1.7 Cultural Notes for Self Introductions
Cultural Notes for Unit 1
Self-Introduction in China and the Importance of Hometown for Chinese People:
Self-introduction is a very important social and professional skill. As you might have noticed already, in self-introduction posts in Chinese, people introduced their last name first and their full name with their last name preceding their first name. The cultural practice that Chinese names have their last names (or family names) preceding their first names shows that the Chinese traditionally consider families (or clans) more important than individuals. Traditionally, each individuals in the family represents the whole family—therefore, the actions of each individuals can bring honor or disgrace to the entire family (clan).
In their self-introductions, the four characters all mention their grade/year in college/university as well as their majors. They also mention their hometown or home state as well as their hobbies and future career aspirations.
There are some cultural differences between a typical self-introduction in China and that in Chinese. In a Chinese self-introduction, it is important to mention your hometown, not just the province one is from, write your name down if possible, and do not boast too much and be modest and humble. Chinese language has many more homonyms and each character in a Chinese name carries more parental expectation and defines more who the person is. In an face to face self-introduction when Chinese people meet for the first time, if you could not write your name down in most cases, you could say orally how the components of the characters like Li You (李友=木子李，朋友的友). In the case of the four characters in our cyber Chinese website, if they were to introduce themselves in a traditionally culturally appropriate ways to people from China, they would do the following:
周萌的自我介绍
你好，我姓周，周末的周，也是撇横折钩土口的周, 叫周萌，萌是草字头日月明的萌 。我是大一的学生，我的专业是亚洲研究。我是加州人， 喜欢玩电脑 游戏。 我希望将来做亚洲研究工作。
王杰丹的自我介绍
大家好！我姓王，三横一竖的王，叫王杰丹， 杰是杰出的杰，也是人杰地灵的杰，丹是丹红的丹。我是大三的学生，我的专业是
中文。我是纽约人，很喜欢打篮球，也喜欢唱歌。我希望将来在中国工作。
李梅的自我介绍
你好！我姓李，木子李，叫李梅， 木每梅，梅花的梅。 我是大二的学生，我的专业是软件工程。我是丹佛人，喜欢社交媒体。我希望将来做软件工程师的工作。
张笛的自我介绍
你好！我姓张，弓长张，叫张笛， 笛子的笛。我也是大三的学生。我的专业是网络安全。我是休斯顿人，我喜欢做饭和旅行。我希望将来做网络安全工作。
There are other differences in self-introduction practices in China and the US. For example, the Chinese introductions usually tend to be more formal and polite with greetings to everyone at the beginning and “Thank you” at the end while introductions in the US are for the most part more casual and less formal in comparison. Even though self-introductions in both countries include some personal details, the content of the details are often different. Chinese self-introductions tend to include family background, hometown, home province information while self-introductions in the US often include hobbies, interests and personality. Hometown (家乡or故乡) is very important to Chinese culture as many Chinese terms and common sayings show the importance of hometown in Chinese people’s lives and creative works. For example, the terms like 老乡（follow townsman/fellow villager）signifies some of the close-knit and communal aspects of traditional Chinese culture and the value of hometown of village kinship. It implies trust, assistance, and a sense of cultural pride and identity. For example, calling someone your “老乡” implies a shared regional identity and sense of kinship based on being from the same hometown or village. It creates an immediate bond and feeling of familiarity. In traditional Chinese culture, villages and hometown ties were very tight-knit. Calling on a “老乡” suggested they could be trusted for help as someone from the same community. There was an expectation of mutual support. In modern China, having professional or personal “老乡” connections can open doors through trusted referrals and an unspoken willingness to help a fellow townsman in need. Regional identities run deep in China. Referring to someone as your “老乡” expresses pride in a shared hometown and local cultural heritage. It’s a way to instantly find common ground. Chinese common sayings and proverbs often demonstrate the importance of Hometown (家乡or故乡). 月是故乡明 （moon is the brightest in our hometown）shows the deep attachment Chinese people have to their hometowns, and their love for their family, relatives, and neighbors. The famous saying美不美，家乡水；亲不亲，故乡人（Whether it’s beautiful or not is the water of one’s hometown; whether it’s dear or not is the people of one’s hometown.）Another important demonstration of this special attachment and love for one’s hometown is the cultural phenomenon of 同乡会（townsmen associations or associations of people from the same village, town or province）. These popular associations or folk organizations are set up by people from the same province, cities, or counties to facilitate networking, relationship building and mutual supporting and are found both in China as well as overseas Chinese immigrant communities in the United States and all over the world. Another common saying in Chinese is 故土难离 （It is hard to leave one’s native land/hometown）.
Many of you may be familiar with the Netflix series 三体（The Three-Body Problem） or the Chinese sci-fi movie 流浪地球（The Wandering Earth）， both based on novels by renowned Chinese author Liu Cixin. “The Wandering Earth” tells a story set in the distant future, where the sun is expanding into a red giant and will soon engulf the Earth. Instead of abandoning their home planet as seen in much Western sci-fi, mankind in Liu Cixin’s novel makes the bold attempt to propel the entire Planet Earth out of the solar system using tens of thousands of stellar engines. Their goal is to find Earth a new home among the stars to ensure humanity’s long-term survival. Unlike solutions proposed by some Western sci-fi writers which involve establishing colonies on other planets, Liu Cixin’s novel depicts moving the entire Earth to a more habitable location. This reflects traditional Chinese values of preserving one’s hometown rather than abandoning its people and culture. By literally taking their homeland with them on a wandering journey, Liu Cixin’s characters exemplify the significance of hometown ties within Chinese culture.
