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May 26, 2005

Fakes

One who deals daily in cross-cultural exchange, as do I, recognizes the propensity for mimetic behavior towards the subject of one’s ardor. Chinese often criticize – while hiding a secret admiration - those few westerners who’ve become more “Chinese” than the Chinese themselves.

But we all copy. Our ability to mimic is a valuable tool that allows us to understand and to learn. [I’m definitely not referring to this.] The greater value to oneself and to humanity, however, is in going beyond mere replication towards the creation of something new, characteristic of oneself and yet never before expressed.

Chinese speak in the perjorative of Japanese civilization, some of the cornerstones of which without doubt pay homage to China, as if it was a poor imitation. But anyone with only a bare knowledge must acknowledge the distinctive, idiosyncratic Japanese-ness in something as commonplace as udon (うどん). Compare it with la-mian (拉面). Both are noodles, the first Japanese; the second, Chinese, but characteristically different in their ingredients, taste and texture. Each is redolent of its own culture and not of the other, despite their common root of origin in China. What began as a copy has been recreated anew.

Americans, knee-deep in fake designer clothing and auto parts and watches, bemoan the outright Chinese piracy of American intellectual property (while often enjoying it in the privacy of their own homes). Rightly so, but it is as if Americans had never indulged in similar behavior.

Americans were once intellectual property pirates themselves -- of European technology, of the published works of British authors, of consumer products produced by other Americans. [For some background, see this study, this paper and this book review.] The legal regime established to prevent piracy developed in America and the western world incrementally over the past 150 years.

The western world, especially Americans, however, steadfastly insist that the Chinese immediately create the legal, economic and ethical environment that will end Chinese IP piracy. It simply can’t be effected in a nation of 1.3 billion, where people copy with a clean conscience: Chinese haven’t been taught and do not grasp the idea that copying is considered to be theft. Generations may pass before they do.

Aside from the relatively narrow business issues of asset theft and loss of profits, we need to know -- to gather a wider understanding -- what the Chinese are copying, why are they copying it and where are they going with it.

The Japanese have the well-deserved reputation of taking the clay of foreign ideas and things and shaping them anew. [This paper deals with the topic.] Chinese appear to have, in a sense, mimicked this exact behavior. And Chinese aren't merely copying things to be sold at market for profit, but, in fact, have progressed well beyond to the level of social structures and ideas.

The ultimate question is this: will the Chinese move beyond mere replication to something newly creative and expressive of themselves? More discussion of this to come.

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