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2021 International Conference on Education, Humanity and Language, Art (EHLA 2021) ISBN: 978-1-60595-137-9

China's "" and 's Active Choice for the Korean Wave Xin-yue HU1,a 1School of Foreign Studies, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China [email protected]

Keywords: Korean wave, TV series.

Abstract. Hallyu has gradually exerted greater influence in China and even in the world. Through the development of Korean TV dramas imported to China, and compared to the development of Japanese TV dramas in China, the author found that the development of Korean TV dramas was influenced by the development of the Chinese society and reflected China’s active choose on the import of Korean TV series.

1. Introduction "Korean Wave" was first used on the Chinese media in the 1990s, and within a few years it has become one of the most common vocabularies in various media. After China introduced the first Korean TV drama "What is Love" in 1991, Korean TV dramas and Korean music and dance gradually became familiar to Chinese audiences, and gradually formed an important part of Chinese people's perception of . And after and Korean music and dance became popular in East , the Korean government supported more related industries in export in both economic and diplomatic aspects. The Korean Wave not only has an impact on China and , but also gradually spread across the world with the development of the Internet. Many scholars have worked to decode the popularity of Korean popular culture.

2. Literature Review Culture is a stable symbolic symbol and spiritual will created by people themselves. A specific cultural form constitutes the cultural identity of a specific group and affects the development of a country or region. As a part of culture, mass culture is the embodiment of technology in mass society. Cui Shiguang researcher of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences believes that popular culture is those that is supported by large cultural industries, copied through industrial way for the majority of the cultural market and cultural form of production and consumption of cultural goods. It is both a product of modern society, but also the object of mass consumption. Some Western scholars believe that the ideology of the country runs through popular culture, and some scholars believe that the essence of popular culture is the consumption demand generated by symbols. Popular culture mainly includes a series of subjects that have characteristic of popularity, commodity and transmissibility such as best-selling novels, movies, popular songs, games and animation. Some scholars believe that the development of Hallyu is mainly based on the overall development of Korean popular culture, and discuss the development history and influence of Hallyu in other countries. Therefore, it often be concluded that the uniquecultural "gene" that distinguishes Korean popular culture from Western culture or other East Asian cultures is an important factor among them. Modern and contemporary Korean historical and cultural "genes" have affinity with other countries in terms of ethics and values. This paper will focus on film and television to reflect the Chinese culture in Korea to accept popular culture when the active choice was made.

11 3. The Development and Characteristics of Contemporary Korean Popular Culture in Korea From the 1920s, the beginning of the development of 's popular culture, the development of mass media is one of the important factors in popular culture. The first Korean popular song was " 사의찬미 (死의 Praise)" released in 1926 . This song is a temporary recording after the female singer Yoon Sim-duk (윤심덕)went to Japan to record cover songs. It is said that when returning home after the recording is completed, Yoon Sim-duk and playwright Kim Woo-jin(김우진) both disappeared at sea shore. It is widely believed that they died in love. The spread of the song reflects the technological development of mass media at that time. The song was released in the form of a record, but the public found it mostly through radio stations. After that Japanese manga, animation and other aspects of popular culture were completely banned, but they were still translated into Korean in an unsigned manner and became well known to the Korean public.[1] Another important turning point in the history of Korean popular culture was Seo Taeji's debut. Seo Tae-chi’s songs caused a trend, which led to a sudden increase in the study of music in popular culture by Korean scholars. Scholars became aware of the influence of popular music itself on people and related industries. The first two stages of The Four Cultures Unrestrictions can be reflected in the refinement of 'kayokyoku' by kayo and popyura ongaku, and the influence of the native Japanese culture and the European and American cultural values and music culture that are passed to Korea after being interpreted by Japanese culture. In the following two stages (2002-2006), South Korea's acceptance of foreign cultures has further improved. In South Korea's popular culture, the further differentiation of Japanese popular music and film and television and directly from Western music forms such as Europe and the United States influenced the form and production of Korean popular music, film and television at that time. The support of the government and the trend of globalization have promoted part of popular music.

4. The Peculiarities of Korean TV Series Dissemination in China 4.1. The Development of Korean TV Dramas in China is Affected by Chinese TV Policies and Mass Communication On November 19th, 1999, "Beijing Youth Daily" used the word "Korean Wave" for the first time to report the unprecedented success of a famous Korean pop band's concert in Beijing. After that, it was widely used to describe the popularity of Korean pop culture abroad. After the introduction of the first Korean TV drama "What is Love" in 1991, the influence of Korean film and music on China gradually increased. The influence of the Korean Wave has been weakened by so-called “restriction on Korea”, even though no official document was issued. National Radio and Television Administration has restricted the visual Korean elements on television under the political relationship between China and South Korea that had cooled down rapidly due to the "THAAD" system in 2012. The influence of Korean film and television on China can be divided into three stages: the first stage from 1997 to 2005; the second stage from 2006 to 2012; and the third stage from 2013 to 2016.[2]. According to author, the rest will focus on two phases: 1991 to 2005; 2006 to 2012 to explore the special nature of the spread of Hallyu in China. China Central Television introduced a great number of foreign TV dramas in the 1990s, and introduced 133 foreign TV dramas within 10 years, which is 2.4 times more than that in the 1980s. In 1990 alone, 16 dramas were introduced, and in 1999 number even reached 20.[3] In the 1990s, China’s mainstream TV dramas had just underwent separation between producing from broadcasting; the high cost of TV dramas began to fall; China Central Television had a larger share of the TV drama market; the main themes of domestic TV productions were crime, ordinary people and cities Life, but the top-rated TV series are all historical and family comedy series. Among the imported dramas, TV dramas from and accounted for 53.6% of the broadcasts and 64.4% of the broadcast frequency. The number of TV series in Hong Kong is more than three times that of Korean TV series (Shanghai TV Festival Organizing Committee CCTV- Sofrey Media

12 Research, 2004, P223-226). Under the influence of the TV market, compared to the Taiwanese TV drama, Korean dramas impact of a different degree in the region: Taiwan drama affected the near Taiwan's southern China more; the influence of Korean drama in south is less than that in the north. In the mid-to-late 1990s, the number of TV stations broadcasting Korean TV series was higher than before. The main topics of TV series introduced were "romance and conflicts, career building and daily family lives in the urban area" [4] It took over the craze of Japanese youth dramas in the mid-90s. Another reason is the price of TV series. According to the Table 1, the price of Japanese TV series in Asia is far higher than others. Table 1. 1996 Asia Pacific TV Price List. Country Name TV series (USD/hour)

Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) 10000-50000 Japan Commercial Television 10000-60000 Korea 2000-4000 China 1500-2500 Hong Kong 1500-3500 American Business Network 80000-180000 American Public Television 1500-10200

In 2005, " became a phenomenon-level TV series in China, breaking the highest ratings in 13 cities, with more than 164 million viewers. National Radio and Television Administration immediately declared that Korean dramas are a means of cultural invasion. In 2006, TV stations that restricted Korean TV series to broadcast for no more than 20 hours a year, only introduced 7 Korean TV series. The revenue of Korean TV dramas that year fell from 101.6 million US dollars to 85.9 million US dollars. At the same time, TV drama-related staff blamed low-quality Korean TV dramas for occupying the Chinese TV drama market. Therefore, the main means for Chinese viewers to watch Korean TV series transferred from TV stations to the Internet. National Radio and Television Administration restricted overseas-produced programs not to exceed 25% of the total daily program duration, and prohibited the broadcasting of overseas-produced programs from 7 to 10 pm. With the gradual decrease in the influence of TV stations, the consumer groups affected by the Korean Wave have undergone a transition from middle-aged women to young women. 4.2. China's Overall Social Development Has Affected Choices From 1980 to 1989, CCTV's introduction of excellent TV dramas from socialist countries accounted for 26% of the total number of foreign dramas imported in the 1980s. After entering the 1990s, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China officially established the goal of reforming the socialist market economy system, and the introduction of foreign TV series gradually returned to the function of entertainment. Not only for the introduction of Korean dramas, for Europe and for each selected country drama limit on the number and theme reduced requirements. The media industry conducts all aspects of propaganda and guidance for consumer material culture, and adds social hierarchy, sensory enjoyment and ethical judgments based on family affection to material consumption. [5] We can see the changes in the China from the themes of the imported Korean TV series. Korean TV series exported to China are mainly divided into two categories: historical TV series and modern TV series. Although the "Dae Jang Geum" had reached the phenomenal level of drama, but historical TV drama after that generated controversy because of the authenticity of the historical events related to. In addition, there is a certain difference between the establishment of female images in "Dae Jang Geum" and the role modeling of other historical TV dramas: Dae Jang Geum’s female images are a kind of revolt to tradition or to the contemporary Korean society at that time. It is the modern product of . In the survey on the acceptance of TV dramas by Korean audiences and Chinese audiences, there is an implicit precondition in the views of Chinese

13 audiences, that is, China and South Korea are "same roots" and "culturally close." South Korea's audience that emphasize cultural differences and lack of understanding of Chinese modern drama ethics, resulting in the use of ethical perspective of Chinese drama. These two phenomena are similar. The presupposition itself is not an explanation but a result of the cultural closeness of the two societies or the two countries. Most Japanese TV dramas are star-oriented and romantic love stories, while Korean TV dramas pay more attention to plots rather than stars, and mainly reflect the plots of daily life. [6] Between 1980 and 1999, China was in a period of rising consumption of film and television. Before the introduction of modern Korean TV dramas , Japanese youth romance TV dramas mainly occupied the modern drama market. Both show the modern and prosperous urban life, and even Japanese TV dramas that have had a greater influence in China have a richer genre of themes . The influence of Japanese TV series such as "Volleyball heroic woman(燃えろアタック)" (1982), "Akai giwaku(赤 い疑惑)" (1984), and "Oshin(おしん)" (1985) throughout the country. The spirit of changing destiny and striving for self-improvement is the theme of the era. This change is not only reflected in the themes of Japanese TV dramas, but also in the themes of Chinese TV dramas. In the early 1990s, the entire entertainment industry in Japan ushered in a prosperous period. The production methods of local TV dramas are also undergoing reforms: the introduction of “trendy dramas” dominated by young producers, with idol actors and content related to the latest trends in society. Trend dramas mainly focus on love, friendship and other relationships in the context of urban life and the latest fashion rather than parent-child relationships. However, it should be noted that the daily life reflected in the background of urban life has the characteristics of the economically prosperous Japanese city at that time, and the previous theme of constant struggle has been weakened to a certain extent. Based on the comparison of the influence of the "Moon Nine(月曜日 九時)" TV series in Japan and in China, we found that although the producers consciously adopted realistic themes and targeted the audience to women, there is a big difference between the daily life of Japanese cities in the period of economic bubble and the urban life in China, where self-defeating is the main spirit of the times. By comparing the themes of TV dramas introduced from overseas, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the 1990s, it can be seen that modern life TV dramas from Japan and South Korea occupy most of the modern life TV market. Compared to the features of Japanese TV series, the plot of Korean dramas carried out to shape the relationship including friendship and romance in the background of city life, but retained portraying relationship of parent and child. The relationship of love is not only described through the contact between two people, but extends to more social relationships between parents and grandparents; even family relationships affect the setting of turning points in the process. In addition, Korean TV dramas are more subtle in dealing with similar plots, making the spirit of constant struggle more acceptable than Japanese TV dramas. Under the trend of consumerism and the shift to individualism, the theme of media reports in the global environment has begun to shift to the creation of "hero" images such as celebrities. The sensory enjoyment and physical aesthetics bestowed on celebrities can be traced in the overall social environment: for example, the anti-Korean music star reporting trend at that time can be an indirect proof. However, the choice of TV dramas about modern life in Japan and South Korea in the same period has little influence. From this we can see the changes in the influence of Japanese TV dramas and Korean TV dramas in the Chinese mass cultural consumer market. It is not so much the difference between Japan or South Korea’s own national cultural heritage, as it is the "modernization shift" under the influence of Western culture. Under the influence of the internal logic of Chinese popular culture. Chinese audiences and media cultural leaders introduced Japanese and Korean popular culture according to own needs, and retranslated them.

5. Conclusion The above believes that the propagation of Hallyu in China is mainly affected by China's media

14 policy, the development of mass communication technology, the development of the TV drama market, and the development of China's overall society. Comparing the changes in the influence of Korean TV dramas and Japanese TV dramas in China, China's spirit of "continuing struggle" under the "transformation to modernization" and its focus on human relations have influenced the market of early Chinese dramas.

Reference [1] Lee Young-Mi's other. “Hûngnam Pudu ûi Kûmsuninûn Odiro Kassûlkka (Where is Kûmsuni from Hûngnam Wharf”. 2002 [2] Eun-Young Jung. “Transnational cultural traffic in northeast Asia: the “presence” of Japan in Korea’s popular music culture”. 2001 [3] Teng Jiguo, "Overview and Analysis of the Introduction of Foreign TV Series", "Young Reporter", 2014. [4] Kim, J.-E. “‘Korean wave in China’ : its impact on the South Korean-Chinese relations”. 2011 [5] Qin Zhixi, Liu Min, "Consumerism Trends in News Media", "Modern Communication", 2002. [6] Li Xuyuan. "Korean Wave" in the Change of Chinese Mass Culture", "Contemporary Korea", 2007(03):86-90.

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