The Middle Kingdom's dragon
war By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - The dragon may be a universal
symbol of the Middle Kingdom, but does it have a
place in modern China? In recent months reformers,
waging war with purists, have argued that China
would be better off dropping the dragon as the
national symbol because it projects an image of
China as an aggressive power.
They have
also attacked China's ancient healing arts,
denouncing them as pseudo science and calling for
traditional medicine to be
stripped of its protected
status in the Chinese constitution.
All
these battles have galvanized opinion and provoked
debates among the public around one question -
should Western standards be adopted when it comes
to national symbols and cultural heritage?
In the dragon debate that unfolded late
last year, a professor of philosophy in Shanghai
kicked up a public storm when he suggested that
because of the Western perception of the dragon as
a destructive monster, China should modify its
national symbol.
"It may lead people who
know little about Chinese culture to have a
negative impression of the country," the Shanghai
Morning Post quoted Wu Youfu of the Shanghai
International Studies University as saying.
Many young Chinese admit that their image
of the dragon is somewhat influenced by Western
perceptions of the mythical beast as evil and
aggressive - not in the least because the
popularity of British author J K Rowling's Harry
Potter series revolves around the young wizard and
hero's constant battles with the winged, scaly
fire-breather.
But older Chinese see
dragons as benevolent creatures. In the past the
Chinese prayed to the dragon for rain and evoked
its power in times of adversity.
While in
the West certain celebrations enact the mutilation
and killing of dragons, in the East the creatures
command respect. Chinese festivals are never
complete without dragon boat races or dragon
dances.
"The dragon in Chinese system of
values has a totally different meaning than in the
West," says scholar Jiang Lei. "It signifies
righteousness, it brings peace and harmony. It is
a thoroughly auspicious symbol."
Clashing
cultural perceptions aside, there are also those
like the academic Bi Yong and his followers who
support the idea of ousting the dragon as the
national symbol because of its association with
imperial China. At a time when China is building
its international image as a peace-loving world
player, the dragon could be projecting the wrong
symbolism, they say.
But pollsters and
commentators have roundly condemned the idea. Some
90% of the 100,000 respondents at the portal
sina.com said the dragon should continue to be
synonymous with China.
"If the ogre Shrek
can become a famous and beloved image in the
United States, I think our country could also do
something to demonstrate the Chinese understanding
of dragons around the world," Yu Guomin, professor
of journalism at the People's University told the
Xinhua news agency.
Medicine
matters Western perspectives and Western
scientific theories played an even bigger part in
a recent storm that engulfed Chinese traditional
medicine.
Supporters of China's ancient
medicinal system, that goes back 2,000 years, were
outraged by an online campaign which denounced the
practice as backward and unsafe and called for
obligatory Western training for traditional
doctors.
Unlike Western medicine which
treats the disease itself, traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM) aspires to get to the root of the
problem by focusing on perceived deficiencies. It
uses herbal medicines, acupuncture and massages to
provide what its adherents believe to be a more
holistic treatment.
Yet detractors like
Zhang Gongyao, university professor at Changsha,
central China, have attacked the practice not only
as useless but also dangerous because of its use
of untested concoctions that can cause powerful
side-effects. They have suggested that Chinese
hospitals prescribe only Western medicine.
Traditionalists have responded by
reminding Zhang that criticism of Chinese
traditional medicine as unscientific goes back to
the Republican era when China embraced Western
science as the norm.
"To accuse TCM as
'unscientific' is inappropriate because 'science'
is a concept of the West and we can't use it to
judge something so radically different as
traditional medicine," says Zhao Tingyang,
researcher of philosophy at the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences. "TCM aims to treat the person not
merely some part of his body."
Traditionalists have also pointed to the
increasing popularity of TCM in Western countries
where its holistic approach has been favorably
contrasted to the perceived utilitarian nature of
Western healthcare.
One example cited is
Britain where failures of the National Health
System are routinely exposed and criticized in the
press. The country has the biggest TCM presence in
Europe. In London alone about 700 stores sell
Chinese traditional medicine.
After raging
for several months the controversy over the fate
of TCM left the realm of cyberspace and became a
matter of official concern with central
authorities stepping in to support the traditional
healing arts.
At a government-convened
conference on TCM in January, Vice Premier Wu Yi
pledged Beijing's support for the beleaguered
system, saying its teachings will be included in
textbooks for primary and middle schools. China is
also putting forward an application for TCM to be
included on the United Nations list of the world's
intangible cultural heritage, she stressed.
Yet, the end of the Middle Kingdom's
medicine wars is hardly the end of the country's
continuing struggle to balance tradition and
modernity. Other storms are gathering, including
one that threatens to engulf the modern Chinese
language.
A mainland scholar has just
published a manifesto calling for no less than a
return to classical standards. Tang Yi, an
etymologist, decries the current state of the
Mandarin language as vulgarized and divorced from
its cultural traditions.
Interestingly,
the calls for reform come at a time when the
central government is promoting Chinese language
and culture as part of a "soft power charm
offensive" through Confucian Institutes set up
around the world.
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