Soc. Sci. Med. Vol. 42, No. 5, pp.
639-641, 1996
Pergamon 0277-9536(95)00438-6
EDITORIAL
TRADITIONAL REACTION TO MODERN STRESS
RANCE P. L. LEE
Modernity is usually equated with progress. It has
become an aspiration of both the power 61ite and the
ordinary people in many nations around the world,
making the process of modernization an irresistible
global trend over the last century.
Despite its promises of and actual contributions to
social progress, the process of modernization has
come to produce a wide range of undesirable conse-
quences, especially in those societies which are in
a rush to industrialization [1]. One of the ill conse-
quences is the rising level of emotional distress. It may
be due to a multitude of factors that are associated
with modernization, such as family disorganization,
rapid changes in social-political structures, and fierce
competition in the market economy. Whatever the
causes, an important area of research for medical
and social scientists is: how do people cope with
increasing stress in a rapidly modernizing society?
Possible mechanisms for coping with stress can be
provided by a wide range of behaviour [2]. It is useful
to highlight the ways in which traditional beliefs and
practices have been utilized by people to deal with
stressful social life in the course of modernization.
Some traditions are preserved and treasured by
people because they are generally considered as effec-
tive mechanisms for social adjustment. These tra-
ditions deserve the attention of scientific researchers
on stress management.
Hong Kong is a Chinese society under British rule.
Its rapid industrialization and modernization in
recent decades have led to various changes in social
life and substantial economic growth [3]. Political
conflicts and reforms have also been taking place, as
sovereignty over Hong Kong will be resumed by
China in 1997. Electoral politics and other liberal
democratic measures are being introduced to replace
the colonial administration, creating numerous
internal conflicts as well as confrontations between
China and Hong Kong [4]. Amid the various
social-political and economic transformations is the
rise of social problems, such as the increasing rates of
violent crimes and juvenile delinquency, the control
of environmental pollution, the shortage of housing
and its rising costs, the inadequate care for the
growing number of elderly people, the confidence
639
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crisis over the future of the territory, and the
declining morale of civil servants [4, 5]. Most recently,
there have been rising concerns over the re-
appearance of corruption and the increasing rates of
unemployment.
It should be pointed out that the strong desire for
personal success is an essential force in the rapid
modernization of Hong Kong [6, 7]. It has made
Hong Kong well-known for its hardworking labour
force, and its high level of entrepreneurship and
administrative efficiency. However, as Hong Kong
is a rapidly democratizing society with a highly
competitive market economy and as Hong Kong is
facing an uncertain future with the rise of numerous
social problems and issues, the strong aspiration
for personal success should have generated a
considerable amount of stress on individuals.
Recent surveys consistently indicate that the Hong
Kong Chinese appear to have a reasonably good state
of mental health [8-10]. Less than one-third of the
adults experience emotional distress and over one-
half of them are generally satisfied with their lives.
How do the local Chinese manage stress and protect
their mental health? In this essay, let us look into
some of the traditional ideas and practices which are
still widely shared by the Chinese.
It is my personal observation that to achieve
success in the modern society of Hong Kong, the
Chinese tend to resort to some traditional cultural
resources, relying on both passive-fatalistic means
and active w)luntaristic ones. In other words, they
generally believe in the impact of external, invisible
forces beyond one's control, but they also recognize
the importance of one's own will and painstaking
effort in the struggle for success. Their faith in such
traditional concepts as yuan a n d f e n g s h u i can serve as
examples.
Yuan means predestined affinity, assuming that
interpersonal or person-object relationships are pre-
determined by external invisible forces, such as fate or
a former life. As a traditional belief over several
centuries, it remains widely shared today by adults
and the young, the rich and the poor, and people of
all educational levels in Hong Kong and other
Chinese societies [11---14].
640 Editorial
Yuan is often used by the Chinese as a retrospective
explanation or rationalization for the success or
failure of interpersonal relationships. For instance, it
is commonly believed that a man and a woman get
married because they have the yuan for marriage.
Accordingly, if they fail to marry despite loving each
other, it could be due to the lack ofyuan. Moreover,
if the married couple are divorced later, it is because
their yuan is over. It should be noted that yuan as a
retrospective explanation for life situations helps to
defend a person's ego and his social support network
[13, 14]. Firstly, yuan provides the individual with
ready and convincing answers to all kinds of vicissi-
tudes in life. Whatever happens, one can simply
attribute it to the presence or disappearance of yuan.
Thinking one understands what has happened, one
would not feel perplexed or frustrated. Secondly,
since yuan is an external invisible force, the individual
does not need to blame himself or others for the
occurrence of any unfortunate events. Guilt feelings
and interpersonal hostility can be avoided. Faith in
yuan thus serves to protect one's psychological well-
being; it also helps to maintain the stability of his
social support network.
Yuan is not merely a passive concept. The Chinese
generally believe that a person does not know
whether or not he has a predetermined affinity with
other persons or objects unless he makes an effort
to test it out. If the relationship is fine, it indicates
the existence of yuan; otherwise, it means the lack
of yuan. Furthermore, yuan is not a fixed entity. It
can be manipulated and changed by human effort.
It is commonly believed, for instance, that moral
conduct breeds affinity and that one should widely
construct moral affinities. Since it is believed that
(1) yuan can change over time, (2) its existence or
non-existence has to be tested out by experience and
(3) it can be formed through personal moral efforts,
believers would not be discouraged by present misfor-
tunes. There is always a second chance. Hence, yuan
has an element of activism, not as passive as the belief
in fatalism. Yuan gives people hope for the future,
encouraging them to continue to work hard towards
their desired goals.
My own research on yuan has produced some
results worth noting [1 !]. From a random sample of
550 Chinese adults in the urban areas of Hong Kong,
nearly half of the respondents were found to believe
that the success of medical treatment might depend
upon the yuan between the patient and his doctor.
Moreover, this faith encouraged people to shop
around for doctors in order to find one with the
affinity for treatment. The data also revealed that the
search for affinity was not a random selection. As
illness was a matter of deep concern, most people
would seek referrals from friends or relatives before
making a choice and testing the affinity in order to
minimize the risk of consulting an incompetent
doctor. The Chinese behaviour in the search for
affinity has a rationalistic element: one minimizes
risk by testing the affinity only of those one trusts
or likes.
Fengshui is another traditional practice which is
used by the Hong Kong Chinese to deal with stress
in modern life. Literally, it means 'wind and waters'.
It is a complex of ideas about people's place in nature
and the universe. An underlying principle is that the
good or bad fortune of an individual or his family is
partly determined by the external geomantic force in
the physical surroundings of his dwelling or his
ancestors' graves. Such a belief has been shared by
the Chinese over many generations. Nowadays, it
remains widely held by the Chinese in Hong
Kong and elsewhere [12, 15, 16]. It has been used for
coping with stress and for sustaining the achievement
motivation.
Fengshui can be and has been readily used as a
retrospective explanation of life's ups and downs.
When a person fails in his pursuit of success, he can
simply attribute it to bad fengshui. His anxieties are
reduced, as he thinks he understands why he failed.
More importantly, he blames the fengshui of the
external environment, not himself, for the failure. His
ego is thus defended.
It should be explained thatfengshui is more than a
passive, fatalistic belief. It is generally believed that
fengshui can be manipulated and changed by human
action. Accordingly, a person who feels uncertain or
has failed to achieve his goals should do something
about the fengshui in order to improve his chance of
success in the future. A person who has already
achieved success should not, nevertheless, ignore the
fengshui consideration, for he needs to ensure contin-
uing or increased success. As a result, geomancers are
highly regarded in Hong Kong today. They are often
invited to contribute to newspapers and magazines,
and to appear on radio and television programmes.
Books on fengshui are available in nearly all book-
stores. Some families and business firms pay
geomancers for advice. In the past, the fengshui of
ancestors' graves was of great concern to the
Chinese, as it may affect the fortune of the descen-
dants. In a densely populated urban environment like
Hong Kong, there is little choice of burial sites. But
most people could do something about the selection
of dwelling or business sites. They could also change
the external design of the building or the internal
arrangement of furniture in order to improve the
fengshui. Certain objects, such as the Eight Diagrams
(a Taoist symbol), a gong or a tank of fish, may also
be displayed in the house to defend the residents
against bad fengshui.
The above discussions on yuan and Jengshui indi-
cate that the Chinese are passive-fatalistic on the one
hand, but are active-voluntaristic on the other. This
kind of mentality can be conceptualized as fatalistic
voluntarism. In the Chinese mind, fatalism and volun-
tarism are complementary with rather than contra-
dictory to each other. Despite rapid change and
severe competition in social-economic life, people
 Editorial
generally rely on such traditional concepts as yuan
and fengshui to explain life's vicissitudes, to defend
one's ego, to protect the social support network and,
no less importantly, to maintain hope for the future.
I wish to stress that modernization does not
necessarily phase out traditional beliefs and prac-
tices. Those which are compatible with or contribu-
tive to modernization are likely to be preserved. This
is the case of yuan or fengshui in Hong Kong, a
Chinese society undergoing rapid modernization in
recent decades. Both yuan andfengshui are still widely
practised by the Chinese, because they function to
meet the requirement of modern life. They can be
used to sustain the achievement orientation that is
very much needed for modernization. No less impor-
tantly, they can help to reduce frustrations and
anxieties in the course of striving for personal success.
Similar beliefs and practices may exist in other
societies. The preservation and utilization of tra-
ditional resources for coping with stress in modern
society constitute an important area for further
research by medical and social scientists.
In particular, I have made an attempt to formulate
the concept o f fatalistic voluntarism. It is proposed
that in a modernizing society, people tend to attach
great importance to subjective will and human effort
in the achievement of success, but they would not
deny the influence of fate or other mystical forces.
Such a mixed orientation arises because it can help to
cope with the rising level of stress resulting from the
struggle for personal success in a rapidly changing
and highly competitive environment. This concept,
and the related proposition, deserve to be empirically
tested and further developed through comparative,
cross-cultural studies.
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