Besides wearing Tang suits in formal event to show his identity as a Chinese, action star Jackie Chan is considering ways to combine more cultural elements in the kung fu movies he makes. Now, he wants to use the entry of more international filmmakers into China as an opportunity to gain more global attention for the country’s cultural products, including films.
After 30 years in the movie industry, Jackie Chan said that from acting in roles not suitable for him in Hollywood, he witnessed China’s development into a major global film market. “I see every important thing happening here. I know it’s not me who earns respects, it’s the country, and its 1.4 billion people who back me up,” the actor said at a news conference on culture for the fifth session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee on its two sessions in Beijing on Tuesday as he recalled the Academy Honorary Award he received, China Daily reported.
Foreign Movie Quota
Jackie Chan also said at the news conference he favors allowing more foreign movies in China to challenge local movie makers to improve their quality. He made the remarks on the brink of the U.S. and China negotiating an annual foreign movie quota, VOA News reported.
Hai Xia, CCTV hostess who attended the news conference, noted that the confidence of Jackie Chan in Chinese culture is echoed by a recent nationwide passion toward learning and revaluing treasures from traditional culture. She pointed out that several TV shows have added to that trend.
Calligraphy
The art of calligraphy have also grown in popularity in schools in China and CPPCC member Su Sishu is behind a push to include it into the school curriculum. However, he admitted there is a problem of lack of calligraphy teachers in the country.
Another CPPCC member is also pushing to save traditional villages. An architecture authority has selected and enlisted 4,153 villages as representative ones. “Many people have left villages for cities. The problem is how to keep them, and help them get richer by not hurting the old architecture and customs of the traditional villages … The villages carry with them the country's memories, values and cultural genes,” Feng Jicai, writer and CPPCC member, said.