Will the Olympic Games change China?

Confucian tradition holds a strong faith in education as a means for creating a harmonious society. One of the main ways in which the "people's" Games will be realised is through Olympic Education on a scale never seen before. There are academic and professional conferences, textbooks and courses for public schools and universities, educational television and radio shows, magazine and newspaper essays, internet training, and more. BOCOG and Olympic scholars see the enthusiasm of volunteers as an opportunity to improve the public educational level and morality with education in Olympic history and values, traditional Chinese culture, Beijing history, public etiquette, international customs, foreign languages, and lifesaving first-aid skills. Currently 100,000 volunteers are slated to receive training, and BOCOG is considering multiplying that number several times. Because of the importance of foreign language skills and the goal of shaping the next generation, most of the volunteers will be college students.

This is indeed a way in which "Olympism with Chinese characteristics" will be promulgated throughout China.

Will China change the Olympic Games?

People are talking about the Olympic Games as an opportunity for China to learn knowledge from the West that will benefit China's development. They are not paying as much attention to the question of whether China can teach anything to the West. Likewise, OGGI will assess the impact of the Olympic Games on China and not China's impact on the Olympic Games. Although Chinese people believe that the result of the Games will be a "combination of East and West," if the Olympic Games are only a oneway process in which China learns from the West, then the cultural exchange will not be truly mutual.

The second goal of the "humanistic Olympic Games" is to display Chinese culture to the world and propel the Olympic Movement to become a truly multicultural, global cultural system. But it is not easy for a non-Western nation, even one with such a strong cultural heritage as China, to propel the Olympic Movement to become multicultural.

Actually, there is a great deal that Chinese culture could contribute to Olympism, such as the search for world peace or Da Tong, "the Great Harmony;" respect for human and national dignity; he er bu tong, "harmony despite differences;" and Tian Ren He Yi, "humans and nature as one." These philosophies will be expressed in the Chinese hospitality toward guest nations, the traditional sport of Wushu, the layout of the Olympic Green along the northsouth axis of Beijing according to the principles of Fengshui (geomancy), and in other ways.

Are we ready?

The Chinese slogan for Beijing's bid, Xin Beijing, Xin Aoyun, "New Beijing, New Olympic Games," was translated into English as "New Beijing, Great Olympic Games." It was felt that the rest of the world might not understand how China could create a "new" Olympic Games. China hopes that it will change the Olympic Games, but is the West really open to that possibility? Are we truly ready for "One World One Dream"?

About the author

Dr. Susan Brownell is Associate Professor and Joint Chair, Departments of Anthropology and Foreign Languages, University of Missouri-St. Louis, U.S. She first went to China as a university student in 1985, and won the gold medal in the heptathlon in the 1986 Chinese College Games.

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