are supported by their children when they get old; such traditional family relations stem from Confucian virtues and run deep in the Chinese psyche. There is a Chinese saying, “Do not go far when your parents are still alive,” meaning that you, as the son or daughter, should stay close to your parents to take care of them. This phenomenon is, however, gradually changing in modern Chinese society. People are becoming more independent, and they may not work and live in the same city with their parents. Nowadays, children may only return home during holidays. Nevertheless, families and familial affection are highly regarded in Chinese society. He who has abandoned his wife and children and does not assume his familial responsibilities or support his parents will be severely condemned by society.

Colleague relationships

The golden mean is seen as the basis of the Chinese philosophy of life; harmony and respect for others is an integral part of Chinese society. A harmonious colleague relationship will make work and life more pleasant and efficient; if there is no harmony between colleagues, work will suffer.

In the past, due to political and historical reasons, there was little mobility between jobs or industry sectors; most people worked at one job in one industry until retirement.

Job transfers previously were not private affairs, and involved everything from deeply rooted personal relationships to archival proof of identity. Even today, deep and longterm relationships are both advantageous and disadvantageous. The advantages include that people are intimate and keep no secret from each other. One disadvantage is that people ignore personal privacy. Many colleagues and families have relationships that run so deep that they know about each other’s most private aspects of life, including salaries and specifics about children. Chinese people believe that good friends should not keep things from each other, although it leaves little room for privacy. In conclusion , China is an interpersonal relationship-based society in which connections and relationships are important factors that cannot be ignored.