In recent months, the use of the terms “Chinese culture” (中华文化) and “Chinese civilization” (中华文明), as well as related terms such as “relics” and “archaeology,” has increased significantly in the CCP’s flagship People’s Daily — a clear reflection of how the leadership is turning to the past as a source of legitimacy in the present. In June, ahead of the CCP’s July 1 anniversary, articles referencing “Chinese culture” rocketed to 112, while those mentioning “Chinese civilization” reached 115. In July, the numbers remained high, with 85 articles for “Chinese culture” and 109 for “Chinese civilization,” putting both in Tier 2 of the CMP discourse scale alongside typically strong terms like “with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core” (以习近平同志为核心). Numbers for both terms this summer have been roughly double what they were during the first five months of the year.
  • @ttmrichter
    0•1 year ago

    China has had a major inferiority complex since the Twenty-One Demands, and the Century of Humiliation as a whole has had a profoundly negative effect on national character, right down to aping western fashions and culture. Personally I’m glad to see native culture being taken up again. Sure it’s being pushed for political purposes, but the people doing the pushing are in one of those “doing the right thing for the wrong reason” situations.

    It’s time for China to stop trying to be western (when it’s absolutely certain that the west will never consider it one of theirs, no matter who or what is in power) and to go back to its own course.