There Will Be No Victor in the Cultural Feud between South Korea and China
The hanbok, kimchi, and Arirang are an inextricable part of Chinese culture — at least according to China, that is. However, any serious scholar of East Asian history and culture will know that these claims are preposterous. First of all, hanbok literally translates to “Korean clothing,” and its earliest depictions can be found on Goguryeo (an ancient Korean kingdom that lasted from the 1st century BC to the 7th century AD) tomb murals. Kimchi is a Korean side dish, and its fermenting process was first described in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. In contrast, Pao Cai, a Sichuanese dish, is also fermented but prepared very differently. And finally, Arirang is a Korean folk song whose earliest version originates from Gangwon Province.
Here in South Korea, the general consensus is that China is committing a form of “cultural robbery” against Korea, attempting to claim Korean heritage as their own. But no matter how much evidence the Koreans produce to disprove such assertions, the Chinese remain relentless in their insistence that the majority of East Asian culture can be traced back to them. This issue has tangible effects in the real world. Most recently, the Beijing Olympics were heavily condemned by Koreans for featuring the hanbok as part of a presentation on China, and subsequently numerous Korean celebrities have been attacked by Chinese netizens for wearing the traditional garment. Clearly, there is a battle for culture at hand. And from what I’ve observed, there will be no victor. Not anytime soon.
Whenever I stumble upon online debates regarding pickled vegetables, it is absolute chaos. Let me paint you a picture of how they usually go (only imagine far nastier language):
“Kimchi is just an offshoot of paocai, which came first.”
“Stop trying to distort history.”
“Joseon was a vassal state of two Chinese dynasties. That’s history for you.”
“The whole lot of you are thieves!”“China #1 (chinese flag emoji)”
“China sucks (rude finger emoji)”
As you can see, neither side is willing to bend to the other’s claims, and a perpetual vicious cycle repeats itself, insults and accusations flying back and forth. This is unsurprising — nationalism from both sides has long been a major wedge in the cultural relations of the two countries, which only serves to exacerbate the current conflict. But perhaps there is a solution, a compromise, one that is extremely unlikely but not impossible.
First of all, the Chinese people must face the reality that history presents. Most of the points of contention that have generated controversy have already been internationally recognized as being of Korean heritage, and the historical record supports this. Now this is merely a small piece of a far larger issue concerning the Chinese government’s political agenda. Over the past decade, Xi Jinping’s domestic policies have caused a peak in Chinese nationalism, and his developing cult of personality bears a striking resemblance to that of Chairman Mao in the mid-20th century. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of Chinese citizens believe in the government’s propaganda, blinding themselves from the critical problems within the country, such as the persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang and the suppression of democracy in Hong Kong. Of course, these issues are covered up in the first place by pervasive censorship. It would take a cultural revolution to shift the direction China is presently headed in, and usher in the necessary changes for the Chinese people to realize that their views have been warped all along.
But this doesn’t mean South Korea is entirely free from blame, either: from time to time, I have noticed overreactions to cultural controversies, even ones that are relatively minor. Sure, I completely understand why one would be infuriated about China claiming the hanbok as their own; in fact, so am I. But vehemently spewing out anti-Chinese sentiment online just because of a video game’s misuse of the clothes is a different story. Directing hatred towards the Chinese government is justified, but when those feelings are strong it becomes incredibly easy for anger to transform into racist thinking, and in turn hatred of all Chinese people. This only leads to more conflict, poisoning relations even further. As Koreans, as a self-proclaimed nation of respect, we have to prevent ourselves from crossing that line. Remember, the problem isn’t intrinsically with the people, it’s with the government. Instead of engaging in aggressive online flame wars, we should focus on peacefully promoting Korean traditions and heritage to the rest of the world.