Hanbok and Arirang were claimed, now even Buchaechum stolen?..."No matter how much China wraps it as its culture, it's Korean culture"

VANK Distributes Posters Opposing Chinese Cultural Imperialism

The fan dance poster emphasizing Korean culture
Photo by VANK

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Nayeon] The cyber diplomatic envoy VANK has created a poster stating "The fan dance is a Korean national product; no matter how much it is packaged as Chinese culture, the fan dance is Korean culture," and has been distributing it on social networking services (SNS) since the 6th.

This poster is produced in both Korean and English and was made by VANK to oppose China's cultural imperialism.

In the upper right corner of the poster, a Taeguk mark clearly emphasizes that the fan dance is Korean culture. Along with distributing the poster, they plan to raise a global petition to garner international support.

According to the petition, the fan dance, which uses fans, is a dance that highlights the harmony of yin and yang developed during the modernization of traditional Korean dance, and is a representative performing art deeply imbued with Korean sentiment.

However, when searching for 'fan dance' on China's Baidu (百度) encyclopedia, it is introduced as "one of the forms of Chinese folk traditional dance developed over a long history by ethnic groups such as the Han, Hani, and Joseonjok."

It further explains, "The Joseonjok fan dance originated from the traditional shamanistic practices of the Joseonjok and later developed into a performance dance. (Omitted) It expresses the unique rhythm of the Joseonjok, their implicit yet hidden inner emotions, curved movements, and free performance."

The logic is that since the Joseonjok are part of China, all Joseonjok culture belongs to Chinese culture. Therefore, the fan dance is also considered Chinese culture according to their argument.

A minority ethnic girl wearing hanbok is greeting at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. / Photo by Opening Ceremony video capture

China claims not only the fan dance but also Hanbok and Pansori as their own.

A representative example is the Hanbok controversy, where a girl wearing Hanbok appeared during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics held last February, sparking controversy.

China has claimed for several years that Hanbok is 'Hanfu (漢服)' and that they are the originators. Netizens responded critically, saying "This is practically the Northeast Project" and "China is trying to steal Hanbok."

Recently, China has also shown movements to disguise Korea's Arirang folk song as their own culture.

According to VANK on the 16th of last month, China's largest portal site Baidu claims, "Arirang is the culture of the Joseonjok, and since the Joseonjok are part of China, these cultures are all part of Chinese culture," and there are also claims that Korean folk songs belong to Chinese culture.

VANK has labeled these claims as 'cultural imperialism' and has conducted several campaigns opposing them.

In the petition, VANK appealed to people worldwide, saying, "We strongly criticize China's cultural imperialism that tries to take away Korean culture. Please participate in the petition to stop this cultural imperialism and protect Korea's heritage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.