Sentiments like this is exactly why we need to deconstruct the conversation around what it means to be “civilized” or to have good social skills/manners/creativity. We must stop defining our achievements solely under the framework of western approval & appreciation. 1/ https://twitter.com/china_takes/status/1388250718914576384

What is civilized? Dictionaries defines it to be characteristics of a state of civilization, or of a very developed culture and way of life. That surely extends to all cultures & civilizations, not only western ones. As a result its definition changes from culture to culture. 2/

Use tea as an example: at a basic level we share a common understanding of what’s (un)civilized: making tea in a microwave is a hate crime. But the specificities differ: matcha vs brewing, serve w/ milk or spices vs w/o, etc. Same applies to etiquette in public & taste in art. 3/

I used to joke that the minimum requirement of being civilized is removing the strings when serving green beans. Bottom line is, there doesn’t exist a fixed set of rules of “civilized”that covers all human interactions. Instead, just be aware of & respect the differences. 4/

Low/high intelligence on social skills & emotions is even more complex. Cultures w/ diff value systems have diff definitions for the optimal communication approaches. (I’ll ignore the bigoted undertone that 1 ppl overall have lower intelligence on certain aspects for now.) 5/

East Asian languages are generally more contextual than structural comparing to Latin & Germanic languages. So eastern cultures sometimes focus more on what’s not said & western 1s focus more on what is said. See the concept of high vs low context cultures. 6/

It is only when ppl frame everything under a western-centric mentality that they perceive being different as being worse, and that is deeply bigoted. Making characterizations like low vs high intelligence or “civilized” vs “barbaric” is a quick way to descend into racism. 7/

This western-centric mentality is also the go-to tool for forcing cultural conformity on immigrants: pressuring them to over & over again defend their humanity & prove their civility thru ideological & cultural conversion. This in and of itself is degrading.

But I digress. 8/

A big misconception when it comes to art & creativity is that it only means high culture. But even 3000 years ago we realized that art is as much for the grassroots as it is for the high society. Classic of Poetry (诗经) breaks it into 3 genres and 1 is folk (风 or “wind”). 9/

Art has always included the folksy, the kitsch, and even the vulgar at times. People who tend to dismiss such creations as “not elegant” or worse “not art” often don’t realize that aesthetics are ever evolving, and no 1 generation is the be all end all of it. 10/

Greek statues that many considered to be 1 of the pinnacles of art creation also looked way more colorful & campy in their time. Sophistication of techniques aside, at the core, those and crude Buddha busts some village folks make today are both art. 11/ https://www.cnn.com/style/article/gods-in-color-ancient-world-polychromy/index.html

Ultimately, who are we (or anyone for that matter) to judge if a group of ppl have high/low intelligence in art? We are all seeing the world at a tiny moment in time thru our individual narrow lenses. Beauty & ugliness are concepts that are specific to time and environment. 12/

Of course there are still a lot of ppl who don’t yet have sufficient access to education in China. But it is by far not “most Chinese” and I completely reject the notion that associates this with being civilized, emotional intelligence, or ability to appreciate art. End/