France,the China of Europe

By Zhao Weijie

There are many striking similarities between Chinese and French,mindset-wise,which is why a case can be made that China is the France of the Orient.It’s been duly noted “Of all the peoples in this world,it’s the French who can most readily understand China and Chinese civilization,because the two peoples share an extraordinary spirit!” This is why France could be referred to as the China of Europe.

Right off the bat,there are a good many odd coincidences between the French and Chinese languages.For example,on the streets or subway stations in France you may hear warnings which sound like “啊，當心！ (a,dāngxīn; look out)” in Chinese.This is actually the pronunciation in French of “ATTENTION,”which is also to remind you to be careful.There is another oftused word in French,“très”—meaning “extremely” or “very”—which sounds an awful lot like the Chinese word,太 (tài) that has a similar meaning.French diners at a Chinese restaurant can often be heard saying,“très bon (great)”whilst lifting an enthusiastic thumbs-up high into the air.The sound of this word bears a striking similarity to the Chinese,“太棒了 (tài bàng le; great),” whose use would leave not a single French listener the least bit confused.When raising a glass to toast to close friends in France,you will hear them say,“tchin-tchin,” the sound of which bears an amazing resemblance to “請， 請 (qǐng;please)” in Chinese.

French and Chinese food culture are both quite elaborate.French and Chinese cuisine equally stress the importance of meticulous preparation.A single plate of food should be viewed through the distinct lenses of color,aroma,flavor and presentation.

French and Chinese people are like close relatives in their positive cultural self-image.Neither of them can forget their thousands of years of civilized history and enthusiastically pass it on for all posterity.At the drop of a hat your French “amis” will tell any listening ear all about their post-Gaul era,“langue de Molière”1and“la philosophie de Decartes.”2I remember a time when a French ami asked about the meaning behind the characters for the country of China,中 國 (zhōng guó),to which I replied that the literal meaning was “the middle kingdom.” Not that it meant that we wanted to take over the world,just that,from the Chinese perspective,China happened to lay at the center of the world map.The Frenchman laughed and said,“That’s the world map printed in China.Take a look at our world map printed in France.Europe is at the center of the world,and France is located in the center of Europe.That is to say that France is arguably the ‘center of the world.’”

Peoples at the center of the world have a fatal flaw it seems,which is that they live and die by the idea of “face.” French and Chinese people have this in common; they always want to Sauver la face (save face).Curiously enough,many of the French youth refuse to write love letters,lest they make a grammatical mistake and make a fool of themselves in front of their sweethearts.

French people go on holiday every year from July through August.What they call “going out”or going abroad,means that at very least they should go to Brittany in the northwest corner of France or to the Riviera in the southern part.Not going away on holiday would amount to a terrible loss of face for the French people.Those short of the necessary funds to go on a real vacation will at least go out to sun themselves on their balcony,so that when they return to work in September with a gorgeous bronzed suntan to serve as living “proof” that they had a fabulous time on vacation.