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Why young Chinese are sporting 1,800-year-old fashions

Yankee-stani

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Lke teenagers the world over, Chen Bolin, a Chinese university student, feels a need to belong. Unlike many of his peers, Mr Chen has found a spiritual home: China of the Wei and Jin dynasties, about 1,800 years ago. So deep is this bond that on special occasions he wears flowing, wide-sleeved robes inspired by third-century dress. One moment of connection stood out, when he wore robes to a museum in Shaoxing, the eastern city where he studies. There he found a sculpture depicting sages from the Wei and Jin era. His own clothes were “exactly like theirs”, he recalls happily. He saluted the statues and told them: “Dear ancestors, I’ve heard so much about you. It is my good fortune to see you today.”

The teenager developed his passion at high school in Pingliang, perched in the hills of Gansu, an inland province. Though a rather small, sleepy spot, Pingliang is home to a Han culture association. Such clubs are spreading fast. They celebrate the Han ethnic group to which more than nine out of ten people in China belong.

https://www.economist.com/china/2019/01/12/why-young-chinese-are-sporting-1800-year-old-fashions
 
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A rare sight in todaya china. Chinese are ultra modern these days.

Turkey,China, and rest of the other CARs, I can agree on that but you have to admit with their soft power and governments they are pushing for a cultural revivial of sorts look at the Turkish dramas theses days all harken to the days of the Ottomans and Sultans and the Chinese shows with whole imperial dynasty and stuff more in counter to further westernization

I mean Xi Jinping has been pushing the whole conficucian ideals in recent times and Erdogan with Neo-Ottomanism its cringey but a start
 
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Turkey,China, and rest of the other CARs, I can agree on that but you have to admit with their soft power and governments they are pushing for a cultural revivial of sorts look at the Turkish dramas theses days all harken to the days of the Ottomans and Sultans and the Chinese shows with whole imperial dynasty and stuff more in counter to further westernization

I mean Xi Jinping has been pushing the whole conficucian ideals in recent times and Erdogan with Neo-Ottomanism its cringey but a start

On paper yes , in practice chinese are way further than westerners. Chinese , korean and Japanese culture these days is truely 21st century modern human culture. Id call it far eastern culture and civilizaton. Its the peak of human civilization at the moment. Something similar to what europe and usa were in 1960s to 70s.

But this asian civilization is ultra modern and peaceful .
 
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On paper yes , in practice chinese are way further than westerners. Chinese , korean and Japanese culture these days is truely 21st century modern human culture. Id call it fast eastern culture and civilizaton. Its the peak of human civilization at the moment. Something similar to what europe and usa were in 1960s to 70s.

But this asian civilization is ultra modern and peaceful .

Japan really lost it after the late 1980s they were on top of the world Korea had her chance in the 1990s and 2000s again lost it all thanks to Yankee pulling investments and support plus tarrifing their goods forcing them to invest in the States, China is at the same juncture but they are emerging superpower not some forward base for the USA so they have a fighting chance also vast diplomatic network thanks to BRI, however this Cold War 2.0 is gonna be long as for culture worldwide with the rise of populism there is return of nostalgia to the old culture, In Turkey its about the Ottoman days, China,Imperial days, Russia,Imperial Russia reject neo-liberalism and cultural liberalism
 
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Japan really lost it after the late 1980s they were on top of the world Korea had her chance in the 1990s and 2000s again lost it all thanks to Yankee pulling investments and support plus tarrifing their goods forcing them to invest in the States, China is at the same juncture but they are emerging superpower not some forward base for the USA so they have a fighting chance also vast diplomatic network thanks to BRI, however this Cold War 2.0 is gonna be long as for culture worldwide with the rise of populism there is return of nostalgia to the old culture, In Turkey its about the Ottoman days, China,Imperial days, Russia,Imperial Russia reject neo-liberalism and cultural liberalism

If u watch chinese animations, cartoons, video games. Tv series and a few genre movies like sepect scrifi ones u cant tell apart chinese vs Japanese until u hear their voice and know its not japanese instead is mandarin. You look at chinese cities then look at japanese cities they share so much in common but yea chinese cities are way bigger and wider.

Over all chinese , korean and japanese culture and civilization are the peak of humanity at this point in history that i am sure of. Compare em with the west or middle east u will see.
 
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If u watch chinese animations, cartoons, video games. Tv series and a few genre movies like sepect scrifi ones u cant tell apart chinese vs Japanese until u hear their voice and know its not japanese instead is mandarin. You look at chinese cities then look at japanese cities they share so much in common but yea chinese cities are way bigger and wider.

Over all chinese , korean and japanese culture and civilization are the peak of humanity at this point in history that i am sure of. Compare em with the west or middle east u will see.

Growing up I was a big fan of Anime and Manga so yeah I get your point when I see Cities like Tokyo,Shanghai, and Seoul with high speed rail, clean metros, new skyscrapers I wonder why people think NYC so great our subways smell like piss, our buildings tho modern look outdated to East Asia @Dewaneh lives in LA and LA smells like piss all over
 
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Chen Bolin

But is he a Earth bender? ;)...........:D..........:lol:

I mean Xi Jinping has been pushing the whole conficucian ideals in recent times and Erdogan with Neo-Ottomanism its cringey but a start

I like that move. I would definitely watch any Pakistani drama if it was historical (pre-1947) & exported shalwar kameez and qulchay chanay (the breakfast ones) but sadly the current drama serials are stuck in the vortex of familial relations or love/hate dramas.

I actually watch Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Turkish show; it's on Netflix) because it's really good!

On paper yes , in practice chinese are way further than westerners. Chinese , korean and Japanese culture these days is truely 21st century modern human culture. Id call it far eastern culture and civilizaton. Its the peak of human civilization at the moment. Something similar to what europe and usa were in 1960s to 70s.

But this asian civilization is ultra modern and peaceful .

Spot on, I agree sadly (for the ultra modern part at least).

Growing up I was a big fan of Anime and Manga

Yo homie! I still read mangas and watch anime. :lol:

I wonder why people think NYC so great

That's the magic of Hollywood & cultural propaganda, along with a dose of slave mentality (anything from the West must be good). Hollywood literally translate to "jadoo ki charri" in Urdu & you know that it does a good amount of "jadoo" over peoples mind. ;)
 
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But is he a Earth bender? ;)...........:D..........:lol:



I like that move. I would definitely watch any Pakistani drama if it was historical (pre-1947) & exported shalwar kameez and qulchay chanay (the breakfast ones) but sadly the current drama serials are stuck in the vortex of familial relations or love/hate dramas.

I actually watch Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Turkish show; it's on Netflix) because it's really good!



Spot on, I agree sadly (for the ultra modern part at least).



Yo homie! I still read mangas and watch anime. :lol:



That's the magic of Hollywood & cultural propaganda, along with a dose of slave mentality (anything from the West must be good). Hollywood literally translate to "jadoo ki charri" in Urdu & you know that it does a good amount of "jadoo" over peoples mind. ;)


I still watch old episodes of Naruto time to time
 
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Turkey,China, and rest of the other CARs, I can agree on that but you have to admit with their soft power and governments they are pushing for a cultural revivial of sorts look at the Turkish dramas theses days all harken to the days of the Ottomans and Sultans and the Chinese shows with whole imperial dynasty and stuff more in counter to further westernization

I mean Xi Jinping has been pushing the whole conficucian ideals in recent times and Erdogan with Neo-Ottomanism its cringey but a start
My observations is while some people may like to dress traditional clothes or gather to hold a culture event, a wide scale social revival of traditional culture (at least in term of dressing) seems unlikely. There have been calls from Chinese leadership for rejuvenation of Chinese culture, as you are clearly aware of, but it is predominantly to do with philosophical part, not physical part. We are quite conscious that the way to revive the Chinese culture is not going back to the past, but advancing and developing something better.

I guess modern Chinese don’t tend to regard Western stuff (both tangible and intangible things) as strictly “western”. We tend to think a lot of them just the product of civilization advancement of humanity, which we are happy to embrace. Maybe we are just confident that we have been absorbing “foreign” culture/technology again and we will start to develop something that others will embrace.Some may argue that we will forget our root, I don’t think we worry too much because the depth of this old civilization, 2500 years collective memory (with detailed records) is simply too much to forget.

Equally the reason Chinese do look back is that the bunch of philosophers (e.g. Kongzi, Mengzi, Laozi, Hanfeizi) suddenly popped up together in the Speing and Autumn Period and established an intelligent high ground that has never been overcome in later generations. We continue to go back and draw knowledge and wisdom from these guys even to this day.

Just my 2 cents anyway.
 
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My observations is while some people may like to dress traditional clothes or gather to hold a culture event, a wide scale social revival of traditional culture (at least in term of dressing) seems unlikely. There have been calls from Chinese leadership for rejuvenation of Chinese culture, as you are clearly aware of, but it is predominantly to do with philosophical part, not physical part. We are quite conscious that the way to revive the Chinese culture is not going back to the past, but advancing and developing something better.

I guess modern Chinese don’t tend to regard Western stuff (both tangible and intangible things) as strictly “western”. We tend to think a lot of them just the product of civilization advancement of humanity, which we are happy to embrace. Maybe we are just confident that we have been absorbing “foreign” culture/technology again and we will start to develop something that others will embrace.Some may argue that we will forget our root, I don’t think we worry too much because the depth of this old civilization, 2500 years collective memory (with detailed records) is simply too much to forget.

Equally the reason Chinese do look back is that the bunch of philosophers (e.g. Kongzi, Mengzi, Laozi, Hanfeizi) suddenly popped up together in the Speing and Autumn Period and established an intelligent high ground that has never been overcome in later generations. We continue to go back and draw knowledge and wisdom from these guys even to this day.

Just my 2 cents anyway.

Of Course we are not talking about returning of foot binding or stupid types of classes we are talking about keeping the good traditions that bought China to its today the problem I have with the Western Europe and Modern America they ditched their traditional ways in Post-WW2 for "Multiculturalism", "Self hate" and what not and now they think to spread that crap all over the world why you think they Have NGOs in our countries lol, but also the CCP feels too much individualism will be harmful to staying relevent in power @Desert Fox
 
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