Chinese characters top student survey of cultural symbols

Chinese characters are China's top cultural symbol, according to the results of a poll of about 2,000 university students, mainland media reported yesterday.

A joint research group led by professors from Beijing Normal University asked undergraduates at 24 universities in 18 provinces, cities or municipalities to choose their top 20 Chinese cultural symbols from a list of 270.

The others to make the top five were Confucius, calligraphy, the Great Wall and the national flag. Mao Zedong , Deng Xiaoping , the Forbidden City, Xian's terracotta warriors and traditional Chinese medicine rounded out the top 10.

Surprisingly, the top 20 symbols don't include the legendary Chinese dragon or Shaolin kung fu, even though Chinese people often identify themselves as 'Descendants of the Dragon' and are proud of the martial art, which has a history of more than a thousand years.

Instead, less famous Chinese cultural symbols made the top 20 list, including the Analects of Confucius, the four traditional Chinese forms of stationery (brush, inkstick, paper and inkstone), papermaking and ancient Chinese poems.

Academics who study propaganda say the dragon and kung fu could have been omitted because China wants to present a peace-loving image to the world as it exercises its 'soft power' to polish its international image and acceptance.