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Hello everyone, I am Anthony
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Welcome to my channel
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Previous two videos
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We discussed Chinese patriotism
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The Secret Connection to Pleasure
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Of course, there is still a lot to explore in this direction.
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I will communicate with you slowly later
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In this video, I want to talk to you about Chinese aesthetics.
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I was chatting with a friend a few days ago.
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We talked about China being an aesthetic desert
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She said, there are always people saying
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We just lack the eyes to discover beauty
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But it is indeed difficult to find beauty in China.
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I don't have that kind of mood
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In principle, one can find beauty everywhere.
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However, beauty is not just external sensory pleasure.
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It is inseparable from people’s inner freedom
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Critical consciousness and free consciousness
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It is precisely the key to achieving a higher level of aesthetic ability.
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That is to say
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Only when you realize that something is not beautiful
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To discover true beauty
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This process of negation is very important.
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Aesthetics is a subjective thing
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If you think something is beautiful
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I have no opinion either
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But don't argue with me.
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Then this video
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We start from what is common in Chinese society.
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Let’s start with some ugly phenomena
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To explore the spiritual reasons behind
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What are the characteristics of Chinese aesthetics?
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I think the first thing is soil
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Soil is a concept relative to urban civilization
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In my opinion
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It represents a kind of unfreedom
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That is, the spirit is trapped in many constraints.
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Unable to obtain natural
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Transcend the physical factors such as matter
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Clinging to a narrow pragmatism
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Many friends travel to many cities in China
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It will create a sense of monotony and boredom
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That is, all cities are the same.
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The most typical Chinese urban landscape
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Maybe it's a propaganda slogan.
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Most of these slogans are in red with white text
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Or red background with yellow text
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There are some political slogans written on it.
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For example, "the people are the masters of the country"
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“Organic unity of rule of law”
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"Don't forget your original intention and keep your mission in mind"
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In recent years
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Propaganda slogans more commonly seen on the streets of China
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The background is made of three red flags
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It says something like "Listen to the Party, be grateful to the Party"
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Slogans such as "Follow the Party"
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These words themselves are disgusting.
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Not only because of his moralizing style
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Empty content
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Because of his omnipresence
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It will severely damage the city
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The original harmony and unity of the streetscape
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A few years ago, I was strolling by the West Lake in Hangzhou.
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As I was looking at the mountains in the distance
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Suddenly look back
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Poster for implementing the overall national security concept
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The painting shows soldiers, workers, doctors, and mothers.
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They all surrounded the slogan and red flag in the middle
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The whole picture has a strong Korean aesthetic style
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That strong visual impact
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Instantly I lost all my feeling
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The direct and crude indoctrination of red political slogans
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The vagueness of the entire scenic area
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Subtle and beautiful artistic conception
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Complete destruction
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A strong aesthetic opposition
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Uglier than this poster
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It's one of those giant propaganda posters with political slogans embedded in it.
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These posters are often five or six meters high, seven or eight meters high.
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People look so small in front of these propaganda pictures
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Background of the picture
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Almost all of them are Huabiao, the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square
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The Huabiao and the Great Wall symbolize the long history of the nation
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Tiananmen Square, red flags and red sky
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It symbolizes revolutionary ideology
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The meaning of these symbols
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It is quite straightforward and simple, without any depth.
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The propaganda system does not expect to
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To convey new ideas
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Or inspire personal emotional resonance
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Just to swear the presence of power
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These propaganda posters particularly like to use red skies
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Visual bombardment through large areas and highly saturated colors
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Make the viewer feel
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I live under a red sky
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This creates a sense of oppression and insignificance
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Represents the perfect illusion that the state apparatus attempts to present
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The state has the power to control everything in the world.
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But this is obviously not the case in reality
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This empty and boring visual language
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Instead, it further exposed the ideology
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The falsity of symbols
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Propaganda officers
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Maybe also realize
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The inherent weakness of this ideology
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Nor do we expect the audience to be truly inspired by the propaganda.
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Work is just a rice bowl
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They don't believe what they say.
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However, work cannot be without results.
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So we can only pile up these empty slogans
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Through visual bombardment and repetition
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Make people passively accept its superficial meaning
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Training a conditioned reflex of obedience
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Of course, this cultivates
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Often a cynic who says one thing and means another
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Rather than a convinced follower
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In this regard
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This political propaganda is a failure.
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But in another sense it is quite successful.
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Maintained a superficial unity of thought
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and unified action
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Therefore, the totalitarian aesthetic
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The pursuit is a single, simplified symbol
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Exclusion of complexity and individual experience
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Because the more simplified the symbol
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The more you can eliminate
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Individuals find self-identity and emotional experience in it
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When people are faced with these symbols
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It is difficult to generate rich associations and emotional fluctuations
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There is no room for repeated interpretation and interaction
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And can only experience the insignificance of oneself
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Passively accepting a single statement
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Totalitarian
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Aesthetics can be expressed as bigger is better
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Uniformity is good
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All because it's not enough, not big enough
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Anything as long as it reaches a certain level
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Large to a certain size
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A sense of beauty and justice naturally arises
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For example, a larger building
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Larger-yield nuclear weapons
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Sacrifice on a Larger Scale
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More uniform urban layout, etc.
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Military parade mass movement
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Uniform clothing, neat lines, etc.
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These are all means of expressing this kind of totalitarian aesthetic
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The purpose is to use visual symbolism
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Communicates clear hierarchies and power structures
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The leader is placed at the center and pinnacle of vision
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Symbolizes supreme authority
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The masses are in a secondary, subordinate position.
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Centralization of power and clarification of hierarchy
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Reinforced by visual means
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This totalitarian aesthetic
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Of course, it is also a kind of aesthetics that advocates violence and order.
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Therefore, they also admire the military temperament and military style the most.
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As we mentioned in our April 26 issue
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In the video discussing the military discourse in Chinese society
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What was said
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Chinese government documents
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I particularly like to use war metaphors.
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That is to explain everything with military logic.
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For example, doctors and nurses are compared to white-coat warriors
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Comparing scientific researchers to innovation pioneers
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The leadership decision is compared to the deployment of troops and the mobilization order.
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It is more common to compare social activities to war.
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For example, the fight against poverty
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“Protracted war against corruption”
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Flood relief encounter
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During the epidemic
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All kinds of war metaphors are flying everywhere
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For example, the Battle of Wuhan, the Battle of Shanghai, etc.
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Chinese middle schools have many management details.
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An obvious reference to the military
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Or in other words, it is developing in the direction of militarization.
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For example, a quilt made of tofu blocks
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And mandatory running exercises
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In recent years
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A tight running exercise
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It has become popular in many middle schools.
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It is said to be the idea of Hengshui Middle School
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During running exercise
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The distance between each student is less than a fist
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This forces everyone's hands and feet to swing
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Must be highly consistent and precise
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Otherwise you will run into someone else
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This aesthetic of uniformity
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It is spread across schools in China.
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Enterprise and film and television works
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It also includes national celebrations such as the Beijing Olympics.
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Other Chinese urban landscapes
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Although it seems that there is no clear political tendency
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But it is still a product of power dominance and manipulation
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So it's also ugly
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As "Why Chinese Cities Love Unified Signs"
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What this article says
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Before the government's large-scale rectification of signs
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The signs of shops along the streets of China often contain mixed messages.
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Easy to fade
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The government paid to replace the signboard under the pretext of improving the city appearance.
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There was no resistance
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The result of this rectification has led to even greater ugliness.
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Although the original sign looked messy
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But each sign has a different color
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Elements such as fonts and patterns convey information
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People can design according to this variety
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Quickly distinguish different types of shops
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Many shops also lack aesthetic appeal in their own signboards.
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But in the market environment
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This aesthetic ability can be gradually improved.
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The results of government intervention are even uglier
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Although it looks more neat
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However, the unified sign
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However, due to the use of the same background color
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Even the font
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Therefore, the ability to transmit information in layers is lost.
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No auxiliary information to help customers identify
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Different types of stores look almost the same
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This causes people to have difficulty identifying shops.
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It takes more effort
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This neatness and order
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It only reflects the government's bureaucratization of aesthetics.
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Understanding
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It not only fails to convey beauty
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Instead, it feels mechanical and lifeless.
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The motivation for this kind of rectification is not to satisfy the citizens.
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As the article points out
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China begins selecting "National Civilized Cities"
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This title is the highest level of the competent unit
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Strict selection and limited places
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It is the highest honor in the current domestic comprehensive city evaluation.
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Has great influence on the careers of local officials
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Since the establishment
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It has received great attention from all over the country
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In order to achieve the political goal of creating a civilized city
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Under the pressure of examination
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Improve the city appearance by unifying the signs
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It is the easiest to produce visual results.
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"Incentives and Cooperation of Government Officials in Promotion Games"
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This paper mentioned
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Local officials at the same administrative level in China
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Regardless of province, city or county
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At the township level
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They are all in a political promotion game
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Or in a political tournament.
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In official circles
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Only a limited number of people can be promoted
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One person's promotion will inevitably squeeze out another person's opportunity
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The participants are facing a zero-sum game.
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Reflected in urban construction
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It manifests itself as vicious competition
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Due to the promotion of officials
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Depends on short-term economic growth
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And hard achievements that can be seen with the naked eye
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Therefore, local governments
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Often pay more attention to the scale and speed of the project
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To pursue the aesthetics of projects and urban layout
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Quality is even less likely to be explored
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The personality and characteristics of local culture
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Under pressure from the promotion tournament
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Local officials tend to adopt those
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A standardized model that has been proven to deliver results
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Once a project or policy is passed somewhere
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Achieved success
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Other officials quickly followed suit.
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Trying to replicate the same achievements
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Competing to build projects that can attract outside attention
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Tasks at each level
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Layer lamination index
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Governments at all levels mobilize all administrative resources
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To complete the quantitative indicators
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This inevitably leads to short-sightedness and narrow-mindedness.
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Urban design style
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It also created countless ugly and tacky urban landscapes.
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In addition to the unified signs mentioned above
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Another common method is to build a building
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You build wonders
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I'll build a bigger one than yours.
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So all over the country
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Competing to erect all kinds of ugly giant buildings
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Baoding City, Hebei Province once built a Golden Turtle Hall
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It looks like a giant turtle
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The building was later demolished
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Bacheng Crab Culture Museum built in Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province
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View from the air
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Like a giant crab lying on the ground
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Not only is there no aesthetic
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It can even evoke a fear of giants.
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Guizhou Dushan County Government has a debt of 40 billion
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Created the "No. 1 Water Company Building in the World"
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The county's annual income is only 1 billion
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Hubei Jingzhou in 2016
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A statue of Guan Gong, which is said to be the largest in the world, was erected.
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The statue, including the pedestal, is 58 meters high.
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Weight 1,200 tons
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Considered a landmark building in Jingzhou City
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The investment in the entire park is about 1.5 billion yuan
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However, the annual income after completion is only several million yuan
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Much lower than cost
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In 2020, the statue was also illegally constructed.
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Negative news such as failure to pass fire inspection has attracted attention
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There are countless Tiananmen Square protests in various places.
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The Great Hall of the People and other symbols of power
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Buildings for copying
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These huge buildings
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With a sense of absurdity that is out of touch with reality
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They not only have no sense of beauty
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Even scary and weird
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When the design of the building
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Just for the pursuit of "biggest" and "first"
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When we ignore the actual humanistic care and aesthetic logic
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It has become an ugly symbol.
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Gives people a visual experience of indifference, alienation and oppression
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Edward Ralph emphasizes authenticity
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and sense of place in aesthetic experience
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sense of place
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In the book Place and No Place
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Authenticity as a form of existence
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Its meaning is
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Man's responsibility for his own existence
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Complete acceptance and recognition
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"Everyone needs more than just a piece of ground...
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It's a place -
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There, talents can enrich themselves
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And become himself
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In this sense,
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Places cannot be bought and sold.
13:04 - 13:06
It can only be used for a long time
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Through the ordinary daily affairs of people
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Continuously generating
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It requires people to love
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To give specific boundaries and meaning
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It also requires careful care from people.”
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Inauthenticity is the opposite of authenticity
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Individuals are in an unconscious subjective state
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Unconsciously being influenced by the "anonymous other"
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I don't know it myself
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Ralph identifies two inauthentic attitudes:
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Kitsch and technologization
13:30 - 13:34
Kitsch refers to things that are mediocre and vulgar.
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Including music, architecture and literature
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For many people
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Purpose of travel
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Not for experiencing a unique place
13:41 - 13:43
Just to collect those places
13:44 - 13:45
Many tourists
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Immersed in such a superficial link
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Their experience of place
13:49 - 13:52
In the scenic spots and hotels planned by the tourism department
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Visit the largest and highest
13:54 - 13:57
But in fact, the building sculptures and commercial streets lack connotation
13:57 - 14:00
Stuck in a souvenir shop selling bulk
14:00 - 14:03
Take a group of the most exquisite photos and post them on Moments
14:03 - 14:05
But I am interested in the places I have visited.
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Lack of real experience
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Authenticity in the West
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Facing the challenges of technocracy and popular values
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But in China, we still have to face the threat of power
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Power-driven urban layout design
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Often related to individual aesthetic experience and self-identity
14:21 - 14:24
A city is not just a place to live and work.
14:24 - 14:26
It is also an extension of individual identity.
14:27 - 14:28
When a city is designed
14:28 - 14:30
When the symbols of power are everywhere
14:30 - 14:33
It often deprives individuals of their sense of identity in this place.
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and continuity
14:34 - 14:36
No matter how magnificent the landscape is,
14:36 - 14:39
Can't hide this nouveau riche temperament
14:39 - 14:40
And the inner emptiness
14:40 - 14:43
That's all for today's video
14:44 - 14:46
We will also discuss the topic of Chinese aesthetics
14:46 - 14:49
If you have any questions or personal confusion
14:49 - 14:50
Want to consult me
14:50 - 14:51
Please contact my email
14:51 - 14:54
If you are unable to pay or join the membership
14:54 - 14:55
Please contact me too
14:55 - 14:57
I will provide other ways
14:57 - 14:59
Please refer to this picture for details
15:00 - 15:01
I will post this video
15:01 - 15:03
Put it in the list of "Psychology and Education"
15:03 - 15:04
Also recommend to everyone
15:04 - 15:07
Go watch my other videos in this list
15:07 - 15:09
Thank you for watching, goodbye!
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