Opinion | How can Hong Kong keep its cultural spirit burning bright? Be like the French, start a Cantonese Academy
- Jesse Friedlander says Hong Kong has the potential to become a cultural hub for Cantonese speakers. It should take a leaf out of France’s book and start an academy to promote and protect the Cantonese language and culture
While Hong Kong has strong connectivity to Cantonese speakers both inside and outside the mainland, few recognise its potential to become a cultural hub for southern Chinese. Instead of drifting from its roots, Hong Kong should look to France as an example of how to promote and safeguard its unique heritage.
Cantonese has a long history. Because it retains more of the tones and final consonants of Ancient Chinese than other major Chinese languages, it is that much closer to the language spoken in the Tang dynasty, arguably China’s richest period culturally and artistically. Consequently, the rhythmic beauty of classical Chinese poetry – especially Tang poems – is better expressed in Cantonese than Mandarin. Also, thousands of Chinese loan words in the modern Japanese and Korean lexicons sound closer to Cantonese than Mandarin.
When travelling through cities in eastern and central China, visible regional differences, linguistic or otherwise, are so small that a foreigner could be forgiven for assuming China has always been a homogeneous country. On the contrary, throughout its dynastic history, China was committed to the ideal of a unitary multi-ethnic state, with distinct population groups linked by mutual appreciation, affection and a shared allegiance to the central political authorities.
The Chinese Communist Party continued this tradition by embracing regional, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity. On the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the government officially recognised 55 ethnic groups, in addition to the majority Han.