picture of Chairman Mao overlooking Yao as he carries the olympic torch

why? current TAM is a symbol of new China. a visit will show you all the hardships that China has gone though in the past 200 years. it's a reminder for all of us. i know it's a cultural thing that Chinese people always look back and want to restore the old way (due to philoshopical development). but there is no point in going back. we need to modify the culture so it fits in today's world. otherwise it will be left behind once again. we need to get rid of the mentality of "restoration".

 

Yea I am not a big fan of the portrait and the giant placards, it just doesn't go with rest of the magnificent Forbidden City.

Before I get flamed let me just clarify that my preference have no political connotations behind it, only through artistic and historical stand point.

Right now it just look too political, right people think of Tiananmen (the gate) as a political landmark rather then a important historical landmark.

 

well, TAM and the entire forbidden city has always had the political connatations to it. that's where the emperors lived. it was the political center of China. to me, the portait shows that even the 'greatest' leader in modern China does not live inside the city anymore. it's just clear symbol of the end of imperial China once and for all.

 

but its ugly, the older stuff looks cooler and better artistic characteristics.

Its like when you go to the Chinese gift store, do you buy a nice scroll with a dragon or goldfish or a tree with birds or do you have one with Mao's face on it?

 

that's where the sharp contrast is right?
it sticks out, so everyone know we are in the modern world now.

 

I guess this is where we differ, I believe the symbol of the new China is the new Olympic stadiums in Beijing or the skyscrapers of Shanghai. Right now Tiananmen is a symbol to Communist ideology rather then the history of the Chinese people.

I just don't see how restoring an important historical landmark as been backwards cultural. If you want to get rid of the mentality of "restoration" why don't we just tear down the great wall to build more farmland? or flatten Jingshan to build more high rise apartments.

 

I decided to buy some nice artwork of birds instead of the Mao watch at the nightmarket in hong kong. it makes for a nicer and less tacky gift for friends.

 

Well Zhongnanhai is apart of the forbidden city.

Those historical landmarks has a way of uniting China. Those are the places that remind Chinese people of how far they have come to get to this part in China's history. How far back our cultures go, how China was at different points in history the most powerful country on earth and a desire to get back to it. Those are the landmarks that remind us that despite all our different beliefs we where one people since the beginning of time itself.

How can you not feel a sense of pride when you describe the magnificence of the Forbidden City, or other Chinese historical landmarks to those who have not seen it themselves?

 

i am not denying the glory of the past. of course i love those (being a nationalist). however, in the modern time, we have yet to achieve something for ourselves that the future generation will be proud of. we need something new, better, something no one else have, something that's totally unique. that's what we should be proud of.

 

What other countries have a Forbidden City? What other countries have a Wall like the one in China? What other countries have any of the National landmarks in China?

Yea sure lets just tear them all down and build more skyscrapers, I am sure no one else have them

 

i never said tear anything down. did i? nope. all i said is, there is no point in turning back certain things the way it was in Qing dynasty. it is what it is now. people are still proud of it even with the portrait at the door. does an extra portrait make you less proud of it? not to me.

 

Ok we obviously had different understandings on the meaning of "restoration", my restoration was was about historical accuracies and cultural significance.

Whats wrong with restoring a Qing era landmark to the way it was during the Qing era? Isn't all the other parts of the forbidden city the way it was back then?

 

not really, there are shops inside. and it's not just a Qing era landmark. how about Ming? i personally prefer Ming because they are Han, not Manchu.

 

Certain things, no. But preserving historical landmarks, and artifacts doesn't seem beneficial. I can't really think of any real drawbacks.

 

What? Did American independence start at WWI? I've seen some wacky stuff on the BBS before but this might take the cake.

 

The U.S. never went through a feudal period. Prior to WWI the U.S. along with Japan, Portugal, France, and the UK were the only nation states that existed (not counting tiny ones like Iceland and whatnot).

So American really don't understand what it's like to transition from a feudal culture to a national one - which is what Mao did for China.

 

I mean, I'm just saying - Taiwan did pretty well for itself ya know. Imagine if that had been all of China.

 

but you agree that many of those deaths - more than half - were the responsibility of purges and labor camps. At least 10's of millions. I mean, this should upset you more than anything, it was Chinese citizens, most of them innocent. It was political and cultural genocide.

 

making sure farmers aren't committing suicide surely would make future generations proud.

 

it's much easier to govern a small nation with less diversity.

that being said, they are the ones ****ed up the future of China. before the CPP gained vast support, all they needed to do was let them join the government. that would form a multiple party system. that would have been perfect. but then, they wanted to appease the Americans by wiping out CPP in the big cities by mass execution without any reason or warning. that forced CPP to pretty much give up urban direction, instead went to rural areas where they found huge support.

also, they were very corrupt already, so if it had been all over China, it would be over soon anyway. doesn't matter if it was CPP or any other ideology. they were going down fast. because they couldn't fix the problems that existed.