It is widely acknowledged that it is
practically impossible to pinpoint every single instance of Chinese culture and tradition in the United States. For Joseph Rodriguez, one of the reasons is
that “many individuals are practicing their traditions both in public and in
their homes with their own family members and friends, and personally, I love
it.”
However, for Dr. Dave Wang, the most
important reason is that the founders of this nation assimilated elements of
Chinese culture in the culture of the United States. I would like to quote Dr. KirillO. Thompson below,
"For
his part, Jefferson saw the importance of Confucius' virtues for keeping his
ideals alive, augmenting happiness, and improving the country over time. In his
inaugural speech in 1801, Jefferson declared:
Let us, [……] pursue our republican
principles; our [……] representative government. [……] enlightened by a benign
religion, [……] inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love
of man, adoring a providence, which by its dispensations proves that it
delights in the happiness of man here, and his greater happiness hereafter;
with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a
prosperous people? (Italics added)."
Dr. Thompson has further made it clear that all the
virtues Jefferson "enumerated in his inauguration speech were precisely the moral
principles that Confucius had instructed."
No comments:
Post a Comment