Culture of the People's Republic of China
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The culture of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is a rich and varied blend of traditional
The culture of the People's Republic was in development long before its foundation in 1949 and is mainly a combination of traditional Chinese culture and communism. Much of the diversity of China's culture seems to come from the diversity of the Han Chinese who make up China, and the national minorities who bring individual cultural elements from their cultures, and contribute to a continuing development of Chinese culture that follows cultural changes nationwide and internationally. The culture is also very much based on the history of China, which developed mainly in isolation over the hundreds of years in which it has adapted and assimilated. The ideology of the Communist and Maoist movement beginning in the twentieth century is certainly crucial to understanding modern Chinese culture.
Today, China still has many close cultural links with other parts of the world, especially within East Asia, Southeast Asia, and overseas Chinese communities. Its cultural elements have spread across the globe due to Ancient China's influence, as well as the country's modernizing popular culture and rise as a global power, becoming one of the most prominent cultural forces in the world, and the predominant culture in Asia.[1]
History
Early years
After the establishment of the
As the
Cultural Revolution
When the
The artistic community was particularly affected by the Cultural Revolution. Initially, only eight "Sample Acts", or propaganda performances, were allowed, along with the "Loyalty Dance", posters that deify Chairman Mao, and a large number of revolutionary songs such as The East Is Red.
During the later stages of the Cultural Revolution, the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign was a political campaign started by Mao Zedong's fourth wife Jiang Qing, which lasted from 1973 to 1974 and was an extension of the then-current anti-Lin Biao campaign, used to attack the then-Premier Zhou Enlai.
Post-Mao era
After the Maoist era, there has been a renaissance of traditional Chinese culture. Local religions, including
The television stations in the PRC have in recent years produced numerous quality drama series, covering everything from imperial history to modern-day police actions, and are gaining immense popularity in mainland China.
Beginning in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mainland China became exposed to more western elements, notably
Literature
Modern prose
In the New Culture Movement (1917–23), the literary writing style was largely replaced by the vernacular in all areas of literature. This was brought about mainly by Lu Xun (1881–1936), China's first major stylist in vernacular prose (other than the novel), and the literary reformers Hu Shih (1891–1962) and Chen Duxiu (1880–1942).
The late 1920s and 1930s were years of
The League of Left-Wing Writers was founded in 1930 and included Lu Xun in its leadership. By 1932 it had adopted the Soviet doctrine of
At the time of the
During the Cultural Revolution, the repression and intimidation led by Mao's fourth wife, Jiang Qing, succeeded in drying up all cultural activity except a few "model" operas and heroic stories. Although it has since been learned that some writers continued to produce in secret. During that period, no significant literary work was published.
Literature in the Post-Mao period
The arrest of Jiang Qing and the other members of the Gang of Four in 1976, and especially the reforms initiated at the Third Plenum of the Eleventh National Party Congress Central Committee in December 1978, led more and more older writers and some younger writers to take up their pens again. Much of the literature discussed the serious abuses of power that had taken place at both the national and the local levels during the Cultural Revolution. The writers decried the waste of time and talent during that decade and bemoaned abuses that had held China back. At the same time, the writers expressed eagerness to make a contribution to building Chinese society. This literature, often called "the literature of the wounded," contained some disquieting views of the party and the political system. Intensely patriotic, these authors wrote cynically of the political leadership that gave rise to the extreme chaos and disorder of the Cultural Revolution. Some of them extended the blame to the entire generation of leaders and to the political system itself. The political authorities were faced with a serious problem: how could they encourage writers to criticize and discredit the abuses of the Cultural Revolution without allowing that criticism to go beyond what they considered tolerable limits.
During this period, a large number of novels and short stories were published; literary magazines from before the Cultural Revolution were revived, and new ones were added to satisfy the seemingly insatiable appetite of the reading public. There was a special interest in foreign works. Linguists were commissioned to translate recently published foreign literature, often without carefully considering its interest for the Chinese reader. Literary magazines specializing in translations of foreign short stories became very popular, especially among the young.
It is not surprising that such dramatic change brought objections from some leaders in government and literary and art circles, who feared it was happening too fast. The first reaction came in 1980 with calls to combat "bourgeois
Traditional arts
Drama
Traditional drama, often called "
In the early years of the People's Republic, the development of Beijing Opera was encouraged; many new operas on historical and modern themes were written, and earlier operas continued to be performed. As a popular art form, opera has usually been the first of the arts to reflect changes in Chinese policy. In the mid-1950s, for example, it was the first to benefit under the Hundred Flowers Campaign. Similarly, the attack in November 1965 on Beijing deputy mayor Wu Han and his historical play, "Hai Rui's Dismissal from Office," signaled the beginning of the Cultural Revolution. During the Cultural Revolution, most opera troupes were disbanded, performers and scriptwriters were persecuted, and all operas except the eight "model operas" approved by Jiang Qing and her associates were banned. After the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976, Beijing Opera enjoyed a revival and continued to be a very popular form of entertainment both in theaters and on television.
In traditional Chinese theater, no plays were performed in the vernacular or without singing. But at the turn of the twentieth century, Chinese students returning from abroad began to experiment with Western
In the 1930s, theatrical productions performed by traveling Red Army cultural troupes in Communist-controlled areas were consciously used to promote party goals and political philosophy. By the 1940s, the theater was well established in Communist-controlled areas.
In the early years of the People's Republic, Western-style theater was presented mainly in the form of "socialist realism." During the Cultural Revolution, however, Western-style plays were condemned as "dead drama" and "poisonous weeds" and were not performed.
Following the Cultural Revolution, Western-style theater experienced a revival. Many new works appeared, and revised and banned plays from China and abroad were reinstated in the national repertoire. Many of the new plays strained at the limits of creative freedom and were alternately commended and condemned, depending on the political atmosphere. One of the most outspoken of the new breed of playwrights was
Music
Chinese
The New Culture Movement of the 1910s and 1920s evoked a great deal of lasting interest in Western music as a number of Chinese musicians who had studied abroad returned to perform Western
After the establishment of the People's Republic, revolutionary songs continued to be performed, and much of the remainder of popular music consisted of popular songs from the Soviet Union with the lyrics translated into Chinese. Symphony orchestras flourished throughout the country, performing Western classical music and compositions by Chinese composers. Conservatories and other institutions of musical instruction were developed and expanded in the major cities. A number of orchestras from Eastern Europe performed in China, and Chinese musicians and musical groups participated in a wide variety of international festivals.
During the height of the Cultural Revolution, musical composition and performance were greatly restricted. After the Cultural Revolution, musical institutions were reinstated, and musical composition and performance were revived. In 1980 the Chinese Musicians' Association was formally elected to the International Musicological Society. Chinese musical groups toured foreign countries, and foreign musical organizations performed in China. In the mid-1980s, popular ballads and Western folk and classical music still drew the greatest audiences, but other kinds of music, including previously banned Western jazz and rock and roll, were being performed and were receiving increasing acceptance, especially among young people.
The Legendary Four
The Legendary Four is a group of four composers—
Painting and calligraphy
In imperial times, painting and calligraphy were the most highly appreciated arts in court circles and were produced almost exclusively by amateurs — aristocrats and scholar-officials — who alone had the leisure to perfect the technique and sensibility necessary for great brushwork. Calligraphy was thought to be the highest and purest form of painting. The implements were the brush pen, made of animal hair, and black inks made from pine soot and animal glue. In ancient times, writing, as well as painting, was done on silk. But after the invention of paper in the first century CE, silk was gradually replaced by the new and cheaper material. Original writings by famous calligraphers have been greatly valued throughout China's history and are mounted on scrolls and hung on walls in the same way that paintings are.
Painting in the traditional style involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink;
Beginning in the
Beginning in the thirteenth century, there developed a tradition of painting simple subjects — a branch with fruit, a few flowers, or one or two horses. Narrative painting, with a wider color range and a much busier composition than the Song painting, was immensely popular at the time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
During the Ming period, the first books illustrated with colored woodcuts appeared. As the techniques of color printing were perfected, illustrated manuals on the art of painting began to be published.
Beginning with the New Culture Movement, Chinese artists started to adopt Western techniques. It also was during this time that oil painting was introduced to China.
In the early years of the People's Republic, artists were encouraged to employ socialist realism. Some Soviet socialist realism was imported without modification, and painters were assigned subjects and expected to mass-produce paintings. This regimen was considerably relaxed in 1953, and after the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956–57, traditional Chinese painting experienced a significant revival. Along with these developments in professional art circles, there was a proliferation of peasant art depicting everyday life in rural areas on wall murals and in open-air painting exhibitions.
During the Cultural Revolution, art schools were closed, and the publication of art journals and major art exhibitions ceased. Nevertheless, amateur art continued to flourish throughout this period.
Following the Cultural Revolution, art schools and professional organizations were reinstated. Exchanges were set up with groups of foreign artists, and Chinese artists began to experiment with new subjects and techniques.
Contemporary performing arts
Motion pictures
The film industry continued to develop after 1949. In the 17 years between the founding of the People's Republic and the Cultural Revolution, 603 feature films and 8,342 reels of documentaries and newsreels were produced. The first wide-screen film was produced in 1960. Animated films using a variety of folk arts, such as papercuts, shadow plays, puppetry, and traditional paintings, also were very popular for entertaining and educating children.
During the Cultural Revolution, the film industry was severely restricted. Most previous films were banned, and only a few new ones were produced. In the years immediately following the Cultural Revolution, the film industry again flourished as a medium of popular entertainment. Domestically produced films played to large audiences, and tickets for foreign film festivals sold quickly.
In the 1980s, the film industry fell on hard times, faced with the dual problems of competition from other forms of entertainment and concern on the part of the authorities that many of the popular thriller and martial arts films were socially unacceptable. In January 1986, the film industry was transferred from the Ministry of Culture to the newly formed Ministry of Radio, Cinema, and Television to bring it under "stricter control and management" and to "strengthen supervision over production."
Radio and television
Radio and television expanded rapidly in the 1980s as important means of mass communication and popular entertainment. By 1985 radio reached 75 percent of the population through 167
Chinese variety TV has also become widely successful with popular shows such as
Folk and variety arts
Folk and variety arts have a long history in China. One of the oldest forms of folk art is
Variety arts, including tightrope walking, acrobatics, animal acts, and sleight of hand, date back at least as far as the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) and were very popular in the imperial court. Later, many of these feats were incorporated into traditional theater, and they continued to be performed by itinerant troupes. As these troupes traveled around the countryside, they developed and enriched their repertoire. Since 1949 these art forms have gained new respectability. Troupes have been established in the provinces, autonomous regions, and special municipalities, and theaters specifically dedicated to the variety arts have been built in major cities. Some troupes have become world-famous, playing to packed houses at home and on foreign tours.
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is an emerging art form. At least until 2008, China blocked access to Comedy Central's website, deeming the website unsuitable for China's citizens.[2] Hong Kong is the only city in China to offer a full-time comedy club,[2] where both English and Cantonese speaking comedians perform.
Each October, Hong Kong hosts an annual comedy festival, the HK International Comedy Festival.
Publishing
Publishing in China dated from the invention of
Between 1949 and 1952, the New China Booksellers offices scattered throughout the country were nationalized and given responsibility for publishing, printing, and distribution. Also, several small private publishers were brought under joint state/private ownership, and by 1956 all private publishers had been nationalized. After a brief flourishing during the Hundred Flowers Campaign of 1956–57, the publishing industry came under strong political pressure in the Anti-Rightist Campaign of 1957. The industry had not fully recovered from this campaign when it was plunged into the Cultural Revolution, a period in which publishing was severely curtailed and limited mainly to political tracts supporting various campaigns. Following the Cultural Revolution, publishing again flourished in unprecedented ways. In 1982 the China National Publishing Administration, the umbrella organization of Chinese publishers, was placed under the Ministry of Culture, but the actual management of the industry was directed through four systems of administration: direct state administration; administration by committees or organizations of the State Council or the party Central Committee; armed forces administration; and administration by provinces, autonomous regions, or special municipalities.
In 1984 statistics showed that 17 of the country's 418 publishing establishments were in Shanghai, whereas Beijing was home to 160 publishers. In 1985 plans were announced to foster the growth of the publishing industry in Chongqing, Xi'an, Wuhan, and Shenyang to take some of the workloads from Beijing and Shanghai.
Different publishers were assigned to specific kinds of publications. For example, the People's Publishing House was responsible for publishing works on politics, philosophy, and the social sciences; the People's Literature Publishing House produced ancient and modern Chinese and foreign literature and literary history and theory; the China Publishing House had the principal responsibility for collating and publishing Chinese classical literary, historical, and philosophical works; and the Commercial Press was the principal publisher of Chinese-to-foreign-language reference works and translations of foreign works in the social sciences. Other publishers dealt with works in specialized fields of science.
In addition to the routine method of distributing books to bookstores in major cities, other methods of distribution were devised to meet the special needs of readers in urban and rural areas throughout the country. Mobile bookshops made regular visits to factories, mines, rural villages, and People's Liberation Army units, and service was provided in those locations through which individuals could request books. Arrangements were made with the libraries of educational institutions and enterprises to supply them with the books that they required, and books specifically applicable to certain industries were systematically recommended and provided to the departments concerned. Also, book fairs and exhibits frequently were provided at meetings and in public parks on holidays and other special occasions.
Deregulation of Chinese video game market
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In the fall of 2013, the government of China announced that they were admitting foreign game companies to sell their games in China.
Background and before the deregulation
In 2000, the CCP government banned people in China from selling stationary-type home game machines made by foreign companies because the government thought the game machines were harmful to young people. However, one year after the ban, online games became popular, and the game problem of young people was not solved. In addition, Nintendo cooperated with Wei Yen to sell iQue Player, which can play Nintendo 64 games in China legally. On the other hand, underground video game copies prevailed. For example, Wii consoles were copied and sold as Vii. PS3s were also copied. As a result, the regulation did not make sense.
The response of several companies
The
Consideration and comparison of articles about the deregulation of selling games in China
Yomiuri picks up on Sony and only estimates that many Chinese people will buy games from Sony.
Games in the world and in China
Sales of major Companies
On April 16, 2014, Sony Interactive Entertainment publicized its sales figures. According to them, they had sold seven million PlayStation 4 consoles in China, as well as 20 million pieces of game software. Microsoft revealed that they had sold three million Xbox One consoles as of 2013.(7) Nintendo revealed that they had sold sixteen million Nintendo 3DS and Wii U consoles.[9]
People’s reaction
A Chinese portal site,
According to the article written by Forbes, the stock prices of Sony and Nintendo rose in Japan after China had declared deregulation. This means people expected that these two companies will succeed in China. Microsoft stock also rose, but far lower. These two companies have been stronger than Microsoft in Asia.[11] Therefore, in the future, we may see Sony and Nintendo compete intensively in China.
Future in China
Judging from this information, Sony seems to win Microsoft, perhaps and Nintendo, in the video game market, both in the world and in China. However, the situation is not so simple. There is some concern for game companies. First, PRC government official said that the deregulation is temporary; in other words, selling games will be banned again someday. Second, if game companies want to sell their products, they must produce in a free-trade zone in Shanghai, and foreign companies’ games will have to undergo strict censorship by the PRC government.[12][13]
Government control
Tainted artists
The Chinese Government considers artists and celebrities who engage in illegal and/or problematic behavior such as drug use, prostitution, tax evasion, extramarital affairs, and support for political positions other than those held by the CCP to be "tainted artists." In 2014 all "tainted artists" were blocked on all Chinese broadcasting platforms by order of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.[14]
See also
- Color in Chinese culture
- Education in the People's Republic of China
- Museums in China
- Numbers in Chinese culture
- Social issues in the People's Republic of China
References
- ^ "The Rise of China's Soft Power | Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs". www.belfercenter.org. Archived from the original on 2018-02-09. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
- ^ a b "Stand-up comedy around the world: a glance at China's and Africa's scenes". Punchline Magazine. 2008-07-14. Archived from the original on 2012-05-25. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- ^ Kurihara, M. (2014, May 26). Chūgoku de pureste hanbai e sonī genchi de goubengaisya (Sony will sell “Play Station” in China), Yomiuri Shimbun, p. 3.
- ^ Saito, T. (2014, May 27). Sonī chūgoku de pureste kateiyoukaikin uke kakusya sannyū (Game companies, including Sony, will sell their games in China), Asahi Shimbun, p. 1.
- ^ Sony to Microsoft no gemuki, chūgoku deno rieki soshutsu ha konnan ka (It may be difficult for Sony and Microsoft to sell their games and to benefit). (2014, May 20). Zaikei Shimbun. Retrieved: http://www.zaikei.co.jp/article/20140520/194332.html Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine [May 27, 2014].
- ^ "インタビュー:任天堂、来年にも新興国用ゲーム機を投入". Reuters (in Japanese). 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ^ Ide, S. (2014, May 26). Pureste chūgoku de hannbai e “PS4” ka(“Play Station” will be sold in China), Mainichi Shimbun. Retrieved: "プレステ 中国で販売へ Ps4か - ヤフコメ速報". Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-28. [July 18, 2014].
- ^ "ソニーと任天堂に好機か…中国でゲーム機解禁の観測 - 日本経済新聞". www.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ^ "WSJ". Archived from the original on 2014-08-28. Retrieved 2014-08-28.
- ^ Tassi, Paul. "Nintendo, Sony Thrilled as China Considers Lifting 12 Year Ban on Console Sales". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ^ PS4 vs Xbox One, chūgoku deno maehyōban ha Sony ga attōteki yūi (PS4 vs Xbox One, Sony has much greater advance reviews than Microsoft). (2014, July 17).Yahoo Japan. Retrieved: "【中国から探る日本株】PS4 vs Xbox One、中国での前評判はソニーが圧倒的優位(フィスコ) - ニュース・コラム - Yahoo!ファイナンス". Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-28. [July 17, 2014].
- ^ "[FT]中国、外国製ゲーム機販売を14年ぶりに解禁 - 日本経済新聞". www.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
- ^ Kokusun,S. (2010, July 22). Chūgoku no sueoki gata gēmuki kinshirei to sono jijyō (A ban of stationary type home game machines and reasons of this in China). Livedoor News. Retrieved: "コラム:中国の据え置き型ゲーム機禁止令とその事情 - ライブドアニュース". Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-08-28. [July 22, 2014]
- ^ Chen, Dan; Gao, Gengsong. "How Chinese celebrities are amplifying official policy on Taiwan, pushing 'One China' messages to millions of fans online". theconversation.com. The Conversation. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division. [1]
External links
Culture
- Ministry of Culture (in Chinese) • English language website of the Ministry of Culture
- China Culture Information Net
Media
- China Central Television
- China National Radio Archived 2007-06-15 at the Wayback Machine
- China Radio International
Preservation
- International Dunhuang Project — an international collaboration to make more than 100,000 manuscripts, paintings and artifacts from Dunhuang and other Silk Road sites available on Internet. Items are shown in context, with bibliographies, maps, photographs, site plans and other information relating to their provenance, history and present condition.