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This summer, domestic animated films have become a dark horse in terms of popularity.

The use of beautiful traditional Chinese elements makes the audience finally feel that their aesthetic taste is respected and their cultural confidence is overflowing.

However, the incidents of big brands appropriating Chinese culture have made us begin to be vigilant and reflect: Why are our cultural treasures always being appropriated, and how can they be better inherited and carried forward?

Has oriental aesthetics always been appropriated by foreign brands?

During the summer vacation, Chinese cartoons such as "Falling into the Mortal World", "The Umbrella Girl", and "Erlang Shen: Deep Sea Dragon" were released one after another, and the Chinese aesthetics presented in them were amazing.

The "easter eggs" of traditional Chinese culture hidden in the film made many viewers call it "blood awakening".

Velvet flowers, sugar paintings, Yue opera, embroidery, fish lanterns, shadow puppets, rock paintings, Kongming lanterns, Sichuan opera face-changing, West Lake silk umbrellas, the twenty-eight constellations...

The beautiful traditional cultural elements make the audience feel the strong Chinese style.

Since the beginning of the year, traditional aesthetic elements such as "new Chinese style", hairpins, lacquer fans, etc. have shined brightly, which also reflects our increasing confidence in and attention to Chinese culture.

But even so, incidents of "stealing" Chinese culture still occur from time to time.

For example, some time ago, in a Weibo picture of Prada promoting its own celadon series products, a sharp-eyed netizen discovered that the plate in the first picture had three words written on the bottom: Made in Japan

This aroused the vigilance and dissatisfaction of netizens.

They brought up the origin of celadon, saying it originated from China's industry, but Prada's promotional copy did not mention China, but the picture said "Made In Japan", which is confusing, cultural appropriation, and suspected of "helping Japan steal Chinese culture."

Some netizens also think that this is a bit of an over-interpretation.

Made in does not mean come from. Creation and manufacturing are different concepts. Celadon does originate in China, but that does not mean that other countries cannot produce it.

In response to the doubts, Prada’s official Weibo account also modified the content of the Weibo post, adding the words "this craft originated in China."

In recent years, controversial cases of luxury brands borrowing oriental elements occur every once in a while.

From chopsticks to horse-faced skirts to Kintsugi craftsmanship and blue and white porcelain, Chinese elements frequently appear in the designs of big brands, but they do not receive the respect they deserve when they are promoted.

A while ago, the Korean girl group IVE released a new song MV. The operating company emphasized that it was "Korean style" and "Korean tradition" during the promotion. However, the MV contained a large number of traditional Chinese cultural elements, such as auspicious cloud patterns, copper coin patterns, banana fans, landscape painting backgrounds, Chinese knots, Chinese embroidered shoes, etc.

In the face of these phenomena of "cultural appropriation", there have always been different voices in the public opinion field.

Some people question whether we are too sensitive and picky because we don’t use these traditional elements ourselves but find fault when others use them.

Some people also believe that this statement just exposes our excessive tolerance for brands and our low awareness of cultural appropriation.

So, what does "cultural appropriation" really mean? Why can't we use Chinese aesthetics well ourselves?

Why is Eastern aesthetics always misappropriated?

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, cultural appropriation refers to the appropriation of cultural characteristics or objects from a culture other than one's own.

Cultural appropriation has a wide range of uses and can take many forms, including themes, styles, forms, elements…

In fact, this is a neutral word. Good cultural appropriation can enhance cultural exchanges, add icing on the cake and create better quality products.

But what should alert us are those inappropriate behaviors of first misappropriating and then claiming them as one's own.

In fact, for international brands, launching products with traditional Chinese elements can not only cater to the preferences of domestic audiences, but also reshape the brand's positive image in the name of promoting Chinese traditional culture. It is a win-win situation.

However, they have mixed up the attributes in their propaganda and only used the superficial elements of traditional culture without getting to the essence of it, which is actually a disrespect for Chinese culture.

In this regard, we should have a certain degree of cultural awareness, and have the responsibility and obligation to protect, inherit and carry forward the essence of Chinese culture.

In the past, we have indeed made improper use of oriental aesthetic elements.

Some product packaging simply copies and piles up traditional patterns, lacking beauty and texture.

In order to cater to market demand, some designs use traditional elements in a forced way, without paying attention to overall coordination and forcibly implanting cultural significance.

There are also film and television works that arbitrarily adapt ancient costumes, causing them to lose their original beauty and historical charm and become "Japanese style".

The long-term lack of aesthetic education has also caused many people to gradually lose their ability to appreciate traditional Chinese aesthetics and their passion for pursuing beauty.

We once neglected the value of traditional aesthetics, resulting in it lacking the status it deserves in modern life.

But nowadays, more and more designers are beginning to realize this problem.

They began to dig deep into the essence of traditional culture, combining it with modern design concepts to create works that have both traditional charm and meet modern aesthetic needs.

This change is the embodiment of the transition from "being misappropriated" to "self-awakening".

How can Chinese design regain the lost oriental aesthetics?

To recover the lost oriental aesthetics is to recover the spiritual core behind aesthetics.

The biggest difference between Eastern and Western aesthetics is that Western aesthetics focuses on realism, symmetry, proportion and geometry; Eastern aesthetics focuses on spirit rather than form. It emphasizes freehand brushwork, and pursues the realm of "seeing mountains as not mountains" and the harmonious state of forgetting both the self and the object, reflecting the pursuit of natural harmony and the philosophy of the unity of man and nature.

Today, with the revival of traditional aesthetics, we are delighted to see that more and more oriental aesthetic designs are entering the public eye and awakening people's aesthetic awareness.

The "king" of the tea industry, Bawang Chaji, combines the quintessence of Chinese opera culture with Yunnan tea culture, standing on the mental high ground of Chinese tea culture. It has established its position as a leader in the national trend of tea drinks, and also demonstrated the brand's oriental aesthetics.

The aromatherapy brand Guanxia uses large areas of blank space in an oriental freehand style on its product packaging, and embellishes it with poetic product names that fit the fragrance and artistic conception, such as Kunlun Boiling Snow, Yihe Golden Osmanthus, Shuyuan Lotus Pond, and Plum Water Brewed Tea, to awaken the Chinese people's imagination and pursuit of oriental temperament.

The new beverage brand Meijian Green Plum Wine draws creative inspiration from the "plum blossom pattern", takes the spirit of plum blossom as its core, and extracts its brand symbol.

The plum blossom pattern is a classic among Chinese traditional patterns, and its evolution process is full of historical sedimentation and cultural accumulation.

From the simple shapes of the Qin and Han dynasties, dominated by polka dots and five-petal flowers, to the Tang Dynasty, they gradually became full and gorgeous, with flamboyant shapes, and appeared on a large area of ​​daily utensils. In the Song Dynasty, influenced by the aesthetics of literati and flower and bird paintings, plum blossom patterns became elegant and simple, with light colors. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, plum blossom patterns were often combined with other patterns, showing a variety of meanings.

The plum blossom is a classic image in traditional Chinese culture. Its figure can be seen in the poems and paintings of literati and is also manifested in porcelain, clothing and furniture.

She is also a symbol of elegance and character. This elegance also contains sharp-edged tenacity and unyielding integrity, which is deeply rooted in the bones of the Chinese people.

What is the elegance in the bones of Chinese people?

We may be able to get a glimpse of this from the life experience of Li Qingzhao, who was "often drunk with plum blossoms."

Her life, like the plum blossoms she loved, has always remained noble and tenacious despite the ups and downs of life.

When she was young, she was like a newly blossoming plum blossom, gorgeous and charming, yet a little shy, and full of longing for life; in her middle age, she was like a plum blossom standing proudly in the cold winter. Even when she encountered the hardships of family and country being torn apart, and remarrying and divorced, she still adhered to her inner beliefs and pursuits; in her later years, she was like an old plum blossom that had experienced wind and frost. Although the branches were no longer full of flowers, they added a sense of indifference and detachment, revealing the depth and wisdom of life, and quietly telling the vicissitudes and beauty of the years.

The elegance and calmness of the Chinese people come from their profound cultural heritage. It is not an external splendor or pretense, but an inner, unhurried temperament that runs through every aspect of life.

Meijian, by refining the symbol of plum blossom, cleverly captured the spiritual core of plum blossom "growing proudly in the snow", and also used green plum wine as a carrier to integrate this tenacity and nobility into modern life.

The millennium-long cultural heritage has been innovatively continued, and the freehand and profound oriental aesthetics have been perfectly interpreted and displayed in every drop of wine.

From aesthetic loss to awakening, China's aesthetic design has gone through a long and tortuous process.

Today, with the revival of traditional oriental aesthetics and the integration and innovation of modern aesthetics, Chinese aesthetic design is gradually stepping onto the world stage, showing its unique charm and value.

What we need is not only a superficial imitation of traditional aesthetics, but also a deep understanding and inheritance of its spiritual connotation.

Every design and every work should be a carrier of the Chinese aesthetic spirit, conveying our pursuit of beauty and respect for culture.

In this process, we are both inheritors and innovators, allowing oriental aesthetics to shine with new brilliance in modern society.

Author: Lai Shipu

Editor: Lu Yeren

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