Yan's problem is not language, but Yan's ignorance about who we are. Yan believes that Chinese has no abilities of both abstraction and substitution. I simply disagree. If one has read Sun1Zi3Bing1Fa3, or the Art of wars by Sun Zi, who did over 2500 years ago by SunZi, one can see both abstraction and substitution there in many cases. Dear Yan, please read some Chinese history before criticizing your own language!

What western culture Yan mentioned here was covered by SunZi already, if you can contemplate the major events during last 5 decades. Using one small book Bible and many missles, people made one country from nowhere. Revenging by the descendants of the very victims made 9-11, which in consequence every of us has to be almostly receiving a strip search every time during taking an airflight.

Also, such creative thinking methods have ruined the financial market that directly caused the global recession last year. Every one here who adores the western creative thinking methods have to rethink what we are learning about. My advice is : never forget the eastern wisdoms, while you are learning from the western "advantages". Yan, please reply in English if possible.