http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/17/world/asia/17china.html
China, now with enough power to back its claims, has been on a campaign to restore lost imperial treasures, looted during British and French occupation. For all the fuss it makes over these relics, it seems to be in no great hurry to actually try and reclaim them, making the campaign amount to a show of good will, and a public relations campaign back home. This is in some ways tied to China's evolving identity; is it a country trying to assuage its wounded national pride, or a booming economic powerhouse trying to maintain good relations. Regardless, the artifacts it seeks to reclaim represent to many what has happened when China has been weak, and its efforts to reclaim them have been well received and backed by those at home.
This blog is meant to be a space for the Austin College community to discuss issues related to China and the Chinese language. For author permissions, please write to Dr. Jennifer Thackston Johnson: jtj.at.ac –at- gmail.com. Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas.
The article shows how conflicted China still is. It contradicts with the image that China is now a better and more forward-looking nation that the Chinese government tried to portray at the Beijing Olympics. By searching for the artifacts on nation television, it shows the Chinese people's refusal to let go of the past, rises and falls, but the lack of "homebound" artifacts shows the emptiness of the government's actions.
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