Analysis Of Professor Chang's Fateful Ties

Professor Chang’s opening introduction of his artist father’s story implies his intention of introducing narratives created by normal people to the audience. Even though he emphasizes the importance of paying attention to long-term big pictures of US-China relationship in order to oppose the Eurocentric statements, for example, “the rise of the West is inevitable” and “the fall of China is due to its less open-minded culture”, Professor Chang points out that the interaction between people from two countries is also an important narrative form. In class one classmate asked the question that what makes the relationship between America and China special, the professor shows that America and China have a special sociological pattern and the different …show more content…
In the first chapter of Professor Chang’s book Fateful Ties, Professor Chang mentions that even if most American politicians supported Chinese government’s decision of trying to block the intrusive opium trade, the Americans still joined the opium trade in order to gain interests for America itself. In addition, even though historians present America’s awe of China as preoccupation, what American officials really value are wealth, opportunities and the idea of following Manifest Destiny. Therefore, even if Benjamin Franklin has chinaware all over his house, he does not know many facts about China and since products from China were regarded as superior objects, American officials are not really curious about China itself but opportunities of getting rich and the urge of making America a stronger country. From 1500 to 1800, America remained to be a young country which needs money from trade to construct its capitalist system, so that politicians aim for getting more money from trades. The main desire of money goes back to Professor Chang’s idea that America does not stick to the territorial logic. However, Louisiana Purchase actually illustrates America’s consciousness of the range of its territory, and the fact makes me argue that countries cannot absolutely follow a single logic but all logics follow the single principal of maximizing a …show more content…
Professor Chang shows the trend of fashion, which indicates the gradual combination of American and Chinese culture, to illustrate that the two cultures can get along well and help emerge a new accepted form of expression. Furthermore, in the chapter, “Ties of Opportunity”, “Franklin even thought that the English language would evolve in the future to be more like Chinese script”, and he thinks that China offers “a positive cultural model for Americans”. The academic interpretation can be interpreted as Franklin’s personal interest, but according to Thomas Paine, he admires high moral standard of Chinese businessmen and appreciates the “benevolent humanism” in China. Therefore, people from two countries get along well in daily interactions and people who Paine talked to were all normal people. Even though people like Samuel Shaw holds critical view of assessing China by stating that common people “were full of idolatry and superstition”, he does not question the gentle character of Chinese common people. In addition, Americans’ appreciate of Chinese painting and art also makes the relationship between two countries special through bridging the common understanding of cultures. People cannot fully explain the reason why the two cultures are so different but still attract each other, so that the special connection is the one which needs further attention and