Youth at the Wharf｜How many years has the Qing Dynasty been gone, what’s wrong with doing a zombie dance?

“Serious negative impact, profound lessons… Deep reflection, learning lessons… Thorough investigation and rectification… Qualification review, strengthened supervision”…

On August 21st, in response to the Shenzhen “X-Taekwondo Hall”‘s “zombie taekwondo” performance in South Korea, the Chinese Taekwondo Association announced its penalty decision. The announcement stated that the taekwondo hall independently registered to participate in the 2023 World Taekwondo Championships, and coach Liu, based on a horror movie, choreographed and directed the “zombie taekwondo” performance. The performance promoted outdated customs, tarnished the national image, and desecrated Chinese culture, causing a negative impact. After research, it was decided to impose corresponding penalties on the taekwondo hall, taekwondo coach Liu, and the Guangdong Taekwondo Association.

I watched this video at the time. To be honest, my first impression after watching it was that these young men were quite handsome, the choreography was interesting, and it was very creative. Now, many people are focusing on the “zombie dance” segment, but the entire performance video is over 2 minutes long. The first half references the character designs from classic zombie movies, and the second half is the young men collectively taking off their robes and hats, standing on the stage with a vibrant appearance. The zombie dance is just a prelude; the essence is in the later part. It’s worth mentioning that this performance ultimately won the championship.

Some media reported that the Chinese team’s ingenious taekwondo zombie dance amazed the South Korean hosts, who claimed that in their many years of hosting, they had never seen such a unique and innovative performance. The hosts also commented from a professional perspective that the Chinese team’s performance demonstrated excellent dance skills and also showed love and respect for traditional culture, deeply touching people’s hearts.

I don’t understand Korean, so I don’t know if the hosts said this at the time. But from the video, the scene was indeed filled with laughter and applause. Of course, you can also write this laughter as “guffaws,” depending on which angle you’re taking. Just like if you want to criticize this matter, you can selectively see the netizens’ criticism; if you want to praise it, you can also see many likes in the comments section.

More than twenty days passed, and I thought the matter was over. Unexpectedly, the Chinese Taekwondo Association announced another penalty decision, bringing up the old matter again.

Since that’s the case, let’s have a good discussion.

The penalty decision begins by stating that it was a “self-registration” and emphasizes that they held tourist visas. I don’t quite understand why these two points were specifically mentioned, but I always feel there’s a hidden meaning. Speculating with a small-minded person’s heart, is it because they didn’t go through the association’s approval, or didn’t take the association seriously, or didn’t pay certain fees, making some people unhappy, so they put on a big hat?

Otherwise, I really can’t figure out why such a performance could “promote outdated customs, tarnish the national image, and desecrate Chinese culture”?

What are outdated customs? Does it refer to wearing Qing Dynasty official robes? Or wearing Qing Dynasty official robes to dance the zombie dance? If it’s the former, then can historical dramas with pigtails no longer be broadcast? If it’s the latter, is it okay to wear Hanfu and dance, or is it not allowed to dance the zombie dance no matter what clothes you wear? But the Qing Dynasty zombie dance is a modern thing, originating from Hong Kong movies in the 1980s, and it can’t be considered an outdated custom.

What is our national image? How is it considered tarnishing? How is it considered promoting? I don’t know what the relevant leaders’ thought processes are, but Chinese culture has always been inclusive and embraces all. Is dancing considered tarnishing? Wouldn’t that be too fragile? The Qing Dynasty has been gone for a long time, and dancing a zombie dance, Empress Dowager Cixi and her ilk wouldn’t be resurrected out of thin air, would they? Not allowing the existence of diversity is the real tarnishing.

So, does the zombie offend taekwondo? But taekwondo didn’t originate in our country. If anyone should be most concerned, it should be the Koreans who are most concerned. Taekwondo originated in South Korea; now you’re wearing pigtail robes and doing a zombie dance. Is this a satire on taekwondo’s loss of vitality? But obviously, the Koreans didn’t think in this peculiar direction.

Let’s look at the charge of “desecrating Chinese culture.” Does our culture not allow zombies? That’s not right either. For thousands of years, there have always been zombie legends among the people, and zombies are also a part of our traditional culture. China has zombies, and foreign countries have zombies. In the early years, I watched a zombie dance in western Hunan, and there was a Taoist priest leading the dance to exorcise evil spirits. If the taekwondo zombie dance designed a Taoist character, with positive energy in charge, would it be able to pass safely?

There are countless zombie film and television works worldwide, from Michael Jackson to Lam Ching-ying to Jay Chou. If we follow this standard, should we ban MJ, dig up Lam Ching-ying and whip his corpse, and drive Jay Chou out of mainland China?

In the 1980s, Hong Kong made many zombie-themed movies, in which zombies wearing Qing Dynasty official robes danced, leaving a deep impression. At the time, besides scaring us, who were still young and inexperienced, there were no other negative effects. On the contrary, the 1980s was a rare golden age, with a relaxed and inclusive social atmosphere, and everyone’s life was thriving, full of infinite hope. Today, when we revisit those zombie movies, they are full of nostalgia. I don’t believe anyone would look back and say: This is RH, I was deceived for so many years.

So, after thinking it over, I don’t feel that anyone was truly offended, perhaps except for the relevant leaders.

If there hadn’t been this news, I wouldn’t have known that there was a Taekwondo Association. I checked, and this association is just a non-profit community organization. An organization that doesn’t even have an official title, but it acts so much like an official, it’s amazing. Who did they learn from?

Many things in China are ruined by these people who love to talk big and control everything.

Regarding the Chinese Taekwondo Association’s penalty, Yonhap News Agency reported it, and many South Korean netizens were dissatisfied with the penalty. One South Korean netizen said: “This is a penalty full of limitations. This kind of control over private groups will actually hinder their own development. We hope to allow more personal creativity and freedom, so that we can truly develop.”

The BBC reporter might not have known or cared about the taekwondo zombie dance, but the Taekwondo Association’s move immediately gave them a topic. The BBC’s extensive coverage will definitely make foreigners feel that China is a closed, boring, and even somewhat scary country. There aren’t many foreign tourists coming to China anyway. Now with this kind of news, if you’re a foreigner, what would you think of China? Would you still come to China for tourism? The country is now vigorously attracting foreign tourists and attracting foreign investment, but the Taekwondo Association is creating trouble and causing obstruction, and the negative impact of this behavior is much greater than that of a private group dancing.

If we must go to extremes, then I suggest canceling the Chinese Taekwondo Association, because taekwondo is not Chinese culture.

A few more words. The good or bad of our artistic forms of expression should not be determined by which big shot based on their own likes and dislikes, but should truly be left to the people to decide. A hundred flowers blooming is spring; if there are only flowers and no weeds, that is not spring. Wild lilies also have their spring, and only then can people truly feel comfortable. Only being able to dance glamorous and beautiful dances, and not being able to dance dark and terrifying zombie dances, is not a normal society. Forcibly requiring positive energy to shine on every corner, shade-loving plants cannot survive, and eventually the entire ecosystem will collapse.