Who put the Chinese people on the "sick man of East Asia" hat? Who was the first to remove this hat from the Chinese?
There has always been a specious claim that the Japanese were the first to wear the hat of "Sick Man of East Asia" to the Chinese. In a widely circulated story about Chinese martial arts master Huo Yuanjia, Chen Zhenfei kicked and smashed the plaque that the Japanese samurai insulted the Chinese, and the words "Sick Man of East Asia" were written on it.
The British first called the Chinese "the sick man of East Asia"?
However, "East Asia (and Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia)" was originally a European and American concept, a concept of the world, and the concept of the world viewed from the position of Europe and Greenwich. Therefore, China, Japan and South Korea are also called "Far East", Israel and Palestine are "Middle East"... and China and Japan are in East Asia, so they can call each other directly by the name of the country. There is no need to call each other "East Asia" first. The Japanese have always been referred to as "Little Japan". And from the point of view of stature and muscles, the Japanese are not much better than the Chinese at all. The Japanese call the Chinese "the sick man of East Asia", and they are suspected of scolding themselves too. Therefore, even if the Japanese later called the Chinese people "the sick man of East Asia" in public, they probably learned from others.
To put a certain conclusion first, I think it was Bruce Lee who really took off the hat of the "sick man of East Asia" for the Chinese in the world with his own strength, his muscles and "kung fu". Moreover, this is what Bruce Lee has been thinking about doing. Because, in Bruce Lee's middle school days, the British classmates at his Hong Kong noble middle school have always looked down on Bruce Lee and his Chinese classmates physically. In the TV series "Legend of Bruce Lee", which is being broadcast on various domestic TV stations, Bruce Lee's British classmates often talk about the "Sick Man of East Asia" to insult Bruce Lee when he fights and fights with Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee hates this. Physically and confrontationally, he does not lose to the British, white people and anyone else, and taking off the hat of "Sick Man of East Asia" has always been a main line of Bruce Lee's lifelong efforts and struggles. Even the fictional character Chen Zhen in the movie and the plaque of "Sick Man of East Asia" kicked by flying feet were originally done by Bruce Lee.
No matter in terms of geographical appellation habits, or the emphasis on body, physical strength, and muscles, or the attitude of finger-pointing and natural world hegemony, the Chinese are the "sick man of East Asia", which may be the first to be called by the British . From what time? The Opium War in 1840, or did the emperor of the Qing Dynasty send diplomats in robes and jackets to appear in Europe and the United Kingdom as observers at a certain Olympics in the late 19th century? According to the existing data, the term "Sick man of Asia" comes from an article published in Shanghai "Zi Xilin Daily" (an English newspaper run by the British) on October 17, 1896. The author is British people. According to Liang Qichao's translation: "Husband China - the sick man of the East, he has been insensitive for a long time."
The famous cartoon appeared nearly 40 years after Liang Qichao first translated "The Sick Man of East Asia". In 1936, the 11th Olympic Games were held in Berlin. China has applied for nearly 30 participating projects and sent a delegation of more than 140 people. In all the participating events, except the pole vaulters who entered the semi-finals, the others were eliminated in the preliminary rounds, and eventually the whole army was wiped out. When the Chinese delegation passed through Singapore, a foreign cartoon was published in the local newspapers to satirize the Chinese: under the flag of the Olympic rings, a group of thin Chinese people with long braids, long coats and jackets, carrying a big duck egg on a stretcher, Titled "The Sick Man of East Asia".
If you yourself are healthy, sunny and full of energy, you will not be shy about being called a "sick man". The British also made a movie a few years ago called "English patient", but British people who advocate force and physical strength are not worried and taboo that they will also be called "English patient" because of this. Moreover, from a broad-minded point of view, the Chinese people today will certainly not like the image when they were called the "sick man of East Asia". A robe and a jacket that wraps the body tightly and airtight, which is very unfavorable for sports and sports, a face full of vegetables, a man with pigtails, and then curled up into a ball smoking opium? Women with small feet... In such a big world, in such a big world, which country's men (and women) would be as weak and sickly as the Chinese? But the real "sick man of East Asia" is not only a physical symptom, but more a conservative mentality, a lack of aggressiveness, greed for life and fear of death, and abandoning the pursuit of a strong body and freedom. Behind a weak and sickly body, Must be a stale soul.
Shave Chinese men's braids with muscle and 'kung fu'
No one likes to be called "sick man", but if you don't like being called "sick man" you have to get your body strong! And not just complain, whether it's the Japanese or the British. Complaining is for cowards.
A film review said that many European and American movie audiences completely changed their impression of Chinese men after watching the British film "The Lover" starred by Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka Fai in the 1980s. The film review said that before that, many European and American audiences still had the impression of Chinese men, still stuck in the era of robes, jackets, and even braids. This shows that the image of the "Sick Man of East Asia" left by Chinese men in the European and American world is too profound, or it is this part of the "ignorant" European and American movie fans who missed the opportunity to watch Bruce Lee's "Kung Fu Movie". Compared with Leung Ka Fai, a gentle oriental gentleman in suits and leather shoes, Bruce Lee's muscles of an oriental man, known as muscles with almost no fat, are the best and most powerful counterattack against the title of "Sick Man of East Asia" by Chinese men. It's just that Bruce Lee's brilliant life, like a meteor streaking across the night sky, was too short, and he left too few films. Otherwise, if anyone still retains the impression of a Chinese man as the "Sick Man of East Asia", he must be an isolated "English Patient".
However, Bruce Lee is far from just making himself and Chinese men's bodies stronger first. Bruce Lee has unprecedentedly shown that Chinese people also have "amazing muscles" and superb "Kung Fu". Conceptual impact and visual impact, It is completely comparable to the performances of Liu Xiang and Yao Ming today in the world arena, but Bruce Lee's mind in Kung Fu is as strong and powerful as his body, and his mind is as aggressive as his body. His body and mind are no longer the traditional Chinese "moderate mean", "mediocre", "overcome tough with softness" and "submissive to adversity", but "overcome tough with toughness" and "show the edge". Bruce Lee only studied philosophy in college, and he is remembered by the world as a "Kung Fu star", but his body and mind shine at the same time, and his powerful impact on the stale and dross of traditional Chinese culture is enough to make him Has the philosophical significance of Nietzsche's "Superman" doctrine for the Germans and the world as a whole.
Bruce Lee did not say "(Western) God is dead", "to reevaluate all values", "to be a 'superman'" like Nietzsche did, but he used his muscles, fists and courage to challenge and confront everyone physically , China's traditional cultural value of rejecting physical strength (sports and confrontation) is completely out of date and needs to be reassessed and rejuvenated.
But with Nietzsche, a group of German modern philosophers Kant, Nietzsche, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Heidegger, Jasper... and German musicians Bedouin who are in line with Nietzsche Finn, Bach, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner... and German scientists Einstein, Siemens, Hertz, Hund, Ohm, Planck, Clausius, mathematician Gauss, astronomers Puller, the poets Goethe, Heine, Schiller... jointly promoted and created a new German culture and German spirit. Compared with the "too alternative" Bruce Lee, he was almost single-handedly carrying out the dross and prejudice in the spirit of traditional Chinese culture. The rebellion and shock of spirit and flesh.
Gu Hongming, the representative of the earliest group of Chinese teenagers studying in Europe, has been wearing robes and jackets, refusing to accept the European culture's new concept of body, physical strength and human liberation; Rong Hong, Liang Guoyan, Zhan Tianyou and others who studied in the United States are also showing the Chinese He has the best intelligence and achieved achievements in many fields of science and culture. At the same time, he also participated in various sports activities in American universities. Some people also performed well in school competitions such as baseball and rowing. The least good at physical confrontation is the most direct confrontation with American masters (probably also world masters), and dare to fight and win, Bruce Lee dared to shout to the world in the United States, "I don't say I am the first, but I am by no means. "Anyone's Second" is not only shouting that "the Chinese are not the 'sick man of East Asia'", but also shouting loudly in the language of body, muscle and "Kung Fu": Chinese people must liberate their bodies in order to liberate their minds , Chinese people can get the greatest freedom in thinking only if they are not afraid of anyone physically. What he sent out was actually a cry of "Chinese people need to be a 'superman' that surpasses yourself."
There is no freedom of mind without freedom of body
According to the Germans, it was Nietzsche's sister who tampered with part of Nietzsche's ideas after Nietzsche's death, so that Nietzsche's ideas were used by the German Nazis. If you only read Nietzsche's words, his thoughts and his spirit can almost be expressed as "work hard" and "people need to greatly improve yourself, so that you can become a new you, a new 'superman'" as positive words to summarize. Perhaps this comparison can illustrate the problem: Chinese often use "yellow skin, black hair, black eyes" to emphasize identity and pride and self-confidence in their own characteristics, but if Germans, British, or European and American whites also say "we Blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin" would immediately be considered arrogant and "racist". In fact, what are the "Rocky" and "Rambo" created by American movies later? They are all lone heroes and "superhumans" who are both civil and military, who can win a war by one person, and who can change the world by one person. It's just that this "superman" is just, hoeing the strong and helping the weak and maintaining world interests and normal order.
But for a man who has given up his pursuit of physical and physical strength for thousands of years, only indulged in "eight-legged essays", "don't hear anything outside the window, and only read only the books of sages", even men have eunuchs who have been castrated, and women are all cruel For the outdated culture where literati are often thrown into prison because of their writing, and for a sleepy nation, a Bruce Lee, who in both thought and action called for "a 'superman' who surpasses himself" like Nietzsche, is just to wake up. This is just a nation, but it is impossible for a Bruce Lee to wake up a nation once known as the "Sick Man of East Asia" overnight, even if Bruce Lee shocked the world so much, even if Bruce Lee's "death" is so surprising. When Bruce Lee died suddenly in Hong Kong in 1973, mainland China was in the midst of a time when all the horses were in harmony. In an era when even ordinary people and slaves could not be made, the death of Bruce Lee, a "Chinese superman" with a personality like his imagination, did not cause any shock in the mainland at all. This is enough to make people sadly think of another shocking, offbeat and rebellious figure in Chinese history who is closest to Bruce Lee - Tan Sitong.
One hundred years ago, when Tan Sitong stepped to the guillotine in Caishikou, Beijing with the righteousness of "reform and blood flow from Sitong", he was surrounded by insensitive and lively people. More than 100 years later, what is the latest news about Tan Sitong? It was the tomb of Tan Sitong, who was silent in a remote place in his hometown of Hunan, was robbed by a tomb robber who knew almost nothing about Tan Sitong. Afterwards, in order to cover up this shame, the relevant local administrators also fabricated the lie that "Tan Sitong's tomb has never been robbed." This clumsy cover-up and lie are more shameful than the tomb robbery itself. It is even more shameful for the shame of the Taoist Wang Taoist who holds the precious Dunhuang cultural relics.
Very different from Tan Sitong, Bruce Lee first gained sensation and recognition in the United States and the world, but his "treatment" in mainland China, a place where the most Chinese people gather, is similar to Tan Sitong's. So many Chinese people were as indifferent as the onlookers who were murdered by Tan Sitong when Bruce Lee died; more than 30 years after Bruce Lee's death, mainland China, the place with the most Chinese people, only started filming his TV series. ten years? No, some things are not late after 30 years. Many people questioned (if it is normal), slandered and even abused Bruce Lee on the forum. Are Chinese people very skeptical? Is it because they never easily worship authority and heroes? Is it that they never succumb to authority and obscenity easily? Do not! Maybe they only do that with their heroes. At least, from Yue Fei, Tan Sitong, and Bruce Lee. Yue Fei and Tan Sitong are not only not worshipped by this nation, but they have always been considered controversial by many people, so is Bruce Lee too? Or is it that nearly ten TV stations in mainland China are now repeatedly broadcasting Bruce Lee's TV series just because he has entertainment value, not because he is a Morning call to the nation?
Awaken a sleeping nation with meteor-like magnificence
If Bruce Lee's spirit in body and mind is somewhat similar to Nietzsche's "Superman", then the "Superman" depicted and conceived by Nietzsche is entirely based on a nation and national spirit with strong average qualities, while Bruce Lee stands out from the crowd (Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, etc. are just his successors), he is almost alone on a peak, and his foundation is very numb and far away from him. This is also a special phenomenon in a specific period of Chinese culture. Chinese people do not lack excellent talents, excellent characters, and even the best characters. However, this kind of best talent is no longer emerging like "a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers bloom", but "hundreds of years in the world and thousands of years in China"
Just like one. "I persuade Tiangong to create new talents and lower talents without sticking to one pattern." A broad base has become numb. Only by persuading irrelevant "Tiangong", in fact, a temporarily numb group is the real "Tiangong". This group, which once created the best culture and the best talents, was limited by some of its own limitations, he lost his former vitality, and he entered a half-dream and half-awake state. After a long period of time, a most outstanding character was born. He illuminated the entire starry sky with the most magnificent life, but did not completely awaken the group.
Napoleon said, "Once the sleeping lion of China wakes up, the whole world will tremble." But when will this sleeping lion wake up? Is he waking up? Still sleepy?
At the moment when the glaring Bruce Lee smashed the plaque of "Sick Man of East Asia" by flying across the air with "muscles with almost no fat", the "Sick Man of East Asia" hat that the Chinese have been wearing for too long has been thrown into the Pacific Ocean. But is Bruce Lee's spirit just that the Chinese are no longer the "sick man of East Asia"? Do not! Bruce Lee's spirit is to be the best, to be a "superman" that surpasses yourself. Bruce Lee is already a symbol of reality. "Superheroes" like "Rocky" and "Rambo" created by the European and American world, but Bruce Lee is more real and more civil and military than "Rocky" and "Rambo". Moreover, such a "superman" will not bully the weak and will not threaten anyone.
A nation that once created the best culture, a nation with the most intelligence, supplemented by Bruce Lee's muscles and the spirit of physical development and competition symbolized by "Kung Fu", this nation will stand proudly among the world's most powerful nations, and must will make a greater contribution to mankind
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