OT - question about Chinese culture

[John]

Off topic - My question is about Chinese culture as portrayed in
Chinese web novels. Many of the novels (translated from Chinese to
English) I've read seems to revolve around the concept of advancing
one's martial arts and cultivation prowress in order to grow stronger
either to dominate everyone else or to keep from being dominated by
someone else.

But how widespread is that in Chinese culture actually? How much
credibility should one give to that specific portrayal of Chinese
culture?

[Bobbie Sellers]

Have you run into Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne lately in the USA? These
are fictions and the stuff about excelling at Martial Arts is an
old theme. It might inspire children. Not sure of the Cultivation
because I don't read much Chinese stuff. Simply too much manga to keep
up with. Is the Cultivation about increasing Chi or Ki energy?

bliss

--
bliss dash SF 4 ever at dslextreme dot com

[John]

Comparing those comic book characters with the impression I have of
Chinese characters is a red herring. The results of their motivations
lead to completely different plots and story telling. If I were to
extrapolate from the Chinese stories I've read to Chinese society as a
whole, you might decide the picture they present is a real-life society
that is focused on the premise that might makes right and that is the
only basis for relationships among people. I enjoyed cultural
anthropology, but my teachers were clear about the pitfalls of such
mental exercises, which is why I asked what I did.

wrt the cultivation, in some stories yes, but I don't understand it
much at all. And I zone out once the author goes into too much loving
detail about how many major and minor divisions of a cultivation level
there are and keeping track of the variety of names used and just when
you think someone may have topped out their cultivation level, the
author introduces even higher levels to which the character can aspire
to reach. I quit reading those sooner or later because that is not why
I read the story to begin with.

There are only three manga I like reading that I think are written for
the Chinese audience - "Versatile Mage", "Apotheosis" and "Star Martial
God Technique". I've read some others, but that was only for awhile
and have forgotten their names.

[Bobbie Sellers]

` Well consider what we do know of Present Chinese Government and how it
is done. It is a society that is Totalitarian with a gloss of
barely regulated capitalism. How is it maintained? By the Red Army
which settled all the conflicts by conquering all the dissidents from
the Chinese idea of Communism and forcing the so-called Nationalists
to evacuate to the island of Taiwan. The Red Army is loyal to the
Chinese Communist Party and its leaders. They enforce the Will of the
Party Leaders upon the masses. So the writers and artist who draw the
comics and write the plots extol the possibility of physical and mental
power. It is all fiction but done for propaganda and the idea of
domination of all the individual in your sphere of influence abd
relationships. It is just as unreal as the story of Kal-El and
Bruce Wayne.

Now both these fictional characters are able to dominate but
aside from criminals and assistants they refrain, except in Alternate
Reality stories, from doing so. When they dominate in those alternate
reality stores it generally is bad for Planet Earth. In some Lex Luthor
is the hero who conquers Kal-El or who takes down the Evil Batman.+

>
> wrt the cultivation, in some stories yes, but I don't understand it
> much at all. And I zone out once the author goes into too much loving
> detail about how many major and minor divisions of a cultivation level
> there are and keeping track of the variety of names used and just when
> you think someone may have topped out their cultivation level, the
> author introduces even higher levels to which the character can aspire
> to reach. I quit reading those sooner or later because that is not why
> I read the story to begin with.

The great problem with this sort of fiction is that the audience wants
it to on regardless of whether the story has reached a satisfing
conclusion. The publisher wants to satisfy the Audience so the artist
and writer and forced to create reasons to extend the story. We see the
same problem with DC, Marvel and other American comics. When they touch
on classic fantasy LOTR for example they tend to over extend the
premises of the story. And they want to reach the Audience to make more
money but having very little sense or taste they overdue the worst parts
and forget the valuable parts. I think I have read all of the Addenda
for LOTR and it is lovely material but should not be treated as badly
as has been done.

> There are only three manga I like reading that I think are >written for
> the Chinese audience - "Versatile Mage", "Apotheosis" and "Star Martial
> God Technique". I've read some others, but that was only for awhile
> and have forgotten their names.

I attempt to confine myself to Japanese comics i.e. manga and the
forced extension is a problem there which is why we have Dragon Ball
with endless sequels. I do look at some Korean stuff as well and have
glanced at some Chinese stuff in the past. The stuff about domination
is a turn off to me. I try to keep up with the DC stuff because at 85
I remember when I was immersed in this stuff and had never heard of the
stuff from overseas. All of this stuff is fantasy.

bliss - “Nearly any fool can use a GNU/Linux computer. Many do.”
After all here I am... Again...