This talk introduces the development of Tai Chi Quan from a wellness and self-defense exercise to a diplomacy vehicle in China since 1949, with a focus on its development after 1980s. Situated in the context of China’s risen power internationally, and the revival of traditional culture domestically, the talk shows how, through an ethnography study of the martial art of Tai Chi Quan in the village of Chenjiagou, Tai Chi Quan’s birthplace, and the transnational networks Tai Chi Quan masters have established, non-state actors and state actors have worked together in the development of Tai Chi diplomacy. The study argues that studies on China’s public diplomacy and soft power have focused on state efforts. Attention to the little studied collaboration model in Tai Chi diplomacy not only opens new space for the study of Chinese public diplomacy, but also sheds light on China’s evolving understanding and conduct of public diplomacy.
Speaker: Xiaoling ZHANG
Xiaoling zhang
Prof., Head of Department, Media and Communication, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.
Xiaoling Zhang has built up a research track record in the area of media, culture and society with a focus on China, especially in political communication, the advances of new information technologies and their political and social implications, and China's image building nationally and internationally. She has published widely on China’s creative industries, i.e., the film industry, the TV industry, new media technologies/social media, more recently focusing on their role in the nation’s attempt to refresh its image and to build international soft power.
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