There is something strange when walking past Jingan Temple, Shanghai’s most central and arguably most important Buddhist temple, observing a Hong Kong dragon dance troop preparing for their performance. Chinese pedestrians are delighted at their sight, amused, mesmerized. Cars slow down on Nanjing West Rd to watch those tiny Cantonese men building up their stage already clad in their colorful costume. Dragon dance performances on National Day elicit the feeling of a planned confluence of nationalist holidays with a pre-nationalist cultural tradition.
Recently I have come to the conclusion that I am a cynical idealist. Cynical about reality. Idealistic about the possibilities for humankind. While I see delight in the faces of most people only three Latin words cross my mind observing the scene: panem et circenses. As I cross Nanjing West Rd into Jingan Park, where the daily frenzy of multiple groups of septarian Taiji and Qigong practitioner competing for space and sound dominance is going on, I wonder about the significance of bringing gladiators from Hong Kong into one of the new Chinese capital cities on the occasion of Chinese National Day. Timing couldn’t be better.
Recently I have come to the conclusion that I am a cynical idealist. Cynical about reality. Idealistic about the possibilities for humankind. While I see delight in the faces of most people only three Latin words cross my mind observing the scene: panem et circenses. As I cross Nanjing West Rd into Jingan Park, where the daily frenzy of multiple groups of septarian Taiji and Qigong practitioner competing for space and sound dominance is going on, I wonder about the significance of bringing gladiators from Hong Kong into one of the new Chinese capital cities on the occasion of Chinese National Day. Timing couldn’t be better.
Only an hour later I wait outside a print shop for my job to get done. On the opposite side of the road I watch a local kindergarten practice for their National Day performance. I walk over to the gate of the institution and peek into the playground where three to six-year-olds are lined up like a little battalion. Their headmaster, a woman in her late 50ies with dark green dyed hair, wears a headset and her voice echoes through the speakers.
I had the opportunity to observe dozens of children ages three to twelve during the last year while trying to qualify as a Montessori teacher. What stroke me as most interesting are generally poor practical life skills and underdeveloped gross motor skills in Chinese children. Observing the playground scene makes me therefore think that nationalism influences education early on. While many of these children have difficulties to walk on unpaved terrain or tie their own shoe laces, they are in the phase of the so called absorbent mind trained to behave like soldiers.
It is a collective inferiority complex which drives parents to subject their children to such a system. I can’t explain it otherwise. It is a collective inferiority complex and a cultural superiority narrative which drives the Chinese to become wealthier and stronger than the West. It’s the same psychological principle which drove the Japanese for decades until the isolation of elderly, the unhappiness of their urban middle-class and alarmingly high suicide rates made some question the national narrative.
I had the opportunity to observe dozens of children ages three to twelve during the last year while trying to qualify as a Montessori teacher. What stroke me as most interesting are generally poor practical life skills and underdeveloped gross motor skills in Chinese children. Observing the playground scene makes me therefore think that nationalism influences education early on. While many of these children have difficulties to walk on unpaved terrain or tie their own shoe laces, they are in the phase of the so called absorbent mind trained to behave like soldiers.
It is a collective inferiority complex which drives parents to subject their children to such a system. I can’t explain it otherwise. It is a collective inferiority complex and a cultural superiority narrative which drives the Chinese to become wealthier and stronger than the West. It’s the same psychological principle which drove the Japanese for decades until the isolation of elderly, the unhappiness of their urban middle-class and alarmingly high suicide rates made some question the national narrative.
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