【英语中国】中国对炒作西门庆孙悟空说不

People in China generally agree that it is important to celebrate the country's rich history, but its culture police think there is too much of the wrong kind of celebrating going on.

Two agencies, the Ministry of Culture and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, have banned the promotion of 'negative historical figures or literary works' for tourism purposes, theoretically ending a longstanding practice by Chinese cities of playing up their ties to racy cultural icons like the lustful Ximen Qing through festivals, theme parks and merchandise.

A few lucky destinations in China, like Mao's hometown of Shaoshan in Hunan province, are blessed with the notoriety of a state-approved celebrity, allowing them to rake in tourism dollars. But for most Chinese towns, bringing in tourists is hard work, which is made easier if they can stake a claim to someone famous, whether real, mythical or literary.

Disputes can flare up among towns claiming to be the original homes of the same popular character. Just before the Ministry of Culture announced the new rules, Loufan county in Shanxi declared itself hometown of the Monkey King, challenging the same claim made first by Lianyugang City in Jiangsu, according to a recent article on Xinhua's English-language website.

Critics say that this kind of cultural infighting is embarrassing to China, especially when attracting foreign dollars is the motive. 'It is better if these cities manage and protect their own cultural heritage and intangible cultural resources, rather than compete with each other and humiliate themselves,' Tongji University Professor Ruan Yisan was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

In the past, tourist stunts by Chinese towns have been heavily frowned upon by the public. A sex theme park called Love Land in southwestern China was demolished before it even opened, after inciting widespread condemnation. Earlier this year, public outcry forced government officials in Zhangjiajie to back away from plans to rename a local mountain 'Avatar Hallelujah Mountain' after the popular Hollywood movie.

The latest crackdown, however, goes further than any one campaign and promises to lay out strict guidelines for what is appropriate cultural celebration in the coming weeks. The Ministry of Culture notice put out on Monday prohibits giving a 'hometown' to a fictional character, building fake historical buildings and using 'sensational' tactics to draw media attention.

No word yet on whether the restrictions will apply to some Chinese cultural venues seen as tasteless by foreign tourists themselves. Chief among these are China's 'minority theme parks,' which offer mostly Han visitors a chance to gawk at real-life ethnic minorities engaged in traditional rituals like the Dai water-splashing festival. Last year, Kunming's 'dwarf theme park' drew fire from across the globe when videos of the dwarfs performing in tutus for ordinary-sized Chinese people turned up online.

中国人总的来说都认为中国的悠久历史值得宣扬，但中国的文化管理部门却认为，一些地方在对历史文化进行不合理宣扬方面做得太过分了。

Associated Press有朝一日成龙的故里是否也会被人拿来炒作？中国文化部和国家文物局已禁止出于发展旅游业的目的炒作负面文化现象、历史人物和文艺形象，从理论上说，这将终止中国一些城市长期以来通过节庆、主题公园和某些商品来宣扬自己与西门庆等低俗文化形象间联系的做法。

中国像毛泽东的家乡湖南韶山等为数不多的几个地区，由于出了中国经国家认可的名人，因此可以幸运地借助名人吃上旅游饭。但对中国大多数城镇来说，招徕游客却不是件易事，但如果它们能与某位名人拉上关系，不管这人是真实存在的，神话传说中的还是文学作品里的，则有利于它们吸引游客。

如果两个以上城镇同时宣称自己是某位名人的故里，它们之间就会爆发争执。新华社英文网站上最近刊登的一篇文章说，就在中国文化部宣布上述新规定之前，山西娄烦县刚刚宣布自己是美猴王孙悟空的老家，这对此前已宣称自己是孙大圣故里的江苏连云港市构成了挑战。

批评人士说，这种文化争夺战令中国尴尬，特别是当争斗的动机是为吸引海外游客时。新华社这篇文章援引同济大学教授阮仪三的话说，这些城市应该管理和保护好自己的文化遗产和无形文化资源，而不是相互竞争、自取其辱。

以往，中国公众曾对一些城镇为发展旅游业而使的花招非常不满。中国西南一座性主题公园甚至在开张前就被拆毁了，此前这座公园曾招致了广泛谴责。今年早些时候，公众舆论迫使湖南张家界的政府官员放弃了将当地一座山峰改名为“阿凡达哈利路亚峰”的计划。哈利路亚峰是好莱坞大片《阿凡达》中的一座山峰。

中国文化部和国家文物局这次整治行动的规模要大于以往任何一次，行动承诺会在未来几周内制定出如何正确举办文化庆典活动的指导原则。文化部周一发布的这则通知禁止对文艺作品中虚构的人物进行命名故里活动。

通知没有提到这些限制措施是否适用于中国一些被外国游客视为缺乏品位的景点。这些景点中首当其冲的就是中国那些“少数民族主题公园”，这些公园使主要为汉族人的游客有机会看到少数民族举行传统仪式时的真实场景，比如傣族的泼水节活动。去年，昆明的“侏儒主题公园”引发了全球各地的声讨，当时园内侏儒们身着芭蕾舞裙为正常身高中国人表演的视频被传到了网上。