Happiness in China
Introduction
This paper mainly focuses on Chinese happiness index and its influencing factors analysis. There are many things we are eager to get, such as freedom, money, promising job, reputation, etc. However, we do not pursuit these things themselves, what we want is the improvement of happiness. Those things have value only when they directly or indirectly promote the feeling of happiness.
Gross national happiness (GNH) is an indicator that measures quality of life or social development in a scientific term. In the 1970s, the king of Bhutan proposed the concept of Gross National Happiness. He believed that government should aim to create happiness. The national happiness index should be improved including the factors both in the material and in the spiritual. The GNH index identifies four aspect of national happiness development: good governance, economic growth, cultural development and environmental protection (Hu, 2011). With the rapid development in China, the government takes the index to measure the national happiness. However, there is no exact quantitative definition about how many factors influence the GNH. The paper therefore will analyze the factors that impact China’s gross national happiness from social, economic and politic perspective.
Social Factors
The education system
Education in China does not focus on the students’ practical ability and interests in studying. These schools focus on students’ test scores instead of the students’ potential. Teachers desire to have the top students rather than “bad students”. A student’s scores represent his or her personality. From elementary to high school, students have no elective courses. The teachers’ task is to teach students how to get high scores on the exams. The students are over stressed. They go to school about 6 o’clock in the morning, they stay up studying at night (Hu, 2011).
It is impossible to become relax under such pressure. If students want to be admitted to top universities,
This paper mainly focuses on Chinese happiness index and its influencing factors analysis. There are many things we are eager to get, such as freedom, money, promising job, reputation, etc. However, we do not pursuit these things themselves, what we want is the improvement of happiness. Those things have value only when they directly or indirectly promote the feeling of happiness.
Gross national happiness (GNH) is an indicator that measures quality of life or social development in a scientific term. In the 1970s, the king of Bhutan proposed the concept of Gross National Happiness. He believed that government should aim to create happiness. The national happiness index should be improved including the factors both in the material and in the spiritual. The GNH index identifies four aspect of national happiness development: good governance, economic growth, cultural development and environmental protection (Hu, 2011). With the rapid development in China, the government takes the index to measure the national happiness. However, there is no exact quantitative definition about how many factors influence the GNH. The paper therefore will analyze the factors that impact China’s gross national happiness from social, economic and politic perspective.
Social Factors
The education system
Education in China does not focus on the students’ practical ability and interests in studying. These schools focus on students’ test scores instead of the students’ potential. Teachers desire to have the top students rather than “bad students”. A student’s scores represent his or her personality. From elementary to high school, students have no elective courses. The teachers’ task is to teach students how to get high scores on the exams. The students are over stressed. They go to school about 6 o’clock in the morning, they stay up studying at night (Hu, 2011).
It is impossible to become relax under such pressure. If students want to be admitted to top universities,
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