#OpinionArticle
Beyond Authenticity: the Spectre of Han Hegemony

//It is hard not to see the Emperor’s protectiveness of the Silk Road in #Mulan as an echo of China’s Belt and Road scheme, often termed a New Silk Road to build their economic prosperity. The violence of Islamic-coded barbarians echoes modern Chinese propaganda about Islamic terrorism in #Xinjiang, which is being used to justify the existence of concentration camps.

//Modern China is built on the idea that the Han people should be and are the inheritors of the Qing empire. These colonial possessions, like Tibet, East Turkestan (aka Xinjiang) and Southern Mongolia, are argued to share with the Han people a “common historical destiny” (Chiang Kai-shek, 1947). Other empires may have attempted (however ineptly and inadequately) some form of de-colonisation in the 20th Century, but China’s successive regimes very much did not.

//The cultural genocide happening in Xinjiang today is part of a larger project by the Chinese government to force assimilation and cultural “harmony” across their empire. It can be seen the policies mandating the use Mandarin in schools, a policy that has sparked protests in Southern Mongolia.

Full article: Medium, (12-Sep)
https://link.medium.com/Fwu4wy1DH9

#Han #Mulan #BoycottMulan #Xinjiang

#OpinionArticle #ChipTsao
Common knowledge of architecture in Mulan

Editor's Note:
In the west, we have Foucault's panopticon as a metaphor for a higher authority surveilling the common folk. In this article, the author explores how the Chinese government turns this concept on its head with the tulou, where the common folk surveil each other.

(11 Sep) After mainland Chinese netizens watched pirated copies of Disney's Orientalist and novelty-seeking rendition of Mulan, they let loose their unabated criticism: the costumes were not historically accurate, Fujian's tulous showed up in the North China region, the high-end escort-worthy looks of top actress Liu Yifei failed to make up for her rigid expression throughout the movie - it was like her face was paralysed. The mainland market appreciated none of this.

//[Then,] Disney came along to trample on the culture of Chinese architecture. South China's Fujian tulous were haphazardly transported to an arid region.

//Just as the poetic saga of Hua Mulan represents the advanced Han civilization annihilating the savage race of Mongolia's barbarians, the screening of Mulan coincided with the Chinese government destroying all the [native] language textbooks in Inner Mongolia. [The act] inherited the spirit of Mulan and brought more vibrance to the film. If I were the Executive Chairman of Disney, I would have taken the hint. After its screening, I would have bought land from the filming location in Xinjiang and open up a new Disney park. It would welcome the Central Asian and European tourism markets under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Full translation:
https://telegra.ph/Common-knowledge-of-architecture-in-Mulan-09-22

Source: Apple Daily News
https://bit.ly/3hRkt6c

Translated by: Hong Kong Echo

#Mulan #Disney #ChineseArchitecture
#Orientalist #Fujian