September 4, 2009
Founded through military conquest by the Manchus, a foreign power, and ended largely because the Manchu government failed to fend off Western colonists, the Qing Dynasty even today evokes a double humiliation among Han nationalists. So it is not surprising that a set of Qing Dynasty-related photos circulating on the Internet have caused a minor storm.
To observe September 1, the national back-to-school day, Hangzhou’s Ziyang Elementary School held a special ceremony in which teachers and students wore Qing costumes. According to principal Lu Aiping, this was intended to honor the school’s long history, which extends back to 1703 and the reign of the Kangxi Emperor.
Internet users saw it quite a bit differently. In a thread on Tiexue.net, someone commented: they look like a bunch of eunuchs. Another netizen said, Qing costumes are the ugliest.
History was evoked to make the argument more compelling:
At the beginning of Kangxi’s rule, Southern Ming minister Zhang Huangyan was captured and sent to Hangzhou to be dismembered. When the people saw Zhang in Ming style clothes, everyone shed tears. Now, 98 years after the Han drove out the aliens and recovered the country, how can these barbarian clothes still be the fashion? When they students wear barbarian clothes, do they even think of Zhang, who was buried by West Lake?
The newspaper report said that principal Lu has received scores of angry letters protesting the ceremony. One outraged citizen was afraid that his complaints would be ignored if he posted on the school BBS, so instead he hacked the school’s website and posted an open letter decrying the ceremony.
- Morning Express (Chinese): Elementary school’s website was hacked after Qing costumes caused controversy
- Another incident triggered by anti-Qing sentiment on Danwei: Historian slapped in the face for pro-Manchu views