National Image Building And Foreign Cultural Communication Strategy Of Lin Yutang’s My Country And My People

My country and My People by Lin Yutang,published in the 1930 s,is regarded as an important text to introduce the image of China to foreigners.Lin believes that the great importance attached to family and the prevalence of Ancestral Hall Culture in China lead to the want of the public spirit.However,the traditional family system,Lin thinks,is conducive to nurturing a sense of responsibility and especially the filial piety as well as to counteracting the effects of an overemphasis on personal interests.He is at one with Han Feizi who advocated governing a country by law,thinking that the Confucian principles of state-administration brought about the disadvantages of governing by man.In his in-depth analysis of Chinese people,Lin thinks that the mildness,contentment and optimist inherent to the Chineseness render Chinese people prone to remain where they are.Educated by Confucian principles in the long term,Chinese people present a serious,moderate and diplomatic image.Therefore,Chinese people lack vitality and exhibit maturity and wit,showing a kind of quiescent yet defensive power.The three importantly negative-tinted characteristics of the Chinese people: "restraint,casualness in gaining or losing and shrewdness" have a certain paralyzing effect on people,but they also derive virtues such as peace,contentment,and humor.Lin opposes women’s celibacy and advocates that men and women must complement each other harmoniously in order to obtain true happiness.He advocates for women to have children and fulfill their family obligations,while also stressing the need for women to participate in public affairs.Lin has the following advantages which qualify him as a disseminator of Chinese culture: firstly,he never separates from his people,but at the same time maintains a certain distance from them;secondly,in terms of language,Lin’s English level is sufficient to make him qualified to take on the task of introducing Chinese culture to Western readers;finally,euphemistic thinking style of the Orientals and the logical thinking habits of the West conjoin in Lin.Lin fully considers the Western readers’ reading expectations and their initial cognitive structure in choosing the topic.The selected topics are targeted and can arouse the interest of Westerners in reading.Statements of the national image in My country and My People are based on Lin’s familiarity with the differences between Chinese and Western cultures.In the process of cultural dissemination,he borrows and absorbs Chinese images in the mind of the West,integrates and utilizes positive ones,and eliminates negative ones.My Country and My People is a specific introduction to China.It has the following implications for shaping the Chinese image in textbooks about teaching Chinese as a foreign language: firstly,they must be updated in time.Secondly,they must be interesting enough to attract foreign students to learn about China.International Chinese teachers must have the concept of correctly disseminating the image of China and establish a sense of intercultural dialogue.It is also necessary to create a good teaching situation,strengthen teacher-student interaction,and attach importance to the dissemination of the Chinese image in comparative teaching.