China must make its mark on global language map on its own terms
Thorsten Pattberg calls on scholars, artists and writers to promote the use of Chinese words
Most people believe that the secret to promoting Chinese culture is to have as many foreigners as possible studying the Chinese language. But there is a better way.
The difference between promoting and inhibiting one's culture often lies in "translation". All writers should be aware of the unwritten law of "cultural property rights" - when to translate, what translation does, and where to avoid it.
The English language is often hailed as the "international language", but it is not the global language. In fact, the global language will have to adopt tens of thousands of non-European concepts from China, India and Japan. The list goes on.
Currently, great efforts are made by Chinese scholars to promote East Asian terms into the global lexicon: Chinese words like tianxia (which is often translated to "under heaven"), shengren (a sage) and junzi (a gentleman), and even the mythical long (dragon).
The reason is simple: scientists so far may have indexed the animal and plant kingdoms, and the material world, but we're only just putting together a taxonomy of culture.
Capitalism has taught us that nations should compete for market share, natural resources and human capital. In fact, nations should also compete for their terminologies. The main task for Chinese artists, writers, journalists and academics is (no matter how international they are), as I see it, to choose the correct Chinese names and terms each and every time over misleading English translations.