Little Prince

One of my friends was griping to me a while back about the difficulties of really understanding this country and its people, i.e., being aware of culture expectations, recognizing the importance of history and tradition, knowing what people are actually thinking instead of just saying, etc. The only certainty he could find was expressed in his declaration that, “China is contradiction.” I’m not sure if I agree on his word choice, but I totally understand what he meant. As I’ve alluded to in multiple posts, as well as stated explicitly at least a handful of times on this blog, while there are several uniformities that define what it means to be Chinese, this country is teeming with dichotomies, diversity, and inconsistencies.

The most recent example of this type presented itself in two distinct parts over the course of the past two days. The night before last I received an e-mail from one of the students that attended the CUKE Forum I held last Tuesday. She wrote in reference to a few of the stories I shared from my two years of travel in between dropping out of my first university and transferring to Hopkins (yeah, Kanye!): “That’s what I dream of but my parents are too conservative so they won’t even give me a chance and that’s why I want to go abroad for my further study.” And I’ve heard this sentiment over and over before; parents who won’t let their child travel, date, or even go out at night. The video posted below, however, illuminates the other half…



In this clip, which was shot from my balcony this afternoon, you can see a woman, presumably a mother, squatting in observance as she monitors her child(ren) playing on the jungle gym. The main star is a little boy in green who repeatedly picks up and hurls kiwi-sized stones at the playscape and over the heads of his playmates. If you listen closely, you can hear the loud *clang* of the stones hitting metal, just feet away from other kids. Just as I turned off the camera, a little girl was hit in the back with one of those stones and she became understandably upset. The boy, however, didn’t stop. More shockingly, the woman, as well as the man who entered the frame at the end of the clip, did nothing. How is it that many high school students are not trusted by their parents to go out after dark, but a small child can throw big, heavy rocks at other kids without reproach? How can you reconcile this complacency with concern?

One explanation I’ve heard given to explain this phenomenon of little kids being allowed to do whatever they want – but as teenagers being closely guarded – is based on the consequences of China’s One Child Policy. Supposedly, parents want their children to be happy and feel grateful (at the expense of other people or property) so that in old age they are guaranteed a loving care-taker. They only have one chance to do it, so they better do it right, right? The repression during teenage years then, can be considered a form a safeguarding one’s investment. I don’t necessarily buy this commoditization of children, but I have yet to hear a better explanation. Anyone with thoughts?