Are the Chinese women romantic ?
Posté par ITgium le 8 juin 2015
Yesterday in Guangzhou, I attended a meeting of the Foreign Male Committee on Chinese women (FMCCW). The issue of the day that’s debated: Are the Chinese women romantic?
Are the Chinese women romantic?
A jùn mǎ 俊 马 tale 故事 (François de la Chevalerie)
In the city of Guǎngzhōu (广州), there is a secret institution, the so-called : Foreign Male Committee on Chinese Women (FMCCW).
It’s unofficial but it is a highly recognized institution. Far away from China, I heard mention of that even in my Mom’s birth city, Bruxelles, Belgium capital.
However, nobody knows exactly when it was founded.
No one, in the outside world, knows who is the founder name but he is surely a far-sighted one because this institution has survived for a long period of time.
Some trace its origin in the late nineteen’s century, the first meeting eventually took place in the Shamian dao (沙面岛) when the territory was divided in two concessions given to France and the United Kingdom.
The Committee meetings, which are held at regular intervals, bring together western men, expat or entrepreneurs; mostly westerners but also form the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
The average age is forty.
Apparently, Chinese male are welcome but this night none in the ranks.
No woman can be accepted at these meetings.
Discrimination is the rule.
Private meetings are held in a closed venue or private home that is only accessible to persons invited or summoned to attend.
The objectives of the Foreign Male Committee on Chinese Women are twofold: brings happiness and delight to the Chinese women heart and a more overtly political goal influence them to further open China to the outside world.
I’m not a member of this Committee but I really wanted to hear the opinions of this people, and so I asked if I could come and sit for the time of a session.
Because since long I fail to see the logic of the Chinese woman I beg my friend, Augustus, to let me go there.
- It’s like a Masonic institution, he advised. Because you are unfamiliar with our discussions, be quiet and polite!
The topic of the day that’s debated is this one: Are the Chinese women romantic?
- What a question is that? asks straightforwardly Jimmy, a Dallas native with a white beard. Are we going to lose our mind in bar room platitudes, in banalities? We are here to see how the Chinese woman can help the revival of China. That’s a good task! Let us not beat about the bush!
- Never! says unconsciously Alvaro, a Spanish man from Valencia in his early forty years. We do not intend to influence the Chinese women! We are aiming only to understand their views. Since long I’ve been deeply touched and have learned a great deal from the many mixed relationship stories I have heard.
- For let us say it dramatically, Roberto, a Brazilian from Belo Horizonte. Around us they are recurring examples of tumultuous, stormy or disruptive relationships concerning mixed marriages. Many have experienced a cultural shock from which they have not yet recovered. I become desperate.
- Is the Chinese woman romantic? wonders Paulo, an handsome Italian from Bergamo with a singsong accent. It is like trying to give an explanation to the undetermined smile of Lisa Gherardini, the wife Francesco del Giocondo. There have been a lot of studies on them, and there are still a lot of questions. Is Mona Lisa (英语) smiling? We will never know! Is the Chinese woman romantic? We will never know! At the end, why questioning? Let them keep their secret!
- Bullshit! Being romantic is life-threatening, a debilitating disease in human beings, carries away and all wound up, Jimmy.
- Don’t get angry! weights Augustus. Here, firstly, we must define the word. We have two possibilities: the first one translation for romantic is làng màn (浪漫). But làng màn means at a same time a much more dangerous behavior, libertine. I should say libertine individualism, what is not acceptable as being of outstanding universal value. The second solution is fēng liú (风流). In this case, we are taking any unreasonable risk because that suggests, according to one’s choice, a lot of words: remarkable, elegant, gifted and so. Another translation of fēng liú is this one: liberated from social bondage. Don’t take that angle! It is political! We will not do here! So, in Chinese, we don’t know what really means being romantic.
- In other words, and in all sincerity, this is neither one thing nor the other, states Jimmy. As far as I know, làng màn reflects the French men behavior. French men and debauchery, isn’t it redundant?
I suddenly spoke.
- I particularly welcome this talk and I believe that the efforts of Augustus made to draw a distinction between the two definitions of romantic were extremely worthwhile.
- Who is this guy? asks Jimmy abruptly.
- Half French, half Belgium, answers Augustus.
- The devil, your mean! shouts Jimmy.
- If so, the devil never says anything completely false! I reply. If you don’t mind, I would like to be able to add my voice to this choir of different tonalities. A friend of mine said to me. If you like to comprehend the romantic underground force of the Chinese woman, dive into the Lín Huīyīn (林徽) and Xú Zhìmó (徐志摩) story. In his obsessive search for true love, Xú Zhìmó who was a well-known Chinese poet, fell in love with the subtle and creative Lín Huīyīn. Despite she was a married woman; he created in his mind an illegitimate couple, breaking the laws, cradling the sky. But she had never fallen in love with him. So the Chinese woman isn’t just a dream in each one soul? Unreachable? Inaccessible? That’s the definition of being romantic!
- We can work to reduce the cultural gaps between, concludes Augustus. The awareness of Chinese history is one of the preconditions for avoiding the misunderstanding in mixed couple in the future. Remember! Ignorance of the Chinese culture does not make you immune from them.
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