QA问答：韩国人如何看待中国呢？

Joseph K. Kim
I am talking about myself, and South Korean people in general here, not the governments.
1.Chinese people are generally more easy-going than South Korean people. I think South Koreans lack substantially on this matter.
2.Chinese people may seem very straight-forward, but when doing business, it’s not really the case. Koreans find it somewhat hard and difficult to figure out what Chinese people want when doing business.
3.Chinese people are much more diverse. I like interacting with Chinese people in non-business settings because of this. They are all different and unique, which is not the usual case when interacting with Koreans.

我在这里只谈论我自己，以及一般的韩国人，而不涉及政府。
1、中国人通常比韩国人更随和。我认为韩国人缺乏这一条品质。
2、中国人可能看起来很直率，但是当做生意时，情况就不一样了。韩国人会发现在做生意时很难弄清楚中国人想要什么。
3、中国人更加多样化。因此，我喜欢在非商业环境中与中国人交流。他们都是独特而不同的，与韩国人交流时通常不会有这样的多样性。

4.Chinese people are much more open-minded(except with CCP related matter, which I think it would polite not to bring it up as a subject when talking to Chinese).
When Koreans see something that is unusual to them, they are often critical and negative about it, but Chinese people at least to my experience, is much more curious and open-minded towards new things.
5.They are good conversationalists. One thing I find it common between Japanese people and Chinese people is that they are much more individualistic compared to Korean people. Each Chinese person have distinct personal values and beliefs.
However, Japanese people tend to keep things to themselves, but Chinese people tend to open up more easily, expressing themselves colorfully. So even a brief conversation with a stranger at the airport gate can result a very interesting dialogue when in China.

4、中国人的思想要开放得多（除了与政府有关的事情，我认为在与中国人交谈时，礼貌的做法就是不要把它提出来作为谈论话题）。
当韩国人看到不寻常的东西时，他们往往会批评和否定，但至少根据我的经验，中国人会对新事物更加好奇和心态开放。
5、他们是很好的健谈者。我发现日本人和中国人之间的共同点是，与韩国人相比，他们都更加个人主义。每个中国人都有不同的个人价值观和信仰。
然而，日本人倾向于把事情藏在心里，而中国人则更容易敞开心扉，多姿多彩地表达自己。因此，即使是在机场门口与陌生人进行简短的交谈，在中国也会产生非常有趣的对话。

6.Any Korean that have visited more than one city in China will admit how vast and diverse China is. Like all other countries in Asia, learning about Chinese history is a must to understand his/her country’s history.
Learning and knowing about Chinese history and its rich culture in past, I feel a bit of concern for China for its lost cultures and current internal situations that doesn’t fully utilize its potential.
7.Chinese are proud people, but sometimes it is a little too much to a degree that neighboring countries like Korea and Japan to feel threatened.
I think if China can propose an alliance or partnership to its neighbors, that places each countries on more of equal terms, things could be a lot different.
But we all know that’s nearly impossible due to our fucked up history in past. Some country in East Asia, you-know-which-one, have basically wiped up any chance to form a true meaningful alliance among East Asian countries. Yes, I am talking about Japan.

7、任何一个去过中国不止一个城市的韩国人都会承认中国是多么的广阔和多样化。对于亚洲其他所有国家来说，了解中国历史是了解他/她们国家历史的必要条件。
在了解和学习中国过去的历史和丰富的文化后，我对于中国当前的文化遗失及未能充分发挥出潜力的情况感到有些担忧。
8、中国人是有着自豪感的人，不过有时候它太过了，以至于让韩国和日本等邻国感到威胁。
我认为，如果中国能够向邻国提出联盟或伙伴关系，让每个国家处于更加平等的地位，事情可能会有很大不同。
但我们都知道这几乎是不可能的，因为我们过去搞砸了历史。东亚某个国家，你们知道是哪一个，基本上已经葬送了在东亚国家之间形成真正有意义的联盟的任何机会。是的，我说的是日本。

8.Yes, Chinese are late bloomers compared to Japan and Korea, but we all know they are now bigger than the rest of us. Urbanization is still happening rapidly, and it is obvious people are changing in China.
However, this materialistic value and other shitty aspects followed by economic growth and urbanization, which Korea and Japan have and still suffer from - China is no exception.
I personally feel a little regretful because China has much more potential than Korea and Japan when it comes to cultural values and original philosophy.
Korea and Japan nearly lost all of its core Asian values and mindset, and I was hoping China to once again revive them being the root of it all, but seeing how things are going, it seems China will most likely be no different.
They say 8 is a lucky number in China, I may stop here then.

8、是的，与日本和韩国相比，现代中国的崛起较晚一些，但我们都知道他们现在的规模比我们这些国家都要大。中国的城市化仍在加速进行，很明显生活在中国的人也在发生变化。
不过，这种物质主义价值观以及伴随经济增长和城市化而来的其他不良方面，韩国和日本在过去和现在都受到它的影响——中国也不例外。
我个人觉得有点遗憾，因为中国在文化价值观和原创哲学方面比韩国和日本更有潜力。
韩国和日本几乎失去了所有的亚洲核心价值观和思维模式，我希望中国能够再次重振它们，并且成为这一切的起源，但看看如今事情的进展，中国似乎很可能不会与日韩有什么不同。
他们说8在中国是一个幸运数字，那我就到此为止吧。

Hosiki Kim, Living in Busan
Based on what I learned in history class, Korea flourished when it was friendly with China.
While maintaining such close relations for so long, South Korea has come to respect dynasties of China governed by Han Chinese such as Tang, Song, and, Ming Dynasties.
Koreans really liked the Chinese dynasties of Han Chinese, so they fought back against the dynasties established by aother ethnic groups such as Yuan and Qing dynasty.
And of course, And Korea was devastated.

根据我在历史课上学到的知识，当朝鲜与中国友好时就会繁荣起来。
朝鲜在长期保持如此密切的关系的同时，也开始尊重唐、宋、明等汉人统治的中国朝代。
朝鲜人非常喜欢汉族的中国朝代，所以他们在元清等其他民族的朝代建立时进行了反击。
当然，朝鲜被击败了。

Injo, the Korean king, takes great disgrace when he resists the emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
Poor ancient Koreans loved Han Chinese so much that they didn't know how the world changed.
This relationship has become very complicated in recent years.
As you all know, Korea has been divided into two countries. North Korea was born with the help of China and the Soviet unx, while South Korea was born with the help of the United States and the West.

可怜的古代朝鲜人如此热爱汉人，以至于他们不知道世界发生了怎样的变化。
近年来，这种关系变得非常复杂。
众所周知，朝鲜一分为二。朝鲜是在中国和苏联的帮助下诞生的，而南朝鲜（韩国）则是在美国和西方的帮助下诞生的。

For these innate reasons, South Korea was forced to stay away from China. (South Korea liked Taiwan at the time......)
As China rose to the global stage with its economic growth, South Korea slowly began to change its view of China. Simply put, South Korea has begun to like China again.
Of course, it is true that these days, the relationship has become estranged again due to political reasons such as the THAAD and North Korea's nuclear weapons.
But isn't friendship stronger after strife and antagonism? I think good friends are people who can fight and make up.
It is not easy to organize Koreans' thoughts at once, but I believe that if China cares more about Korea, Korea will pay back.

由于这些先天原因，韩国被迫远离中国。（韩国当时喜欢台湾……）
随着中国因为经济高速增长登上世界舞台，韩国开始慢慢改变对中国的看法。简单地说，韩国又开始喜欢中国了。
当然，近几年确实因为萨德和朝鲜核武器等政治原因，中韩关系再次疏远。
但是，在冲突和对抗之后，友谊不是更牢固吗？我认为好朋友是会打架也会和好的人。
一下子让韩国人整理好思想并不容易，但我相信，如果中国更关心韩国，韩国会有所回报。

Jasper Ko, studies English Literature at Korea University (2024)
I may not represent the entirety of the Korean populus, however I do believe that;
A. The Chinese are too diverse to be generalised.
The Chinese population has almost 2 billion people, including overseas citizens. You simply cannot throw a quarter of the Earth's population into a single stereotype, that would simply be preposterous. However, the opinion that the Chinese are loud and rude persists within Korea only because we have seen a small portion of the Chinese whom act so; from my personal experience, Chinese people who have settled down in various places, such as South-East Asia/Europe, act much more sophisticated than their tourist counterparts.

我可能没法代表所有朝鲜人民，不过我确实认为；
A. 中国人太多样化了，不能一概而论。
中国人口如果算上海外公民将近20亿。你根本不能把地球上四分之一的人口归为一个单一的刻板印象，那简直是荒谬的。然而，中国人吵闹粗鲁的观点在韩国仍然存在，只是因为我们看到一小部分中国人这样做；从我个人的经验来看，那些在世界各地定居的中国人，比如在东南亚/欧洲等地，比那些过去旅游的中国人表现得要更精致些。

B. The Chinese government might have too much of a hold on their people.
I'm not saying that Beijing is holding the nation in a Kim Jeong Un style dictatorship, but from what my Chinese peers have stated, the government controls what their people see on the internet, the media, and on social networking. A close friend of mine warned me beforehand that she would not be able to contact me through conventional methods while she was back in China, due to the government blocking their respective domains.

B. 我并不是说中国是一个金正恩式的ducai统治国家，但据我的中国同龄人所说，控制...互联网、媒体和社交网络上所能够看到的内容。我的一个好朋友事先警告过我，由于oo了他们各自的域名，她在中国期间无法通过常规方式联系我。

C. China, as a country, is integral to the survival of Korea.
Both South and North Korea rely heavily on China; Pyeong-Yang as in Beijing being its sole remaining ally(?), and also its international guideline, and Seoul as in its high trade reliance on China, along with the diplomatical situation.
The moment China started hurling sanctions at Korea post-THAAD, several of our largest brands that had expanded to China started crashing, followed by our entire stock market plummeting. The impact was huge, and we're still worried that the Orange Man on the other side of the Pacific might trigger China's rage again, leading to another disaster here in Korea.

C. 中国作为一个国家，对韩国的生存来说是不可或缺的。
韩国和朝鲜都严重依赖中国；北京可能是平壤唯一剩下的盟友，也是它的国际准则，而首尔则在贸易上高度依赖中国，还有外交局势。
在韩国部署萨德反导系统、中国开始对韩国实施制裁的那一刻，我们已经扩展到中国的几个最大商业品牌随之开始崩溃，随后我们的整个股市暴跌。影响是巨大的，我们还是担心太平洋彼岸的“橘色男人”（指特朗普，2018年回答）可能会再次激起中国的愤怒，导致韩国再次发生灾难。

D. The Chinese, at least the group of them that we are exposed to the most, are generally on the tip of most spectrums.
I did mention that the Chinese are nigh impossible to generalise, however there are small points that aren't worthy of mention as individual characteristics, but form something as a group.
To start off simple, the Chinese are, once again, diverse. Compared to, say, Japan, a country where conformity and consistency is considered the very basics of social life, China seems to support a much more active, differentiated society.
Their food is also rather extreme (not in a bad way). One could say that the Chinese exceed even the French in their culinary diversity, with dishes ranging from huge roasted ducks, to barbequed scorpions. I personally am I big fan of Sichuan-style food (perhaps being Korean might've affected this), with its extreme spice, and that tang of bitter flavour left after you swallow.
On a political note, they stand pretty much on the opposite side of the U.S. now, since nobody's favourite Orange is hell-bent on driving the nation back to its nationalist far-right ages. I sincerely hope that China beats the idea that you do not simply walk into a trade war into Trump's tiny brain.

D. 中国人，至少是我们接触最多的那群中国人，通常处于大多数光谱的顶端。
我前面讲过中国人几乎不能一概而论，但是有一些小的点作为个体特征不值得一提，而作为一个群体特征则形成了一些影响。
从简单的开始，中国人再次多样化。与日本这个把整体性和一致性视为社会生活最基本要素的国家相比，中国似乎支持一个更加活跃、差异化的社会。
他们的食物也相当极端（不是贬义）。可以说，中国人的烹饪多样性甚至超过法国人，从大烤鸭到烤蝎子，应有尽有。我个人是川菜的忠实粉丝（也许身为韩国人影响到了这一点），它的辛辣味极强，还有那吞咽后留下的苦味。
从政治角度来看，他们现在几乎站在美国的对立面，因为没人喜欢的“橘色男人”会一心将这个国家带回其民族主义极右翼时代。我真诚地希望中国能把这种“你们不敢跟美国打贸易战”的想法打回特朗普的小脑袋里。
E. Just my opinion, but I absolutely love 漢字.
I'm sorry to say this, but I do slightly regret that the Chinese and Japanese have simplified their characters. I understand that 繁體字 is rather unwieldy and difficult to read, but simplified characters don't have the same beauty that the complex curves and angles that traditional characters have. However, I do appreciate their efforts to maintain the system instead of replacing it for something more modern. (Hangeul is easy to learn and understand, but I still kind of miss the complex meanings held by 漢字.)

Post-writing, I've noticed that my answer wasn't really about the Chinese but more about China itself. My apologies, but I hope that it helps answer your question a bit at least.

E. 个人观点，我真的很爱汉字。
我很抱歉这么说，但我有点遗憾中国人和日本人把汉字给简化了。我知道繁体字比较笨重、难理解，但简体字没有繁体字复杂的曲线和角度里的那种美感。不过，我很欣赏他们选择维护传统而不是用更现代的东西替换它。（韩文很容易学习和理解，但我还是有点怀念汉字所包含的复杂含义。）
写完之后，我注意到我的回答并不是关于中国人，而是更多地关于中国本身。我很抱歉，但希望它至少能对于回答你的问题有一点帮助。

Anonymous
I think Chinese are alright. Some people criticize Chinese tourists but thats just how tourists from any newly developed country acts, Koreans did it too, so did the Japanese, and so did the Americans. They seem really anti Korea especially on the internet right now but I get along with them just fine in real life, this tells me they don’t really hate koreans they're just mad at us.

我觉得中国人还好啦。有些人批评中国游客，但任何一个新兴国家的游客过去都这样，韩国人过去是，日本人过去是，美国人过去也是。他们现在似乎真的很讨厌韩国，尤其是在互联网上，但我在现实生活中和他们相处得很好，这一点告诉我他们并不真的讨厌韩国人，他们只是（在网上）对我们发脾气而已。

Dahyun Kim, lived in Beijing, China (2018-2022)
As an ethnic Korean who have been living in Beijing for 2 years, here’s what I think of Chinese people (not to be confused with the country):
Positives
Light-hearted - Chinese tend to be more easy going than Koreans. That’s the biggest difference. They joke around more and are less serious in their conversations.
Straightforward - There’s no vagueness or ambiguity in what they mean except when there’s language barrier. There’s also no honorifics in Chinese like you have in Korean.
Practical - They don’t cry over spilt milk or get too emotional. When there’s a problem they try to find a solution. If it can’t be fixed they move on. They don’t get dragged down by emotions which I think helps them make more rational decisions.

作为一个在北京生活了两年的朝鲜族，以下是我对中国人的看法（不要与国家混淆）：
正面的
轻松——中国人往往比韩国人更容易相处。这是最大的不同。他们开更多的玩笑，在谈话中不那么认真。
直截了当——除了存在语言障碍外，他们说的话没有含糊不清或模棱两可的地方。中文也没有像韩语中的那些敬语。
实际——他们不会为打翻的牛奶哭泣或过于情绪化。当出现问题时，他们试图找到解决方案。如果无法解决，他们会继续前进。他们不会被情绪拖累，我认为这有助于他们做出更理性的决定。

Optimistic - I noticed people are more optimistic and positive here. They seem happier overall than Koreans. Maybe there’s also a bit of naïveté that’s refreshing. They’re also less uptight or aloof like many Koreans. They are easier to get along.
Fashionable - Contrary to the stereotype that most Koreans have, young Chinese people these days are very fashionable. There’s more variety to their hair styles and clothes than in Korea. People seem more open to different styles and interests. They are not afraid to try something new.
Global mindset - Chinese people tend to speak better English than most Koreans if we compare the younger folks. They also seem to travel more internationally and do more business even outside Asia.

乐观——我注意到这里的人们更加乐观和积极。他们似乎比韩国人更快乐。也许还有一点令人耳目一新的天真。他们也不像许多韩国人那样紧张或冷漠。他们更容易相处。
时尚——与大多数韩国人的刻板印象相反，如今的中国年轻人非常时尚。他们的发型和衣服比韩国的种类更多。人们似乎对不同的风格和兴趣更开放。他们不怕尝试新事物。
全球思维——如果我们比较年轻人的话，中国人的英语往往比大多数韩国人说得更好。他们似乎也更经常地出国旅行，甚至在亚洲以外的地方做更多的生意。

Negatives
Lack of emotion - It seems like the Chinese are a little too apathetic sometimes. They do not have strong emotions or opinions about anything in particular, so it’s difficult to have deeper conversations. As they are practical folks, it’s difficult to talk about art, literature, religion etc.

“Good enough” 差不多 attitude - Chinese are the opposite of Japanese who are perfectionist (which is also bad). They sometimes seem to do things just to get things done which often results in more problems later on. On the positive side, people make decisions and execute on them fast.
负面的
缺乏情感——中国人有时似乎有点太冷漠了。他们对任何特别的事情没有强烈的情感或意见，因此很难进行更深入的对话。因为他们是实际的人，所以很难谈论艺术、文学、宗教等。
“差不多”的态度——中国人与完美主义的日本人正好相反（这也很糟糕）。他们有时似乎只是为了完成事情而做事，这通常会导致以后出现更多问题。从积极的方面来说，这也让他们能够做出决定后就快速执行。

Lack of empathy - It’s every man for himself. They don’t seem to care about other people’s feelings, not in a malicious way though. Community bond or Good Samaritan deeds just do not exist. Recently I noticed an old man was assigned to sort the garbage in our apartment community. He sorts trash all day in the cold these days. Nobody seems to be willing to sort their own trash to save this man the trouble.
Passive - Contrary to popular Korean opinion, Chinese people are not headstrong or aggressive. Quite the opposite. Most are actually extremely reserved and passive. Like with Japanese and Koreans, social interactions can be awkward as a result.
Overall my impressions of Chinese people are very positive. Before I came to China I mostly saw them negatively because of the poor stereotypes in both Korea and the west.

缺乏同理心——每个人都为自己着想。他们似乎并不在乎别人的感受，虽然不是出于恶意。维系社区纽带或者好心人的行为根本不存在。最近我注意到一位老人被指派到我们的社区来进行垃圾分类。这些天，他一整天都在寒冷的环境中分类垃圾。似乎没有人愿意为了自己的垃圾分类来省去这个人的麻烦。
被动——与韩国人流行的观点相反，中国人并不固执或好斗。恰恰相反。大多数人实际上非常保守和被动。与日本人和韩国人在一块，社交互动可能也会因此变得尴尬。
总的来说，我对中国人的印象是非常积极的。在我来中国之前，我对他们的看法大多是负面的，因为韩国和西方都对中国人有一些很差的刻板印象。

Jay Lee, Finance, Technology, Multiculturalism
With mixed emotions.
Economically:
People understand that its a big neighbor that you want to be friends with and not piss off, and it is a source of great wealth for South Koreans (as a trading partner, as a place to do business, etc.)
They also understand that it is a giant that is building steam and effectively competing with Korea in many areas of business so we see them as a competitor
The sheer awe of scale. People understand that this country is a ginormous monster of a powerhouse. The typical expression: "their middle class, which is a sliver of their entire population, is larger than our entire Korean population"

对于中国人的看法，情绪很复杂。
经济上：人们知道它是一个你想跟它成为朋友而不是惹它生气的大邻居，它是韩国人的巨大财富来源（作为贸易伙伴、做生意的地方等）。
他们也明白，它是一个在许多业务领域正在开始发力并有效地与韩国竞争的巨头，因此我们将他们视为竞争对手。
对规模的纯粹敬畏。人们都明白，这个国家是一个巨大的强国怪物。典型的叙述是：“他们的中产阶级，只占他们总人口的一小部分，但比我们整个韩国人口还多。”

Culturally:
Folks recognize there is a lot of cultural cross pollenization and cultural influence from China. Historically a lot of cultural elements were from the Chinese. At the same time we are proud of our cultural independence and uniqueness that has formed over centuries and today we seem to have a superiority complex over the Chinese, as far as cultural suaveness goes.
There is a stereotype (justifiable or unjustifiable, up for debate) that the Chinese are crude, uncouth, uncultured, etc. Most of this is formed from the typical Korean's interaction with a Chinese tourist (or a mob of Chinese trourists), who have built a reputation for not behaving well while visiting other places. It is important to note that, this was the exact image of a Korean when visiting other countries only a few decades ago. And it is also the image of a Japanese tourist even before that. I see this as a phase that a newly developed and affluent country's folks go through as they intermingle with other cultures. I am sure the British were equally appalled at the crudeness of Americans when they first started to go to Britain in the 19th century.

文化上：
人们承认中国对韩国有很多文化上的直接影响或相互影响。历史上很多文化元素都来自中国。与此同时，我们也为我们几个世纪以来形成的文化独立和独特性感到自豪，如今，就文化上的温文尔雅而言，我们似乎对中国人有一种优越感。
这里涉及到一种刻板印象（合理或不合理，有待商榷）认为中国人粗鲁、粗俗、没有文化等。这大部分是由典型的韩国人与中国游客（或一群中国游客）的互动形成的，这些中国游客曾在访问其他地方时因表现不佳而声名狼藉。值得注意的是，这也是仅仅一二十年前韩国人访问其他国家时的形象。甚至在此之前，它也是日本游客的形象。我认为这是一个新兴发达和富裕的国家的人们在与其他文化交融时会经历的一个阶段。我敢肯定，当美国人在19世纪开始第一次去英国时，英国人同样对美国人的粗鲁感到震惊。

Politically:
There is a lot of envy here. The size and might of the country lets China face off against the US, Russia and Japan on equal terms. Not so for Korea, given its position inbetween China and Japan, its dependence on foreign trade with US and China and Japan, and the military presence (dependent on US for a meaningful part of military capabilities)

政治上：
韩国人会感到很嫉妒。中国的国家规模和实力让它可以平等地对抗美国、俄罗斯以及日本。而韩国并非如此，尤其考虑到它在中国和日本之间的地位，它对于对外贸易（与美国、中国和日本）以及军事存在（在军事能力的重要部分依赖美国）的依赖。