Foreword 1
Chapter 1 Views about America,Americans and Their Culture 5
1.1 Views of Westerners 8
1.1.1 A Free Nation and a Slave Nation 9
1.1.2 Enlightened People and Outlandish People 16
1.2 Views of East Asians 31
1.2.1 Japanese:From Learner to Megalomaniac to Follower 31
1.2.2 Chinese:From Naive Fantast to Estranger-Antagonist to Rival-Partner 37
1.3 Exploration of American Culture 56
1.3.1 Characteristics of American Culture 59
1.3.2 Five Symbols of American Culture 61
1.3.3 Ten Pieces of Advice for Exploring American Culture 72
Chapter 2 Facts about Americans and Their Country 78
2.1 Favorable Natural-Historical Geography 84
2.1.1 Exceptional Natural Geography 84
2.1.2 Ambitious Colonization 88
2.2 Unique Cultural Heritages 98
2.2.1 Do Americans Have No Tradition? 98
2.2.2 Where Does the American Spirit Come from? 102
Chapter 3 Americans and Their Values 111
3.1 Basic Values 114
3.1.1 Individual Freedom,Self-Reliance and Privacy 119
3.1.2 Equality,Opportunity and Competition 127
3.1.3 Material Wealth,Hard Work and Play 134
3.2 Foundations of the Values 139
3.2.1 Heritages from Europe 140
3.2.2 Individual Freedom,Self-Improvement and"Vocation"from Protestantism 144
3.2.3 Rugged Individualism,Equality and Effort-Optimism from the Frontier Heritage 155
3.2.4 Diligence,Competition and Material Wealth from Abundant Resources and Commercialization 159
Chapter 4 American Perception,Thinking and Verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviors 165
4.1 American Perception 167
4.2 American Thinking 169
4.2.1 Origin 169
4.2.2 Characteristics of American Thinking 172
4.3 American Verbal and Non-Verbal Behaviors 176
4.3.1 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and American English 176
4.3.2 Comparison between American English and British English 178
4.3.3 American Non-Verbal Behavior 182
Chapter 5 Patterns of Social Relations and Behavior of Americans 185
5.1 Social Identity and Interpersonal Relationships 187
5.1.1 Social Identity and Sense of Equality 187
5.1.2 Interpersonal Relationships and Rules 190
5.1.3 Friendships and Love Affairs 195
5.2 Problem-Solving and Cooperation in Competition 203
5.2.1 Facing Up to the Music 203
5.2.2 Cooperation in Competition 206
5.3 Time and Space Orientations 208
5.3.1 Sense of Time 208
5.3.2 Sense of Space and Tactility 211
Chapter 6 Selfhood,American Dream and Materialism 214
6.1 Selfhood 216
6.1.1 Concept of Self 216
6.1.2 Individuality and Changeability 218
6.2 American Dream and Materialism 223
6.2.1 American Dream 223
6.2.2 American Materialism 244
Bibliography 250
General Index 256