culture-nov-dec2010

INFOCUS | CHINA | CONFERENCE

Cooperation or Competition Guess what separates India and China is modesty, a willingness to learn and a quest for efficiency.

Amir Ullah Khan

T

he city of Nantong is like Hyderabad with a population of 70 lakhs, a growth rate of more than 15% for the past 15 years and a history that goes back hundreds of years. However the similarity ends there. The Yangtze River that flows through Nantong is remarkably clean and has a waterfront that is dotted with restaurants, shops and wharfs. Reminds one of the several times the municipal corporation in Hyderabad has drawn up vain plans of making the Musi a respectable river.

The discussion at the Fifth China India Trade and Investment Conference organised by the India China Economic and Cultural Council (ICEC) in cooperation with the Nantong government and our own Ministry of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises centered around the potential for trade between the two countries. The delegation that went to China comprised of over 60 industrialists, with 18 of them coming from Hyderabad. The Chinese speakers were unanimous in their belief in India’s software success and in their own innovation led manufacturing story. All of us talked of the need for cooperation between the two countries and gamefully underplayed the competition between two of the world’s largest economic powers today.

What was obvious was that China indeed is far ahead in terms of infrastructure provision and in the availability of cheap finance. In fact what most of our industrialists exclaimed at was that their Chinese counterparts never had to face power shut downs. While the bane of our factories is the uncertainty in electricity supply and its poor quality, the Chinese did not even know that such a problem could exist. Their capital requirements too are met by banks that give access to easily available loans and low rates of interest. Our in-

dustry battles really high interest rates and banking regulation that makes borrowing cumbersome and tedious.

On the other hand the Chinese industries problems are far more sophisticated. The export dependence makes even small players vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the US economy, the European crisis and the fluctuations in the exchange rate of the yen. Their competition comes from SMEs in Japan and in Taiwan. Their problems have more to do with tariffs and non tariff barriers in the West than with labour problems back home. Unlike the Indian small industrialist who battles internally against a bureaucracy that is caught in archaic regulation, the Chinese businessman fights external barriers.

China indeed is far ahead in terms of infrastructure provision and in the availability of cheap finance.

Shanghai is two hours away from Nantong and is hosting the World expo that opened in May 2010. Any visitor is left gaping. There are more than 230 pavilions and the entire world is showcasing its industry in China. The India pavilion has seen more than four million visitors coming by in the first four months. The expo itself has recorded attendances of more than 80 million already and by the time the six month long expo ends the number of visitors would have crossed the 100 million mark. The site itself is bigger than some countries like Monaco and visitors ferry across the Huangpo River to see both parts of the exhibition.

Beyond this mighty exposition of progress however is extreme modesty.

The Chinese speakers at the expo keep praising the Indian economy for its

resilience. They never stop talking of India’s software prowess and accomplishments in the IT enabled sector.

Almost apologetically, they keep on the constant refrain that theirs is an increasingly open economy. It is so transparent that they are mindful of past mistakes when the Chinese economy was completely shut out from the rest of the world and suffered as a result.

There is no mention of the past ever. It is as if there is no history. In a land that boasts of 3000 years of history, this aspect is eerie.

In Nantong and Shanghai, all that you see are sparkling new buildings and roads. Even the museums are fairly new and appear considerably sanitised.

For those of us who grew up hearing our own politicians extol the virtues of one Mao Zedong, it is indeed strange how you never hear Mao mentioned anywhere in China. The only place I came across his portrait was in the currency notes and one forgotten portrait tucked away in the corner of an old shop. Though reluctantly I guess, we have treated our political icons slightly better, or maybe I am being unnecessarily patriotic here.

Back in the hotel room, while flipping channels I came across Amitabh Bachchan and Kulbushan Kharbanda exchange sharp dialogues in Chinese while Parveen Babi and Bindiya Goswami lurked in the background. Almost every day one particular channel showed mainstream Bollywood dubbed in Chinese, bringing home our own lack of exposure. The only Chinese movie I could remember was watching was Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. Some of us did read about the Oscar winning Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but I don’t know of any channel that showed this movie made in 2000 using either a dubbed version or even with subtitles. Guess that is what separates us: Modesty, a willingness to learn and a quest for efficiency. 

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A Small Step

From the Yangtze

Some moments from the launch of the India-China Chronicle in New Delhi by Sashi Tharoor, MP.

Glimpse from the fifth China India Trade and Investment Conference organised by the ICEC in cooperation with the Nantong govt in Nantong.

THE LAUNCH THE CONFERENCE

Dr Shashi Tharoor (Member of Parliament and former MoS for External Affairs) releasing the special issue of the India-China Chronicle, along with Dr Abid Hussain (Chairman, ICEC) and Mr PS Deodhar (President, ICEC)

Dr Shashi Tharoor in conversation with Mr Ding Dawei (Mayor of Nantong Municipal People’s Government, China)

Dr Shashi Tharoor greeting HE Mr Zhang Yue (Charge d’Affairs, Embassy of China in India)

WARM EMBRACE: Dr Shashi Tharoor and Dr Abid Hussain

Mr Som Mittal (President, NASSCOM) being welcomed by the ICEC

Dr Shashi Tharoor, Mrs Sunanda Tharoor and Mrs Riva Ganguly Das (Consulate General of India, Shanghai) with ICEC China staff

Dr Shashi Tharoor and Mr Ding Dawei releasing books on the occasion

A TOAST: Dr Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda raise a toast with Mr Ding Dawei.

Mr PS Deodhar (President, ICEC) addressing the audience

Guests at the launch

Mr Zhang Yue and Mr Gautam Bambawale (Joint Secretary – East Asia, Ministry of External Affairs) at the panel discussion that followed the launch

Dr Sreemati Chakrabarti (Director, Institute of Chinese Studies) delivering her speech

Dr Amir Ullah Khan (Dean & Director Research, Bangalore Management Academy)

Mr Jagat Shah (Mentor and CEO, Cluster Pulse and Global Network)

Dr Shashi Tharoor with Mr Dinesh Rai (Former Secretary, Ministry of MSMEs) and Mr Som Mittal

Dr Abid Hussain signing an MoU with Dr Manoranjan Mohanty (Chairperson, Institute of Chinese Studies)

Dr Tharoor with Mr Peng Gang (Commercial Counselor, Embassy of China in India), Mr Gautam Bambawale, Mr Zhang Yue and Mr Pramit Pal Chaudhari (Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times)

Members of the ICEC delegation from India at the conference

Members take a break

Dr Tharoor and Sunanda with some of the Chinese staff of ICEC.

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CULTURE

Chandni Chowk to China India and China, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, are so near, yet so far from each other. Can Bollywood and other cinemas of India, ambassadors of India’s culture and emblems of our soft power, take India to the Chinese?

Zafar Anjum

R

ecently, I met a young Chinese girl, Julia, at a dinner party in Singapore. As we talked over drinks, it emerged that Julia, now in her twenties, was born in a small town in China, was educated in Shanghai and after her graduation, had gone to the US to work for a tech company.

At the time of our meeting, she was based in Singapore working for a consultancy firm.

Julia told me she had an Indian boyfriend and that she had recently visited Mumbai along with him. She had come back impressed with India’s colours, culture, and cuisine. That was not surprising. But then she told me something that struck: “We Chinese know so little about India. We are so close to each other as neighbours but we know so little about each other’s culture.”

The point she was making was that even though trade was happening between India and China, culturally we knew next to nothing about each other.

I agreed with her. India and China, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, are so near, yet so far from each other.

Then I wondered: Can this gap be bridged, and more specifically, can Bollywood and other cinemas of India, ambassadors of India’s culture and

emblems of our soft power, take India to the Chinese and vice versa?

The Days of Awaara and Caravan I asked this question to Pallavi Aiyar, who has spent more than six years in China writing for the Hindu and the Indian Express newspapers, the only Chinese speaking Indian foreign correspondent to be based in the country.

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Besides her work as a journalist she has taught news writing to students at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute and served as advisor to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Chinarelated issues.

In her book, Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China, Pallavi provides a first-hand account of life in China. Before going to China, Pallavi knew that Raj Kapoor’s films, especially, Awara

(1951), were well-known all over the word, from Russia to Peru. But she didn’t know that the Chinese too loved that film and that the people of older generation still remembered it. When I met her at a literary soiree in Singapore once, she told me that even now some Chinese people knew Abala Hoon (Awara Hoon, the film’s title song) by heart.

“Film imports have always been controlled in China,” Pallavi explained.

“In those days, Awara was perhaps considered socialist enough to be allowed a release in China.” The film was seen widely from the late 1950s through till the late 1970s.

Another film that has stayed fresh in the memory of the Chinese people is the Jeetendra-Asha Parekh starrer, Caravan (1971). According to Pallavi, Caravan was shown in China only in the 1980s, after the end of the Cultural Revolution. While Awara was in black and white, Caravan was in colour, imbuing the memory of a generation of Chinese with the India of myriad colours. This film too was given a Mandarin title and people still have VHS copies of the film.

Post-Caravan, no Hindi film was released in China in the last century.

Meanwhile, in the 1990s, the Chinese also got a taste of international films, including films from Hollywood.

After a gap of nearly three decades, Amir Khan’s Lagaan became the first Indian movie to be released in China nationwide in 2002. At its release, Joe Zhang, an official from the Columbia

Film imports have always been controlled in China,” Pallavi explained. “In those days, Awara was perhaps considered socialist enough to be allowed a release in China.” The film was seen widely from the late 1950s through till the late 1970s.

Tri Star Film Distributors International said, “Continuing with its international success and now reaching here, Lagaan brings us a great chance to break the wrong idea that good movies are the American ones.”

Despite these films, the perception of the Chinese about Indians has not changed much. According to Pallavi, the Chinese think that India is a very crowded country (which it is) and every Indian woman can sing and dance like Bollywood heroines. Pallavi told me how very often she would get requests from ordinary Chinese people to perform Indian style singing and dancing for them.

Hunger for Indian culture Clearly, there is a hunger for Indian culture, including its song and dance, among the Chinese people. Perhaps they find Indian classical dance and music closer to their own cultural traditions (traditional Chinese music and opera). Indian yoga is already a big hit in China.

I had a first-hand experience of this hunger for Indian cultural traditions when I used to help out the India China Trade Centre (ICTC) around 2003-2004. Many musical troupes wanted to go to China and perform there but from the Chinese side, the demand would always be for those groups that could perform Indian classical singing and dancing.

If you turn the equation around, what kind of perception do Indians have of China and the Chinese? The most common perceptions are that China is a socialist country with an authoritarian regime; that China is the factory of the world and China is way ahead of India in terms of infrastructure. Even the Indian Prime Minister talks about turning a city like Mumbai, not into London or New York or Tokyo, but into Shanghai. “Chinese cities have become sort of benchmarks for us now,” Pallavi pointed out.

To a great extent, Indians have correct assumptions about China. This could be largely due to the existence of a free media in India and the culture of debate and discussion that prevails in most parts of the country. But how much do Indians know about the

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CULTURE

Chinese people and its culture?

According to Pallavi, there is a difference between how Indians and Westerners see China. For example, when a Westerner arrives in a city like Shanghai or Beijing, he is appalled to see the unruly traffic or by the behaviour of Chinese drivers. When an Indian arrives, he is all praise for the Chinese drivers and their respect for traffic rules—so, Indians find Chinese citizens more well-behaved. Pallavi herself was full of admiration for the low level workers in China who, unlike their Indian counterparts, at least get to wear gloves while doing menial tasks such as carrying refuse or cleaning toilets.

“That glove, a barrier between the dirt and the worker’s body, provides him with a modicum of dignity.”

In terms of cinema, perhaps a section of Indians might be familiar with Chinese stars such as Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat (more because of their Hong Kong action flicks and Hollywood productions such as Chan’s kung fu films or Yun-Fat’s Crouching Tiger,

In a situation like this, coming from the India plus China philosophy, there clearly is a case for the Indian and Chinese governments to encourage each other’s films in their respective markets to improve cooperation and friendship.

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Hidden Dragon). But beyond that, what? How much do know about the mainstream Chinese films or the less well-known film actors from China?

And that is just cinema. The cultural field goes much beyond cinema.

Clearly, there is a great wall of cultural ignorance between the two countries. When a film like Chandni Chowk to China (2009), Warner Brothers’ first Bollywood film, tried to cross over this great wall, it fell flat at the box office. So what is the way forward?

Slumdog Millionaire Unfortunately, the current generation of Chinese youth is not interested in Indian films unlike the older generations. According to Pallavi, the young dig international cinema (Hollywood, Korean) and they approach Bollywood as exotica, as anybody in the West would. The current generation of Chinese youth knows India more by Slumdog Millionaire than by Awara.

Surely, their expectations from cinema

are different.

In a situation like this, coming from the India plus China philosophy, there clearly is a case for the Indian and Chinese governments to encourage each other’s films in their respective markets to improve cooperation and friendship.

Take the Singapore and China example. In July 2010, the two countries signed nine agreements paving the way for industry collaborations, ranging from financing, pre-production, production to distribution and marketing. The first was a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Singapore’s Media Development Authority (MDA) and China International TV Corporation (CITVC) and China Radio Film TV Program Exchange Centre (CPEC) to exchange programmes, co-produce content and participate in annual TV trade markets hosted by the other party, namely the China Radio, Film & TV International Expo hosted

by CITVC in Beijing, and the Asia Media Festival hosted by MDA in Singapore. Next was a tripartite MoU between MDA, Central Newsreel Documentary Film Studio (CNDF) and China Information Business Network (CIBN) to co-produce a slate of five TV documentary series for global distribution. MDA also signed a letter of intent with the China Film Foundation (CFF) to co-produce a slate of 10 telemovies over the next three years. And so on.When a small country like Singapore can take steps in this direction, why can’t India?

Not just the governments, trade bodies like FICCI and ICTC can also pitch in and bring film companies together (co-production)—after all it is a market economy in both the countries. What about cross-sharing of some television content?

For the two countries to come closer, equally important is the need to expose the youth to the culture of the respective countries. One way to do this

is through the exchange of students (in all subjects, not just sciences or medicine) and cultural groups between the two countries at a large scale to facilitate more interaction.

China maybe the factory of the world but India has a vibrant cultural scene and for once, at least China can be a net importer than an exporter in this arena.

Knowing about each other will help India and China in the long run. If familiarity breeds contempt, ignorance breeds suspicion. In the case of India and China, I think a healthy contempt is better than layers of dangerous suspicion and mistrust. 

Zafar Anjum (www.zafaranjum.com) is a Singapore-based Indian writer and journalist.

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INFOCUS | CHINA | CULTURE

The Loong short of it China is proud of the Dragon as its national symbol and character. But unlike the western imagery, the Chinese dragon is milder and peaceful or in short Loong.

Ji Ping

T

he image of China is closely linked with the Dragon.

That is partly because many Chinese people often use the term “Descendants of the Dragon” as a sign of ethnic identity and the dragon is regarded as animal symbols for representation of the nation, just as the elephant was used among Indians, and the wolf among the Mongols. However, the concept of Dragon in China and other East Asian Countries is extremely different from that in the rest of the world.

Tales of Two Dragons The English word “dragon” derives from Greek, meaning “a serpent of huge size.” The two most familiar interpretations of dragons are the European Dragon, derived from various European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern mythologies, and the unrelated Chinese Dragon. The European Dragon is usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, or a snake with two pairs of lizard-type legs, and able to spit fire from mouths. Sometimes they also have bat-type wings growing from its back. Following discovery of how pterosaurs walked on the ground, some dragons have been portrayed without front legs and using the wings as front legs like pterosaurs on the ground. |46| India-China Chronicle  November-December 2010

European dragons exist in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe. Despite having wings, the dragon is generally depicted as having an underground lair or cave, making it an ancient creature of the earth element. European dragons are usually depicted as malevolent.

Naturally, Westerners sometimes confuse the benevolent Chinese dragon with the aggressive Western dragon.

In most of Indian friends’ perception, the Chinese Dragon is more or less equal to the European one. The Chinese Dragon is also a “fleet-footed” animal of the mountains that “can move faster than the swiftest river, so that nothing escapes them”, and “they have teeth as sharp and indestructible as those of the

An orthodox Chinese Dragon is the assembly of the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the palms of a tiger and the ears of a cow. It symbolizes power and excellence, valiancy and bravery, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity.

largest fishes”, “their eye is sunk deep under the eyebrow, and emits a terrible and ruthless glance”. And “they give off a noise like the clashing of brass whenever they are burrowing under the earth, and from their crests, which are all fiery red, there flashes a fire brighter than a torch”.

Dance with the Dragon As a matter of fact, the Chinese dragon has quite different characteristics and origins from those of the European one. In European-influenced cultures the dragon has aggressive, warlike connotations.

An orthodox Chinese Dragon is the assembly of the horns of a deer, the head of a camel, the palms of a tiger and the ears of a cow. It symbolizes power and excellence, valiancy and bravery, heroism and perseverance, nobility and divinity. A dragon overcomes obstacles until success is his.

He is energetic, decisive, optimistic, intelligent and ambitious. Moreover, unlike the negative images associated with the Western Dragon, the Chinese Dragon is elegant, friendly, and wise. They are the angels in China.

Instead of being hated, they are loved and worshipped. Temples and shrines have been built to honor them, for they control the rain, rivers, lakes, and seas. Many Chinese cities have pagodas where people used to burn incense and pray to dragons as Indian people pray

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INFOCUS | CHINA | CULTURE

to Hanuman or Ganesha.

Chinese people believe the dragon is the ruler of rivers and lakes who could marshal clouds and rain. So, whenever there was a drought or flooding, people would pray the dragon for rain or no more rain. On the front covers of the old Chinese lunar calendars, there used to be words telling how many dragons would harness the flood that year. In the folk festive days, dragons also served as a symbol of joy and happiness. For example, there is a dragon lantern festival in the New Year and dragon boat race on the fifth day of the fifth moon.

For thousands of years, the Chinese people have respected and liked dragons, regarding them as a symbol of the character and spirit of Chinese nationalities. Therefore the term “descendants of the dragon” is used to refer to the entire Chinese nation.

And dozens of Dragon tales suggest that dragon symbolize the spirits of the Chinese peoples.

In Chinese daily language, only excellent and outstanding people are compared to dragon while incapable people with no achievements are compared with lesser creatures. A number of Chinese proverbs and idioms feature references to the dragon, for example, “Wangzhichenlong” (Hoping one’s son will become a dragon), i.e. be as successful and powerful as a dragon. Kungfu movie star, Jackie Chen, famous for his acrobatic fighting style is still very popular among Indian fans, though only few of them know that his name actually means “Becoming Dragon”. If the Chinese dragon doesn’t symbolize, strength, good luck

China and India are great neighbours. On the occasion of the celebration of the 60 years anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India, a new word could also be created– the Loongelephant or the Haathiloong.

We wish the Loong and Haathi perfect cooperation and peaceful coexistence forever!

and auspicious powers, who will like to have such a name.

Rename and Rebuilt So when people stubbornly insist that the Chinese Dragon and the Western Dragon are the same, either because they don’t know the culture background or they are politically motivated.

The possibility of an anti-China political design cannot be ruled out.

To label Communist China as a Dragon with fire emitting from its mouth can easily mislead innocent people giving them the impression that a rising China is a potential threat. You cannot easily change the mindset of those who believe in the China threat and keen to demonize the country, but you might be able to change the mind of those who don’t know about the cultural background.

Chinese people will certainly not accept any proposal to change its national symbol, since we love the legendary creature. But we can change the translation of the Chinese Dragon into the Loong to differentiate it from the western Dragon. Loong is the pronunciation of “dragon” in Manda-

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rin Chinese. The name will naturally arouse rich literary associations with the concept of longevity which is in fact one of features of Loong.

By doing so, a correct image of the Chinese national symbol could be rebuilt. Loong respects others. Loong values cooperation. Loong promotes the concept of world harmony. In short, Loong would be more peace loving than the Dragon.

China and India are great neighbours. On the occasion of the celebration of the 60 years anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and India, a new word could also be created – the Loongelephant or the Haathiloong. We wish the Loong and Haathi perfect cooperation and peaceful coexistence forever! 

Ji Ping is a Senior Research Fellow of the Chinese Central for Contemporary World Studies, Beijing.

Email: jiping767@yahoo.com.cn