Visiting Hunan prompted me to reflect on the differences in how China is perceived by the Western world, versus how China perceives itself. China is oversimplified in the West, and discussions of China often focus solely on its development and “modernization,” or otherwise on political issues, at the cost of ignoring its long history and culture, which has played a crucial role in shaping the China that we see today. At the same time, the struggles that China has faced during its modernization, for example the development of a Chinese “nation,” are downplayed, which contributes towards an overly-simplistic view of China.
From an international perspective, the dominant view of China is that it is a rapidly developing and modernizing nation, however this idea seems to contrast with how China views itself. Looking back on the sites we visited that are reflective of China’s modernization, such as BYD or the Yuan Long Ping Rice Museum (袁隆平水稻博物館), I observed that they were significantly less crowded than the other sites we visited, and did not seem to draw as many visitors overall, whether they were Chinese or from other countries. In contrast, the places we visited that are considered “tourist locations,” such as Mao’s former residence in Shaoshan (韶山), the Feng Huang Ancient Village (鳳凰古城), or the Yue Yang Tower (岳陽樓), were considerably more crowded. These locations drew not only many Chinese tourists, but also international visitors, particularly in the Feng Huang Ancient Village.
Reflecting on this pattern, I considered how these locations did not become tourist attractions by chance, but rather the Chinese national government and Hunan local government promoted these sites in their efforts to attract tourism. For example, Shaoshan is a site of China’s “red tourism,” and the Hunan goverment seeks to draw tourists to certain sites, such as the natural scenery of Zhang Jia Jie (張家界), or local cultural landmarks such as the Yue Lu Academy (嶽麓書院). This trend of where China is seeking to draw tourists matches what I observed while in Hunan, that places of historical and cultural significance are seen as much more important to visit, rather than places that show China’s more recent modernization. To me, these efforts show that Hunan, and China more broadly, sees itself as being tied to and defined by its long history and rich culture, rather than by its modernization.
Furthermore, many of the places we visited showed the beauty of China’s natural scenery, for example Zhang Jia Jie, Orange Island (橘子洲), and Jun Shan Island (君山島). Visiting these places allowed me to experience Chinese nature in a way that I hadn’t before, given that the Peking University’s campus is located in the city. Additionally, these sites clashed with the idea of China as a developing and modernizing nation, and emphasized to me that just because China is a modernizing nation, this doesn’t mean that the idea of modernization can encompass everything about China. Instead, these features of China, like its nature, or its rich history and culture, are also a very important part of China, especially because these are enduring features of China, whereas modernization is a more recent phenomenon.
The trip to Hunan also showcased the extent to which China sees its long history and culture as being highly continuous, with its rich history continuing to impact modern China. At the Yuan Long Ping Rice Museum, the guide walked us through the exhibit about the history of rice cultivation over thousands of years in China, and then showed us the exhibit on Yuan Long Ping’s innovations. I was particularly struck by this, as it seemed to suggest that Yuan Long Ping’s work was not only an example of China’s modernization, but also that it was closely tied to the long history of rice cultivation in China. Similarly, at the Yue Lu Academy, the guide emphasized the values that students should uphold under traditional Chinese education, and explained that these values continue to be important in modern times.
These experiences showed me that from the Chinese perspective, the idea of “China” is very heavily rooted in a history that dates back thousands of years to the dynastic period, and this history is seen as continuing into the present day and continuing to shape modern-day China. This view is entirely opposite to the view of the West, which sees China under CPC rule as being a new “era” of China that is completely disconnected from its past. Even at Cornell, I have noticed that many of the CAPS classes I have taken focus either on China’s history (i.e. China prior to its “modernization” in the twentieth century) or on China’s modernization and development, and very rarely have classes connected these two “parts” of China’s history. However, this perspective that sees China’s modernization and its current state as the result of political and economic developments, which are entirely disconnected from its culture, traditions, and past as a whole, greatly oversimplifies China.
Our trip to Hunan also challenged my ideas about China as a “nation-state,” as I previously believed that China was a strong “nation-state” primarily because a majority of Chinese people are of Han ethnicity, and this idea of “nationalism” can emerge more easily in more homogenous nations. However, my experiences in Hunan showed me that the Chinese “nation” was not a natural or inevitable phenomena that emerged only because China is majority Han, instead it emerged through a long process of “nation-building.”
In Hunan, many of the places we visited exemplified China’s “nation-building” efforts. During our visit to Yu Hua Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum (雨花非遺紀念館), we were introduced to a wide range of different art styles, including those created by Han Chinese and ethnic minorities, with these various art styles, including the Hunan-style Xiang embroidery all being categorized as traditional “Chinese” art. Presenting these different art styles together showed that there are intentional efforts being made to integrate ethnic minorities under the umbrella of “Chinese,” rather than emphasizing their differences with Han Chinese. Similarly, when we visited the Feng Huang Ancient Village and Zhang Jia Jie, the Miao ethnic minority culture was shown as a part of “Chinese” culture, and some tourists rented Miao ethnic clothing to take photos, much like tourists in China might rent other kinds of traditional clothing to take photos. These experiences showed me that being “Chinese” does not necessarily mean conforming to one kind of tradition or culture, but rather that many different sub-cultures and ethnic minority cultures have also been integrated into the identity of being “Chinese.”
Although there is great diversity in China, there is still a shared identity that is rooted primarily in China’s history and culture, rather than in a racial or ethnic identity, much like in the United States. For example, when we visited the Tian Han Cultural Park (田漢文化園), our guide emphasized how the writing of the Chinese national anthem was shaped by the threat that China faced from Japan at the time, suggesting that the idea of a Chinese “nation” was defined by external threats that the whole country faced, rather than by whether or not one was of Han ethnicity. On a broader level, many of the sites that we visited emphasized China’s history, for example the Hunan Provincial Museum (湖南省博物館) which showed how Chinese people lived in the past and what their beliefs were. Otherwise, many sites highlighted parts of China’s culture, for instance I was particularly interested in how calligraphy was displayed in many places we visited, for example in the Yue Yang Tower, at Zhang Jia Jie, and outside Mao’s former residence.
Visiting these places made me reflect on how the idea of a “China” is more similar to that of a “United States” than I once thought, as although China is more ethnically homogenous than the United States, it also defines itself strongly through a shared culture and history. This trip also made me reflect on what is lost through the process of creating a “nation” or integrating various minority groups into the “nation,” as one of the students from Hunan University shared that although she is of Mongolian descent, she is unable to speak their language, and feels somewhat disconnected from this part of her heritage. Through visiting Hunan, I realized the great extent that the Chinese “nation” is a result of emphasizing the shared history and culture of China, and that efforts to create the “nation” are not only top-down initiatives, rather localities also play an important role in this “nation-building” process.
Overall, the trip to Hunan challenged my preconceptions about China, and showed me the aspects of China, for example its history, culture and natural environment, which have often been overlooked in my study of China. But at the same time, the differences I observed in how China is perceived by the West and how China perceives itself prompted questions for me that still remain unanswered. Namely, why does the West view China so differently than how China views itself. Is this solely a matter of their differing political systems; is it a reflection of a lack of knowledge about China; or is it the result of a different factor entirely?