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Ms G
Have you ever felt that cultures have their ages? Some are like an old person, rich and deep but not vibrant enough; some are throbbing with energy, but perhaps lacking a bit of historical depths.
This is not about which culture is better, but how it is usually presented to an outsider. It is common knowledge that the Chinese culture has an uninterrupted history of thousands of years.
But I have always found it unfortunate that most foreigners who know something about the Chinese culture usually associate it with centuries-old elements, such as dragon dances, red lanterns, and Kongfu.
But the Chinese millennials and post-millennials are making an exciting difference these days. With their proficiency in social media and visual technologies, they are showing the world a young face of this ancient culture.
Last year, animation “Fog Hill of Five Elements” won its young producer Lin Hun immense popularity. Different from the 3D stunning pictures, the 2D anime uses exquisite ancient Chinese brush painting skills.
The “five elements” featured in the story come from the Chinese philosophy that the universe is built on the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth.
Lin’s studio is a young and modest one, with only six artists, all passionate about classic Chinese culture.
Since its premier last year, the anime has been played more than 100 million times, drawing many international animation lovers.
If you ever visit France, you may run into a Chinese girl near the Eiffel Tower or the Rives de la Seine who is playing Zheng, an ancient Chinese music instrument.
She is 25-year-old Peng Jingxuan, a music student. Before the pandemic broke out, every weekend she would put on Hanfu, the Chinese national dress hundreds of years ago, and bring her Zheng to the iconic places. Her repertoire is quite broad, including classics, soundtracks of the latest Chinese films and TV dramas, and hits on China’s short video app TikTok.
She has also been uploading videos of her street performance to social media platforms, winning millions of fans.
During the fight against Covid-19, a studio in Tsinghua, China’s most prestigious university, found that many users of the social media platform Kuaishou were uploading emotional scenes in Wuhan, the city that first fell victim to the virus.
They decided to create a documentary with the materials. Sifting through countless videos, they picked 112 by 77 users and obtained their consent for the use of the content. The 18-minute production, “Wuhan 2020: How we fight Covid-19,” was played 140 million times on Weibo alone.
Like many viewers, I was in tears and laughter watching the short film.
All cultures are living organisms — breathing and growing with its people. Only when the youths join in to become the its voice and face can a culture retain its vigour.
Online Reporter