Now as we heard yesterday on BON News, the long awaited film on the life of Confucius opened up in cinemas across the country this weekend. But to mixed reviews so far. And there is still the lingering controversy over the pulling of 2D versions of the US blockbuster Avatar to make room for the Chinese historical biopic.
In his blog, Han Han says that after watching the film he would give it a miserly two out of ten. One to encourage Chow Yun-fat, as he's normally a good actor. And one because the director is a woman, of which there are too few, and he wants to encourage her.
Just down from the Lama Temple in Beijing lies one of the most famous streets in China, Guozijian. On the street, lies another tourist attraction, the Confucius Temple. The top two high school students from Beijing were recently honored in a ceremony at the temple, and BON's Mark Dreyer was there to witness it in today's special feature.
Much is being made of China's soft power projection abroad thanks to its smart use of its Confucius Institutes to get people interested in the Chinese language and culture. Now China hopes that Xinjiang can serve as a base for a cultural push into Central Asia. But, as BON's Tom Spender reports, Confucius may be in for a bumpy ride.
Young people now are mostly the only child in the family. They have a weaker sense of being good to their parents. So I think an institution teaching Confucianism can help to propagate Chinese traditional culture. Confucianism is also quite popular in countries outside China. I think we should pay more attention to it.