Top 10 Chinese cultural events of 2012
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 27, 2012
Micro-blogging cultural trends
Chinese micro-blogs were full of cultural trends, from "Du Fu is busy," "Aircraft carrier style" to "What do you think, Yuanfang?"
On Mar. 22, altered images of a middle school textbook illustration of revered Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu's poem "Deng Gao" were posted on the Chinese micro blogging site Sina Weibo. "Du Fu is busy" spread like wildfire across the Internet, and marks a transition for the iconic poet, transforming him into a modern social figure.
It's an idea or image that somehow strikes a chord with Internet users, and prompts them to comment on it, change it, or use it in different situations. The picture shows a very serious Du sitting on a rock, clothed in loose robes. His chin is pointed resolutely upward and his eyes gaze calmly into the distance. It is a picture of a man with a great mind and a heroic spirit. That image was then changed and photo shopped meme. Du Fu later was seen holding a gun or listening to an iPod or dressed as a Japanese cartoon character and so on.
Netizens enjoy photo shopping portraits of ancient Chinese poet, but the head of The Poets' Association of Henan Province was unhappy, saying "The spirits of Du Fu is the glory of our nation. We will never tolerate any denigration of Du Fu's image."
Micro-bloggers weren't finished yet.
In October, Chinese netizens added "What do you think, Yuanfang?" when they posted messages onto their Weibo accounts. Immediately the short sentence made its way across the Internet.
Yuanfang's full name is Li Yuanfang, and is the assistant to Detective Di Renjie in the TV series "Detective Di Renjie". He is not only good at logical reasoning, but also Kung fu. Every time detective Di deals with a case, he asks Li Yuanfang "What do you think, Yuanfang?" Li thinks about for a minute and answers "Based on my experience, I think there must be a big secret, my lord!" or "My lord, there must be something wrong in the case." These two sentences are his standard answers to Di Renjie.
China's Internet users seized the opportunity to make it popular while making a lot of fun, implying unspeakable truth and making satire against unjustice when they asked anything in blogs they would add "Yuanfang" sentence to it.
Around Nov. 25, another cultural trend inundated the web. China announced it had successfully landed a fighter on its new aircraft carrier for the first time. An official photo showed two technicians on the carrier crouching and pointing to give the green light to the fighter pilots. The photo sparked a national urge to grab a friend, strike a pose and post a photo online. The hilarious craze, in a twist on the popular Korean video "Gangnam Style," has been dubbed "Aircraft Carrier Style."
There were more examples of micro blogs becoming viral, and then becoming cultural trends. These may reflect the optimistic and cynical attitude, fun-loving and creative acts among Chinese netizens.
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