Inr. J.

Intercultural

Pergamon

Rel., Vol. II), No. 2, pp. 211-225, 1995

Copyright 6; 1995 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in the USA. All rights reserved
0147.1767/95 $9.50 + .@I

0147-1767(95)0000-4

CHINESE CULTURAL VALUES:

NEW ANGLES, ADDED INSIGHTS
JUNE

ROSE

GARROTT

Baylor University
ABSTRACT. To identify as fully as possible for pedagogical purposes the characteristics of Chinese college students of English whom foreign teachers of English can expect to encounter in typical Chinese college classrooms, an anonymous two-part descriptive survey of cultural values and of attitudes toward
English-language learning and teaching was administered cross-sectionally in
Chinese and in English to 512 men and women in 15 colleges or universities.
Quantitative data from the semistructured and open-ended questionnaire were
subjected to statistical analysis at two levels: (a) that of culture and (b) that of
demographics. Qualitative data generated by verbatim student comments allow
analysis at a third level: that of the individual. At the culture level, students
exhibit a strong tendency toward individualism, rather than toward the collectivism generally associated with traditional Chinese society. T-tests and chi-square
procedures demonstrate that males and females, younger and older students,
English majors and non-English majors do-quite
literally-inhabit different
perceptual worlds. Evidence of such student diversity and complexity calls into
question the usefulness of labels that polarize populations and highlights the
risks of stereotyping.
SOMMAIRE. Afin didentifier dune facon exhaustive, et pour des raisons pedagogiques, les caraceristiques des etudiants chinois qui Ptudient Ianglais et que les
enseignants non anglophones sont susceptibles davoir dans leurs tours universitaires typiques, on a mene une enquete-sondage, composee de deux parties, qui
Porte sur les valeurs culturelles et les attitudes vis-a-vis de Iapprentissage et de
Ienseignement de Ianglais aupres de 512 Ptudiants et etudiantes, echantillon
representatif, en chinois et en anglais, dans quinze universites. Une analyse statistique a Pte effect&e sur les resultats obtenus grl?ece au questionnaire-qui
avait une structure souple et qui admettait des reponses libres et individuelles-a
deux niveaux: (a) celui de la culture et (b) celui de la demographic. Les resultats
provenant de commentaires faits par les Ptudiants permettent une analyse effectuee a un troisieme niveau: celui de Iindividu. Au niveau culturel, les Ptudiants
font preuve dune forte tendance a Iindividualisme plutbt quau collectivisme
normalement associe a la societe traditionnelle de la Chine. Certains procedes

Requests for reprints should be sent to Dr. June Rose Garrott,

tional Programs,
P. 0. BOX 97381, Waco, TX 76798-7381.
211

Baylor University

Interna-

212

J. R. Garrott

statistiques (t-tests and chi-square procedures) prouvent que les Ptudiants et les
Ptudiantes, les jeunes et les moins jeunes, les anglicistes et ceux qui ne le sont pas
habitent des mondes de perception et de rPfPrence diffkrents. LPvidence dune
telle diversit et complexikparmi les Ptudiants met en cause Iutilitedes ktiquettes
qui polarise les populations dune part, et met en relief les risques des st&Potypes
dautre part.

Por razones pedagdgicas, con la intencidn de determinar hasta

donde sea posible, las caracteristicas que 10s profesores extranjeros de ingks
puedan encontrar en la tipica clase en china, una encuesta anbnima compuesta
de dos partes (una en inglPs y otra en chino) descriptivas de valores culturales y
attitudes de 10s alumnos hacia el aprendizaje del inglPs se distribuyd a una
muestra representativa de 512 alumnos y alumnas de quince universidades. Los
resultados de la encuesta se sometieron a un analisis estadistico cuantitativo a
dos distintos niveles: (a) en lo que se refiere a valores culturales y (b) en lo que se
refiere a valores demogrificos. Un tercer nivel de anrilisis (cualitativo-individual)
se hizo posible gracias a 10s comentarios personales de 10s participantes en entrevistas personales. El amilisis general demostrd que a nivel cultural 10s alumnos
tienden al individualism0 antes que al colectivismo que a menudo se asocia a
la sociedad china. Los procedimientos estadisticos usados (t-tests y chi-square)
demuestran que tanto 10s hombres coma las mujeres, tanto 10s alumnos menores
corn0 10s mayores, tanto 10s que se especializan en el inglPs corn0 aquellos que lo
estudian por otras razones, practicamene restringen su percepcidn de un mundo
distinto del suyo propio. Un estudio que pone en evidencia tal diversidad y
complejidad en la percepcidn de 10s alumnos pone en duda la utilidad de conceptos y nombres que tienden a polarizar a la gente y serialan 10s riesgos de 10s
estereotipos.

RESUMEN.

Glory be to God for dappled things . . .

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Pied Beauty

Although
observations
on Chinese traditional
culture and character
abound and though studies related to Chinese values or to the attitudes
of Chinese students regarding English-language
study appear in scholarly
publications,
virtually all reports-whether
from Chinese or from nonChinese-are
based on historically
received wisdom (Hsu, 1981) or on
investigations
carried out elsewhere than in mainland
China by experts
in the disciplines of science or the liberal arts (Allinson,
1989; Oller,
Hudson, & Liu, 1977; Pierson & Fu, 1982; Tu, Hejtmanek,
& Wachman,
1992; Yang, 1987).
Experts on the teaching of English in China have shed welcome light
on the subject (Dzau, 1990; Maley, 1983; Scovel, 1982; Scove1,1983; Yu,
1984). However, with the exception of cross-sectional
research into the
values of college students in China in 1948 which Morris (1956) undertook, another group of experts on Chinese values- the students themselves-has
been virtually ignored.
Prior to the study on which this article is based (Garrott, 1991), values

213

Chinese Cultural Values

of Chinese college students had not been investigated systematically in

China for 40 years, and student attitudes toward English-language study
in China had never received cross-sectional, systematic attention. This
paper features three survey studies of Chinese values and contrasts contexts of survey administration, instrumentation, levels of data analysis,
and resultant claims made. Specifically, the present study simultaneously
addresses interconnections among language, culture, and world view, in
that students are asked, in effect, How do you see the world of traditional Chinese values? and How do you see the world of Englishlanguage study?
Morriss early Ways to Live survey will be treated first, followed by an
overview of administration of the Chinese Values Survey (CVS) by the
Chinese Culture Connection (1987) beyond the borders of China. Third
will appear a report on the administration of the CVS and a questionnaire on student attitudes toward English-language study in China.
INSIDE

CHINA:

MORRIS,

1956

In 1948, on the eve of an unsettled period of time lasting almost

30 years in China (Karnow, 1990; Spence, 1990), Morris undertook a
cross-sectional survey of the values of college students by means of an
instrument he called Ways to Live; it included 13 ways in which persons
throughout history have chosen to orient their lives. Among the choices
can be found Way 1 - Preserve the best that man has attained-and
Way
12-Chance adventuresome deeds (Morris, 1956, p. 1). Morris employed
additional validating measures, such as individual interviews with selected students and student impressions of art works. Also, he asked for
information regarding sex, age, height, weight, physical disabilities, and
early childhood experiences of the students, as well as economic and
religious data related to their parents.
Ways to Live documents were collected from 523 men and 220 women
representing the main geographical regions of China except Manchuria
(Morris, 1956, p. 8). Morris writes (p. 58) that the distinctive feature of
the Chinese material is the high value assigned to Way 13-Obey the
cosmic purposes-and
to Way 5 -Act and enjoy life through group
participation.
Morris (p. 113) reports connections found between students physiques
and their values preferences, using categories of endomorphy, mesomorphy, ectomorphy, and body size, as well as categories of sex and age.
Working within that Nature vs. Nurture framework, Morris (p. 65) perceives a contrast to be drawn between the more self-centered orientation
of the Western students and the more society-centered orientation of the
Asiatic students. Thus, Morris can be seen as a pioneer in cultural
studies dealing with issues of Individualism vs. Collectivism (Triandis,

214

J. R. Garrott

1964; Triandis, Bontempo, et al. 1986; Triandis, Bontempo, Kwok, &

Hui, 1990; Hui & Villareal, 1989; Wheeler, Reis, & Bond, 1989; Hofstede, 1991).
Two major limitations call into question, however, any claim that
Morris makes. First, orthogonal factor analyses were performed only on
data from 250 male students in China (Morris, 1956, p. 34), with ratings
of the women students introduced later for comparison (p. 41). For
Morris, man was, indeed, the measure of all things! Even more telling is
the fact that Morris draws his East-West contrast on the basis of flawed
data, three times (pp. 36, 39, 58) noting that an error in translation
occurred for top-ranked Way 13 -Obey the cosmic purposes- when it
was put into Chinese from the original English. Because the Way receiving the highest loadings was mistranslated, the error confounds both the
rating and the ranking by Chinese students. Readers can decide the extent to which they care to honor Morriss claims to have attained a
cross-cultural interval scale for measuring values and the accumulation
of a body of evidence supporting in its totality a field concept of values
(p. 184). Attention now turns to a cross-cultural investigation of Chinese
cultural values carried out beyond China 40 years after the work of
Morris in China, that undertaken by The Chinese Culture Connection.

BEYOND

CHINA: THE CHINESE

CONNECTION,
1987

CULTURE

The Chinese Culture Connection refers to an international network

of researchers organized by Michael Harris Bond, who was concerned
that instruments of measurement developed from a Western perspective - such as those used by Hofstede (1980) -might themselves be culture bound (Chinese Culture Connection, 1987, p. 145). For simplicitys
sake, the 1987 study of Chinese values in 22 countries will henceforth be
referred to as CCC, 1987.
Consulting several Chinese social scientists, in time Bond developed
the CVS, a list of 40 brief concepts representing basic values for Chinese
people. The aim of CVS development, writes Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 145)
was to create an instrument that tapped concerns fundamental to the
Chinese world view. Instructions directed respondents to consider each
of the 40 items separately and to indicate the importance of each on a
9-point scale ranging from 9- Of supreme importance to me-to lof no importance to me at all. The scale required about 5 minutes to
complete, writes Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 148). The goal was to collect
responses from at least 50 males and 50 females from as wide a range of
university undergraduate majors as possible for each of 22 countries.
The unit of analysis for the 22 nation-cultures was the nationstate, notes Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 148). Elsewhere, Bond (1991b, p. 137)

Chinese Cultural Values

215

explains that such studies fall within the holocultural

tradition,
wherein cultures are treated as units and culture scores on variables of
interest are related to one another. Recognizing that analysis at the level
of culture may yield results different from those produced at lower levels
of analysis, Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 149) says, Instead, one is confined to
discussing differences among the cultures themselves.
Referring to a correlation between Hofstedes (1980) results and CVS
results regarding power distance and individualism, Bond (CCC, 1987,
p. 155) suggests calling Colfectivism a factor that appears only after
analysis of the CVS data. Collectivism, in this view, involves an emphasis
on maintaining group cohesion rather than on self-seeking. Reporting on
relationships perceived between gross national product and evidences of
individualism and masculinity, Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 155) sees the result
as extremely important in light of speculation on the post-Confucian
hypothesis: The conjecture that fundamental aspects of Confucian social philosophy are responsible for the stunning economic development
of Oriental cultures with a Chinese heritage. Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 159)
claims that the results of the Chinese Culture Connection study have
clearly added considerable credence to the post-Confucian hypothesis
and that the CVS helps focus discussions of the hypothesis because only
certain of the Confucian values are predictive of such growth.
Two theory-driven studies of Chinese values at the culture level have
now been presented in some detail, studies in which correlation and
cross-validation are highly valued and in which prediction is the goal.
Both Morris and Bond see congruence between cultural values and societal conditions, and both claim to have isolated certain value dimensions.
Morris finds evidence of full support for a scientific theory, and Bond
finds evidence to increase credence in a scientific hypothesis.
Attention now turns to a descriptive study also investigating Chinese
values scientifically, not only at the culture level but also according to
demographics of sex, age, and major field of study. Here, too, correlation and cross-validation are valued, but illumination is the goal, and a
scientific supposition is tested.

INSIDE CHINA:

GARROTT,

1991

After having taught English as a foreign expert in Shanghai and

Beijing from 1985 to 1988, I designed the descriptive survey study under
consideration in response to perceived challenges from scholars in the
fields of foreign language education (Strevens, 1987), psychology (Yang,
1987), and science (Kuhn, 1970). Representing concluding panelists at a
Beijing symposium on intensive English-language training in China, Strevens extended essentially the following challenge (Garrott, 1991, p. 10):

216

J. R. Garrott

One vital part of this assessment process is conspicuous by its absence. What do
students think about these programs? What are their disappointments? What do
they feel good about? What improvements would they like to see implemented?
We need to ask the students what they think about their English-study programs,
and we need to listen to their answers.
Strevenss call has been echoed by others, such as Yang (1987). Reviewing empirical research on Chinese personality,
including
Morriss
work, Yang has this to say (1987, p. 119):
In order to obtain a better picture of such [values] preferences in Chinese students, more representative samples should be tested in typical Chinese societies.
While no such research has been possible in mainland China since 1948, several
studies have been completed in Taiwan.
Kuhn also addresses issues at the heart of the study under consideration.
Regarding education and speaking of persons who live in the same society, Kuhn has this to say (1970, p. 193):
To the extent, of course, that individuals belong to the same group and thus
share education, language, experience, and culture, we have good reason to
suppose that their sensations are the same.
Intrigued by the Strevens challenge to seek student opinion on language study, motivated
by the Yang remark to see whether survey research could be carried out in China in 1988, and invigorated
at the
thought of testing Kuhns supposition
and collecting values data 40 years
after Morris, I determined
to attempt a simultaneous
cross-sectional,
systematic,
descriptive investigation
of cultural values and of attitudes
toward English-language
study among college students.
Respondents
share language and culture, and they belong to a group
identified as Chinese college students of English. Though their past educational and sociopsychological
experiences
may differ, their present
educational
and sociopsychological
experiences are reasonably
homogeneous. Under such conditions,
data derived from these students can be
used to test the extent to which Kuhn is justified
in his supposition
regarding their similarity of viewpoints (Kuhn, 1970).

Instrument Design
Foreign Language Education.

My official translator and two Chinese

colleagues helped to design a one-page questionnaire
of demographics
and questions related to the study of English. All questions appeared
both in Chinese and in English, and students were invited to respond in
the language of their choice. Open-ended
questions
were designed to

217

Chinese Cultural Values

elicit genuine student opinion such as that Strevens called for, rather
than simply reflect student writing ability. Phrased conversationally, in
nontechnical terms, the open-ended questions allay suspicion that the
researcher is looking for any particular answer. More complete coverage
of the language-study questionnaire appears elsewhere (Garrott, 1992,
1993).

Chinese Values Survey (CVS). Because the original CVS features traditional Chinese characters standard throughout the rest of the world,
rather than the simplified characters standard throughout China, the
CVS had to be revised slightly for use in China.
Nexus: Language, Culture, World View
Wondering whether any relationships of educational importance or
statistical significance would emerge from the simultaneous administration of one instrument from the field of foreign language education and
one instrument from the field of psychology, I requested cooperating
colleagues to staple the two documents together. Though students would
remain anonymous, demographics on the attitudes page would furnish a
wealth of information about the persons whose perceptions of Chinese
values were recorded on the CVS page.

Method
Twenty-three colleagues teaching in 15 colleges or universities in
Shanghai, Beijing, and 9 widely scattered provinces administered the
two-part instrument during regular class periods to 512 men and women
in approximately equal distribution. Younger students (340 between the
ages of 18 and 23) would have been between the ages of 5 and 10 when
the so-called Cultural Revolution was officially declared to be over. An
older group (172 between the ages of 24 and 52) would have experienced
severe dislocations and interruptions in their quest for an education.
Ethridge (1990, p. 248) says that the Cultural Revolution was devoted to
the destruction of the four olds: old ideas, old customs, old habits,
and old culture. There was no clear definition of old; it was left to the
Red Guards to decide, writes Nien Cheng (1986, p. 62), who spent 6%
years in solitary confinement in a Shanghai prison during the Cultural
Revolution. The effect of the Cultural Revolution on all aspects of life
in China is difficult to overemphasize.
Units of

Analysis

This article reports on data analysis carried out at two levels: (a)
culture and (b) demographics of sex, age, and major field of study (English majors

or non-English

majors).

Chi-square

statistics

were obtained

218

J. R. Garrott

in response to questions related to greatest and least confidence in the

reading, writing, listening, and speaking of English. T-tests were performed on responses to the values survey, according to sex, age, and
major field. The alpha level for statistical significance was set at .05.

Results
Though Bond (CCC, 1987, p. 148) estimates that the CVS takes about
5 minutes to complete, 41% of the mainland Chinese students change
one or more scores. The care with which most of the 211 changed original scores to more permanent ones and the wide range of scores registered strongly indicate the presence of broad student interest and responses in which a great deal of confidence can justifiably be placed.

Culture-level Analysis. Table 1 shows each of the 40 CVS concepts

ranked according to student ratings. A designation of Supreme importance is based on the fact that, for each of these 14 values, the greatest
percentage of students rates the item at 9.
The second greatest percentage assigns a rating of 8; the third, of 7.
An invariant 9-8-7 pattern persists for these 14 items. The same method
of determining rank was followed for the remaining values.
Demographic-level Analysis. Table 2 shows 23 of the 40 values for
which t-tests demonstrate statistically significant differences in perceptions of importance at 39 points related to students sex, age, and/or
major field of study. English majors are represented by E; non-English
majors, by N-E.
World View. Comparison of the information presented in Table 1 with
that presented in Table 2 shows that data analysis at the culture level
may, in fact, conceal more than it reveals. Because marked differences
appear in values perceptions between men and women, between younger
and older students, and between English majors and non-English majors, Kuhn may want to consider restructuring his supposition that persons who belong to the same group and who share education, language,
experience, and culture will tend to see the world in much the same way.
As Scovel (1978, p. 140) perceptively notes, The deeper we delve into
the phenomenon of language learning, the more complex the identification of particular variables becomes. Doubtless, the deeper we delve
into any phenomenon, the more complex the identification of particular
variables becomes.

Chinese Cultural Values

219

TABLE 1
Culture-Level Scores on the Chinese Values Survey
Value name
Values of supreme importance
Knowledge (Education)
Trustworthiness
Self-cultivation
Patriotism
Persistence (Perseverance)
A close, intimate friend
Sincerity
Courtesy
Having a sense of shame
Industry (Working hard)
Sense of righteousness
Filial piety (Obedience to parents,
respect for parents, honoring of
ancestors, financial support of
parents)
Adaptability
Chastity in women
Values of great importance
Solidarity with others
Kindness (Forgiveness, compassion)
Patience
Personal steadiness and stability
Resistance to corruption
Reciprocation of greetings, favors,
and gifts
Observance of rites and social rituals
Values of moderate importance
Humbleness
Wealth
Harmony with others
Tolerance of others
Prudence (Carefulness)
A sense of cultural superiority
Thrift
Repayment of both the good and the
evil that another person has caused
You
Protecting your face
Contentedness with ones position in
life

Rank

Mean

SD

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

8.37
8.20
8.14
7.91
7.89
7.81
7.71
7.67
7.64
7.58
7.56

1.02
1.16
1.20
1.59
1.58
1.48
1.54
1.37
1.62
1.58
1.56

12
13
14

7.54
7.43
7.41

1.71
1.78
2.10

15
16
17
18
19

7.15
7.11
6.99
6.95
6.85

1.62
1.78
1.76
1.81
1.97

20
21

6.78
6.69

1.88
1.94

22
23
24
25
26
27
28

6.44
6.39
6.04
5.89
5.87
5.63
5.47

1.88
2.10
2.05
1.96
1.97
2.47
2.21

29
30

5.39
4.85

2.31
2.40

31

4.60

2.37
(continued)

J. R. Garrott

220

TABLE 1
Continued
Value name
Values of little importance
Loyalty to superiors
Respect for tradition
Keeping oneself disinterested and
pure
Benevolent authority
Ordering relationships by status and
observing this order
Values of least importance
Having few desires
Non-competitiveness
Moderation (Following the middle
way)
Being conservative
Note: There were 512 respondents

Rank

Mean

SD

32
33

4.49
4.46

2.22
2.04

34
35

4.44
4.43

2.42
2.51

36

4.15

2.65

37
38

3.60
3.51

2.38
2.32

39
40

3.29
2.58

2.30
1.83

representing

every province of China.

Synthesis
In line with Spolskys (1989) notion that formal language teaching is
not so much good or bad as it is appropriate or inappropriate, Table 3 is
presented as suggestive of ways in which students cultural values and
their attitudes toward English-language study may interact. Implications
for pedagogy can be found elsewhere (Garrott, 1991, pp. 253-263).
Discussion
Pedagogy. Given such diversity and complexity of learners, even if
someone were to develop and try to promote the best way to teach or
to learn a foreign language, the method probably would be prized by
some students but despised by others. Rather than attempting to transport a certain pedagogical method en bloc from one educational setting
to another, foreign teachers in China may want to employ a variety of
methods. Spolsky (1989), for example, formally incorporates eclecticism
into his proposed model for language learning. Strevens (1987, p. 21)
defines eclecticism as seeking aspects of the truth wherever it may be
found, accepting illumination from any source . . . , keeping the mind
open to new ideas, fighting dogma.
Beyond Pedagogy. Values survey results show that contemporary Chinese college students tend toward individualism to a much greater extent
than analysis carried out only at the culture level would suggest. Unless

Chinese Cultural Values

221

TABLE 2
Demographic-Level Perceptions of Chinese Values

Value

Culture-level
rank

Of supreme importance
Knowledge (Education)
Self-Cultivation
Patriotism
Having a close, intimate friend
Sincerity
Sense of shame
Industry (Working hard)
Sense of righteousness
Filial piety
Chastity in women

6
7
9
10
11
12
14

Of great importance
Solidarity with others
Resistance to corruption
Observance of rites and social rituals

15
19
21

Of moderate importance
Harmony with others
A sense of cultural superiority
Thrift

1
3
4

Repayment of both good and evil

Contentedness with ones position

24
27
28
29
31

Of little importance
Keeping oneself disinterested and
pure
Ordering relationships by status

34
36

Of least importance
Non-competitiveness
Moderation
Being conservative

38
39
40

Note: E = English majors; N-E = Non-English

p < .05.

Sex

Age

Major
field

-23
+24
-23
+24

E
N-E
E
N-E

+24
+24
+24
-23

N-E
N-E
N-E
E

+24
-23

N-E
N-E
E

-23
+24

E
N-E

+24

N-E

N-E

N-E
+24

majors.

at 4 - indicates social orientation, not until Solidarity with others-ranked

at 15 -does a ranking appear that would indicate social orientation.
Respect for tradition might involve appreciation for the collective
family and social life characteristic of China for centuries, but students
in the present study show little respect for Respect for tradition, ranking
it at a low 33 out of 40.
Whereas Morris finds his students antithetic to modes of life directed

Patriotism-ranked

J. R. Garrott

222

TABLE 3
Language/Culture/World
View: Cultural Values With
Suggested Implications for Language Study
Culture-level
rank

Value
Of supreme importance
Knowledge (Education)
Self-cultivation
Persistence (Perseverance)
Having a sense of shame
Industry
Adaptability

1
3
5
9
10
13

Of great importance
Patience
Personal steadiness

17
18

and stability

Of moderate importance
Humbleness
Harmony with others
Tolerance of others
A sense of cultural superiority
Contentedness with ones place in life

22
24
25
27
31

Of little importance
Loyalty to superiors
Respect for tradition
Benevolent authority
Ordering by relationships

32
33
35
36

Of least importance
Having few desires
Non-competitiveness
Moderation
Being conservative

37
38
39
40

Note: Elaboration on language/culture/world

view interaction
pears elsewhere (Garrott, 1991, pp. 258-263).

ap-

primarily toward the self, Self-cultivation ranks at a very high 3 among

contemporary
Chinese students. Broader implications of the study
follow.
SUMMARY
The fact that descriptive studies possess no predictive powers should
trouble no one familiar with China. Karnow (1990, p. xv), for example,
claims that only Chinas unpredictability is predictable, and Kristof

Chinese Cultural Values

223

(1991) contends that China is among the least predictable places on

earth.
Is China unique? Is less variety in human value found elsewhere? Is
behavior in other countries any more predictable than in China? Are
references to traditional Japanese culture or to the average European
any more valid than comments on the average man (Hsu, 1981, p. 3)
or the Chinese perspective (Bond, 1991a, p. 34)? Surely not. Rather,
those who value such grand generalities move within what Pye (1992, p.
230) calls the myth of consensus, suffer from what Taylor (1992, p.
244) diagnoses as a conceptual addiction, and promote what Sevenoaks (1994, p. 7) denounces as cultural analysis with depth of a potato
chip.
Quick and easy, stereotypes cloud rather than clarify, and labels are
odious. As German poet and historian Schiller reminds us, Only fullness leads to clarity, and truth lies in the abyss (Holton, 1988, p. 462).
Chinese cultural values have been investigated from new anglescross-sectional administration of a descriptive two-part survey, with multilevel data analysis. If such a method has revealed hitherto undocumented diversity and complexity and has furnished new insights regarding connections among language, culture, and world view of students in
typical Chinese classrooms, the survey instrument will have served its
purpose well. Those who pine yet for predictability may need to recall a
conviction of Albert Einstein: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
REFERENCES
R. E. (Ed.). (1989). Understanding the Chinese mind: The philosophical roots. New York: Oxford.
BOND, M. H. (1991a). Beyond the Chinese face: Insights from psychology.

ALLINSON,

Hong Kong: Oxford.

BOND, M. H. (1991b). Chinese values and health:

A cultural-level

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