Re:Modern China Is So Crazy It Needs a New Literary Genre (2...
by beaglers on Wednesday December 05, 2018 @09:38PM
(#18614907)
That's why I wrote Chinese have greater sense of their own history. Many Westerners can rattle off Bible quotes but not text from ancient Rome and Greece. I can tell you with certainty that most Chinese do know at least a few quotes from ancient Chinese books.
Re:Modern China Is So Crazy It Needs a New Literary Genre (2...
by lawlessone on Wednesday December 05, 2018 @08:19AM
(#18607916)
>Furthermore, I doubt any Chinese person, apart from a scholar, could actually write down a few lines from these works
They might not know it but its still ingrained, influences their culture and laws.
Re:Modern China Is So Crazy It Needs a New Literary Genre (2...
by chongli on Wednesday December 05, 2018 @11:15AM
(#18609577)
They might not know it but its still ingrained, influences their culture and laws.
That's far less strong of a claim. If we're only talking about cultural influences then it's not hard to show how much of an influence the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Homeric Epics, and Plato's dialogues have had on Western cultures. It would be harder to point to a cultural element which had not been influenced by one or more of these ancient works.
Re:Modern China Is So Crazy It Needs a New Literary Genre (2...
by myself248 on Wednesday December 05, 2018 @07:48AM
(#18607733)
> > How many Western governments are trying to draw legitimacy from ancient Rome or Greece?
>
> This is a taboo subject among Western politicians nowadays. The answer is that Mussolini's fascist Italy and Hitler's Nazi Germany did this all the time.
> There are millions of people who can rattle off Bible quotes by heart.
And how many Western governments claim to derive their legitimacy from biblical prophecy? (Whichever version thereof.) Israel comes to mind.
Talk about the elephant in the room!
This is a taboo subject among Western politicians nowadays. The answer is that Mussolini's fascist Italy and Hitler's Nazi Germany did this all the time.
Also consider that every Chinese people is at least familiar with a few lines in ancient Chinese books like Art of War, Analects, Dao De Jing and Han/Tang/Song poetry in the written language.
I very much doubt that the average Chinese city-dweller, nevermind subsistence farmer, can recite those ancient works by heart.
Furthermore, I doubt any Chinese person, apart from a scholar, could actually write down a few lines from these works in the original seal script. I would even go so far as to say that the average Chinese person would struggle to write anything but the most common characters in modern Chinese without the use of a phone or computer.
If you're looking for a Western text comparable to the Dao De Jing that many Westerners know then look no further than the Bible. There are millions of people who can rattle off Bible quotes by heart.