Chinese dance survival show “Street Dance of China 4” got accused of history distortion by Korean netizens
A stage that appeared on the Chinese survival show “Street Dance of China 4) is embroiled in controversy.
On Oct 23rd, on the Chinese dance audition program “Street Dance of China 4“, 3 Chinese contestants performed their dance while using “Heungboga”, which is a traditional Korean pansori song. After the performance, they described their dance as a “traditional Joseon-jok dance” (Joseon-jok is a Chinese ethnicity that consists of descendants of Korean immigrants). Former Super Junior member Han Kyung, who presented as a judge that day, also interpreted the stage as a Chinese traditional dance, saying, “I didn’t know you guys would choose the most difficult ethnic traditional dance.”
The performance, which is of a blind person opening their eyes through dance, reminded Korean netizens of the contents of Korea’s representative classic novel “Shimcheongjeon,” which is about a girl who treated her blind father’s eyes. Before the performance began, the credit, which allows you to check the source of the music, clearly stated that it is a traditional Korean song such as “Heungbo’s house”, “Heungbo saved the swallow”, and “Unwoo Hwarak Gutgeori”, but the background explanation said it was a China’s unique traditional dance.
“Street Dance of China 4” is a dance audition program that is so popular in China that it recently started season 4. In Season 3, which aired in September last year, a team wore hanbok and do the fan dance to Arirang, which has caused controversy when the choreographer said, “This is Chinese street dance“. There was no comment on the broadcast regarding this situation, even though there were many singers on the program who can explain the Korean traditional culture sufficiently as they have been active in entertainment activities in Korea such as Henry, Han Kyung, and Lay.
Korean viewers are voicing concern and anger over this. This is because China has caused controversy in the past by claiming that various Korean cultures such as hanbok, kimchi, and “Arirang” are of Chinese traditions. In the past, China has attempted to register “Arirang” as its intangible cultural heritage in 2011 to UNESCO, saying, “Since the Korean-Chinese are a minority of China, “Arirang” is also a part of Chinese culture,” but it failed because the Korean government, who heard the news at the time, quickly stepped up.
China’s historical distortion is taking place regardless of field. Last year, China was criticized internationally for claiming that kimchi was their traditional food, saying it was “Pao Chai,” one of the pickled dishes. In addition, as the “Squid Game” recently gained popularity around the world, China has launched an unidentified entertainment program called “Squid’s Victory,” raising many people’s eyebrows once again. Due to all these controversies between China and Korea, it’s predicted that the future won’t be bright for Henry and Lay if they still have the intention to promote in Korea.
Since 2002, China has promoted the “Northeast Process” and has moved to incorporate all history that has occurred in China’s northeastern territory into Chinese history. It was officially suspended in 2007, but China still claims that the history and culture of the Korean Peninsula are part of Chinese history.
