Death and Life (Chinese vs Western)

来源: Crystaldowns 于 2010-01-12 11:57:47 [] [博客] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 阅读数 : (2073 bytes)

Today's discussion reminds me of one book I read in college, it was about different views towards life and death, to some extends, these views dictate how people make their decisions.

In Chinese culture, death has never been a good thing, it is the end of life, the end of happiness...So nobody really wants to die, living a long life is one of the ultimate happiness in peoples' lives. Since long long ago, Chinese tries all remedies with one purpose to live longer, until this day, people would take all kinds of pills to make them younger, healthier, and live longer of course.

In Western culture, on the other hand, death is not a bad thing, and if you have been a good and honest person all your life, death is the new beginning of the Eternal happiness in the Paradise. Therefore, people are not so afraid of death. To rest in peace, or maybe to reunite with the loved ones could even be something to look forward to...

I still remember the very first funeral I went to, that was my great grandma's, I was maybe 5 or 6 at the time and everybody cried, sobbed, immersed in tremendous sadness. We were truly sad and missed her...yet it didn't dawn on any of us that this could be a form of happiness for her too. She didn't have to suffer from lung cancer anymore, she didn't have to be mad at her hu*****and's betrayal anymore, may her rest in peace!

Later on, I went to a few funerals of my friends and coworkers loved ones, I was surprised to find out that people were not so sad, they exchanged jokes about the lost one, they listened to music that he/she once loved, and once even the widow joked that her hu*****and left early to buy a condo in the Paradise for them...we all laughed and thankful for all the good memories! I started to think, maybe death is not that bad, it could be a new beginning too..

Anyways, I'm definitely not trying to judge, who am I to judge others? All I am trying to say is, people come from different background and culture, let us be open minded and embrace the diversity!

所有跟帖： 

请您先登陆，再发跟帖！