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"No reasonable person would ever buy that kind of nonsense. How is it possible that I compared Confucius to Zhang Ziyi? It is ridiculous!"

Professor Zhang Yiwu with the Chinese Department of Peking University (PKU) could not help getting excited when China Youth Daily interviewed him last Wednesday. "I have never said anything to the effect that 'Confucius is inferior to Zhang Ziyi'."

The China Youth Daily interview came after a local newspaper in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, carried an article entitled, "PKU Professor Says Confucius Inferior to Zhang Ziyi -- Public Outraged". The article soon made its rounds on the Internet.

The article was written based on a report entitled, "How to market the Chinese culture", which appeared in the April 1 issue of New Weekly magazine. The Chengdu paper reportedly did not interview Prof Zhang.

In the New Weekly report, Prof Zhang expressed the view that China must not neglect its popular culture while striving to introduce to the world its high-end culture. To him, the significance of popular culture is no less than high-end culture in promoting China's culture and building a positive image for China on the world stage.

In that report, Prof Zhang said: "The Chinese culture will have a real future only when Zhang Ziyi is given as much importance as Confucius." He was also quoted as saying: "A Yao Ming, or a Zhang Ziyi, is more effective than 10,000 copies of Confucian works."

Prof Zhang explained to 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 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."

Thousands of Internet users who read the Chengdu newspaper article online reacted violently and hurled abuse at Prof Zhang, saying that he did not understand Chinese culture and that he was not qualified to be a PKU professor.

"I cannot control my anger any more", wrote one Internet user surnamed Zhang, a university student. "I think Zhang has discarded his sense of shame."

"The only Golden Globe nomination Zhang Ziyi won was for Memoirs of a Geisha. In that film, Zhang plays a Japanese geisha. How can she be said to represent the Chinese culture?!

"Chinese civilization has suffered discontinuity for the last 100-odd years. During that time, we have inherited western culture; we have adopted the West's standards to judge ourselves in everything. We are now losing our own nation's idiosyncrasies and are nearly at a loss as to where our roots are."

A famous film director, who asked not to be named, expressed doubt about Prof Zhang's motive: "The professor might just want to be famous. Despite the fact that she is by now the most renowned Chinese actress and that she has undeniable international influence, Zhang Ziyi is only an actress and cannot be compared with Confucius. It is simply laughable."

One film critic was even more straightforward: "While Zhang Ziyi is becoming increasingly popular with foreign audiences, she is also becoming increasingly less Chinese. The Chinese qualities in her image are ever fewer."

(China.org.cn by Wind Gu, May 16, 2006)