"Facial Calligraphy is Humiliating"... China Criticizes 'Pamyom' Chinese Character Tattoo

Korean Netizens React: "China's Narrow Perspective Is Rude"

Some Chinese netizens have started to pick faults over the movie 'Pamy?,' which has attracted a cumulative audience of 8.17 million and is currently a box office hit.

'Pamy?' (director Jang Jae-hyun), released on the 22nd of last month, is an occult mystery film depicting strange events involving a feng shui master, a mortician, and shamans who relocate suspicious graves for a large sum of money. The film has been sold to 133 countries worldwide. In the movie, the character Bong-gil, played by actor Lee Do-hyun, appears with a chukgyeong (Taeulboshingyeong) inscribed, which is used to ward off disease and misfortune and to exorcise ghosts and demons. There is also a scene where Hwarim (Kim Go-eun), Sang-deok (Choi Min-sik), and Yeong-geun (Yoo Hae-jin) have the Diamond Sutra inscribed on their faces as they head back to the grave.

Regarding this, a Chinese netizen posted on their X (formerly Twitter) account, "In China, writing or engraving on the face is considered a very insulting and humiliating act. It's ridiculous that Koreans write unknown Chinese characters on their faces. Words that sound cool in Korean become ridiculous when translated into Chinese."

In response, Korean netizens commented, "The Chinese characters used are different from those used in China," and "The movie was released in Taiwan on the 8th; how did you watch it? Are you causing a fuss over illegal viewing?" They argued that the characters inscribed in the chukgyeong are not Chinese but are used in various Asian countries, and criticizing them as if they were Chinese language is unreasonable.

There were also opinions that the criticism did not fit the context of the film. Comments included, "It should be seen as a shamanistic ritual rather than just Chinese characters," "Pamy? is a Korean film and is not at all insulting when viewed through our culture," "Are you jealous that Korean films are doing well?" and "China's narrow-minded perspective is the real international rudeness."

This is not the first time Chinese netizens have picked faults. Previously, SBS variety show 'Running Man' declared a 'boycott' when the cities of Beijing, the capital of China, and Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, were shown separately on a Monopoly game board. The group BLACKPINK was also criticized for not attaching 'China' after 'Macau' at an official event.