LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Are Children Merely "Tools" ?

Dear Editor:

Upon having finished reading the January overseas edition of Sinorama, I want to express my deep empathy with Principal Chu Tai-hsiang's review of Yin Ping's book Running Away to New Zealand. In that review, she wrote, "'Without some beating, a useful tool will not be formed. Without some cursing, useful material will not be made.' But to say the words 'tool' and 'material' is to turn people into utilitarian implements!" In a nutshell, this statement defines the serious failure of education in China, from ancient times on, to achieve the goal of developing healthy and whole personalities in our children.

I would like to elaborate just a little upon this discussion of "utility": The joint entrance examination system and scolding and beating from parents and teachers have caused students to view study as a tool for testing into school, and so we are unable to cultivate in them a thirst for knowledge or an interest in reading. What is more, children who are scolded or beaten because they didn't perform well in school may fall into bad relations with their parents and teachers. Some children may even come to view the function of parents as merely "tools for making money."

There are more wonderful things to a child's life than striving for one or two points higher on tests. Once childhood is past, it can never return. So parents should grasp ahold of this opportunity to subtly influence their children. They should develop good parent/child relationships and train their children to grow according to their own natures. I hope that all the children in the Chinese community all over the world can grow up happily in an environment free of coercion.

Philip Ho, New Zealand

Traditional Characters Have Cultural Worth

Dear Editor:

I just received your magazine and a beautiful CD recorded in Chinese (Favorite Love Songs). Thank you very much. I can comprehend a great part of the lyrics; the Chinese sounds so pretty... I have learnt about the development of the Chinese characters from ancient times, and this helps to comprehend the meaning and to retain in mind the figure, deconstructing it into its parts.

For that, I should not study simplified characters, without historic roots. Only the authentically ancient characters have cultural worth.

I realized that sometimes the translation is not literal, maybe for differences in the way things are said in each language. For example, in the August's issue, on page 97 the translated title says: "Sueno de Mariposa" (Butterfly's Dream); but in Chinese the literal translation would be: "The Yellow Butterfly Says: A Home for Me!"

I thought you could give me some information about something that should be very useful to me. It will be easier for me to study Chinese with a phonetic alphabet or approximation thereof. I will need too a better dictionary. I'd be very thankful if you tell me where I could acquire both the software to write in Chinese and a dictionary (i.e., the names and addresses of a couple of shops).

I am hopeful that you can help me and thankful for your attention.

Pablo Dario Di Marco, Argentina

Editor's reply: As our Argentine reader has pointed out, the organization of Chinese radicals in themselves is fraught with significance, meanin g, and history. The simplified characters, although they are convenient and time-saving, have become dislocated from the very roots of Chinese culture, and thereby they detract from the beauty of the original. As for the question of obtaining Chinese software and dictionaries, we will write to you direct with some suggestions.

Correction

In "The Herbal Medicine Revival" in the January 1996 issue of Sinorama (domestic edition), a caption on page 43 incorrectly identifies one of the plants shown as Taiwan zi orchid. As pointed out by Ms. Tseng Yen, the caption should have read: Canadian fleabane (US name: Canadian horse-weed) cools the blood and is traditionally used to treat appendicitis and vaginal infections, and to guard against miscarriage.