Culture is Hong Kong’s hidden asset
The birth of Hong Kong is a historical accident, and it is theoretically difficult to form a unique culture. Whether it was fate or coincidence, Hong Kong has developed a unique local culture since the 1960s and 1970s, especially in the film, television and music industry, which once swept the Chinese society around the world. Among them, it also contains the way of combining Chinese and Western styles.
Author: GUDORDI | 2023-03-01
Since the 1960s and 1970s, Hong Kong has developed a unique local culture. (Photo from Government Information Services Department)
Continuing from the above: “Those who do not plan for the overall situation cannot plan for one area”
“Looking at the ridges from the side and the peaks from the sides, the heights are different from near to far. I don’t know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain.”
─ Su Shi, “Inscribed on the Wall of the Western Forest”
In the last chapter, the author talked about the need to look at the current situation in Hong Kong from the perspective of the overall situation and the overall situation, and that the “Book of Changes” is an important part of the analytical structure of this series of articles. Basically, the emergence of Hong Kong stems from the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures, and the development and evolution of the entire city of Hong Kong over the past 180 years has also been based on the interaction between these two cultures. Since the “Book of Changes” and Fu Xi are the roots of Chinese culture, the author believes that it is necessary and important to have a deeper understanding of the “Book of Changes” and Fu Xi in order to look at the future of Hong Kong legend from an overall or even overall perspective. Perhaps, this is also one of the keys to whether the city of Hong Kong and its culture can reach another level.
Chinese culture is precious. When pruning a tree, don’t disturb the roots.
The interaction of yin and yang, Bagua, etc. are the basic concepts of the Book of Changes. In the author’s opinion, regardless of whether these concepts can withstand scientific verification, we have to admit that the logic and implicit philosophical depth and ontology are surprising and admirable. It can be said that Chinese culture has some very precious and extraordinary foundations, and its quality should not be inferior to any current human civilization with traces.
This leads to a question: What exactly is Chinese culture? This is a very profound and complex issue. To use the metaphor of the great British thinker John Stuart Mill mentioned earlier, if culture is like a tree, then the above concepts in the “Book of Changes” are the roots of Chinese culture. Over the past thousands of years, the tree of Chinese culture has grown many leaves and branches. If some of them are not in line with its original intention or are out of date, removing them or repairing them will not damage the tree. Continuing to grow and develop will even allow it to reach its potential.
However, if the process of cultivating the bow shakes the roots of the entire tree, it will be a completely different story. Once the roots are damaged, it becomes questionable whether the tree can continue to grow and whether it is the tree we originally knew it to be. Back to thinking about the future of Hong Kong, this is an important consideration. However, for the time being, let us turn our lens back to the specific situation of Hong Kong and the modern history of China, since both of them are inextricably related to the above big topic of Chinese culture.
Hong Kong culture is difficult to replace
As mentioned earlier, in 1841, British Foreign Secretary Palmerston described Hong Kong as “a desert island where it is not easy to find even a house.” At that time, Hong Kong’s only asset was its port. Over the past 180 years, Hong Kong has undoubtedly built up a lot of its own assets. However, considering the current international situation and Hong Kong’s internal social problems, one has to worry about how much of its past advantages can be sustained. However, no matter how the external environment changes in the future, Hong Kong should still have a very precious and special hidden asset that is difficult to be replaced by any other city, but that few people will notice and understand. This is its culture.
The birth of Hong Kong is a historical accident. It is even described by outsiders as being in a state of “borrowed place, borrowed time”, making it theoretically difficult to form a unique culture. Whether it was fate or coincidence, Hong Kong has developed a unique local culture since the 1960s and 1970s, especially in the film, television and music industry, which once swept the Chinese society around the world. It also contains the compatibility of Chinese and Western cultures.
There is no grand theory or blueprint for this kind of truth. It is the result of generations of Hong Kong people dealing with various life problems and struggling for survival. It is pragmatic and not fancy. It is “virtue created due to the needs of the environment.” (creating virtues out of necessity). From a macro perspective of Chinese culture, Hong Kong’s experience is worth learning from and making good use of. If so, it will break new ground for the city and further consolidate and advance its status as an international financial center and international city.
Do Hong Kong people not know their true colors?
However, most Hong Kong people do not seem to be very aware of this, just as many Chinese people may not be very aware of it. The spirit of the “Book of Changes” and Fu Xi have long been embedded in the marrow of Chinese culture. Could the reason be just like Mr. Dongpo’s famous poem inscribed on the wall of Xilin Temple: “I don’t know the true face of Mount Lu, just because I am in this mountain”?
“Hong Kong’s Legendary Future” Series 24
Contact the author: Gudordi@proton.me
