The Research On The Dissemination Of Chinese Wushu In US Under Cross-Culturai Background

Despite of the pretty fruitful research on the international dissemination of Wushu, there is still not much thorough and systematic research on a specific country in this field. This thesis thoroughly introduces the history of the dissemination of Wushu in US based on the status quo thereof in US, and discusses the channels for current dissemination of Wushu in US and the relationship among those channels in view of the current social background. This thesis has been written with a cross-cultural background under the guidance of the basic theory of cross-cultural dissemination, with various methods and approaches applied, such as literature law, fieldwork, interviewing, oral history, case study, questionnaire survey, mathematical statistics, logical analysis, etc. Moreover, 5W analytic structure is applied in the thesis for further analysis and explorative research upon those factors related to the international dissemination of Chinese Wushu, with the following conclusion reached:1. The dissemination of Chinese Wushu in US, with Wushu as the dissemination sample for this research, is the process in which Wushu is disseminated to other cultural and/or geographical spheres with the expectation that Wushu may be recognized and accepted by another group of peoples of the cultural backgrounds other than Chinese. Hence it is typical cross-cultural dissemination. And the dissemination concurrently goes across the borders of different countries, and thus the dissemination occurs among different countries, so such dissemination is also international.2. Wushu have shouldered the discourse responsibility of making westerners know more about China as a country of long history, and understand and feel the essence of Chinese culture. Demonstrating the physical culture with Chinese characteristic is the superficial layer of Wushu, while the focus of the dissemination of Wushu is to develop and expand the core value of the national culture, to cultivate the sprite of Chinese nation, and to uphold the pride of national culture. Wushu should be disseminated to and among western countries in accordance with rules and orders, and the disseminators shall have the right to develop and maintain the discourse rules.3. The dissemination of Wushu in US has experienced four stages, i.e. The Gold Rush period, Cold War, the Rapprochement of Sino-US Relation, and period of globalization. The dissemination and development of Wushu in each stage of period was related to and influenced by the international political, economic, and cultural environment and demonstrate different cultural characteristics. The overall trends of Wushu dissemination has been the shift from skill inheritance to culture dissemination.4. The dissemination of Chinese Wushu in US depends on various channels such as official Wushu organizations, civil Wushu schools, television, stage shows etc. The various channels interacted and play different roles and complemented with each other thus forming a three-dimensional network for the dissemination of Wushu in US. The dissemination of Wushu training schools and institutes are the important channel through which Chinese Wushu strikes its roots in USA. Chinese migrants are the main forces of Wushu dissemination, but most migrant disseminators are still disseminating Wushu as a livelihood.5. The disseminated contents of Chinese Wushu in US are rich and diversified, and can be roughly divided into three areas such as modern athletic Wushu, traditional Kungfu and Tai-Chi. However, the concepts are confusing. The reason for the chaos is the lack of an organization capable of take the lead for the orderly and healthy development of Wushu in US, and the lack of a system for the standardized and marketized development of Wushu. As the subject for the spread of Wushu, both official and private Wushu disseminators in US play a vital role. Their ability, qualification, culture and sense of responsibilities all affect the outcome of the dissemination of Wushu.6. The survey on US learners shows that the dissemination of Chinese Wushu still stays at a comparatively low level. Most exerciser are Chinese Americans and Asian Americans, more than half of which are children and juveniles. Age and sex difference, ethic divergence, different educational level and different exercising content all influence the motivation of learning and exercising Wushu. The general strategy on the dissemination of Wushu should be formulated to meet the demand of various countries, groups and ages; the audiences’ ways of approaching the information about Wushu is diversified, and the joint effect of multiple media channels such as print media, film and TV, stage media, the Internet, etc. should be adequately utilized for the dissemination and promotion of Wushu.7. The main driving force for the spread of Chinese Wushu in US comes from the inosculation of the core value embedded in Wushu itself and the realistic need under the background of globalization and internationalization, such as the favorable environment in terms of politics, economy and culture, the driving force from the government, and the continuously improved awareness of citizens, and the practical need to expand overseas Wushu market and to address the issue of unemployment, etc. There are still factors holding back the dissemination of Wushu, such as the cultural obstacles from the image of foreign culture, understanding obstacles due to the confusing contents of dissemination, and the specific obstacles due to loose management and disordered competition, and the management obstacles for the lack of top-level design and planning.8. The Spread of Chinese Wushu in western countries, especially in US, is the demand of Wushu itself for its survival and development, and is a crucial method to develop China’s international image, and it is also the only and feasible way to develop and expand the spirit of China. The dissemination of Wushu currently encounters many problems and difficulties in the US, however, we should still notice the advantage and strength of Wushu. The concept and modes of “Joyous Wushu” should be an innovative thought to implement the cultural output through the international dissemination and spread of Wushu.Today, people are gradually becoming aware of the irreplaceable cultural influence on the improvement of the comprehensive strength of a country. Chinese Wushu(Wushu), one of the most important carriers of Chinese culture, must expand its horizon beyond the boundary of countries while confronted with the background of an overwhelming trend of globalization, so as to assume the responsibility of disseminating the traditional Chinese culture, national spirit and enhancing the international influences of Chinese culture.