In language class, We are researching about culture and some of the elements related to it. And I consider etiquette and protocol is definitely one of the Chinese cultural elements. Confucius, China’s greatest sage established a system of ethics, morals, hierarchy and behavior, setting the rules for people dealing with other people, and establishing each person’s proper place in society. The main Etiquette in China emphasize on 5 main relationships, Ruler to Subject, Husband to Wife, Father to son, brother to brother and friend to friend. How does these people deal with and keep the harmonious relationships and be respectful to each other.

To be more specific, there are numerous rules or etiquette to do in Chinese culture and I’m going to introduce one rule in each situation.
*In greeting, when being introduced to Chinese, the accepted form of greeting is the handshake, even among Chinese. Chinese may also nod or slightly bow.
*In compliment, Unlike the Western custom, compliments are not graciously accepted with a “thank you,” but rather with “not at all or it was nothing.” Accepting and giving direct praise is considered poor etiquette.
*Silence is used effectively. Not talking while others do signifies politeness
*The Chinese have many ways of indicating refusal without actually saying “no”. Commonly you will hear “that would be inconvenient,” or “it will be taken under consideration,” or “it is being discussed”
*In farewell, The host will accompany a high-ranking guest all the way to the car, and wait until the car has departed before leaving. Don’t turn your back to the car until it is out of sight.

The above mentioned are some of the basic etiquette in China. It sounds complicated and useless, but to some extent, these cultural elements helps Chinese to suit their environment and helps them to deal with others.

Recently, I am reading a book, The Serpent’s Children by Laurence Yep for Language Arts class. And we have a research of how does the cultural background of the author affects his book. Lawrence Yep, a Chinese American author who was born in San Francisco, china town. However, his neighbors are black people which impose a significant effect on his later work. He tends to write novels related to his own culture. Since he went to Chinese school till his high school, many of his opuses involved the elements of Chinese history and some of American history. His father is an immigrant from China while his mom is American. He began to create his first work piece in his high school, and his later novels includes a lot about science fiction which is appealing to the young people.

So does for this book–The serpent’s children, has related to his own cultural background, especially for Chinese history and his own life experience. As we can figure out from this book, the whole story sets up in a small Chinese village and involved with the war. This is also partially because his own experience involved with war, actually from the story of his grandfather. Also, some of his books have mentioned about myth, so does this book, the woman have telling short myth that I have read so far. Finally, the title of the book–the serpent’s children, originally saying as an insult from other people, many of Lawrence Yep’s books talks about aliens which means people who are not social and viewed like strangers.

I guess for most of authors, when they are writing their articles and stories, it is inevitable for them to add their own experience and their own culture, that also makes the works more brilliant, and thus bringing the reader into the stories.