Survey: Confucius most respected say American students

"Survey: Confucius most respected say American students," 2016-09-29 18:54:43    CRIENGLISH.com      Web Editor: Zhang Peng

A recent survey of both Chinese and American university students found Confucius was the "Most Respected Chinese Person" in the eyes of American students, with Jackie Chan placing second and Jack Ma coming in third. This was the first time Alibaba founder Jack Ma appeared on the list. The US has started to recognize Chinese entrepreneurs, and more Chinese leading figures from different walks of life are anticipated to gain respect from Americans in the future. A number of new trends have emerged since the first survey last year. One of the most surprising was when US respondents were asked who "Your Most Respected Chinese Person" was, Confucius, Jackie Chan, and Jack Ma were the top three public figures. Also addressed on the survey, conducted by China Plus of China Radio International, was the new trend for both Chinese and American students frequently describing future Sino-US relations as "improving" or "of vital importance". However, 66% of Chinese students viewed the Sino-US relations as the most important, compared with only 36% of American students, who were divided as 39% of American students responded Europe-US relations were most important. China Plus of China Radio International has carried out their second survey between young Chinese and American students in order to enhance communication and understanding as well as conduct a dialogue of public diplomacy between the two cultures. The survey also asked the students to put forward suggestions for their respective country's leaders to have more cultural understanding. US respondents saw the importance of Chinese leaders learning about American society, American politics, and the American economy. They also suggested Chinese leaders visit smaller cities to understand and appreciate everyday US life. Chinese students recommended US leaders learn more about calligraphy, tea ceremony and tai chi to gain a more cultural understanding. Calligraphy in particular will give US leaders an understanding of traditional culture as well as written Chinese characters. They also suggested visiting historical and cultural cities of China such as Yangzhou and Shaoxing. There are still many areas of improvement for social and cultural ties between China and the US. Overall the survey showed The American students' understanding toward China has been improved compared with last year. However, the survey suggests that mutual understanding of each other's culture is still asymmetric and unbalanced. Because of the differences in communication channels, methods and influence, only 33.5 percent of American students questioned have learned about Chinese culture in their own country; 66.5 percent of them have never been exposed to Chinese culture. Chinese students meanwhile have a deeper understanding of American culture under the impact of American entertainment and technology industry. At the same time, students from both countries remain curious and have many questions for each other, as shown in the figure below, the issues students would most like to learn about the other country's culture. These issues indicate that both sides should still strengthen communication, and better understand each other's basics and social state. These results and more will be further discussed in a dialogue-style event "2016 From University to the World" which will be held in New York at 7pm local time on October 11 (7am Beijing time on October 12). China Plus will simultaneously broadcast a live video stream to national and international audiences on YouTube, the China Plus News Facebook page, the China Plus news APP, CIBN OTT TV, and Tencent Video, so stay tuned. Press Release