Million-yuan statues of fictional heroes draw fire
By Li Qian |
August 2, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A LARGE investment in statues of two major characters in a renowned martial arts novel has put a historically important city in central China's Hubei Province at the center of a media storm.
Xiangyang City has spent 1 million yuan (US$156,900) building statues of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, a fictional couple in "Legend of the Condor Heroes," a hugely popular work of Louis Cha, China's bestselling kung fu novelist. Construction will be completed by the end of this month.
Guo and his wife, both legendary kung fu masters, died as martyrs in the fierce battle defending Xiangyang from Mongolian invaders in the late Song Dynasty (960-1279), in the novel of the Hong Kong-based writer.
Authorities planned the statues as a city icon and to boost tourism, according to local media reports.
The news triggered widespread controversy among netizens as many blamed authorities for squandering millions of yuan making sculptures of two fictional figures and promoting fabricated history to mislead visitors.
"Such a huge sum could have been applied to destitute residents," a commenter called Fenghuazhengmao said on local popular online forum, bbs.xfw.cn.
But other Internet users backed up the decision to build Guo and Huang as cultural symbols of Xiangyang. Proponents noted many overseas counterparts, such as the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen and the statue of Don Quixote in Spain.
"Fictional characters are also part of the city culture. We think of Denmark immediately when we see the Little Mermaid statue," a commenter called Guhongbeifei said.
Xiangyang City has spent 1 million yuan (US$156,900) building statues of Guo Jing and Huang Rong, a fictional couple in "Legend of the Condor Heroes," a hugely popular work of Louis Cha, China's bestselling kung fu novelist. Construction will be completed by the end of this month.
Guo and his wife, both legendary kung fu masters, died as martyrs in the fierce battle defending Xiangyang from Mongolian invaders in the late Song Dynasty (960-1279), in the novel of the Hong Kong-based writer.
Authorities planned the statues as a city icon and to boost tourism, according to local media reports.
The news triggered widespread controversy among netizens as many blamed authorities for squandering millions of yuan making sculptures of two fictional figures and promoting fabricated history to mislead visitors.
"Such a huge sum could have been applied to destitute residents," a commenter called Fenghuazhengmao said on local popular online forum, bbs.xfw.cn.
But other Internet users backed up the decision to build Guo and Huang as cultural symbols of Xiangyang. Proponents noted many overseas counterparts, such as the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen and the statue of Don Quixote in Spain.
"Fictional characters are also part of the city culture. We think of Denmark immediately when we see the Little Mermaid statue," a commenter called Guhongbeifei said.
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