Berkley Center

Perhaps the most acclaimed Westerner to ever live in China was Father Matteo Ricci, S.J. A sixteenth-century Italian who led the first Jesuit mission into mainland China, he not only mastered the Chinese culture and language, but also shared a wealth of scientific and mathematic knowledge with the Chinese people, winning many converts along the way. Even to this day, Matteo Ricci still holds an important place in the Chinese psyche for his efforts to foster cultural exchange between the East and the West.

Four centuries on, that cultural exchange is still going strong but has also changed in unforeseen ways. Ever since China's economic opening, the country has seen an unquenchable thirst for all things Western. But since most Chinese people lack the financial wherewithal to visit a Western country, they must find other creative ways to experience Western culture. For this reason, American film, music, and television are extremely popular and free to download online; American fast food chains, such as McDonalds and KFC, can attract huge crowds of Chinese people despite their ridiculously high prices; and many younger generations have embraced Western notions of individualism and materialism, which sometimes conflict with traditional Chinese values.

The fear is that American culture in its crassest form is steadily eroding a mountain of Chinese culture, history, tradition, and values. Some people call this "cultural imperialism" in order to connote one culture vanquishing another. However, I believe the trend observed in China is not cultural imperialism for two main reasons. First, we overestimate the power of American culture to displace Chinese culture; and second, we have a misguided tendency to equate modernization and Westernization.

The fact of the matter is that American culture has not replaced Chinese culture, nor is it likely to. Most Chinese are acutely aware of their own culture and are quick to point out that the Middle Kingdom has more than 3,000 years of history –and that the United States' history is only one-tenth as long. Most Chinese people simply regard American culture as something that can enhance their lives, and they are able to embrace it without neglecting their own. For all her international savvy, the average Chinese person is still familiar with Chinese imperial history, folk music, and Confucianism. (I seriously doubt that most Americans could make the same claims about U.S. presidential history, folk music, or Christianity.) Moreover, though English is now an integral part of the school curriculum, I have not once heard Chinese people conversing in English amongst themselves.

What is undisputed is China's rapid pace of modernization. Barely 20 years ago, Shanghai's Pudong district was a slum; now it has some of the tallest skyscrapers and fastest trains in the world. In fact, most large Chinese cities today are as comfortable and modern as American cities. The mistake Westerners make is to view every Chinese skyscraper or bullet train as distinctly Western; by that logic, we ought to regard American bicyclists and farmers as distinctly Chinese. I once lamented the modernization and urbanization of China, believing it responsible for the demise of Chinese culture, until I visited the rural areas and saw that that kind of lifestyle was simply unsustainable for a country of 1.4 billion people.

Shanghai is currently hosting the 2010 World Expo, the theme of which is “Better City, Better Life.” Building a better city and improving lives: that –is not Westernization, it –is the goal of Chinese modernization. As a Shanghai friend assured me, “Chinese people haven't really changed. Even if they work in skyscrapers and drive cars now, they still think like and act Chinese.” Matteo Ricci would surely have understood that. As a missionary, he did not view Christianity as a distinctly Western faith, but rather as a universal faith that everyone should be able to enjoy. Moreover, he believed that the Chinese already had their own implicit concept of God, and that Christianity was merely a fuller revelation of that understanding. Whether in the sixteenth century or now, China is not emulating the West; it is simply coming of age.