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Published: December 18th 2014
Recently, Erin and I were invited to read poetry at a well publicized event to promote Chinese literary culture. The event featured Yang Lian, a prominent Chinese poet who was exiled for his criticisms against the Chinese government in the 1980s and the famous German literary scholar Wolfgang Kubin, who gained notoriety in China as a result of his controversial perspectives on Chinese culture. We were in good company!
Visiting authors from foreign countries is a rarity in China and something carefully censored, so for a weekend, we were treated like royalty and our every need was meticulously catered to. On the day of the event, Erin and I were ushered to our seats front and centre, patiently waiting to read the words of the poets who sat beside us.
First on the agenda, Yang Lian and Kubin vied in an open discussion about literature and Chinese culture. As I watched the debate, not able to understand, I noticed Erin’s face distort in shock as the German – in his perfect Chinese – spoke about China’s literary climate.
Knowing Erin well, I felt her tense up as if ready to pounce. “Oh, oh”, I thought… “What was I
missing?”
“What is it?” I quietly asked her.
With a look of disbelief she said, “Well, essentially the German just told the Chinese people that they don’t understand the
essence of poetry and as a result their poetry and literature is garbage”.
“Ohhh…” I could see this was going to be more interesting than I anticipated. Nothing like livening up a poetry reading by inviting the Germans to the party!
As the discussion turned into a debate, I found that my appreciation for the aging German man was quickly growing, and as the Chinese poets responded with heated and long-winded speeches, the German said very little, yet what he said had great impact.
It was at this point that Erin and I looked at each other deciding whether we should take the German’s side at this highly publicized event and explain to the Chinese what makes Western music, art and literature so rich, or bite our tongues. Rather than saying anything, we decided to show them through our performance.
When it was our turn to face the crowd, we took the stage and read our poems with passion and vigor and with the emotion
that brings the literality of words to life. We read each word with passion, pausing for effect, altering our tone and flow with each phrase. We had never studied the poems and we had not heard of the poets before that night, yet we understood the power that those few words could convey.
We were the essence.
The praise we received from the crowd was enough to remind us of one very important lesson: Unlike the Chinese who are constantly striving to be recognized, one should never have to compare one’s self in order to feel good. We knew that it was not necessary to tell them what they did not understand when we were able to show them!
We later learned that the debate – like most cultural events in China – was staged and Yang Lian and Kubin played out their dialogues in order to create the
perception that Chinese culture was alive and thriving. Nonetheless, after enjoying the weekend and the company of our new friends, it gave us great insight into some of China’s quieter realities.
China is a nation lost in a contradiction of what they were, what they are and what
they aspire to be. Despite a history that dates back thousands of years, as a modern nation, their identity has gradually been forgotten.
Throughout our journey, we have noticed that everything from the education, to the newly found desire for materialism, to the culture, reveals a country no longer with an identity of its own. China is a land lost between old traditions and modern realities.
Students with no opinions struggle to stand out while people line up to buy ‘American’ products that are manufactured just miles away. Coal plants and factories wave banners calling for healthier lifestyles, and while culture is promoted, ideas are censored and fail to be conveyed. People claim that their priority is in providing for their family, yet everyone is quickly putting themselves in debt; conversations about Western ideas are asked for, but as Westerners we are ‘encouraged’ to say very little. China is a simple place lost in the complexities of a changing world.
Despite this need for change, China is encouraged to imitate, replicate, duplicate, impersonate and emulate; their instruction prevents them from learning how to create, innovate, insinuate, debate, contemplate and ruminate. China is a land of billions of people, all with one idea. So how, I wonder, does one promote an old culture that is being shaped by the modern cultures of others? And why has China allowed its people to abandon its old world views? Of course the answer is money, and therein lies the reason for their missing essence.
Perhaps it is true: Maybe, like China’s literature, there is no longer an essence in its people, no passion, no sense of value of right and wrong, good or bad, failure or success. There is simply a shell, empty and void, capable of imitating, but not creating. Has it always been this way? Clearly there has been growth, resilience and endurance, but has it been founded on nothing more than a submissive mentality?
China is in an era of transition, for while its citizens turn towards Western models, as a people, they are unsure how to change, for it is hard to transform when you are unsure of who you are. China is a Socialist state trying to exploit Western ideas, the problem being that while they can imitate the model, they do not understand the essence of the values that shaped those models in the first place.
We are visiting in a fascinating time, when a culture with old traditions meets new world views. It is exciting and insightful, but also overwhelming. As we search for new meaning and depth, we have come to develop a great appreciation for China and its people, though my respect stems from a culture that was, not what it has become. I genuinely hope that China has a Renaissance and reminds itself of their past, for I believe that it is the essence of its past that will drive China into its future.
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Angela Matthews
non-member comment
Ditto for Japan..........identity crisis for non identity
Oh how very interesting to hear your comments and to understand precisely what you are saying. Although now I have had the opportunity to travel to China twice; I do not speak the language nor have I had the opportunity to delve further into the culture than just the idle passing of a tourist on the outer edges of the scenery. I must also say that despite a life long passion for all things Chipanese.....(my own invented vocabulary) I do tend to lean toward the Japan as the more beautiful Country and prefer all art, food, scenery, clothing etc. over Chinese. Having said that you can imagine that when the opportunity arose some years ago for me to actually go to Japan......I could not wait to experience all that I had hoped and expected from my imaginings....Yes of course the scenery was breathtaking. The food was easy to order and incredibly delicious. The mannerisms of the crowds of Japanese people that I encountered on the streets, buses, trains was so polite and aloof.........the streets were immaculate and the temples divine.........the tea houses were the stuff my dreams had been filled with.........but ...but .... but...where were all those Kimono clad Geisha of old Kyota.....they were young woman racing the streets in the sleek black Mercedes or BMW,s ...they were walking the shops with their bags of every expensive designer known to Rodeo drive.............with spines made of pure stainless steel.....where oh where were these soft, pliable oh so feminine men- pleasing creatures we western woman have aspired to be??? Over the course of a week...not much time I admit....I came to realize that my life long dream of Tea Houses, Geishas' Kimono's on the street was just that ....A Dream...the Japan of old and of the movies such as Sayonara.....that had colored my passion for the trip....had somehow disappeared...The young generation of Japanese..lusted after the materialism of the West...all things that are wrong with Western civilization are now mirrored totally in Tokyo and in fact everywhere I traveled in the Country. It was a very personal disillusionment and very painful. Japan is still a breathtakingly beautiful Country and Kimono clad ladies can still be seen from time to time in the shops and on the street...but the heart of the Traditions I so wanted to feel and experience were gone...and along with the distruction of many of the old homes and buildings / streets and neighbourhoods.....the Identity of Japan was in flux ...not Eastern really and not Western...but a no man's land of something in between.................