On February 4, 2022, the XXIV Olympic Winter Games were held in Beijing, making Beijing the first city in the world to host the Olympic Games twice.
Although the Winter Olympics will not go beyond Asia, it will show the world a different cultural charm. However, under the "unfair verdict" of the Pyeongchang Olympics and the controversy of this "China's home stadium", South Korean and Chinese netizens launched a new round of controversy on the Internet.
In recent years, there has been an undercurrent in China-South Korea relations, and the people-to-people showdown has become even more eye-catching. Some argue that the conflict between the two countries is only a superficial clash of cultures, but that the essence is due to the changing international balance of power following China's rise.
Although South Korea was the first to develop, it lacked cultural heritage and seemed helpless in the face of powerful China. However, they are reluctant to discard the mask of "cultural self-confidence".
South Korean professor Kim Do-nam once stressed in a televised speech that "only South Korea in the world looks down on China, and there is no South Korea in the eyes of Chinese youth."
What are the contradictions between two countries with a long history and living next to each other? Where will they go in the new century? It's not just about the past, it's about the future.
1.From cultural self-confidence to national self-confidence, South Korea declined due to the global impact of the Great Machine Industrial Revolution during the feudal period, but after World War II, it rose to prominence with the rearrangement of the Asian pattern by the United States.
After the Korean War, in the context of the Cold War, the United States provided targeted assistance to Japan and South Korea, and it was with the support of the United States that South Korea embarked on the road to modernization.
From accepting labor-intensive industries to developing high-tech industries, South Korea has made an economic leap in a short period of time, and even became the "light of Asia" for a time.
South Korea's rapid development has not only enabled its people to live a modern life, but has also caused an intellectual and cultural impact. Although Koreans have always been immersed in Confucian culture, they have found a balance between introverted and open-mindedness, resulting in a unique and rich culture.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Korean culture has quickly swept Asia in the form of "Korean Wave" and successfully established "cultural self-confidence". However, this cultural export has also changed the mentality of Koreans, who show that their inferiority complex is quickly filled with pride and pride in Korean dramas, which lays the groundwork for their later conceit and arrogance.
Someone once said, "South Korea is the only country in the world that looks down on China."
In the 80s of the last century, the process of China's reform and opening up was like pressing the fast-forward button for China's economic development. The move not only narrowed the economic gap between the two countries, but also put pressure on South Koreans.
Whether it is China's suzerainty status in history or the bloody battle scenes on the Korean battlefield, South Korea has left a deep impression. South Koreans ridicule the decline of their neighbors, but at the same time they are constantly wary of China's rise.
Therefore, from this point of view, the South Koreans "look down" on China is not just a superficial contempt, but an act of self-deception, and they try to hide their inner fear by ignoring it.
So, when China really rose, South Korea began to panic.
China's rise is not only reflected in its rapid economic development, but also in its cultural revival. Under the influence of the Han cultural circle, Japan has developed a beautiful aesthetic of mourning like cherry blossoms, while South Korea seems to be slightly lacking in cultural heritage.
Although South Korea is at the forefront of trends, they are always looking to make up for the lack of cultural heritage. The upbringing of the Japanese stems from it"Death in the twilight of life"The culture of Korea, while the Korean atmosphere always carries a sour taste of Korean kimchi, which shows that there are still some problems in South Korea in terms of cultural self-confidence.
Whether it is the Hanbok issue or the Dragon Boat Festival inscription on the World Heritage List, South Korea has been trying to reshape the image of a cultural power by changing its own cultural traditions, and even grafting Chinese culture onto itself.
However, this practice is undoubtedly a cover-up, and the essence behind it reflects the narrow-mindedness and inferiority of the Korean nation.
KBS TV's "Seeing Thousands of Miles" program, through the observation of Professor Kim Do-nam, a cultural scholar who has lived in China for many years, has penetrated into all aspects of current China, from the process of social modernization to China-South Korea relations, his views are insightful, and the "sandwich theory" generally accepted by Korean society is in sharp contrast.
The "Sandwich Theory" asserts that South Korea, as a country between Japan and China, can learn from Japan, which has been left behind by South Korea. However, China's rapid development in recent years has slapped this theory in the face with facts, and now China has surpassed South Korea in all fields, and although its per capita income is slightly insufficient, its development potential is favored by the world and is considered one of the most promising countries in the world.
Today's China has the strength to compete with the United States, which makes the "sandwich theory" seem both absurd and ridiculous.
Although there have been calls for politics to stay away from sports, in the current turbulent world landscape, sports can also reflect politics to a certain extent. Judging from the performance of the South Korean team at the Beijing Olympics, South Korea's "small family spirit" is becoming more and more obvious.
In response to Huang Daxian's punishment in short track speed skating, South Korean netizens fiercely attacked the Chinese players and the International Skating Union, but whether the competition is fair or not is already an objective fact with evidence.
This distortion of the facts by South Korean netizens has once again exposed their extreme nationalist sentiments. From cultural self-confidence to national self-confidence, South Korea is striving for self-confidence and openness in all aspects, but due to its narrow geography and weak cultural foundation, such openness and inclusiveness may still be far away.
1.In the search for cultural self-confidence, Koreans often rely too much on external recognition, and ignore the strength and confidence from the heart is where the real self-confidence lies.
2.Unlike South Korea, Chinese young people have seen the rise and development of the country in their eyes, and since the reform and opening up, China is gradually regaining the demeanor and charm of the prosperous era and internalizing it into a majestic spirit.
The magnificence of the Han and Tang dynasties and the delicacy of the two Song dynasties were more prominent in this era, from standing up to becoming rich and then becoming strong, China fulfilled its solemn promise, and this change also largely shaped the temperament of the Chinese state and the thoughts of the Chinese people.
Li Ziqi spreads Chinese culture on the Internet, many ** bloggers are deeply engaged in the field of traditional culture, and Chinese young people are introspective at the same time, they are integrating Chinese cultural traditions into the world wave, showing real cultural self-confidence.
From cultural self-confidence to national self-confidence, this is not only based on the improvement of the country's comprehensive strength, but also on the all-round development of economic, political, cultural and ideological thinking. It can be said that China has come a long way from the improvement of its economic level to the reconstruction of its national self-confidence.
From the perspective of the country's positioning, although China has experienced a trough in modern times, the tenacious spirit and indomitable style of the Chinese nation endowed by the thousand-year-old culture have never faded. Whether we are aspiring young people who are exploring the road to national salvation or Chinese who are unswervingly taking the socialist road, we have never lost the courage to face difficulties and the determination to face them head-on, and at the same time, we are full of confidence to start all over again.
It can be said that South Korea may choose to compromise and submit in the face of Japanese aggression and US control, but China and the Chinese people have always held their faith and will not bow to other countries and forces.
I am a mountain, not a stream, and I aspire to stand on the top of the peaks and look down on those mediocre ravines", in our eyes, although the East Asian lion has been asleep for a short time, once it roars again, it will attract the attention of the world, which is the confidence and confidence of a strong country.
And no matter how South Korea develops, it will not be able to influence the world pattern.
China and South Korea, while both attach great importance to cultural exports, have chosen very different paths. China's large population base is both a driver and a challenge. To this end, in the process of building cultural self-confidence, China pays attention to cultivating the national self-esteem and pride of its people.
Chinese culture has a long history, from the Qin Emperor and Han Wu to the modern enlightenment, through a magnificent history, let the Chinese deeply understand the openness and heroism of Chinese culture.
This culture nourishes China's cultural self-confidence, giving it the majestic power to embrace everything, and it is a kind of true peace and openness. In South Korea, although the developed cultural industry has enriched the spiritual world of Koreans in the short term, it has also exacerbated the arrogance of Koreans in the process of comparing with neighboring countries, especially China.
South Korea tries to stand on the top of the mountain forever, but you must know that there is a sky outside the sky, and the land they hold on to is only the foot of the mountain in another realm, and the pattern affects the vision and vision.
There is no South Korea in the eyes of Chinese youth, not because we are prejudiced against Chinese culture, but because we have never seen South Korea as our competitor. Chinese culture emphasizes "harmony without difference" and "friends from afar, happy to come", we welcome friends from all over the world, and also advocate fair competition.
We believe that we must win glory when we win, and we must remain optimistic when we lose. So, from this point of view, South Korea has always been our good friend and neighbor. From the perspective of national strength, we can confidently say that South Korea is not our competitor in the past, present, or future.
China was once one of the most powerful countries in the world, and it will be glorious again in the future. In his essay "Young China", the modern thinker Liang Qichao once expressed his beautiful vision for the future of China with a broad vision - "Young China".
Whether it is for our country or for every Chinese person, "youth" represents a posture, a positive spirit, and the courage to pursue excellence.
And the current China is a vivid embodiment of "young China".
For today's Chinese, self-confidence not only represents our rationality and tolerance, but also represents our respect, which is a beautiful quality that China has always adhered to for thousands of years, and it is also an important capital that allows us to stand out on the international stage.
From the confusion at the beginning of the reform and opening up to the present "our generation of young people are full of hope", after the setbacks and accumulation of the reform period, the current Chinese youth have grown into promising young people who are both upright and sincere.
More importantly, how do we find our foothold in the face of the impact of foreign cultures? Contemporary Chinese youth already have a deep understanding. With the rapid development of China's cultural industry, the cultural export that once made Koreans proud is no longer conspicuous in China.
With the high-quality development of China's cultural industry, the core values of Chinese traditional culture have become increasingly firm. It is this kind of cultural self-confidence that Chinese culture expresses without blindly following it.
When the Korean cultural industry reached its peak, it had a negative impact on Korean society. China, on the other hand, has given China the spiritual core of today's China through steady steps.
In South Korea's entertainment-to-death society, the Korean Wave not only erodes the minds of young Koreans, but more importantly, restricts the broad-mindedness of the Korean people. When culture moves towards vulgarity and cultural construction moves from borrowing to plagiarism, the Korean people are inevitably carried away by fanatical national sentiments, forming a feeling of arrogance and inferiority.
This is not to say that China is now perfect, but rather that despite China's shortcomings, the general direction continues to improve.
From blind idol worship to the revival of antiquity and the worship of scientists, young people in the new era have begun to reflect and grow. Although cultural prosperity can bring prosperity, hard power such as economy and national defense is the key to supporting its development.
Only with the enhancement of the country's comprehensive strength can the influence of Chinese culture be enhanced internationally. Therefore, the construction of society and the people who perform their duties are an important force in promoting the development of the country.
We need scientists to continue to explore the unknown, and artists and cultural researchers need to reshape the soul of the times based on the present. In the face of the international situation and challenges on the stage, our opponent is only ourselves.
As long as we surpass ourselves, China's tomorrow will be brighter.
There is no need to worry about Sino-Korean relations, South Korea's arrogance and inferiority are symbiotic, just like Japan's Muqiang mentality. At present, although there is a gap between China and South Korea, South Korea still has room to make noise.
However, if China can one day dominate the world like the United States, then Sino-South Korean relations are likely to return to the state of the Ming Dynasty, because the power determinism of state relations is unchanged.
Therefore, China will not care about the "lookdown" of South Korea, as long as it is strong enough, it will be able to eliminate all discordant voices. The strength of a country is the most important thing, whether in the long course of history or in the international community, only a strong country can win respect and recognition.