From: invalid@invalid.net   
      
   Bobbie Sellers wrote:   
      
   > On 10/7/22 10:40, John wrote:   
   > > Off topic - My question is about Chinese culture as portrayed in   
   > > Chinese web novels.  Many of the novels (translated from Chinese to   
   > > English) I've read seems to revolve around the concept of advancing   
   > > one's martial arts and cultivation prowress in order to grow   
   > > stronger either to dominate everyone else or to keep from being   
   > > dominated by someone else.   
   > >   
   > > But how widespread is that in Chinese culture actually?  How much   
   > > credibility should one give to that specific portrayal of Chinese   
   > > culture?   
   >   
   > 	Have you run into Clark Kent or Bruce Wayne lately in the USA?   
   > These are fictions and the stuff about excelling at Martial Arts is   
   > an old theme.  It might inspire children. Not sure of the Cultivation   
   > because I don't read much Chinese stuff.  Simply too much manga to   
   > keep up with.  Is the Cultivation about increasing Chi or Ki energy?   
   >   
   > 	bliss   
      
   Comparing those comic book characters with the impression I have of   
   Chinese characters is a red herring.  The results of their motivations   
   lead to completely different plots and story telling.  If I were to   
   extrapolate from the Chinese stories I've read to Chinese society as a   
   whole, you might decide the picture they present is a real-life society   
   that is focused on the premise that might makes right and that is the   
   only basis for relationships among people. I enjoyed cultural   
   anthropology, but my teachers were clear about the pitfalls of such   
   mental exercises, which is why I asked what I did.   
      
   wrt the cultivation, in some stories yes, but I don't understand it   
   much at all.  And I zone out once the author goes into too much loving   
   detail about how many major and minor divisions of a cultivation level   
   there are and keeping track of the variety of names used and just when   
   you think someone may have topped out their cultivation level, the   
   author introduces even higher levels to which the character can aspire   
   to reach.  I quit reading those sooner or later because that is not why   
   I read the story to begin with.   
      
   There are only three manga I like reading that I think are written for   
   the Chinese audience - "Versatile Mage", "Apotheosis" and "Star Martial   
   God Technique".  I've read some others, but that was only for awhile   
   and have forgotten their names.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)