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Originally Posted by gerchin  Businessmen in China just take advantage of loving "copies" Chinese people, and without these characteristics they all would drive bankrupt. The conditions for it are, as mentioned before, deeply rooted in the Chinese society, and that's the key.
There is a huge difference between young Western art "copists" and Chinese calligraphy students. The first want to improve their many-sided styles and skills (every lesson a new practice), Chinese calligraphers to learn the techniques of Huai Su or Wang Xizhi to imitate them, as good as possible.
Western art styles changed many times in the past 1000 years (middle ages, renaissance, baroque, romanticism, impressionism, and so on)
while Chinese styles of calligraphy or paintings very few only. Look at the painting of Guo Xi from the Song Dynasty: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:E..._by_Guo_Xi.jpg
This style remained topical in China till today, but no Western artist would try to paint mediaeval-style now. |
The statement that Chinese has unique imitating culture is an exaggeration. It is common that less advanced societies copy technologies and imitate culture from more advanced society. Japanese used to copy British textile machine in 19th century, Italian motorcycles before World War II, German optical instruments in 1950s, American microelectronics in 1960s and 1970s. Japanese like to imitate western culture too. Europeans nowadays also wear blue jeans and listen to American pop music. GM and Ford often dissemble Toyota cars to learn the Japanese auto technologies.
Saying that Chinese adore old things is also an exaggeration, at least in today’s China. In my view, Chinese love new things more than any other nations now. German developed maglev technology, but it was the Chinese who built the first commercial maglev line. So many futuristic skyscrapers that China are building now make many European cities look antique.
Celebration of Christmas and Valentine Day in China is a consequence of globalization and culture exchange. Of course, commercial interest is also a key drive. Many Americans can use chopsticks very well in Chinese restaurants and love to eat Japanese Sushi. We even have an Americanized Japanese Sushi called “California Roll".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_roll Many American kids practice Karate and Kong Fu. These are also culture imitation and they are the consequence of glabalization.