176
BOOK REVIEWS
the modification of the position and attitudes of the British Mandarinate. This is a most valuable piece of research; it is to be hoped that Mr. Lethbridge will eventually be able to give us a fuller publication on the events and the effects of this period.
Other contributions which explore the dynamics of Hong Kong society, rather than one of its disparate elements, are those of J. S. Cansdale and E. Kvan; both treat of students at Hong Kong University, a group whose significance as a focal point of East-West contact is out of all proportion to its numbers. One would like to see these enquiries, cultural and psychological, followed up in, for example, a study of Chinese government servants in Hong Kong; those, in other words, for whom the crisis of contact is subtly different. Having grasped the fruits of their education, traumatic though it may have been, they are now at the focus of political and administrative contact between East and West. What conflicts do they experience, and how are these resolved?
Concerning a third paper which attempts to deal with the specific problem of East-West contact, that of the co-editors themselves -- I have considerable misgivings. I feel that they might have taken heed of the fact that few have dared to tread this ground, and thus been more wary of venturing into so intricate a subject as that of "face". They contend that Chinese concern for "face" is not only a barrier to trivial moments of daily interaction, but to the more vital (in their estimation) process of westernisation; they go so far as to ask how any society so burdened could have functioned in the past. I would emphasise the value of a more positive approach: if the traditional Chinese concept of status relations had been so unwieldy, the society would surely have failed to function at all. It would have been better to investigate, with the fullest reliance on Chinese sources, the role of "face" in the total social system of traditional China: was it in fact a barrier to, or a method of communication? The subject of "face" is at once sufficiently important to deserve a better informed and more sympathetic treatment than this, and is yet at the same time possibly less important than the authors lead us to suppose.
There is little need to stress the value of Dr. Marjorie Topley's essay, here reprinted, on Chinese attitudes to wealth. Scholars in
176
BOOK REVIEWS
the modification of the position and attitudes of the British Mandarinate. This is a most valuable piece of research; it is to be hoped that Mr. Lethbridge will eventually be able to give us a fuller publication on the events and the effects of this period.
Other contributions which explore the dynamics of Hong Kong society, rather than one of its disparate elements, are those of J. S. Cansdale and E. Kvan; both treat of students at Hong Kong University, a group whose significance as a focal point of East - West contact is out of all proportion to its numbers. One would like to see these enquiries, cultural and psychological, foł- lowed up in, for example, a study of Chinese government servants in Hong Kong; those, in other words, for whom the crisis of contact is subtly different. Having grasped the fruits of their education, traumatic though it may have been, they are now at the focus of political and administrative contact between East and West. What conflicts do they experience, and how are these resolved?
Concerning a third paper which attempts to deal with the specific problem of East-West contact that of the co-editors themselves -- I have considerable misgivings. I feel that they might have taken heed of the fact that few have dared to tread this ground, and thus been more wary of venturing into so intricate a subject as that of "face". They contend that Chinese concern for "face" is not only a barrier to trivial moments of daily interaction, but to the more vital (in their estimation) process of westernisation; they go so far as to ask how any society so burdened could have functioned in the past. I would emphasise the value of a more positive approach: if the traditional Chinese concept of status relations had been so unwieldy, the society. would surely have failed to function at all. It would have been better to investigate, with the fullest reliance on Chinese sources, the role of "face" in the total social system of traditional China: was it in fact a barrier to, or a method of communication? The subject of "face" is at once sufficiently important to deserve a better informed and more sympathetic treatment than this, and is yet at the same time possibly less important than the authors lead us to suppose,
There is little need to stress the value of Dr. Marjorie Topley's essay, here reprinted, on Chinese attitudes to wealth. Scholars in
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.