On March 4, 1966, a British newspaper, The Evening Standard, published a story on the Beatles, in which John Lennon made his famous quote: "We’re more popular than Jesus now…"  Controversy ensued.  Christians burned Beatles albums and demanded an apology, which Lennon provided a couple of months later.  His statement might have been true but the reaction demonstrated the dangers of making certain cultural comparisons.

   A professor at Beijing University has just learned a similar lesson the hard way.  Professor Zhang Yiwu of the Chinese Department apparently made the following statements in an interview published by China Youth Daily:

"It is not enough merely to promote Confucius,
who represents the country’s high-end culture. We can’t neglect the
importance of [actress] Zhang Ziyi and Yao Ming. As representatives of popular
Chinese culture, they are familiar to many foreigners and have been
accepted as one of the symbols of China.

"The power of popular culture is immense. Dissemination of the
quintessence of traditional culture depends on the export of the
popular culture.

"Confucius is quite great and is representative of the Chinese
culture. But Zhang Ziyi is also a representative of the Chinese people.
Both the US Newsweek and Time Magazine have featured
her on their covers for special reports on China. So we must also
respect her, and adore her. After all, the Chinese people have a face
that impresses the world."

     And he has come in for strong criticism on Chinese internet sites.  So much so that the People’s Daily has had to weigh in with a commentary, which sidesteps the controversy by blaming the media.

     Now, I bet he’s right: Zhang Ziyi and Yao Ming are more popular than Confucius, though Zhang Ziyi’s popularity is running higher outside of China than inside these days.   As I have mentioned before, Confucius’ contemporary popularity is shallow and weak.  If asked an open-ended question, "who are the most popular people in China," few Chinese or foreigners would answer "Confucius."  Indeed, Confucius is not meant to be "popular."  He would not want to be popular; he would only want people to do the right thing, which very few seem able to do in a modern context.

    I suspect that the professor was simply trying to push against an overly rigid separation between high culture and low culture, a fairly common stance among cultural critics in the West and in China.  If he had stopped at the mention of Yao Ming, he may not have run into any trouble.  His problem is the invocation of Zhang Ziyi.

    What is really going on with the criticisms leveled against Zhang Yuwi is a continuation of the virulent anti-Japanese nationalism that has swept China in recent years.  Zhang Ziyi starred in "Memoirs of a Geisha," which Chinese nationalists interpret as a "sell out" to the hated Japanese.  Apparently, for nationalists, a Chinese woman should not play a part of a Japanese woman.  Somehow national sensibilities are offended by such an act. 

    The nationalist critique is self-evidently stupid.  Should choices of actors be driven by the nationality of the writer of the play or movie, or the setting of the performance?  Can there never be a Chinese Hamlet, or an American Kong Yi Ji (Wow, I’ve never thought of that before.  Imagine it: Lu Xun’s great short story set in the rural US south in the 1930s…)?  Must art be subordinated to narrow national interests?  Of course not.

     This whole sorry episode is not really about Confucius at all.  I suspect that most of Zhang Yiwu’s critics could care less about Confucius and do not stop and ask the question "what would Confucius do" before they act.  Confucius is being dragged into a continuing anti-Japanese rage that only limits the expansion of cultural expressions of Chinese-ness.