Learning Chinese: culture — Unit 4

The dialogue of Unit 4 introduces numbers, age and the school system. It is an opportunity to explore how age is talked about in China, how the Chinese education system works, and to discover a surprising cultural feature: in China, you can be a year older than in the West!

1. In China, you are one year old at birth

In China, there are traditionally two ways to count age:

Concretely, a baby born on January 20 (just before Chinese New Year) would be one year old at birth in 虚岁 xūsuì, then two years old a few days later when Chinese New Year arrives — when in reality it is only a few days old!

Today, in large cities and in administrative or medical contexts, it is the 周岁 zhōusuì (real age) that is used. But in everyday life, especially in the countryside or among older people, the 虚岁 xūsuì remains common. So if a Chinese person tells you their age, they may be one or two years younger in Western age. If in doubt, you can ask: 是虚岁还是周岁？ Shì xūsuì háishì zhōusuì ? — "Is that in traditional age or in real age?"

2. Can you ask about age in China?

In the West, asking someone's age can be seen as indiscreet, especially with adults. In China, it is much more natural: age is part of the basic information exchanged at a first meeting, just like name or profession. It is a way of placing the person you are talking to and knowing how to address them.

Age hierarchy is important in Chinese culture: it partly determines the level of politeness and the terms of address to use. Knowing whether someone is older or younger than you helps to adopt the right register of language.

There are, however, nuances in the way of asking the question depending on the estimated age of the person:

In the unit's dialogue, Yueyue directly asks 你多大？ her teacher. This frankness is typical of a child, but even between adults, the question remains perfectly acceptable in China.

3. The school system in China

The dialogue introduces three levels of the Chinese education system: 小学 xiǎoxué (primary school), 中学 zhōngxué (secondary school) and 大学 dàxué (university). These words are built very logically in Chinese:

The Chinese school system is structured as follows:

  • Primary school (小学): 6 years, roughly from age 6 to 12.
  • Middle school (初中 chūzhōng, literally "beginning of the middle"): 3 years, from age 12 to 15.
  • High school (高中 gāozhōng, literally "top of the middle"): 3 years, from age 15 to 18.
  • University (大学): generally 4 years.

Education is compulsory for 9 years (6 years of primary + 3 years of middle school). The term 中学 zhōngxué covers both middle school and high school, which explains why in the dialogue, Professor Li says he is both a 中学老师 zhōngxué lǎoshī and 大学老师 dàxué lǎoshī.

Education holds a central place in Chinese society. Families invest enormously in their children's schooling, and academic success is considered a decisive factor of social success. The famous university entrance exam, the 高考 gāokǎo, is a crucial moment in the life of a young Chinese person.