Engl107901

Journal 1

Maggie Liu

ENGL107901

Lynne Anderson

    My hometown is a country of a long history. Five thousand years of growth has turned Chinese culture into a broad and profound museum that concludes countless poets, plays and other spiritual inheritance. Chinese born and Chinese bred, I’m deeply immersed in my hometown’s cultural background and that I’m proud of all the literature works that my ancestors have left for us.

   When I was a little kid, I was required to recite those real famous poems so that I could have a better understanding of how ancient people expressed their love, hatred, sorrow, and happiness. When Chinese characters were combined in different ways, beautiful sentences would turn up and I enjoyed all the tricks in them. Also manners of writing had everything to do with the poets’ integrity and righteousness. When I was reading great works that were blaming traitors who sold out our motherland, I was shocked and ignited by the fire of fury. Usually an integrated poet could do nothing except writing passages or poets to let off just because fatuous emperors would always listen to ideas of sycophants, which eventually led the country to disaster. However, works from these sycophants were not preserved or passed down to today for the simple reason that Chinese culture would not tolerate these evil winds blow. For over a thousand years, more and more people began to pay attention to these fabulous spiritual works.

    With great ancestors being idols for younger generations, ancient Chinese poems had developed valuable ethos and I could find my own soul pillars in these works. Qu Yuan, one of the greatest consultants of the emperor, was exiled from his hometown twice, but still served his master wholeheartedly, hoping that he would one day save his country from being conquered. He wrote the grand Li Sao (a certain form of poet in the southern part of China) that expressed his personalities. Forgiving the emperor for abandoning him, Qu Yuan considered his personal matter much more trivial compared with his kingdom’s danger. The sense of self-sacrificing influenced me greatly. Whenever I felt really stressed out in a group project, I would consider myself as Qu Yuan although my problem was not worth mentioning compared with his. I should never be selfish when I was in a group no matter big or small. Also being a young Chinese girl, I should put “helping build my hometown” as one of my top aims. Reading these articles about Qu Yuan, I got this sense of feeling that without a peaceful and strong country, I could not live or study. These amazing works enhanced the sense of cohesion in a country and also cultivated a sense of national pride.

    Time goes by and China has developed into an independent country. However, there are certain cultural problems that I cannot feel reconciled with. Although Qu Yuan chose to take all the responsibilities of protecting his motherland, no one blamed him of failing to finish what he wanted in the end. People nowadays seemed to be more blameful. Many people thought that rich people ought to donate money to organizations that would help people who had difficulties, and yet they themselves did not even want to donate 5 dollars. This kind of people tolerated the dark sides in their hearts. They never judged problems with reason, but with emotions and compassions. Although we never agreed with bullying the weak ones, protecting them should never sacrifice moral standards or social orders. Although there were certain cultural problems in China, I never wanted to conceal my identity. Chinese culture taught me to become a humble and humane person, and just because China had these unforgettable histories that young generations could find spiritual pillars whenever they were lost. Even American students began to learn Chinese, why should I be ashamed of my hometown?