what chengyu could describe chinese society?

[82riceballs]

I've been pondering for a while on the best chengyu to describe modern Chinese society. A limited knowledge of chengyu has hindered me from getting anywhere however, but I have tried to generally describe modern Chinese society in English:

Traditional values ingrained in mindsets of Chinese people even though the setting is modernizing. In other words, even though China is rapidly modernizing, the culture and beliefs of the Chinese people are still much the same as those of people during Confucius' time. (If there is a better way to generalize Chinese society, please tell me.I think I'm an oversimplifier...)

Is there any chengyu that might capture the gist of the Chinese society?

[Han-tiger]

I am of the view that the Chinese traditional culture was raped by “Western Civilization” in the latter parts of the ruling period of Qing dynasty. Since then, this ancient eastern country has been forced to introduce technologies, ideology, values, thoughts, ethics, …everything from western world. I think the Chinese idiom “奇形怪状” might be a possible one to this effect.

[xiaocai]

一言难尽⋯⋯啊！

[zozzen]

I can't agree that the modern chinese still embrace Confucius' value. The old values have gone, but new values are too far to fill in the blank.

想不起還有甚麼成語, 倒有些流行語可以參考:

- 很 "和諧".

- 很黃很暴力.

- 你是個憤青/ 糞青

- 你不是中國人

- 像個小日本

These phrases are extremely popular in Chinese internet world. It may reflect more about Chinese society than chengyu.

[lzhang]

楼上来自猫扑,鉴定完毕!

[Outofin]

It’s hard to do. You can collect 100 chengyu and they’re all right, only showing different perspectives.

In a general optimistic view, you can say 蒸蒸日上. A bolder description is 日近千里, 势不可挡. If you think China is in the eve of a big change, say 山雨欲来. The darkest description of a society is 暗无天日, 水深火热.

Traditional values ingrained in mindsets of Chinese people even though the setting is modernizing. In other words, even though China is rapidly modernizing, the culture and beliefs of the Chinese people are still much the same as those of people during Confucius' time. (If there is a better way to generalize Chinese society, please tell me.I think I'm an oversimplifier...)

The above can be summarized as 依然故我.

I think the Chinese idiom “奇形怪状” might be a possible one to this effect.

奇形怪状 is not used to describe a society. Use 光怪陆离 instead.

By the way, Zhu Rongji once used 波谲云诡 for Taiwan's political situation, a very telling word.

[self-taught-mba]

Since then, this ancient eastern country has been forced to introduce technologies, ideology, values, thoughts, ethics, …everything from western world. I think the Chinese idiom “奇形怪状” might be a possible one to this effect.

I wonder if I wonder if this ancient eastern country's culture had not been tossed out and up to 90% of the literature burnt, scholars and teachers killed in an attempt to have a complete upheaval of tradition to make way for a new set of values, would this country be as susceptible to the outside influence that you speak of?

Qing Dynasty granted. After that . . . I'm not sure who is raping whom. If you turn society on its head and get rid of all existing customs and traditions and then expect a society not to look for replacements or be influenced from the outside .. . well I don't know what to say. And there's no hiding the fact about it, it was done on purpose to get rid of "the old way" of life. I forget who did this, was it the West?

After the rape of China during the Qing Dynasty by the Western powers it's good to see that the people in power (backed by the masses) used their authority to re-establish and reaffirm traditional Chinese culture, values and customs and preserve it for the future.

In this regard regarding your perceived loss culture:

自食其果

(zi4 shi2 qi2 guo3)

[82riceballs]

Thanks guys!

[82riceballs]

I recently read in a textbook that there is a lot of "concealed anger" in China due to widespread distrust of the government. What is the best way to translate "concealed anger" into a chengyu?

ALso, I also read about "nei jing wai song" (inner calmness vs. outer oppression)? I know that the characters for nei jing wai must be 內靜外 but what abt song?

[Han-tiger]

"nei jing wai song"

I can’t figure out. Probably "nei jin wai song", in Chinese, “内紧外松”, which means: inner tight control, while outer loose air. (Maybe not exactly right:mrgreen:)

[pandagirl]

日新月异,i think it is more real to describe Chinese society.there are big change in china.more and more chance for every body.

[82riceballs]

What would be the best way to say that Chinese society is divided?

What I mean is that people in Beijing, Shanghai, etc big cities are usually very nationalistic. Those in the countryside away from the coast aren't so optimistic. Is there any chengyu to describe this division? (I was kinda thinking of the story of the city mouse and country mouse type of scenario=)