Need2LearnChinese Blog

Guo Degang (郭德纲), one of China’s most popular performers of xiangsheng (相声), a form of stand-up comedy also known as crosstalk, is no longer welcome in the capital, as a scuffle between one of his students and a TV reporter has swept him up in a newly-launched anti-vulgarity campaign.

Guo’s troubles began when he was accused of expanding his personal property onto public land. On August 1, one of his students, Li Hebiao, physically attacked a Beijing TV reporter, Zhou Guangfu, who had come to Guo’s house seeking an interview.

Guo, who was not home at the time, defended Li by pointing out that Zhou had entered without invitation, had repeatedly claimed not to be filming, and had selectively edited the video for broadcast. Zhou’s paparazzi-style interview tactics notwithstanding, Li eventually was compelled to apologize and is currently spending a week in jail.

Guo’s mocking attack on BTV was not welcomed by official media. On August 5, CCTV’s Live News broadcast condemned Guo (without mentioning him by name) in a segment titled “Public Individuals Must Assume More Social Responsibility”:

A national anti-vulgarity campaign was launched in late July to clean up aspects of the entertainment industry deemed “low, vulgar, and pandering” (庸俗、低俗、媚俗 often abbreviated to 三俗, 'the three vulgarities'), so Guo’s work, which previously aired without incident on national TV stations and sold in bookstores across the country without controversy, now seems to be on the list of items targeted for clean-up.

The Mirror, the Beijing Youth Daily Group's evening paper, reported late last week that Guo’s works have been taken off shelves in the city:

And starting today, two of Guo’s De Yun She (德云社) comedy clubs have temporarily shut down for retooling. Although The Beijing News reports that employees have denied received a shut-down order, rumors are currently circulating online that tax and culture authorities have suspended the clubs’ performance license.*

But so far it’s just Beijing. In Tianjin, Guo’s hometown, his books are still on shelves and his performances are still airing in TV. In a microblog update, Cao Lin, an opinion writer, suggests one possible progression for the ban

Posted by jialilyus at 08:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

Chinese Masks are made up of numerous materials like stones and metals, leather and cloth, paper and grass and more. They are then painted in different color themes and designs. Some masks may represent animal or human characteristics like the lion or the dragon. Red is also a popular color, thought to bring prosperity and many red masks will be seen during the celebrations.

Chinese New Year is based in lore of deities, spirits, good and evil beings and animal ancestors. Masks commonly depict these characteristics and powers and are held in high esteem during the ceremonies and dances involved in the Chinese New Year.

The dragon holds special significance at new years and is a bringer of good luck and fortune, especially for farming and harvesting and is also the bringer of rain. The New Year’s celebrations mark the beginning of the planting and farming seasons in China, and so the two tie closely together.

The dragon mask is a key symbol of fortune and prosperity for the New Year. The dragon mask is an important part of Chinese heritage and specifically New Year parades. While the dragon mask may not hold the same importance that it did during ancient times, no present day New Year’s parade is without it.

The dragon mask began as this kind of symbol, but through the centuries the role of the mask in Chinese society has changed. The mask is no longer seen as such an important part of agricultural prosperity today, but it is still a very important symbol to the Chinese people.

The dragon masks used during parades are commonly very complex and elaborate with vivid colors, usually in gold, red and blue with fur and feathers headed by the large dragon mask which usually features bright red. A traditional dragon mask will typically have either a wide rounded mouth or a yawning jaw. The person at the head of the dragon dance procession will wear the mask or hold it above his or her head as the dragon dances and snakes along through the streets.

The other type of masks in Chinese culture is the modern Chinese Opera masks which are either painted on or are worn as thin cloth masks. The tradition of facial make up started from totems created centuries ago times which later became facial paintings. Basic depictions of painted faces were discovered in tomb murals during the Song dynasty. Later this evolved and as the paints improved, along with the skills of the painters and crafters and the tools they used the masks evolved to don full color themes and designs and came to depict different artistic roles, different emotions and different moods.

Frequently used facial make ups include yellow which represents cruelty, Silver and Gold which are typically used to represent gods and demons and for spirits and ghosts, blue which is vigor and valor and green which depicts justice and chivalry. These color themes have remained the same for ages and were handed down and refined throughout the ages of Chinese art, culture and history.

Posted by jialilyus at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

Traditional Chinese weddings are always filled with red things to bring auspicious blessings and respects. And even wedding customs reflect traditions from Chinese philosophy.

Favoring red comes from worship of the sun

The Chinese regard the color red as the symbol of happiness, success, luck, faith and growth. They like red very much, which comes from worship of the Sun. In traditional Chinese weddings, there are double Xi characters in red, red scarves, red flowers and the bride wears a red coat. All the red things not only bring the wedding happiness, but they also imply that the couple's future will be better.

The wedding ceremony shows harmony between nature and people

A marriage is not only a merger of the couple; traditionally, it symbolizes the merger of two families and society. So the wedding ceremony should reflect the holiness of marriage, drawing the attention of relatives and friends. There is harmony between nature and the people inside.

Inviting relatives and friends to the wedding symbolizes the formality and the relationships between people. It is not a causal thing. During a marriage, two families become in-laws. The ceremony reflects the importance and family status of the parents.

After the ceremony, the bride and the groom usually burn money and food as offerings to the gods. As the fire consumes the offerings accompanied by the sound of firecrackers, god accepts the gift, indicating that there is harmony between nature and people.

Only when people and nature are in harmony can people have a good harvest.

In addition, there are certain ornaments and taboos in traditional weddings. The grooms should not be a single parent because it is bad luck and does not reflect harmony. So it is a taboo.

The sound of musical instruments in the wedding is usually loud to express the voice of the people. The sound should be loud enough to let nature know, and it also demonstrates the importance of the marriage.

The food the bride eats has cultural significance

In traditional weddings, the bride usually has red dates, peanuts, longans and melon seeds. The meaning is evident in the Chinese pronunciation of these four foods. When they are said together, it sounds like "Have a baby soon."

Posted by jialilyus at 01:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options

In what's thought to be the first of its kind in the country, a small group of women have asked onlookers in Wuhan to end discrimination against sex workers by scrapping anti-prostitution laws and stopping the current sex industry crackdown.

According to The Guardian, Ye Haiyan, the women at the forefront of the protest, had decided to speak out after seeing women publicly humiliated following police raids - a police act that was only recently made illegal by the Ministry of Security.

Ye Haiyan, who blogs and tweets under the name Hooligan Sparrow, is an activist who once raised controversy for posting nude pictures of herself online. More recently, she launched the Chinese Women's Rights Workshop, which distributes condoms and AIDS-prevention pamphlets to brothels in Wuhan, though she said sex workers were reluctant to use them in fear that they could be brought in as evidence of prostitution.

She went into more detail about the reasons for her protest on Global Voices Online:

Previously, I had no intention of making demands for legalization, I had only hoped that under the current state of things, the rights and interests of our sisters would receive greater protection.

But the crackdowns this year have been insane and leave me feeling hopeless.

Every day when you look at the news, you see sex being criminalized everywhere across the country; when they see the cameras, sisters will hang their heads our cover their faces as they get paraded around, exposed and publicly humiliated. So, I decided I could no longer hesitate or be wimpy about this, that there needs to be a forceful voice in opposition to people being treated like this. Yes, I'm pro-legalization, and this fight is against the persecution of sex!

Posted by jialilyus at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

options