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1、A Centurys DanceMy great-great-grandfather was very nervous, even though he had done it thousands of times.He and his teammates held their breath in total darknesswaiting for the music. At the age of 101, he knew it was likely his last chance to compete in a dancing contest.The drums kicked in and,
2、slowly but surely, he started the moves of Gaoshan - a folk dance unique to my part of China.The music was serene. the motion was graceful. and everything was so harmonious.And then, everything changed!The tempo sped up. The dancers started shaking their hips. It was completely unexpected but yes, t
3、hey were dancing modern disco.I was delighted, but not everyone liked it. Some argued that the traditional dance was compromised by the inclusion of Western fluff.So I asked Angong, “Why not just do a typical Gaoshan dance?”“Are you kidding me, sweetheart?” he replied. “Where would we be without som
4、e clashes and conflicts?”That was Angongs gut reaction, but what he implied set me thinking. “Where would we be without some clashes and conflicts?”Looking back on the life of my great-great-grandfather, it was a journey marked by clashes every step of the way.When he was a teenager, Chinas door was
5、 busted wide open. He cut off his ponytail following the end of Qing-Chinas last feudal Dynasty. During the day, cars ran alongside rickshaws. At night, jazz clashed with Chinese opera. Dancing was a luxury reserved for the rich and privileged.When the Peoples Republic was founded in 1949, Angong da
6、nced on the streets with joy.After years of unrest, he felt a sense of belonging and new possibilities. That was the moment he knew he wanted to be an artist.After the Cultural Revolution, Angong witnessed Chinas reform and opening-up. Both Deng Lijun of Taiwan and the Carpenters of America were hug
7、e stars at the time. For the first time in years, Angong didnt have to follow one set of doctrines or one form of dancing for that matter.Angongs personal journey mirrored the transformation of a nation, a transformationencapsulated in the life of a man who pursued artistic expression.Please remembe
8、r, Angong and his generations were born into a China that was struggling to keep at bay an outside world that threatened Chinas self-perception and self-rule.A century later, this is a different China, and fortunately, a China that has learned lessons history had to offer, and now it seeks to re-eng
9、age the west.Angong was a man of his times, but he has always been open to new voices, new ideas, new dances. He adapted, changed and grew by learning from the world around him, both Chinese and Western.By being open to each other, we can grow in unexpectedly beautiful ways, just like my Angongs dis
10、co Gaoshan dance. Ladies and gentlemen, I implore you to join my great-great-grandfather and me as we dance with a spring in our step into that great unknown that will be our future.Cultural clashes vs. coexistence between China and the West: My personal perspectiveThere is a place in the world wher
11、e traditional Chinese architectures can be found near decorated churches and mosques; where citizens celebrates Lunar New Year as well as Christmas and Easter; where in restaurants chopsticks lay side by side with knives and forks; where people on the street speaks both Chinese dialects and fluent E
12、nglish; where East meets West; where cultures clash and coexist.Honorable judges, ladies and gentlemen. You now get where I am referring to: Hong Kong. It is the city I am from. And I will give you my personal perspective.I am part of my universitys English Debating Team. This year we have two excha
13、nge students, a girl from Beijing and a guy from the United States. In one debate, the motion was “Liberal democracy should be the only form of government.” The American argued for the affirmative by justifying how liberal democracy upholds self determination; the Beijing girl debated on the negativ
14、e by refuting self determination as the supreme goal overriding social development. It was a particularly heated debate probably because of the two members background, or because they had genuine opinion on the issue. But after the debate we all went for friendly chats and beer.What has my debating
15、story to do with our theme? It came to me that my team is like a miniature Hong Kong, a society that sees cultures clash and coexist. I find the analogy inspiring on two levels.On the first level, cultural clashes and coexistence are never mutually exclusive. Our team members are made to disagree wi
16、th the opposite side. But after the exchange of arguments and ideologies we can still sit down and hang out. Hong Kong works pretty much the same way. People have different styles. Westerners are passionate, while Chinese appears conservative. Westerners prefer direct criticisms; while Chinese exhibits courtesy. We do not concede to avoid conflict, yet despite these div
