The difference between the East and the West in pictures

The designs in this post are made by a Chinese designer living in Germany, Yang Liu and I got hold of them from Lonnie’s post. He in turn got them from Adino Chang‘s post. These pictures were part of an art exhibition held in Germany in June 2007. The picture captions are in very tiny writing on the top left hand side, and I have mentioned some of these.

I found these pictures brilliant, as they explain the differences between the East and West in a way that words never could. Although Yang Liu orginally made them to show the differences between Germany (where she lives) and China, Germany could easily be the West and China could represent the East. At times I have used the term West instead of Germany and East instead of China, but this may not necessarily be so. Quite a few of the pictures used to represent China could represent the Indian way of life pretty well.

It is important to remember that Yang Liu made it a point to say that these pictures are not meant to show that any one culture is superior to another. They simply show the differences.

Here goes then. Let’s start with punctuality. The Blue represents Germany and the Red – China. We don’t have to think very hard here…we know that in India we are like the Chinese!

The next picture represents how the different societies view the Boss. In China the Boss is all important…and in India too.

This is the different approach to problem solving…

This next one concerns transport. The motor car is the main mode of transport in the West and the cycle is secondary. It’s the opposite in China. In India one can add the scooter/motorcycle as well, after the cycle. During a visit to four cities in China I observed that the common man’s vehicle was the cycle and to a large extent public transport systems like the bus and the train. Here in India too this is the case although we do not have as good a public transport system. The reason why two wheelers proliferate.

This one is on queues and I think we in India definitely fall into the red square! 🙂

How is this for levels of noise in restaurants? I think in India we are in the red square!

The next picture shows the attitude towards the weather. Rain or shine, it is accepted by Easterners with a smile. At the worst accepted in a non-committal manner.

This next one is titled Sunday on the Street and crowds are what we see…similar to India.

Chinese, or rather, most Eastern societies are into strong community ties. The picture is titled ‘Way of Life’.

One’s view of Oneself would naturally follow from the above (way of life)…or is it the other way around? The importance of the Self is what leads to a greater isolation? Food for thought.

This one about social networking is very interesting!

The following picture illustrates the life of the elderly. In the West people tend to spend their old age alone, but in Eastern societies, they have the company of their grandchildren.

In fact in Eastern societies, the child is lucky is the centre of the universe of not just his parents but also his grandparents.

This one shows anger. The picture shows that Westerners (or just Germans?) tend to express their anger while the Chinese don’t. I think India is different from China here. Indians tend to express their emotions freely, whether it’s anger or joy.

The next picture shows what the West thinks of China (blue square) and what China thinks of the West (red square). China’s view of the west = cowboys (?), sausages and beer!

I put together some random pics to illustrate what the West thinks of India (blue square) and what India thinks of the west (red square).

Related Reading: Cultural Differences between the East and the West