Are we still culturally old and racially young?

Interacting with people of a country is perhaps the best way to know them. But we can also do so by reading about them - not just about their history or politics, but also about the way they lead their lives and the ties they share with their relatives and friends. The Chinese people are no exception to this rule.

Chinese scholar and novelist Lin Yutang (1895-1976) writes in My Country and My People: "Among the cultural forces making for racial stability must be counted first of all the Chinese family system, which was so well-refined and organized as to make it impossible for a man to forget where his linage belonged." Reading about the family lives of Chinese will enable a foreigner to have deep insight into the stamina and vitality of this old civilization.

Renowned novelist Hong Ying's most recent fictional autobiography, Good Children of the Flowers, could be one of the best books to know about the twists and turns between a Chinese mother and her children. It is also about the unselfish maternal love that has never been abused and about the children's lack of understanding for such love. By the time they understand what maternal love is it's too late - because she is already dead.