My Country and My People by Lin Yutang

Book Review: My Country and My People by Lin Yutang
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Book Review: My Country and My People by Lin Yutang
Outline
Thesis: The essay is a five-page book review that comprises a summary of the main points and a critique of the book “My People and My Country” by Lin Yutang. Also, it demonstrates my understanding of the book by displaying the connection between Chinese and North American Society and Culture, and a reflection of my knowledge of the book
Summary
* Chapter 1- Characteristics of people in the Chinese community
* Chapter 2- Character traits
* Chapter 3- Things that Chinese people are mostly concerned with
* Chapter 4- Life ideal in China
The Connection between Chinese and North American Culture and Society
* Cultural similarities and differences between Chinese North Americans- what motivates the two communicates
* Communication methods used by the two societies
* Differentiate the Chinese and North American Culture in terms of urbanization and the use of social media platforms
Reflection
* The book mainly contains information about the Chinese people and the Country
* There exists a significant association between the Country and its people
Summary
Lin Yutang wrote the book, “My Country and My People.” Lin Yutang was born in 1895. He was widely known as a philologist, essayist, lexicographer, philosopher, and novelist. He published the book, “My Country And My People” in 1935, whereby he explored the moral and mental constitution and principles of people, way of living, and literature in China. Yutang divided the book into two sections, such as Life and Bases. He further divided each section into various categories that presented distinct aspects. The first section, ‘Bases’ had four chapters, including life ideas, Chinese people, the mind of Chinese, and Chinese Characters.
The first chapter of the book mainly focused on outlining the five characteristics of people in the Chinese community. The attributes included the cultural unity of the Chinese people that bound together. However, the Southern Chinese differ slightly from the northerners in term of their habits, physique, temperament, and emotions. According to Yutang, Chinese culture has always been based on provincialism and nationalism. The second aspect discussed in the chapter includes the fact that people in China have adapted themselves to cultural and social ecosystems that exhibit negative strength, resistance to power, and stamina. As a result, they lost a significant part of physical and mental conquest power, also including negative strength. The third aspect of Chinese people, as discussed by Yutang, is that they exhibit a robust racial vigour known as the ‘the new blood infusion’. The fourth aspect is that the racial vitality and stamina of Chinese people enable them to regenerate themselves and survive political disasters which are both cultural and political. The fifth aspect explains that Chinese people are considered as young in terms of their race, but old culturally.
The author further discusses Chinese’s character traits in chapter two. He explains that civilization qualiti...