Writing POC 101

Chinese Characters - @illusoire

      Let me just start off by saying that stereotypes exist for a reason; they have some truth to them. But only some. More importantly, though, I need to get one thing straight. WE ARE NOT WHO WE ARE BECAUSE WE ARE ASIAN. Yes, race is a huge defining factor for our characters, but it does not make them. I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me, "Well, you're smart because you're Asian."

      Complete. 100%. Bull.

      I'm a 16-year-old Chinese girl living in America. Aside from my immediate family, all my other relatives live in China. I do admit that I don't know everything about my culture, but I'm here to clear up some things that I do know.

1. Stereotypes

      I guess the first thing I'm going to be talking about is pretty obvious: all the stereotypes about Chinese people. Many Asians (not just Chinese) are smart, and the reason is that our parents push us extremely hard. They're strict, and they demand the best from us. Always. We don't compare ourselves to our classmates. We compare ourselves to the other Asians out there that are better than us, whether academically or musically or athletically or whatever else. (This many sound extremely racist, and it is, but we're just doing our best to prepare for our futures-going to college, for example, where admissions are largely based on race. So can you really blame us?)

      But just because a lot of Asians are smart doesn't mean all Asians are smart. A lot of my friends are Asian, not just Chinese, but also Korean and Vietnamese. And many of them are average. They're not stupid, just not insanely smart. They're like any other student or any other character in a book. And we Asians aren't all mathematical geniuses or musical prodigies. We like to have a diverse array of extracurriculars, and we like to be good at them.

      And one last thing about us so-called geniuses. CHINESE PARENTS ARE NOT ALL TIGER PARENTS. I had this one guy a few years ago insist that I was lying when I said my parents have never beaten or starved me before. But it's the truth. Yes, our parents want us to do well, but we also want to do well. Asian parents are strict, but they're not monsters.

      Oh, and we're not all completely shit at driving. Just some of us. (Trust me, you'll understand if you ever visit China.)

2. Culture

      Now onto actual Chinese culture.

      The most important holiday for the Chinese is Chinese New Year, more frequently called the Spring Festival. It's January 1st on the lunar calendar, so it usually falls somewhere from the end of January to the end of February. I could go into a lot of detail, but basically we eat dumplings and other traditional foods, and we get hongbao, known as "red pockets." Basically money bags. It's actually a lot like the New Year, with celebrations and all that stuff. I'm sure you can look up more on your own if you really want to.

      Another important holiday (at least for my family and where we live) is the Mid-Autumn Festival. It falls on August 15th (again on the lunar calendar), so it's normally around September to October sometime. We celebrate the moon-there's this story about a woman called Chang'e-and we eat moon cakes.

      There are a lot of other holidays I haven't mentioned, simply for the reason that I don't want to bore you any more than I probably have already. For anyone interested, just Google whatever you want to know. It's all there.

      And a quick run-through of some other maybe-important things. First, Chinese don't all eat rice. In the north, people eat rice; but in the south, they eat noodles. Chinese musical taste is an eclectic mix of genres, not unlike Americans. Older Chinese (parents and grandparents) prefer traditional music-the ones that, when you hear, you're like, "Oh, that's Chinese." Younger Chinese (teenagers) prefer pop-mostly K-pop, as the general consensus is that C-pop sucks. The middle generation (the parents), if they listen to any Western music, seem to prefer country music. And you can't really go wrong with classical music (think Beethoven and Mozart).

3. Writing Chinese/Asian Characters

      There are (sort of) 3 types of Chinese Americans. First, the traditional one, whose parents were probably the first to come to America (or wherever else you might want to write about). Second, the not-so-traditional one, whose parents were probably still the first, but who are trying to assimilate more (and by more, I mean A LOT) into society. And third, the adopted one. I think that's pretty self-explanatory. Non-Asian parents, non-Asian culture/values/beliefs.

      Please remember that these are all based on what I have seen and experienced, so this is not necessarily true. There are exceptions. I'm just going by majority.

      Traditional: They have either a fully Chinese name (know any students whose names you just can't pronounce?) or an American first name and a Chinese middle name (usually two words, which are sometimes combined into one). Common Chinese last names are Li, Wang, Chen, Zhang, Zhou, and Wu. The parents are both Chinese. It's also important to note that Chinese women commonly keep their last name when they marry.

      Not-so-traditional: They have an American first name, and their middle name is also often their Chinese name. Parents aren't necessarily both Chinese, and women will sometimes change their last name when they marry.

      Adopted: They're like any other character, except they look (and are) Asian. Some may have a Chinese name, but this is like a half-half situation. You can honestly go either way.

      THESE TRAITS WILL OVERLAP. It's not black and white with races. It never is. Everyone is different, but two people, not matter how different they may seem, will always have something in common.

      I hope this helped you guys, even if a lot of it is semi-ranting. If I got something wrong or missed something, feel free to point it out. And remember: we all have more in common than you think.

      Also, feel free to PM me if you're writing a Chinese character and want some help/opinions.