|
Front Page of the Day
Eunuchs at an elementary school: dustup over Qing costumesPosted by Eric Mu on Friday, September 4, 2009 at 11:42 PM
 Morning Express September 4, 2009 Founded through military conquest by the Manchus, a foreign power, and ended largely because the Manchu government failed to fend off Western colonists, the Qing Dynasty even today evokes a double humiliation among Han nationalists. So it is not surprising that a set of Qing Dynasty-related photos circulating on the Internet have caused a minor storm. To observe September 1, the national back-to-school day, Hangzhou's Ziyang Elementary School held a special ceremony in which teachers and students wore Qing costumes. According to principal Lu Aiping, this was intended to honor the school's long history, which extends back to 1703 and the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. Internet users saw it quite a bit differently. In a thread on Tiexue.net, someone commented: they look like a bunch of eunuchs. Another netizen said, Qing costumes are the ugliest. History was evoked to make the argument more compelling:
The newspaper report said that principal Lu has received scores of angry letters protesting the ceremony. One outraged citizen was afraid that his complaints would be ignored if he posted on the school BBS, so instead he hacked the school's website and posted an open letter decrying the ceremony.  Elementary school children in Qing costumes read from scrolls Links and Sources
|
Partner Links
Jobs in China
Recent Comments
Henry on
The Eurasian Face
Caroline W on
Big in China
Michael on
Julia Lovell on translating Lu Xun's complete fiction: "His is an angry, searing vision of China"
Brandon K. on
Clueless academic takes on popular fantasy novels
Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
The latest recommended blogs and new media
 From 2008
Books on China
 The Eurasian Face : Blacksmith Books, a publishing house in Hong Kong, is behind The Eurasian Face, a collection of photographs by Kirsteen Zimmern. Below is an excerpt from the series:
Big in China: An adapted excerpt from Big In China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising A Family, Playing The Blues and Becoming A Star in China, just published this month. Author Alan Paul tells the story of arriving in Beijing as a trailing spouse, starting a blues band, raising kids and trying to make sense of China.
Pallavi Aiyar's Chinese Whiskers: Pallavi Aiyar's first novel, Chinese Whiskers, a modern fable set in contemporary Beijing, will be published in January 2011. Aiyar currently lives in Brussels where she writes about Europe for the Business Standard. Below she gives permissions for an excerpt.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Korean history doesn't fly on Chinese TV screens (2007.09): SARFT puts the kibbosh on Korean historical dramas. + Religion and government in an uneasy mix (2008.03): Phoenix Weekly (凤凰周刊) article from October, 2007, on government influence on religious practice in Tibet. + David Moser on Mao impersonators (2004.10): I first became aware of this phenomenon in 1992 when I turned on a Beijing TV variety show and was jolted by the sight of "Mao Zedong" and "Zhou Enlai" playing a game of ping pong. They both gave short, rousing speeches, and then were reverently interviewed by the emcee, who thanked them profusely for taking time off from their governmental duties to appear on the show.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky
 (on the mainland)or Feedburner  (blocked in China) Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links) Top Links: Links from the top bar Danwei Jobs: Want ads Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30 |
 |
Chinese media, advertising, and urban life. |
|
tweet
facebook
bookmark
HaoHao
digg
Comments on Eunuchs at an elementary school: dustup over Qing costumes
They look like a bunch of Chinese vampires.
What was the principal thinking?! Her ancestors must be rolling in their graves.
Why are they so angry over Qing costumes? I thought that the Qing dynasty was part of Chinese history, and is therefore Chinese. I mean, isn't that the basis of Chinese claim over Tibet?
@Weichen when the Chinese want to talk about border disputes, the Qing dynasty at its largest was in fact Chinese. Oh, and don't forget Kangxi's dictionary, that was Chinese. Otherwise, the Qing were not Chinese.
淋漓尽致的体现了中国教育系统脑残时会以什么形式表达出来，不值得可怜的可悲。
Out of a billion people how many a$s"0les were offended?
Agree with anon, these brain dead detractors are results of China's education system that failed to enlighten people.
Who cares? What retards don't realize is that every civilization in the world has had periods of "foreign rule", China is not some lone exception.
Europe, the Mideast, India have all had conflicting rulers from out of their individual kingdoms and empires, what's the big freaking deal? Yes, sometimes progress is slowed after conquest, yes, different culture is introduced, but everyone just accepts it as part of history. More than often people even acknowledge it as part of their heritage. Why is it only us that feel the need to reject it so vehemently?