Vivien Sung

Five-fold happiness is a wonderful little book that suffers from its clumsy sub-sized coffee table format that makes reading the book uncomfortable. The book's strengths reveal themselves in browsing, any way. The five Chinese concepts of happiness are: Luck, prosperity (actually: eminence), longevity (health), happiness (marital bliss) and wealth. Compared to the Lockean life, liberty and property and Jefferson's life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness one can detect different relations toward government. Similar to the etatist French and Austrians, the Chinese seek liberty only within a government framework not liberty from government. The Austrian quip of defining Professor as a wide-spread Viennese first name, the Chinese display a penchant for rank and external validation (see also the Roman ideal of the vir clarus). The atrocious history of Chinese famines might explain the importance of longevity. The Confucian hierarchy also means that only the old are truly allowed to fool around. The quest for longevity is thus also seen as a reward for a life of toil in the service of others. Absent both from the Chinese and Anglo-American concepts is the idea of solidarity that goes beyond the family clan level: Neither equality and solidarity reach the pantheon of values. The Chinese concepts are surprisingly individualistic, with the benefits accruing to the individual and his/her family. How the Communist ideas of fraternity fit into these concepts isn't apparent. In the current Vienna exhibition about the Chinese Cultural Revolution, much of the resentment presented was directed towards the rich/educated blocking the masses from advancement.

Vivien Sung presents her five concepts with auspicious objects. A surprising number of associations are based on homophones: Sound forms its meaning. Food, animals, objects and color display a very concrete and also ancient manifestation of these concepts (in contrast to more cerebral appeals to ideas), a rich enchanting collection of symbols. The book lacks a further reading section. A companion volume on Chinese negative values and dreads might be less marketable but would be equally interesting.… (más)