Like many ancient cultures, China possess an impressive and celebrated literary heritage. For example, the excellent poets of Tang Dynasty (DC618-907) are rightfully known as some of the world's best lyrics; the famous Journey to the West, a classic narrative about the adventures of The Monkey King and his company towards the West for Buddhism classics, has achieved a global following (in part due to TV adaptations and the like); and the novels, short story collections and memoirs by Chinese expatriate authors living and traveling in overseas have frequently won major literary prizes and become the worldwide bestsellers.
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It was therefore surprising and somewhat disappointing that, upon teaching in a school around 10 years ago in 2006, I found average young students were far more interested in KingKong, a Hollywood film, rather than reading the subtile yet profoundly poetries by Li Bai, a genius poets of Tang Dynasty; and when I mentioned Mulan, a heroine of Chinese ancient oral narrative, I was told some trivia or something about the the Disney animated adaptation of this story. Are the Chinese, the youth in particular, lost all their interests in the literary masterpieces of their own language with the greedy onslaught of popcorn Western culture?
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My worries were alloyed when I saw primary school students were still learning Tang Poems. Furthermore, the cultural events about the literary icons and their lives such as the Dragon Festival are celebrated by the government each year; the sites commemorate the literary masters and their lives, such as the aspiration for many generations of Chinese poets- the Yellow Crone Tower, are still popular and well preserved. I am also gratified that the young people are not as crazy in the throwaway pop cultures as they first appeared. In fact, many of them are enthusiasm with the ancient literary masters.
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It was therefore surprising and somewhat disappointing that, upon teaching in a school around 10 years ago in 2006, I found average young students were far more interested in KingKong, a Hollywood film, rather than reading the subtile yet profoundly poetries by Li Bai, a genius poets of Tang Dynasty; and when I mentioned Mulan, a heroine of Chinese ancient oral narrative, I was told some trivia or something about the the Disney animated adaptation of this story. Are the Chinese, the youth in particular, lost all their interests in the literary masterpieces of their own language with the greedy onslaught of popcorn Western culture?
.
My worries were alloyed when I saw primary school students were still learning Tang Poems. Furthermore, the cultural events about the literary icons and their lives such as the Dragon Festival are celebrated by the government each year; the sites commemorate the literary masters and their lives, such as the aspiration for many generations of Chinese poets- the Yellow Crone Tower, are still popular and well preserved. I am also gratified that the young people are not as crazy in the throwaway pop cultures as they first appeared. In fact, many of them are enthusiasm with the ancient literary masters.
