Truth And Faith In The New China Analysis

China today, is unlike any other country on the planet. It is both authoritarian and democratic at the same time. This vastly different dynamic is what makes China so interesting to study. The idea of ambition from freedom and democracy versus control from the authoritarian nature of the state gives rise to a very odd relationship. The Communist party in China walks a thin line between the two and as a result its people walk an even thinner unknown line. The struggle between the two ideologies results in a country trying to adapt to 21st century values, while still holding on to their past. Evan Osnos’ book, Age of Ambition Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China, describes this tug-of-war battle between freedom and control that

In 1942 Mao said art should appeal to the “central melody” of Chinese culture (page 95). This simply means that art should go with the flow of Chinese ideals, specifically that of the government. Melody implies that things are working together in harmony. If art was going to adhere to that melody, it would have to line up with Chinese values. Under Mao, this idea was uniformity, equality and the superiority of the state. There was no room for any real personal expression, meaning art was not how we picture it today. Fast forward to today and Osnos examines the story of Chinese artist Ai Weiwi. Following the death of Mao, artists demanding more freedom and expression with their art. As protests and anger carried on, China had no choice but to allow for the freedom (page 96). Ai Weiwi has took full advantage of this situation and has thoroughly embraced the “free artist” idea. A major piece of Ai Weiwi’s work deals with an earthquake that occurred in China and the fallout from it. Using his traction as an artist, he was able to bring to light the fact that the Chinese government hid the names of the children killed in schools that collapsed from the earthquake (183). Using bookbags, he was able to represent each child with a bag. The scale alone from the 5,000 bags was enough to make a point that the Chinese government needed to make infrastructure changes in order to care about the safety of their people

Ai Weiwi noted that his email accounts were hacked by the government, extra surveillance cameras were put by his house and his abilty to produce his art in documentary form were prohibited (page 192). Things got so bad for Ai Weiwi that he was arrested for his art by the Chinese government (page 225). The Chinese government is trying to straddle control and freedom, however Ai Weiwi is a great example of the flaws associated. On one hand we see China giving artists more freedom. Or at least they say they are giving artists more freedom. The question becomes at what point does that freedom get revoked? For Ai Weiwi it would appear criticism of the government is where that line is drawn. If more freedom of expression was promised and then not kept in Ai Weiwi’s case, is it really freedom at all? Or is it more of a show for citizens and the rest of the