China Law Blog

Well, I think Korea already has them beat on cultural exports - Korean soap operas are famous in China, and are regularly shown in Mandarin, for example, To Marry A Millionaire

And for trash, they can always learn from Taiwan - and its "Big Brother of Entertainment" show.

--Tony

Tony brings up an interesting point I neglected, namely Korea and Japan. Both poured alot of state subsidies into film, animation, television, etc. China isn't putting nearly as much money into its creative industries.

Moreover, Korea's film industry expansion occurred after the government lifted controls on imported films, allowed independent production companies and generally got the hell out of the way. And now you get international hits like Dae Jang Geum, Oldboy and The Host.

Tony: Korea soap operas is popular in China only, where they are needed to fill a gap, a demand for some reasonable produced shows to watch. China is a country where foreign shows are more popular than local ones.

This is another example of the same old clueless CCP propaganda that has not changed for years.

By the way Tony, Hanryu has lost a lot of ground in Japan, mainland China, Taiwan and HK. Highly predictable plots, shabby production etc. spoil the fun.

Other than the same old rehash of martial arts, ancient sayings and calligraphy, what does China have that people want? Nothing. Japan provides the "cool" of Asian culture with SK close behind.

Chinese emulate Korean and Japanese clothes, hairstyles, music and mass media styles.

Don't tell me that people who go to a Chinese language school are going to have to memorize the three represents and the scientific theory of social harmonization?

HK chop sockey movies are the closest thing to a successful cultural export and Jackie Chan is getting a bit long in the tooth to keep doing those stunts.

@Bill: "Korea soap operas is popular in China only"

That's not true. The whole point of the "Korean Wave" is that shows like Dae Jang Geum have been popular not only in China, but Japan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.

The fundamental problem is that the engineer-heavy leadership thinks that the word "culture" means "State-approved political messages." They grew up in a time of anti-culture and wouldn't recognize it if it walked up and smacked them. I get steamed whenever I hear the term (especially beloved by GAPP) "cultural products," as in, "China must reduce its trade imbalance in cultural products." Art, music, drama, whatever can't be ordered up and out like manufacturing output.referring to "cultural products" reduces creative people to the status of drones - oh, right, the govt tried that last year by calling for all "cultural performers" to have official credentials and licenses. It got howled down, but Hu's latest speech shows that they simply, deeply don't get it. We won't be seeing "Dali-wood" anytime soon.

CLB: I can agree with Mutant Palm because a totalitarian state cannot permit errant (let alone, sanctioned) opening of its people's artistic faculties without risking widespread questioning, if not abandon, of political ideals and dictates.

Unfortunately, I think you are off-base in thinking that the portions of Chinese cultural feats which will spread will be those NOT State-sponsored/condoned. Those portions will never see the light of day in any widely-cognizable form. The State simply cannot permit that to occur within its geographical boundaries, and will do everything within its power to prohibit it from occurring, and quash it when it occurs.

Secondly, China's artistic influence on the world is mainly limited to things-already-Chinese, which is mostly appreciated by the Chinese communities spread across the globe, and by non-Chinese who enjoy the occasional scroll painting, calligraphic print, or banally-stylized vase. Variations on those themes proliferate, but they are still things-Chinese.

Will China permit "Ang Lee" types who can produce art which bears absolutely no resemblance to things-Chinese and sanctioned by the State, which may challenge State-encouraged/mandated themes and moraes? ("The Hulk" maybe, "Brokeback Mountain" not too possibly, "Sense and Sensibility" and "The Ice Storm" impossible as beyond the ken of Chinese experience if made in China.) In any event, highly doubtful, hardly likely. Hence my disagreement with your thoughts in your final sentence. Of course, we can all hope.

By the way, sruwart's comment brings to mind a popular abuse of our immigration laws over the past decade, whereby some Chinese with absolutely no prior experience in "cultural arts" in China were applying for and receiving work visas to be employed by companies here which allegedly performed such Chinese cultural formats as dance, opera, etc. These phony deals permitted those applicants then to apply for permanent residence within a short period after landing here. About a half-year into their stays here, they were deciding whether to keep up the ruse or return to China to take up their positions with employers who were losing patience with those employees' lengthy vacations. In the meantime, the sponsoring "employers" here were apparently earning income from those "employees" for providing an illegal service. Such export of cultural arts is unwelcome.

Out of the recently released dance tunes, Back Eyed Peas' "Let's Get it Started" is among the most played songs in my iphone/ipods, together with Bob Sinclair's "World Holds On", and Yankee Daddy's "La Gasolina". "La Gasolina" is in my opinion the best yet it is rarely heard outside of the Spanish-speaking countries.

Most here probably have not watched many Chinese movies. Not too long ago I ranked my personal favorite movies in the 90s and 00s. "Matrix", "Dark City", "The Game" & "Rounders" were on the top of the 90s. In the 00s, the top ones were "Infernal Affairs", "Cell Phone" & "A World without Thieves", all Chinese movies. One theory I have to explain why Hollywood movies are missing at the my top list is the post-9/11 trauma, fear, & hatred are consuming American creativity -- hence American movies are becoming less attractive to this movie enthusiast and amateur critic with international taste. Or, a simpler theory is I am getting old and retarded.

Some Chinese movies now gross over 200 million yuans. Not quite the Hollywood blockbuster box office level yet, but probably are very decent among non-English films. Plus the numbers are growing quite healthily.

I think the original blogger missed the point. Hu's statements were more about how to enable movies like "Cell Phone" to be made and distributed more easily (funding, resources, etc.), than directing how cultural products are made.

Perhaps I'm too cynical, but even if the movie/book is the greatest work of art ever, if it has government support, its not going to gain the fame that it would if when they start putting up posters/covers that can include, in big, bold letters "BANNED IN CHINA".

Wot da fuck is dis? China Law?

"Dalian is hot like Paris Hilton"

"China Power: Booty Shaking"

This ain't ChinaLawBlog. This is da "National Enquirer / Blues Bros Go To China Blawg"

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About time a decent voice dissing dem know-it-all bros man. Dan! Yo da Man!

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Y'all tell it how it is and mek us laff. Go for it bro