Little-Acorn
Well-Known Member
Lots of talk has gone by about the big state dinner for Hu Jintao, Premier of China. Obama bowing to Hu when he arrived at the WH, various celebrities, Obama's 9-year-old daughter waving a Chinese flag and Hu giving her simple lessons in Chinese language, etc. etc.
But.....
My wife is Chinese. She was born and raised in Tiyuan City, the 4th largest city in Mainland China, some 300 miles southwest of Beijing. She was in college in Beijing when the Tian An Men Square uprising happened, and came to a U.S. college here, shortly after that. Now she is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
But she grew up completely Chinese, as steeped in Chinese education and culture as any other Chinese citizen of that time. She frequently tells me about various aspects of that culture. And she told me something very interesting, about this state dinner, that she feels most Americans don't know but EVERY Chinese citizen of her era, does know.
The state dinner is getting huge coverage in China, on every Chinese news channel, newspaper, etc. etc. But for different reasons than Americans may think.
Obama's daughter was waving a small Chinese flag when Hu came to the White House. Many Americans thought it was cute, a small gesture of welcome, etc. But, my wife tells me, people in China see it rather differently.
In Western countries (America, Europe, etc.) when armies fight wars, and one eventually surrenders, they indicate their capitulation and surrender by flying a white flag, one with no national insignia of any kind. But in China (example: China fighting against Japan in WWII), when one side surrenders, they indicate it by taking a flag of the enemy and flying it over their own heads. This indicates that they now acknowledge that the enemy forces are their masters, their rulers, the victors in the conflict; and that they will not fight any more, but will agree to capitulate to the other side.
And many Chinese people are remarking that that is what Obama's little daughter, seems to be doing by waving a Chinese flag in the presence of the Chinese leader. Most Americans will be unaware of this, my wife tells me, But it is a very ingrained tradition in China, that you NEVER fly another country's flag in your own hand, unless you have lost a major conflict to them and are acknowledging their superiority.
This was news to me. I just considered it to be a cute gesture of welcome, as I mentioned ealier here. But a billion Chinese people on the other side of the pond, don't see it that way, according to my wife who grew up there.
There is also talk about Premier Hu giving the President's daughter simple lessons in Chinese. All he taught her, was a simple greeting that children in China sometimes use to elderly people: He taught her how to call him "Grandfather Hu" in Chinese. It's just a few simple words.
But again, in China there's a little more to it than that. People in China are accorded social rank, mostly by their age relative to each other. And words like "brother", "sister", "Father", "Grandfather" etc. are used, both to denote blood relations, and also to describe the relative amount of respect one person gets from another even when they are not family or blood relatives.
Everybody, both in China and America, expects a child to call her dad "Father" or "Dad" etc.; and her grandfather "Grandfather" or Grandpa" etc. But in China, unlike America, a child might address an elder as "Grandfather" even when he is not her biological grandfather. It is a gesture of respect and obesiance in that country. What's more, it is a way of the child acknowledging that the elder is more socially respectable than someone she simply calls "Father" or "Dad"... including her biological father.
My wife tells me that for Obama's daughter to address Premier Hu as "Grandfather Hu" while in the presence of her biological father, can be interpreted as a mild slight against her own father - an implication that the "Grandfather" is more deserving of respect than her Dad is. She says that, with the subtle sense of humor many Chinese people have, this is just the sort of sly tweak they would love to set up - all with the knowledge that the silly Americans are completely clueless about what's going on.
But the most interesting thing that happened, came when various celebrities peformed for Obama and Hu as they sat at the state dinner. One of the performers was Lang Lang, a famous pianist who is from China but frequently performs in the U.S. He played the piano for the two heads of state and their assembled guests. The first piece was an American piece, pretty, straightforward, well played, and enjoyable. The second piece, was a theme from a classic Chinese movie made in that country around 1950. It was a piece very well known to all Chinese people of my wife's era. No lyrics were sung, Lang Lang merely played it on piano, and did very well. But, my wife tells me, every Chinese person knows both the melody and the lyrics - the movie was state-sponsored and approved by the Chinese Communist Party, as every movie, song, and book of that time had to be. And it was taught in every school, played in every town, and generally drummed into every citizen the Chinese government could reach in that era.
This musical piece was called "My Country", and was written for a movie made in China during the Korean War, called "Heroic Sons and Daughters". And the main theme of the movie, was praise and adulation for the great heros of the northern Chinese Communist army and their strength and valor in fighting with their allies the North Koreans, beating back those vile running dogs, the Americans. The entire theme of the movie, reiterates again and again how cowardly and worthless the American pigs are, what despicable bastards they are, how poorly they fought against the great Chinese heroes, and how soundly they were thrashed and driven from the fields to cower in Seoul. The song was specifically written at that time (1950s), to revile the hated Americans, belittling them and insulting them for the cowardly scum they were.
That music was played in the background of the movie practically for its entire length. And at one point near the middle of the movie, one of the leading characters stands up and sings the lyrics to the heroic Chinese troops who had just won a mighty victory against the barbarous Americans.
Very few Americans have ever heard of this movie, and none have every heard the lyrics, certainly not in English they could understand. So to Americans, this piece merely sounds like a miscellaneous movie theme, nothing significant. But to nearly every Chinese citizen, it means something very different. This music is very well known, and is a traditional song of celebration. And every one of them, know the lyrics and what they mean... and who they refer to.
My wife says, that that is one of many songs that are traditionally sung even today, during celebrations such as Chinese New Year. And the Chinese people who sing it, mean no particular disrespect to Americans, any more than Americans mean disrespect to their own troops when they sing "Yankee Doodle", which is in fact a song made up by the British to lampoon clumsy American troops during the wars of the late 1700s and early 1800s. To most of them, it's just a fun song to sing when they are celebrating.
My wife also tells me that many Chinese people who are now in America, are reluctant to sing this particular song in this country, even during traditional Chinese celebrations they hold here. They realize that the theme and its lyrics are quite disrespectful to Americans, and they have no wish to be disrespectful. So they carefully leave that song out of their celebrations when in this country, and caution each other not to sing it.
But this song was carefully INCLUDED in the presentation of the Chinese celebrities to the American President and his entourage, in their own White House, at their own table, last night... and in the presence (and certainly the foreknowledge) of the Chinese Premier Hu Jintao himself. News about this event is making huge waves in China even now, with heavy coverage all over the country.
My wife points out that the calculated insult of this song, displayed in front of the President of the United States in the capitol of this country, in public and on nationwide TV, is actually less important than one other factor:
Twenty years ago, there is no way such a thing would ever be done to the Americans, even if they could be sure the Amerians didn't know of the insult. The Chinese were very dependent on the Americans for assistance, technology, financing of new factories, etc. But today, it was presented, baldly and coldly. It was Hu's way of saying to us, "The shoe is now on the other foot. Our country is now ascendent, while yours is in decline; and you owe us far more than we owe you. We are on our way to assuming the mantle of the #1 superpower on Earth, and there is nothing you can do about it any more. You have lost your superiority, and we will soon be the Masters."
How many Americans are even aware of the sly, calculated insult that was delivered so openly to the American government last night? I had no idea, myself - I had never heard of this song or that movie. Has anyone in this country, who is not a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese?
I would very much appreciate it if anyone here could corroborate this story. I have heard it from only one person - my wife, who was born and raised in China, educated mostly in that country in ways approved by the Communist Chinese government, and only came to the U.S. in her college years. Does anyone else know anyone who is Chinese, and who has reason to be familiar with the things that Chinese people are traditionally taught in that country, to grow up with as part of their culture? Can you mention some of these things to them, and find out if the things I've heard are true or false?
But.....
My wife is Chinese. She was born and raised in Tiyuan City, the 4th largest city in Mainland China, some 300 miles southwest of Beijing. She was in college in Beijing when the Tian An Men Square uprising happened, and came to a U.S. college here, shortly after that. Now she is a naturalized U.S. citizen.
But she grew up completely Chinese, as steeped in Chinese education and culture as any other Chinese citizen of that time. She frequently tells me about various aspects of that culture. And she told me something very interesting, about this state dinner, that she feels most Americans don't know but EVERY Chinese citizen of her era, does know.
The state dinner is getting huge coverage in China, on every Chinese news channel, newspaper, etc. etc. But for different reasons than Americans may think.
Obama's daughter was waving a small Chinese flag when Hu came to the White House. Many Americans thought it was cute, a small gesture of welcome, etc. But, my wife tells me, people in China see it rather differently.
In Western countries (America, Europe, etc.) when armies fight wars, and one eventually surrenders, they indicate their capitulation and surrender by flying a white flag, one with no national insignia of any kind. But in China (example: China fighting against Japan in WWII), when one side surrenders, they indicate it by taking a flag of the enemy and flying it over their own heads. This indicates that they now acknowledge that the enemy forces are their masters, their rulers, the victors in the conflict; and that they will not fight any more, but will agree to capitulate to the other side.
And many Chinese people are remarking that that is what Obama's little daughter, seems to be doing by waving a Chinese flag in the presence of the Chinese leader. Most Americans will be unaware of this, my wife tells me, But it is a very ingrained tradition in China, that you NEVER fly another country's flag in your own hand, unless you have lost a major conflict to them and are acknowledging their superiority.
This was news to me. I just considered it to be a cute gesture of welcome, as I mentioned ealier here. But a billion Chinese people on the other side of the pond, don't see it that way, according to my wife who grew up there.
There is also talk about Premier Hu giving the President's daughter simple lessons in Chinese. All he taught her, was a simple greeting that children in China sometimes use to elderly people: He taught her how to call him "Grandfather Hu" in Chinese. It's just a few simple words.
But again, in China there's a little more to it than that. People in China are accorded social rank, mostly by their age relative to each other. And words like "brother", "sister", "Father", "Grandfather" etc. are used, both to denote blood relations, and also to describe the relative amount of respect one person gets from another even when they are not family or blood relatives.
Everybody, both in China and America, expects a child to call her dad "Father" or "Dad" etc.; and her grandfather "Grandfather" or Grandpa" etc. But in China, unlike America, a child might address an elder as "Grandfather" even when he is not her biological grandfather. It is a gesture of respect and obesiance in that country. What's more, it is a way of the child acknowledging that the elder is more socially respectable than someone she simply calls "Father" or "Dad"... including her biological father.
My wife tells me that for Obama's daughter to address Premier Hu as "Grandfather Hu" while in the presence of her biological father, can be interpreted as a mild slight against her own father - an implication that the "Grandfather" is more deserving of respect than her Dad is. She says that, with the subtle sense of humor many Chinese people have, this is just the sort of sly tweak they would love to set up - all with the knowledge that the silly Americans are completely clueless about what's going on.
But the most interesting thing that happened, came when various celebrities peformed for Obama and Hu as they sat at the state dinner. One of the performers was Lang Lang, a famous pianist who is from China but frequently performs in the U.S. He played the piano for the two heads of state and their assembled guests. The first piece was an American piece, pretty, straightforward, well played, and enjoyable. The second piece, was a theme from a classic Chinese movie made in that country around 1950. It was a piece very well known to all Chinese people of my wife's era. No lyrics were sung, Lang Lang merely played it on piano, and did very well. But, my wife tells me, every Chinese person knows both the melody and the lyrics - the movie was state-sponsored and approved by the Chinese Communist Party, as every movie, song, and book of that time had to be. And it was taught in every school, played in every town, and generally drummed into every citizen the Chinese government could reach in that era.
This musical piece was called "My Country", and was written for a movie made in China during the Korean War, called "Heroic Sons and Daughters". And the main theme of the movie, was praise and adulation for the great heros of the northern Chinese Communist army and their strength and valor in fighting with their allies the North Koreans, beating back those vile running dogs, the Americans. The entire theme of the movie, reiterates again and again how cowardly and worthless the American pigs are, what despicable bastards they are, how poorly they fought against the great Chinese heroes, and how soundly they were thrashed and driven from the fields to cower in Seoul. The song was specifically written at that time (1950s), to revile the hated Americans, belittling them and insulting them for the cowardly scum they were.
That music was played in the background of the movie practically for its entire length. And at one point near the middle of the movie, one of the leading characters stands up and sings the lyrics to the heroic Chinese troops who had just won a mighty victory against the barbarous Americans.
Very few Americans have ever heard of this movie, and none have every heard the lyrics, certainly not in English they could understand. So to Americans, this piece merely sounds like a miscellaneous movie theme, nothing significant. But to nearly every Chinese citizen, it means something very different. This music is very well known, and is a traditional song of celebration. And every one of them, know the lyrics and what they mean... and who they refer to.
My wife says, that that is one of many songs that are traditionally sung even today, during celebrations such as Chinese New Year. And the Chinese people who sing it, mean no particular disrespect to Americans, any more than Americans mean disrespect to their own troops when they sing "Yankee Doodle", which is in fact a song made up by the British to lampoon clumsy American troops during the wars of the late 1700s and early 1800s. To most of them, it's just a fun song to sing when they are celebrating.
My wife also tells me that many Chinese people who are now in America, are reluctant to sing this particular song in this country, even during traditional Chinese celebrations they hold here. They realize that the theme and its lyrics are quite disrespectful to Americans, and they have no wish to be disrespectful. So they carefully leave that song out of their celebrations when in this country, and caution each other not to sing it.
But this song was carefully INCLUDED in the presentation of the Chinese celebrities to the American President and his entourage, in their own White House, at their own table, last night... and in the presence (and certainly the foreknowledge) of the Chinese Premier Hu Jintao himself. News about this event is making huge waves in China even now, with heavy coverage all over the country.
My wife points out that the calculated insult of this song, displayed in front of the President of the United States in the capitol of this country, in public and on nationwide TV, is actually less important than one other factor:
Twenty years ago, there is no way such a thing would ever be done to the Americans, even if they could be sure the Amerians didn't know of the insult. The Chinese were very dependent on the Americans for assistance, technology, financing of new factories, etc. But today, it was presented, baldly and coldly. It was Hu's way of saying to us, "The shoe is now on the other foot. Our country is now ascendent, while yours is in decline; and you owe us far more than we owe you. We are on our way to assuming the mantle of the #1 superpower on Earth, and there is nothing you can do about it any more. You have lost your superiority, and we will soon be the Masters."
How many Americans are even aware of the sly, calculated insult that was delivered so openly to the American government last night? I had no idea, myself - I had never heard of this song or that movie. Has anyone in this country, who is not a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese?
I would very much appreciate it if anyone here could corroborate this story. I have heard it from only one person - my wife, who was born and raised in China, educated mostly in that country in ways approved by the Communist Chinese government, and only came to the U.S. in her college years. Does anyone else know anyone who is Chinese, and who has reason to be familiar with the things that Chinese people are traditionally taught in that country, to grow up with as part of their culture? Can you mention some of these things to them, and find out if the things I've heard are true or false?
Of course, the Berliners knew what he meant and cheered, but there was also a lot of snickering in the crowd.
