Introduction
China is a country that is located in East Asia that has a very large territory. It has a very huge population. Thus, the country has an enormous ancient history. Its history has been dated back about four thousand years ago. It is regarded as one of the greatest ancient civilizations around the world. In addition, it is one of the few countries that still hold its culture that was inspired by its history. The Chinese culture has been preserved for thousands of years. Thus, the people of China still observe the culture that was founded by the ancient Chinese. These cultural backgrounds were developed into a modern Chinese expressive culture such as the music, fine arts, food, film, and even in the literature. These modern Chinese cultures provide various examples of both the Chinese’s achievements as well as some of the negative aspects of modern Chinese society. Thus, many of these Chinese modern cultures are evident that many Chinese people became successful in their own discipline, but have also been the reason of some unwanted effects and negative perception from other people.
The Modern Chinese Culture
Fine Arts
Chinese artistry has been showcased for many years. There are many forms of Chinese artistry that have been displayed in museums. However, in our modern time, this creativity was developed in to a new form of creations. In the recent post, a forty-five hectare rice field has been converted into a modern painting using the rice field itself (chinadaily.com.cn). Various designs were showcased in a form of rice field paintings in which some of them are 3D art style of painting. This could be one of the many achievements of the Chinese people, as there could be no other place in the world that could create such creativity. This achievement may have not been successful without the help of China’s new technology that controls the rice plant’s height in order to form various stereographs that cover 453 thousand square meters of rice field (ecnc.cn). Economically, this creation may have a good effect on Shenyang’s tourism, as it will attract more tourists, either Chinese from distant part of the country or foreigners, to visit the place and feel the creativity of the Chinese people.
There could be a potential negative effect about this artistry. It is good that the modern painting can be done using rice fields, as it can be considered a modern methodology of expressing the artistic side of Chinese people. However, there may be some people who see the rice fields as an essential place where people get to work hard in order to produce enough rice for a big country such as China. There might come a time that such painting method could expand, which would cover wider rice fields. In this case, an opposing side would come up saying that harvesting rice in a traditional way could be more important than using them as paintings and tourist attractions.
Music
The Chinese music can be easily identified, as it has a unique theme and genre. The traditional Chinese music is still being performed, which shows that the country’s musical culture is still alive even on these days. In fact, in this modern time, the traditional Chinese music had evolved into becoming the modern version of their music. Thus, their music has become similar to the Western’s modern music (chinatour360.com). Young Chinese people are now attending pop concerts that also symbolize their modernism. This is another achievement of the Chinese people as well as the distinction of their nationality. That is because in much modern Chinese music, the traditional facets are still present. However, there are some modern Chinese music and songs that may totally sound Western. In this case, the negative aspect having such could mean a challenge to promote and restore the Chinese cultural music (ucla.edu). There were even some efforts being made by the local Chinese government in which policies were made to promote the traditional music activities, but opponents of such actions claim that it might be a waste of time and money.
A Chinese Pianist Lang Lang is one of the Chinese people that reached the top as it was reported in chinadaily.com. The pianist is one of the modern Chinese musicians who became popular with his music, in his case, being a pianist. It is a success for him as well as the many people that idolize him. Lang Lang even performed in the Whitehouse when the Chinese Communist leader Hu Jintao visited the United States. The Whitehouse prepared a big event for the Chinese Leader, which on the negative side; many Americans became angry due to such state banquet (asianews.it).
In relation to Lang Lang’s achievement, there could be many Americans and Chinese-Americans that could have been idolizing him and his form of music. However, due to his presence in such event that was prepared by the Whitehouse for Hu Jintao, his career could have been affected by some of the negative feedback by some of the Americans.
Lang Lang’s presence could have a negative effect on his career, especially when he played the piece that was composed specifically for Chinese Communist movie. The movie was about the Korean War in which many Chine people know about it. His career may be linked by the Americans into the current political situation between China and the United States.
Film
Chinese movie is a success for many Chinese actors. Not to mention, Chinese action stars such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan are among the popular ones in the industry. The modern Chinese film may be similar to its music in which the traditional aspects are still present during these days. However, there are also many Chinese movies that are in inspired by Westerns. Wanying Zheng of chinadaily.com published a comparative study about the differences and similarities between American and Chinese movie. Primarily he wrote that in a typical super hero movie, both Chinese and American films describe a hero as a characteristic that is superior to an ordinary person (chinadaily.com). Thus, the person who plays the super hero for both Chinese and American movies both posses’ noble a quality. On the other hand, one of the differences between the American and Chinese movies is the lead role’s personality.
The American movie normally portrays its lead character to be personally emotional. In contrast, most Chinese movie lead characters do portray a larger responsibility; say for his country or nation (chinadaily.com). This depiction is an achievement of many Chinese film makers in many aspects, as they are able to portray nationalism in most of their movies. On the other hand, filming a modern Chinese movie, which mainly focus on the Chinese cultural aspect can be a disadvantage. That is because not all people who love Chinese movies could remain interested with usual Chinese movie theme. There could be a time that Chinese moviegoers might look for a twist when it comes to the storyline. This could affect the Chinese film’s income in the long run.
Food
Chinese food is one of the most popular authentic foods in the world. There are many other nationalities that love to eat native Chinese cuisines. In fact, based on my observation, there are many Chinese restaurants in many countries that are being patronized by other nationalities. There are also some renowned Chinese chefs who were able to cook for VIPs. For instance, Lisa and Helen Tse, who own a Chinese restaurant in Manchester, cooked lunch for British Prime Minister David Cameron and Premier Li Keqiang when the latter visited Cameron at his official residence (chinadaily.com). This is an achievement that can be considered as a rare opportunity to showcase their talents for two of the most powerful people in the world.
In a different aspect, such event that Lisa and Helen Tse participated could have a good economic effect. Since they were able to prove the good quality taste of Chinese cuisines, they may have attracted some people of other nations to visit China in order to taste the authentic Chinese food. Otherwise, these people may visit some of the Chinese restaurants in different areas within their country. Economic wise, there could be a good advertising and promoting strategy that could provide better sales for those who own a Chinese restaurant.
This development in China’s food industry may have been affected by good economic development and improvement. However, rapid growth in the food industry in China had a negative side, as there were reports showing that food safety has also become the problem of the country (china.org.cn). For instance, the Sanlu milk powder issue in 2008 shocked many Chinese people. The milk contamination issue was able to ruin the country’s dairy industry in which some other “Made in China” products were also been affected (china.org.cn). Relatively, this gave a negative perception towards Chinese food products. That is why the food safety issue in China causes growing attention as well as concern. Thus made some economists to think how the existing economic growth model can be changed.
Performance / Literature
Generally, there are six major types of traditional arts. These are dance, poetry, architecture, painting, music, and even sculptures. Since China has a very wide and long history, these classical arts are included in the country’s recorded facts. In Chinese literature, the classical one portrays a colourful imagination so as to give meaning to each and every piece of art. The Chinese poems started as early as the country’s history. Classis poetries were among the first written in China’s history (cultural-china.com). These are the traditional pieces of writings that express the ancient Chinese lifestyle and living. However, as the modern day turns its pages, the Chinese literature has also changed its path into becoming a modernized version of the art. The modernization took place during the Tang Dynasty when a classical poem was developed quickly with eight lines, otherwise known as the Lshi (cultural-china.com).
Moreover, the development of Chinese literature emerged during the 1920s up to the 1930s and from 1980s up to 1990s (english.gov.cn). Based on the article, the modern Chinese literature portrays more than just the classical theme, but it is now portraying the richness as well as the achievements of the 20th century Chinese modern literature (english.gov.cn). With the Chinese’s modern literature, they are able to show many changes from the ancient period up to the modern era in terms of their way of living as well as the achievements of many Chinese businessmen. It is on the other hand, a good expression of their success, as they are able to show the world how the Chinese people use their historical background in order to retain their traditions in connection to their modern way of living. In this case, they might have still looked back to their history as a foundation of their achievements.
One of the renowned writers of modern China is Lu Xun. He was able to prove his talent and success when it comes to writing. He chose to abandon his study related to medicine, as he though even at first that he will be able to change the society through his writing (coldbacon.com). One of his famous works is the “A call to Arms”, which composed of various stories. It could be safe to say that modern Chinese literature could still capture the readers’ interests when it comes to pieces of writings. On the other hand, since there are many Chinese people who love to read literary works, there could still be a potential need to develop the writing themes into a more modern way. As such, not all people would have the interest to read typical modern pieces of writings, but they might look for a modernized literary works such as portraying a modern China.
Conclusion
Modern Chinese expressive culture is evidently happening in many places. This implies that the modern Chinese culture is not bound to be for Chinese people alone. More and more people appreciate the modern Chinese culture, as some of them may have been influenced by western culture, and that is something that other nationalities are being interested at. On the other hand this modernized Chinese culture could also have the potential to have a negative effect especially on those who still embrace the traditional culture, which portrays more of their history. In general, both the achievements and negative aspects of modern Chinese culture serve as a balance between the two in order to continuously develop their culture.
Works Cited
China Daily USA. Chinadaily US Edition. China Daily Information Co., n.d. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/>.
China News.com. "Shenyang rice paddy art wields 3D technology - Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn|china|news|chinanews|ecns|cns." CHINA NEWS - Headlines, features, photo and videos from ecns.cn. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/06-27/121316.shtml>.
"Chinese Music, Traditional and Modern Music, Instrument." ChinaTour360. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://www.chinatour360.com/culture/music.htm>.
Dun, Qin J., and John Widman. "A Tale of Two Song Fairs: Considering Tourism and Tradition in China's Guangxi Province." Ethnomusicology Review. N.p., 2012. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/journal/volume/17/piece/589>.
Jingsheng, Wei. "UNITED STATES – CHINA Lang Lang’s songs and anti-US insults - Asia News." INDONESIA Fra timori di violenze e allerta sicurezza, l'Indonesia alle urne per eleggere il nuovo presidente - Asia News. N.p., 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Lang-Lang%E2%80%99s-songs-and-anti-US-insults-20660.html>.
Jinming, Zhang. "The negative effects of China's development model - China.org.cn." China.org.cn - China news, weather, business, travel & language courses. N.p., 16 June 2012. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2012-06/16/content_25658927.htm>.
"Pioneer of Modern Chinese Literature." Tuna Fish Sandwich vs. Klaus Kinski (part four). N.p., n.d. Web. 8 July 2014. <http://www.coldbacon.com/luxun.html>.
