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Controversy over Inclusion of Martial Arts Fiction in Textbooks |
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| 2005-3-9 www.crienglish.com | ||||
| The two excerpts are from Wang Dulu's ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' which was adapted into the Oscar-winning movie, and ‘The Demi-gods and the Semi-devils,' in Chinese ‘Tian Long Ba Bu,' by Hong Kong martial art novelist Jin Yong. The popular selections appear in two separate lessons of the text book under the category of ‘Magical Martial Arts'. The selection received a warm welcome from students. And most students started reading the two lessons as soon as they got their textbooks. Many have already read the entire novels. "I'm quite excited, because the novels I love can be selected for textbooks, and we can learn it in class." "Before, when I first read Jin Yong's novel ‘The Demi-gods and the Semi-devils,' my book was confiscated by the teacher because I was reading it in class. Now it's in the textbooks. That means there must be something worth reading about it." Martial art novels are hugely popular in campus. Ask any high school student and it's hard to find one who hasn't read a martial art fiction or isn't a fan of writer Jin Yong. And they have their own reasons for liking them. "They have their own literary values. Their way of story-telling is very unusual, something that inspires creative thinking." But many students have experienced having their beloved martial art novels confiscated by their parents or teachers because they think too many descriptions of fighting and romance scenes may be bad for the students. As a matter of fact, the suggestion to include Jin Yong's martial art sagas in text books began back in 2001. But it aroused hot debate over the theme and taste of the books and the plan was abandoned. Even now, many parents are still opposed to putting these excerpts into textbooks. "Quite a few high school students are still not adults yet, so they may not have as objective a view of these martial art novels as we adults do." Yet most experts have hailed the move. One educational expert Yu Xiulin says proper guidance is what needs to be given to the students. "Martial art novels are not popular for no reason. What we need to do is to give young people proper guidance so that they're not only attracted by the fighting scenes, but also get some literary value out of these works." Many students may find it funny that what they used to read under classroom desks is now in their textbooks. Putting aside debate over the value of martial art novels, the change itself is testimony to the increasingly open-minded thinking of China's educators. |
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