Teacher reverence in China

People of Chinese ethnicity value education. A corollary of this is that they -- and I am one of them -- revere teachers. In China, any one who has taught others is always regarded by these pupils as "teacher", regardless of how briefly, how informally, or how long ago. A couple of months ago, a leading statesman from Taiwan revisited his native town on mainland China for the first time since 1949; the first thing he did was to meet his elementary-school teacher -- and he proceeded by kneeling before him. When I revisited Shanghai in 1983 for the first time since 1949, I had the pleasure of meeting a teaching assistant during my college years. Despite my having a PhD and having retired as a full professor in USA, I still called him "Wang Lao Shi," (Respected Teacher Wang). In my Tai Chi class in Maryland, teachers are invariably addressed as "X Lao Shi" by every student, even though they are much younger than many of the students. This attitude of reverence -- and, by implication, gratitude -- seems to be lacking in the United States.
Posted 10:30 am, Friday, December 30, 2005