Americans looking to Chinese cultureto enrich their life
In the 17th and 18th centuries,Chinese art,architecture and philosophy were much admired in the West,and Chinese luxury goods like silks,teas and porcelain were in great demand and transformed their way of life drastically.
However,following China's accelerated political and economic decline during the 19th and part of 20th centuries resulting in foreign encroachment upon its sovereignty,its cultural appeal lost its shine,except to the discerning foreigners.
With the advent of the United States as the dominant military and economic power since the 1940s,it has been the turn of the East to be mesmerised by its pervasive achievements in various fields of human endeavour.
Be that as it may,Americans,once again,are looking to Chinese culture to enrich their life.This trend is gathering momentum and is there to stay.
Apart from their love affair with Chinese cuisine,more Americans are turning to its acupuncture,herbal medicines,martial arts,gongfu films,fashions and art and crafts.
Chinese language and acupuncture are now taught in many leading US universities and medical schools.Chinese herbal medicines form an essential component of alternative medicine,which now has as many converts as those seeking conventional medical treatment.
Seemingly outlandish words such as dim sum,ginseng,gingko,oolong cha,taiji,qi,yin and yang and ba-gua have crept into their everyday language.
The latest Chinese cultural icon to make its impact there is feng shui,China's ancient art of placement.
In my recent trip to California,virtually all leading book stores and public libraries were well-stocked with plenty of publications on this highly esoteric subject.
Who are these Americans and why do they take to feng shui like fish to water?They represent a good cross-section of the public,ranging from intellectuals,business tycoons,professional people,Hollywood celebrities to housewives,retirees and students.
It owed its early success to the dogged efforts of a handful of Chinese feng shui experts.But from around 1990 onwards,numerous feng shui schools have sprung up in large American cities including San Francisco,New York,Chicago,Boston and Houston.Their enrolments have risen by leaps and bounds.
Today,the majority of its practitioners are Americans.They offer a wide range of consultancy services to both individuals and businesses.The successful among them are reaping handsome financial rewards.
Its adherents find its commonsensible approach to daily living an effective counterweight to materialism,and helps them to reduce the intrusion of technology into their lives.With its emphasis on achieving balance and harmony and peace and tranquillity at home and at work,this time-honoured art relaxes their minds and helps them overcome stresses and strains of modern living.
They firmly believe that once their mental and physical well-being are in equilibrium,then good health,work efficiency and prosperity will come their way naturally.
A conspicuous manifestation of feng shui is through the proliferation of miniature fountains strategically placed in the homes,offices,shops,restaurants and at other public places.
This is because water attracts the all-important life-sustaining qi,or energy.The soothing rhythm of running water gently beating down on pebbles or bamboos can uplift one's spirits as it symbolises a vital source of life.
Underpinning the growing popularity of things Chinese is the emergence of China as a potential world political and economic superpower.
This coincided with its reopening up to the outside world which has enabled an increasing number of Americans to travel there in order to experience at first hand the splendours of this venerable civilisation.
Added to this,the thriving Chinese communities in many American urban centres and their reputation as a model minority have aroused further their interests in this distant land,which is so vastly different from theirs.
One of the palpable strengths of the United States is that it is truly an open society.This makes it easier for it to absorb cultural values and practices from other countries and to nurture them so that they become part of the social fabric of its own multiethnic and multicultural community.