Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values

The Chinese, especially overseas Chinese and particularly the Malaysian Chinese, are well known for being hardworking and for their economic success. A certain degree of stereotyping is present here, of course, but Chinese success stories are certainly inspirational. This article demonstrates tha...

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Main Author: See , Hoon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press) 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.usm.my/40870/
http://eprints.usm.my/40870/1/Art1-Edit-1-16.pdf
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author See , Hoon
author_facet See , Hoon
author_sort See , Hoon
building USM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The Chinese, especially overseas Chinese and particularly the Malaysian Chinese, are well known for being hardworking and for their economic success. A certain degree of stereotyping is present here, of course, but Chinese success stories are certainly inspirational. This article demonstrates that Chinese folk narratives may have contributed to moulding the hardworking and entrepreneurial characteristics of the Chinese. Folklore, particularly folk narrative, plays a number of functions in non-literate societies, such as entertainment, validation of culture and the transmission of values. One of the major functions of folklore in non-literate societies is value transmission. In a modern society, folklore can perform the same function, although the transmission may be in the form of a book or a digital animation. To attempt to "scientifically" show that the Malaysian Chinese are likely to be influenced by these materials, this study analyses folk narratives that are commonly available in Chinese children's textbooks used in Chinese primary schools. The tales transmit values such as diligence, determination (especially in learning), loyalty, creativity, courage and to some extent, shrewdness, which are important to economic success.
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spelling usm-408702018-07-02T09:07:24Z http://eprints.usm.my/40870/ Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values See , Hoon P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General) The Chinese, especially overseas Chinese and particularly the Malaysian Chinese, are well known for being hardworking and for their economic success. A certain degree of stereotyping is present here, of course, but Chinese success stories are certainly inspirational. This article demonstrates that Chinese folk narratives may have contributed to moulding the hardworking and entrepreneurial characteristics of the Chinese. Folklore, particularly folk narrative, plays a number of functions in non-literate societies, such as entertainment, validation of culture and the transmission of values. One of the major functions of folklore in non-literate societies is value transmission. In a modern society, folklore can perform the same function, although the transmission may be in the form of a book or a digital animation. To attempt to "scientifically" show that the Malaysian Chinese are likely to be influenced by these materials, this study analyses folk narratives that are commonly available in Chinese children's textbooks used in Chinese primary schools. The tales transmit values such as diligence, determination (especially in learning), loyalty, creativity, courage and to some extent, shrewdness, which are important to economic success. Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM Press) 2015 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://eprints.usm.my/40870/1/Art1-Edit-1-16.pdf See , Hoon (2015) Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values. International Journal of Asia Pacific Studies (IJAPS), 11 (2). pp. 1-16. ISSN ISSN: 1823-6243 http://ijaps.usm.my/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Art1-Edit-1-16.pdf
spellingShingle P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
See , Hoon
Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values
title Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values
title_full Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values
title_fullStr Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values
title_full_unstemmed Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values
title_short Malaysian Chinese Stories Of Hard Work: Folklore And Chinese Work Values
title_sort malaysian chinese stories of hard work: folklore and chinese work values
topic P1-1091 Philology. Linguistics(General)
url http://eprints.usm.my/40870/
http://eprints.usm.my/40870/
http://eprints.usm.my/40870/1/Art1-Edit-1-16.pdf