Honestly, what's frightening to this American about China isn't the culture, but the general lack of egao. It seems that for more than fifty years, and for centuries before that, Chinese who criticize their own country, through parody or direct speech, are met with disdain at best, imprisonment and murder at worst. From an American perspective, this seems counter-productive.

The "China Threat Theory" is based on some pretty serious fear-mongering in the West. But China will develop no "soft power" at all if they can't detect what makes American culture so pervasive and attractive. It's not zaftig blondes, although that helps. The cultural power that America wields stems in large part because of how willing we are to assimilate, mock, argue with, and otherwise undermine our own images. We're a deeply flawed people, no lie, but when a visiting friend of mine picked up the China Daily, his only comment was, "Whiney and defensive." So long as China restricts its scholarship and artistic output to chest-thumping and apologetics, they'll never get any kind of audience. Look what's happened to Hong Kong cinema since the takeover. And they're not even laboring under the full regime...

When I read essays like this, or hear someone wishing a "real Chinese writer" (rather than Gao Xingjian) would win the Nobel Prize, I can't help but feel frustrated. China overflows with talent, energy and brains. But without that egao spirit, which is thankfully on the rise, it's mostly wasted.

Maybe the difference between the situation in China and in the US is that the majority Chinese are still farmers and other under-educated people, who may not easily distinguish 'Egao spirit' from 'distaining of the traditional culture,' in which case they may run into confusion and doubts about their own culture before they acutally know to enjoy the 'Egao spirit'.

China needs a long long time to let its majority citizens enjoy their material freedom, then comes mental freedom~

"China needs a long long time to let its majority citizens enjoy their material freedom, then comes mental freedom~"

That is a chilling statement in so, so many ways...

Maybe the difference between the situation in China and in the US is that the majority Chinese are still farmers and other under-educated people, who may not easily distinguish 'Egao spirit' from 'distaining of the traditional culture

I think is is completely backwards - in my experience plenty of rural people are far less likely to mouth patriotic platitudes and have a healthy sense of the ridiculous. Christ knows you need one to put up with the crap many of them do. It's the new bourgeois and the frog-in-a-well students and Internet mobs that are much worse and more culturally insecure.

A few unconnected facts:

Among the many "reforms" of the first emperor was to burn all books except those relating to farming. Of course, he kept copies in his own personal library.

Western "China watchers" during Mao's reign could predict a coming purge when they detected the start of a new Confucius-bashing/Huang Ti-exalting propaganda campaign.

It was reported on the internet a year ago that the Chinese schools were starting to teach Confucius in order to promote obedience.

The basis of Confucianism is responsible governance as well as respect for authority. In any Chinese context during the last 2500 years, this could be construed as a subversive doctrine.

Why do the common Chinese people hate the very mention of the name? A Chinese friend of mine, now 35, who came to the US when he was 10, tells me that he was exposed to Confucius in school. The context was "sex education" class. Confucius was cited as an authority saying that sex is bad. What better way to make a bundle of raging hormones detest the name?

I have to respectfully disagree with Ave Zimmerman and other China watchers in the West. Sure China has a tradition of controlling people's mind and brain washing its citizens and not allowing deviant ideology. But speaking about controlling mind and washingbrains, no culture surpasses the United States. This is my impression after having lived here for all these years.

Confucius thoughts have been imposed on the Chinese for a thousand years, but only sporadically. There has been a dramatic break to this control since the 1911. But in America, the control of Christianity and its associated ideologies has been uninterrupted, and seems to be unbreakable; it's going to last until the end of the world.

This control is no less coercive and unrelenting than anything the Chinese has ever received. I have personally experienced this coercision and harrassment quite often during my stay, by all kinds of characters trying to "share the gospel of jesus crist the savior of the world" with me, despite my repeated expression of disinterest and dismay. Even as an adult I find it extremely exhausting to beat back the constant assualt from the fanatics. How can a new born infant or small child has any chance to resist this kind of pervasive and relentless indocrination?

The effect of this brain washing and mental control is marvelous. Just look at how the poor and middle class (the mojority) accepts their status of subjugation. I have been teaching at this state university for a couple of years. All the students are middle class from the heartland, mid-America. During this brief period, at least 6 of the students I have taught have been sent to Iraq or are going, because they are in the National Guard (it pays for their education). This brought me to think about the private university (far more expansive and accademically selective) where I got my graduate degree. None, nada, not even one of the students I had encountered in my teaching assistant work has got even close to having anything to do with the Iraqi war. The war just has nothign to do with the rich kids. What really astonishes me is that the "middle class" folks in the heartland are absolutely ok with the ruling elite who send them to war. If this is not brainwashing, what is?

Y...what makes you think farmers are uneducated? I am a farmer by birth...farmers in the States are some of the smartest folk among the citizenry. Most farmers today have high degrees such as Chemistry...not that they need such a thing to show their worth.

FRITZ, that may well be the case, but you'd probably have a hard time rounding up a significant number of Chinese farmers with degrees in chemistry.

Nonetheless, I agree with Jim. Think of the rural entertainment - earthy, irreverent, and hilarious, and how it gets neutered when it comes to the cities and appears on TV. Arguments can be made about credulity among certain segments of the Chinese population, but humor and parody targeted at traditional culture is really nothing to worry about.

Whether one can accept a parody by others or even self-mocking really depends on how comfortable he is with himself. If he is insecure and the parody could be a disguised attack, then mocking by others would be absolutely not acceptable. China is still at the stage of building up its confidence, national pride, credibility and image, parody of the traditional culture (especially values held dearly by some peopel) seems distracting.

But Jane, if we are to believe the article, Chinese society and culture should already be strong enough to endure egao-

"Developing for thousands of years into today's 1.3 billion people, Chinese civilization has relied on its strengths toward cohesion, affinity, and vitality."

China does have an incredible, rich culture, spanning thousands of years. But any culture worth having is one that can endure criticism. Culture isn't a porcelain vase, to be balanced on a pedestal and carefully insulated from breakage. Culture is a tool that lets people navigate in the world. As a tool, it has to be durable. If calling Confucius a "stray dog" is really enough to threaten Chinese culture, then Chinese culture is a far frailer and more sickly thing than it appears.

As I said in my original comment, more frightening than "Chinese Culture" is Chinese fear of their own culture. Anyone breaking the current orthodoxy (whatever that orthodoxy is) becomes fair game for the enforcers, whether they be the police, or writers like "Tang Yu" penning their ad hominem attacks.

China has 1.3 billion people in it. There's no reason its cultural output shouldn't be the most influential on earth. But the spirit of strident and irrational censorship, entirely apart from the government's fearful attempts to retain power through information control, keep its role in the cultural life of the planet at a very low level. Look at the influence a much smaller country like South Korea wields over China. Why should this be? Egao, or at least tolerance for egao, is a big part of the answer.

"But Jane, if we are to believe the article, Chinese society and culture should already be strong enough to endure egao-"

What-what-what? Wiss? Are you trying to apply *logic* to Chinese culture? Tsk tsk tsk.

I agree with the point you're trying to make, and it would be nice if people in China were to reflect on this for a moment or two. IMHO, Chinese people tend to get very sensitive to anything that they deem as anti-Chinese. Its a pretty big country, with a fairly long history and a very, very diverse set of customs... so it makes little sense for people to take things so personally.

Hopefully, egao is going to help the city-folk get back in touch with their humor-roots. However, to the Chinese Historians out there... was there ever a point in time when the Chinese laughed at themselves? (I'm honestly curious).

(I can think of Rou Putuan, but weren't those texts considered incredibly controversial?)

Egaoing a pop star is one thing, and egaoing confucius is quite another, not that I am especially fond of Sage Confucius. A pop star may desperately want to be egaoed.

A Chinese egoanist will probably not egao his parents. Of course, an American funny man may, but he probbaly wouldn't egao his church, if he does go to church and worship. So there is a limit to egao in any culture.

A person does have to respect his roots. Egao to some people may be a way to cope with problems, but it is never a solution to the problems.

History works in cycles. There were times that Chinese culture was influential. And it will be again, with time.

Jane: Egao to some people may be a way to cope with problems, but it is never a solution to the problems. You're probably right that egao is not a solution, but it does serve to raise awareness of issues.

There's tons of religious satire in the US, much of it from religious people themselves. Some people complain, but usually that's as far as things go. Take something like The Da Vinci Code - a major best-seller that re-imagines the history of the Christian church - something that could be considered egao. There was considerable controversy over this in the US, but where was it that Christian objections got the thing banned? China!

juhuacha: apart from the sex stuff, there are satiric novels in the late Qing (like The Scholars, which picks at the foibles of the literati) that take down hallowed institutions.

I am interested in this subject because I am monitoring Beijing's campaign to set up Confucius Centres around the world. I believe Confucius is now a tool of the Party so naturally the Party has to defend him against wanton attack.

I am also interested in the political use of humor, in this case, parody and would love to have some more examples of current Chinese political humor.

One question: can someone please supply the Chinese characters for egao?

Goodjoss: The Chinese characters for egao are:恶搞