Urgent need to inform the world of this “ruthlessness” and academic response
Increased anti-Chinese sentiment after the appearance of Hanbok at the opening ceremony of the Olympics
Concerns over now China might say ‘spaghetti’ is theirs too
As China builds up its national power, seeking ‘cultural hegemony’ in addition to political and military hegemony
Earlier this month, a photo of a Chinese YouTuber in hanbok was featured on Vogue’s Instagram account. Introduced as ‘Hanfu’, drawing favorable reviews and grateful comments from Chinese netizens. / Photo captured from Vogue’s Instagram account
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, a woman, dressed in a traditional Korean skirt and jacket and hair ribbon, introduced as a minority is causing major controversy. The issue of “nationality” of Korean traditional clothing Hanbok has finally attracted international attention. It’s not a bad thing—it could serve as an opportunity to publicize the dangers of China’s “cultural claim.” While politicians and the general Korean public are taking this situation seriously, the Blue House is showing a different attitude. The Blue House stayed silent on this issue and only released a comment as public outrage increased, “There is no argument that hanbok is our traditional clothing.”
China has long maintained the sense and logic that “everything originates from them.” They have begun in recent years to strongly express their cultural hegemony, in addition to political, economic, and military hegemony. China is now even claiming that Italy’s “spaghetti” originated in China.
There are already online debates in both countries fighting over ‘hanbok,’ ‘kimchi,’ and ‘gat (traditional Korean hat).’ What we need to grasp is that the “China-centric worldview,” which has been dormant for many years, is now emerging as their confidence is growing in their national power. How to cope with China’s “claim to history” and “cultural claims” can be a golden opportunity to gain global awareness.
It is necessary to raise more active awareness and the issue in other Chinese-character-cultural countries, such as Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as the international community. China’s attitude, which is caused by the fundamental constitution and attributes of Chinese civilization, is only “something that was to come,” not an “out of the blue” phenomenon. Full-scale efforts by the academic circle are also urgently needed to prepare beyond this humanities logic.
This “Hanbok conflict” between South Korea and China is now spreading to American game companies and fashion magazines’ Instagram accounts. According to the IT and gaming industries on the 8th, several Chinese netizens reacted negatively earlier this month when the American video game company Electronic Arts (EA) posted on “The Sims” Instagram account wishing their followers a “Happy Lunar Near Year” with an image of a couple wearing hanbok.
Many comments were left, such as, “The Lunar New Year in many East Asian countries is all influenced by the ancient Chinese culture,” “Let’s boycott The Sims game,” and, “I regret buying the pirated version of Sims 4.” There were also counterarguments, “Do you claim that everything other than COVID-19 is Chinese? It’s embarrassing to even think that we will soon see China laying claim to the moon,” and, “The lunar calendar originated in Mesopotamia, so the Lunar New Year is common in rice farming regions. To insist that it belongs to China is the same as the Nazis.”
Meanwhile, the internationally recognized American fashion magazine, Vogue, introduced Korean hanbok-style clothing as traditional Chinese clothes called Hanfu. Earlier this month, Vogue posted on their Instagram account a Chinese YouTuber, Shiyin, wearing a hanbok-style costume with the description, “Rising in popularity on social media, Hanfu.” Chinese netizens commented, “Thank you for your interest in Hanfu.”
Previously in 2018, Vogue featured a Hanbok special, showing several cuts of beautiful hanbok, but there was no mention of ‘Korea’ (Hanbok may have been mistaken for “Chinese clothes” because it is similar to the pronunciation in Cantonese). Netizens have been making complaints, but so far, it has not been changed on Vogue’s website. Although the opportunity to promote our traditional culture has increased due to the global advancement of Korean dramas and movies, there is still a good chance that foreign fans will misunderstand. It is time to come up with solutions.
Original article: https://www.jayupress.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=2256
