This thesis examines the 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, which was
an unprecedented effort by the Chinese Party-state to reinvent Chinese national culture
for consumption at home and abroad. Director Zhang Yimou delivered a spectacular
event – three-thousand chanting Confucian scholars, two-thousand Ming Dynasty
sailors, a grid of giant dancing printing blocks and an endless display of fireworks
presented a sensational spectacle of Chinese culture and history. How should we
interpret these symbols representing a romantic Chinese past? I argue that the “ancient”
history on display in the Opening Ceremony is actually a product of China’s recent past:
its interactions with the West, revolution, nationalism and communism, and the turn
toward capitalism and authoritarianism. This thesis pulls the Opening Ceremony back
into this historical context, closely examining three of its most prominent symbols: Zheng
He and his voyages to the Indian Ocean, the Four Great Inventions, and Confucius. My
results show that, 1) far from being a product of China’s history alone, these symbols are
a co-production of China and the West, in which both identities were mutually
constituted; 2) they are created in the context of political power, and take on different
meanings in response to political shifts; 3) they suggest a state desire for power and
status rather than simply a revival of cultural heritage. This research will contribute to
an understanding of the modern political uses of Chinese history. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/3911 |
| Date | 26 April 2012 |
| Creators | Poor, Galen |
| Contributors | Chan, Shelly |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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