the way to hearts and minds

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The way to people's hearts and minds is through culture and literature?


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Straits Times, Sat, Jan 13, 2007

Chinese classics as a tool of soft-power diplomacy
By China Correspondent, Clarissa Oon

BEIJING - CHINA yesterday unveiled a collection of over 100 Chinese classic texts translated into English, which will be disseminated internationally, in another chapter of its pursuit of soft-power diplomacy.

The state-sponsored publishing p roject includes masterpieces of literature, philosophy and military studies. It reflects Beijing's growing push to win hearts and minds overseas.

Soft-power diplomacy - which has been gaining currency among many governments, including China's - refers to a country's ability to influence world affairs through attractive values rather than through coercion.

Keen to present a softer international image to counter the 'China threat' theory, China has already set up nearly 80 Confucius Institutes worldwide in two years, including one in Singapore. The institutes are China's version of the British Council and promote Chinese language and culture.

In its latest efforts, China has so far published 51 titles, including Confucius' Analects and A Dream Of Red Mansions, in traditional and modern Chinese as well as English.

Another 54 titles will be published over the next two years. Plans for translations into other European and Asian languages as well as in Arabic are in the pipeline.
The collection, titled the Library Of Chinese Classics, will be sold worldwide through China's network of Confucius Insitutes, embassies and overseas Chinese associations.

The chief editor of the collection said at the launch yesterday that top Chinese leaders had given the project their personal stamp of approval.
Mr Yang Muzhi, president of the China Publishing Group, read out a letter from Premier Wen Jiabao in which he called the project 'a concrete example in spreading and carrying forward the excellent culture of the Chinese nation'.
When President Hu Jintao visited Yale University last April during his trip to the United States, he presented the university with a total of 567 Chinese classics, including numerous titles represented in this latest collection.

Mr Yang told journalists: 'As grandsons of Chinese culture, it is our regret that the West does not know very much of our culture while we have worked hard to understand theirs.'

The Library Of Chinese Classics will present to the world a complete set of high-quality translations of Chinese texts that has not been available before, Mr Yang said.
A multinational project to guide children in reciting Chinese classics was also announced yesterday.
At the launch, a group of children presented a word-perfect recitation of the first chapter of The Analects in both traditional Chinese and English, which they had memorised.

Highlights of the Library Of Chinese Classics collection
• Confucius' Analects and the writings of Mencius, which form the bedrock of Confucian thought;
• Writings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, which form the basis of Taoism;
• Three Kingdoms, A Dream Of Red Mansions, Journey To The West and Outlaws Of The Marsh, the four great classical Chinese novels;
• The Peony Pavilion and Romance Of The Western Bower, two great Chinese dramatic texts;
• Two comprehensive collections of Tang and Song poetry;
• Sunzi: The Art of War and Sun Bin: The Art of War, classic texts on military strategy.