The realms in which modern human life unfolds may broadly be divided into the individual, family, society, nation, ethnic community, world and universe. In each realm, a person holds a different standing and identity. Each person exists as an “individual,” yet also as a “member of a group” who lives together with others. Group life includes one’s roles within a family, society, nation, ethnic community and the world. The “universal person” also carries a metaphysical meaning: the individual at the highest level and the member of the broadest community. In traditional cultural language, this corresponds to the Confucian sage, the Daoist perfected person, the Buddha and bodhisattva of Buddhism, and God and Jesus in Christianity.
As an individual, a person naturally has individuality, personal consciousness, character, rights, responsibilities and duties. As a member of a community—and as a modern person—one should strive to be sound and whole. In every realm of life, body and mind, inner life and outward conduct should correspond. A person should exercise the awareness proper to each role, enjoy the rights it carries and fulfill its obligations.
Chinese culture has both the good fortune and misfortune of great antiquity. Its value system was formed early and was shaped by the social structure of its time. The Great Learning begins with the individual’s inward cultivation of “illustrious virtue,” proceeds through renewing and serving the people, and reaches the highest good and service to all under heaven. Yet its eight practical steps name only four roles: the self cultivated through personal discipline, the family ordered through “regulating the family,” the citizen through “governing the state,” and the world community through “bringing peace to all under heaven.” Agricultural society was then simple and distinguished family and state largely by the size of their territory. A “great family” resembled a small state, and a small state resembled a great family. Leaving one household meant entering another family’s domain. No separate social realm or civic personality was designed, and the essay regards this as a major historical omission in Chinese culture.
Chinese interpersonal ethics also established the “Five Relationships.” The ruler–subject relationship belonged to the state; parent–child, husband–wife and elder–younger sibling belonged to the family; friendship belonged to a social realm that had not yet fully developed. This system suited agricultural society and reinforced its political order. Because life was relatively settled and rarely carried a person far from home, the system could continue through the late Qing period.
After the founding of the Republic, industrialization and commerce accelerated, and society expanded and transformed. People entered wider social circles, willingly or otherwise, but often lacked the civic consciousness and ethical habits needed for dealing with strangers who were neither relatives nor friends. The proverb “Each person sweeps the snow before his own door and ignores the frost on another’s roof” expresses this limitation. A culture conscious only of family and state but not of society could impede democracy and modernization. An American student departing China was quoted as saying that Chinese people were rich in personal warmth but lacked public-mindedness: people competed to pay when dining or seeing a film together, yet behaved quite differently when boarding a bus. Without public virtue, one cannot be a good citizen or build a modern democratic nation.
In traditional Chinese society, one’s own children supported their own parents. In modern American society, everyone’s children help support everyone’s parents—a practice of broad filial care and love. Yet the author observed that some Chinese elders at SunnyDay retained a strong habit of remaining within small circles. They did not always broaden their social contacts or develop new friendships, and minor disagreements sometimes kept them from fully enjoying their later years.
In our homeland, we had well-established identities as family members, citizens and members of an ethnic community. After immigration, the family role changed little. By taking the oath of citizenship and becoming Americans, we also accepted the duties of American national life. By heritage we remained members of the Chinese community and should take an active part in its organizations, unite its strength, defend its rights and fulfill our responsibilities as members of American society.
SunnyDay is one of America’s health and welfare organizations serving older adults. Its officers and staff have demonstrated a spirit of service that everyone can see and appreciate. They also hold higher ideals of education and service and founded the Elderly Community College. The author hoped that this ideal would be implemented more fully through organized course content, several classes each week, qualified members serving as instructors and open attendance for all members. Existing clubs had achieved much in painting and calligraphy, music and dance, religion and fitness; the Culture Club, however, still needed strengthening. The essay offered these recommendations while also extending congratulations on SunnyDay’s fifth anniversary.