zhongguochic - Tumblr blog

zhongguochic · 2 days

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#i hate this bullshit spread about chinese diaspora #saying that chinese uses gendered pronouns because westerners forced them when in reality chinese women didn't want to be erased anymore

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zhongguochic · 9 days

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persimmon trees in winter

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zhongguochic · 9 days

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An old stone mill on the river in Shili (詩禮), Fengqing County, Yunnan.

Photo: ©鸿慈永祜

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zhongguochic · 9 days

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A 1400-year-old Ginkgo tree found within the walls of the Gu Guanyin Buddhist Temple, in the Zhongnan Mountains region of China.

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zhongguochic · 1 month

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I usually don't post stuff like this on my blog but the ATLA fandom is bizarrely Sinophobic despite the franchise taking such heavy inspiration from Chinese culture. The OP says without any shred of evidence that ATLA is banned in China. This is simply not true. As yanchira points out, both ATLA and TLOK have official Mandarin dubs.

The Air Nomads are the least developed nation in ATLA and there is barely any resemblance to Tibetan culture. If they are supposed to be some stand-in for Tibet then it's a horrible representation. The Air Nomads are basically the Shangri-La stereotype - they are based on warped Western perceptions of real-life Buddhist cultures. The ATLA artbook actually states that most of the inspiration for the Air Nomads came from kung fu movies about Shaolin monks, so you know the co-creators had some really shallow reference pools.

Vegetarianism was historically rare in Tibetan Buddhism, most monks ate meat, but Aang is somehow devoutly vegetarian. Celibacy is a fundamental vow for monastics, but Aang comes from an entirely monastic society that has sex. Celibacy is a much bigger deal to monastics than vegetarianism. This makes Aang and his culture inherently contradictory and offensive to Buddhists. The Dalai Lama himself has publicly denounced married monks. The only way a monk can get married is if he stopped being a monk.

It's amusing to see how the ATLA fandom will come up with dozens of Orientalist explanations to justify why Aang not killing Ozai, instead of simply recognizing it as a reflection of the liberal views of the white American co-creators (who got the idea of removing powers from old kung fu movies rather than anything to do with Buddhism). Yet they say nothing about how wrong it is for Aang to have a romantic relationship with Katara despite being a monk.

Recently, I have seen some ATLA fans claim that the Netflix live action adaptation of the series made the Earth Kingdom "look better" as a way to appease Chinese censorship. Netflix doesn't even operate in China, it's just more Sinophobic hogwash.

I don’t know how to say this tactfully, but I’ll do my best.

If other fans online have convinced you to see the gentle, optimistic, empathetic, fun loving, whimsical, forgiving, wise beyond his years genocide survivor, as a sexist, racist, xenophobic, abusive, pro-colonization, sexual assault perpetrator who doesn’t care about anyone else and doesn’t understand trauma…

You have been LIED TO.

Please just think for a moment!

ATLA was banned in China from the beginning for a reason. Because they didn’t want anyone empathizing with a character based on Tibetan monks. Why? Because they are an actual oppressed and persecuted minority IRL. Their religious leader lives in exile. Their second most important spiritual figure is the youngest political prisoner ever taken (and to this day no one knows if he’s alive or dead!). China has actual prison and labor camps. Tibetan people get sent there for “re-education”.

Can you please think about what these “fans” are saying when they stomp all over this allegory in TLA and try to frame Aang as the oppressor?

Do you really think it’s appropriate or these people who call Aang all these horrible (and inaccurate) things are being in anyway fair when they call Aang “white coded”???

Even without the real world context, Aang is explicitly the only survivor of a genocide. The last of his people. He has lost more than anyone else in the entire franchise. There’s a reason he clings so hard to Appa.

Do you think it’s fair to compare a 12 year old misreading signals and trying to kiss a girl who already consensually kissed him before, and immediately backing off and giving her space when she says no, to rape?

Tweens and teens miscommunicating and trying to comfort each other with kisses, only to realize that’s not what their friend needed and immediately backing off is the same as having your body violently violated against your will? The same as having your “no” ignored?

How do you think this makes survivors feel? To see people use their experiences as a shield and cudgel for ship discourse? It certainly upsets me as someone who experienced intimate partner violence, let me tell you! And I know I’m not the only one.

And how is it in anyway feminist or pro-Katara to ignore her own agency and deep love she shows for Aang? Yes, that includes her own crush on him! It IS reciprocated!

Lastly, you don’t need to demonize Aang to ship whatever you want to ship. Please understand that the majority of these takes are bad faith and born out of bitterness and insecurity over a friggin FANON SHIP.

And none of it is necessary! You can ship whatever you want! You don’t need permission or excuses. You can just ship them! You can make your case for why you like another pairing better without misrepresenting what happened in the show and what these characters are like, let alone what they represent.

There’s already plenty to work with in the show as it is! Otherwise why bother?

I’m imploring fans taken in by persuasive and manipulative metas to please just think about it. Get off social media and rewatch the show for yourself thoughtfully.

It doesn’t need to be like this.

#the avatar writers seem incapable of writing romances in general but kataang is also shitty for other reasons #bringing up tibetan suffering to explain why some monk should be allowed to fuck...lol this fandom is incredible #kataang is just fundamentally gross the end

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zhongguochic · 1 month

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