Hanbok and Kimchi Weren’t Enough—Now China Claims Pizza, Too

Sensor Studio

Who invented kimchi, hanbok, pizza—or even skiing? This video explores some surprising and hotly debated cultural-origin claims, compares the stories, and asks why cultural identity matters. Watch along and tell us what you think!  Subscribe to our channel for more lively videos. Tell us in the comments what you liked most about the video!  #Culture #History #Food #Traditions #Education  👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@센서스튜디오  0:00 - China’s Claims About Hanbok 1:24 - Kimchi and Pao Cai 2:35 - Claims About Kimono 3:12 - Claims About Egyptian Civilization 3:55 - Claims About English and Other Languages 4:43 - Claims About Pizza’s Origins 5:21 - Claims About Skiing’s Origins 6:16 - Cultural Appropriation and Its Consequences

Transcript

00:00Everyone, this is Sengzel Sense, where you learn common sense.

00:02China boasts a 4,000-year history and is a country with countless cultures and a long-standing history.

00:06But everyone, did you know that?

00:07The fact is, the cultures that China claims today are not actually theirs.

00:10Today, I brought a few examples of cultures that China claims but are actually from completely different countries.

00:13These crazy people say everything is theirs.

00:15Let's get started now.

00:16The first example is hanbok.

00:17Have you heard about the incident where China claimed hanbok, Korea's traditional clothing, as their own traditional attire?

00:21At the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a woman wearing hanbok appeared, causing a big controversy.

00:27The Chinese side claimed that the culture of ethnic Koreans in China is also part of Chinese culture, and presented

00:31hanbok as Chinese culture.

00:32That's just crazy talk.

00:33In fact, China's attempt to present hanbok as its own culture has been going on for quite a long time.

00:37It's estimated to have started at least 30 years ago, since the 1990s.

00:40In China, they've tried to incorporate hanbok at the national level under the pretext that it's the traditional clothing of

00:45the ethnic Korean minority, but that doesn't make any sense.

00:48If ethnic Koreans in China wear traditional Korean clothing, does that make it Chinese?

00:51It's like if you use a Xiaomi phone, Xiaomi claims you're Chinese.

00:54Does that make any sense at all?

00:55Of course not, right?

00:56In 2020, China's actions like this started to intensify.

01:00They began to say that Korean hanbok was heavily influenced by Chinese hanfu, and even claimed that hanbok is just

01:06one type of hanfu.

01:07But that's not true at all.

01:08Hanfu and hanbok are completely different.

01:10Hanbok comes from the northern nomadic tribe's clothing styles, while hanfu is based on the clothing of southern settled peoples.

01:16Hanbok has always included pants from the beginning, while hanfu only had skirts.

01:20There's a difference right there.

01:21How can hanfu be considered hanbok?

01:23Now, they're just asking to get criticized.

01:24Another difference with China is their proud claim about kimchi.

01:27In 2020, Chinese state media reported that kimchi actually originated from Sichuan's pao chai in China.

01:31They even went as far as to say that China is the original home of kimchi.

01:33Honestly, that's just nonsense that deserves to be shut down with a kimchi refrigerator.

01:37It seems like they're just picking and choosing.

01:38Honestly, just by looking at them, there's a big difference between kimchi and pao chai.

01:42Even the way they're made is different.

01:43In the case of pao chai, it's salted vegetables that are fermented, or sometimes boiled and then fermented, so it's

01:48basically pickled vegetables.

01:50Pao chai is actually closer to pickles than to kimchi.

01:52But as you all know, kimchi is made by mixing vegetables with salt and things like fish sauce, then fermenting

01:56it in a kimchi refrigerator or a traditional jar before eating.

02:00But they're claiming that kimchi is their food just because it's also a type of pickled vegetable.

02:03Honestly, by that logic, pickles would also be considered Chinese food.

02:06And they keep insisting that it's part of Chinese food culture because it's from one of China's ethnic minorities.

02:10They make similar claims about hanbok as well.

02:11But it doesn't make sense because even today's Chinese Koreans originally migrated from Korea to the Manchurian region.

02:16Their roots are ultimately in Korea.

02:17But saying that just because those people have their own food culture, it automatically becomes Chinese food culture doesn't make

02:22sense.

02:23And it also doesn't make sense to claim that the culture of people who migrated and became part of another

02:27country is now your own culture.

02:28It's like if a Chinese person goes to America, becomes an American, and makes Chinese food there,

02:32then claiming that Chinese food is now American food.

02:34It's the same thing.

02:35The food made by Chinese Americans, we call it Chinese food, not American food, right?

02:39There are even cases where people claim that the Japanese traditional clothing, kimono, is actually traditional Chinese clothing.

02:44In the Tencent exclusive drama Love Like the Galaxy, the characters appeared wearing outfits similar to kimonos.

02:48The clothes worn by the actors had a decorative knot at the waist called musubi, which is a kimono accessory.

02:53But the problem is, in traditional Chinese clothing, there is no such style.

02:56The knot is also tied in the traditional way used in kimonos.

02:59Some scholars claim that the ancient Chinese hanfu is the origin of the kimono.

03:03If you look at the early form of the kimono, just as our hanbok came from the upper garment and

03:07trousers style of the northern equestrian tribes,

03:09you can see that the Japanese kimono is also similar to the upper garment and trousers style.

03:13It was brought over from Korea and became the Japanese kimono.

03:15From the beginning, that's how cultural transmission happens, so it's only natural.

03:18And as I was looking into this, there was something I found most interesting.

03:20There are even claims that China created Egypt.

03:22China uses the bronze basin displayed at the Izako Museum as evidence.

03:25They are claiming that they created Egyptian civilization in the case of this bronze basin.

03:29It is estimated to be an artifact from the spring and autumn period between 770 BC and 476 BC.

03:35And from the perspective of medicine and medical technology as well,

03:38they claim that ancient Egyptian medicine is the same as traditional Chinese medicine,

03:41and that the methods of measurement and surveying are the same as those commonly used in China.

03:44In the end, they argue that Egyptian civilization is actually Chinese civilization.

03:48Of course, it was just one researcher who said this,

03:50but now they're even claiming that Egyptian civilization is their own culture.

03:52It's just unbelievable.

03:53And I've even heard things like this, that English, they say the Chinese dialect,

03:56the World Civilization Origin Research Association claimed,

03:58after studying historical records for over 20 years,

04:00that Western civilization is a subordinate civilization of Chinese civilization.

04:04I think they're crazy.

04:05And then, they gave several examples as evidence that English is a dialect of Chinese.

04:08According to this association and their research,

04:10the Chinese word lu'ohua, which means falling leaves, is pronounced yellow.

04:13And they even claim that this is the origin of the English word yellow.

04:15So, since the ginkgo leaves that fall in autumn are called lu'ohua,

04:18they claim that the English word for the color yellow came from the Chinese pronunciation yellow for lu'ohua,

04:23Also, they say that the word for the core or center of an object in Chinese is he.

04:27They claim that the English word heart, which means heart, chest, or core,

04:30was pronounced similarly and originated from the Chinese word.

04:32They also claim that the English word shop, which means store,

04:35sounds similar to the Chinese word for store,

04:37and that English is ultimately a Chinese dialect.

04:39And they also claim that Korean, Japanese, and Russian are all kinds of Chinese dialects.

04:42In fact, these are claims not even worth refuting.

04:45They even said that pizza is a Chinese food.

04:46There's a story that Marco Polo, the Italian explorer, visited China,

04:49ate a dish called chongyubing, which is similar to a leek pancake,

04:52and then went back to Italy and made pizza based on that.

04:54They said that.

04:55But actually, this chongyubing is more like a type of pancake than pizza in terms of appearance.

04:59So it's quite different from pizza.

05:00In the first place, dishes with cheese or herbs on bread have been found in many Western cultures.

05:04If you really think about it,

05:05there are historical records from ancient Greece showing that people ate bread topped with cheese and herbs,

05:09so it probably started back then.

05:10In fact, the idea of putting something on flatbread and eating it is actually quite common.

05:13It's such a common dish that it's hard to say exactly where it originated,

05:16but one thing is certain, it's not from China.

05:18Marco Polo.

05:18Marco Polo is believed to have traveled to Asia around the 13th century.

05:21Even back then, there was already a form of pizza.

05:23Also, in 2022, when China hosted the Beijing Winter Olympics,

05:26they claimed that skiing originated in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

05:30China.

05:30At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics,

05:32the final torchbearer was introduced as Dineje Ilamujang,

05:34an athlete from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

05:36From the origins of human skiing to the Olympic torch and the torch stage,

05:39the media covered it extensively.

05:40Chinese researchers discovered petroglyphs in the Altai region of Xinjiang,

05:43in 2005, depicting people walking on skis.

05:45Experts believe these petroglyphs were carved 10,000 years ago,

05:48and they have announced these findings.

05:49They claim that skiing originated in China.

05:51However, the problem is that an Australian-Chinese archaeological team

05:53investigated the age of these petroglyphs

05:55and estimated them to be from 4,000 to 5,000, 200 years ago.

05:59They also concluded that the earliest skis are estimated to be from 6,000 BC.

06:02This is in the Karelia region, where the borders of Finland and Russia meet.

06:05Today, skiing has become a sport.

06:07Skiing, as a sport, developed in the mid-1800s in the Scandinavian region with Nordic skiing,

06:11and around the same time, Alpine skiing, which is advantageous for going down slopes in the Alps,

06:15also emerged.

06:16China doesn't really have a place in this history.

06:17They don't have their own history in this regard.

06:19The serious issue here is that China systematically turns other countries' cultures into their own.

06:23For example, foreigners don't really care which country Hanbok comes from.

06:26But on the English Wikipedia, they write as if Hanbok is a traditional Chinese culture,

06:29so foreigners who aren't really interested just see this and end up believing it.

06:32And even if someone tries to correct it,

06:33China systematically edits it back, so there's really no way to win.

06:35Because of this, not only our country, but also the cultures of many countries around the world

06:39are being turned into China's own.

06:40This kind of cultural appropriation by China is not something we can just laugh off.

06:43In fact, due to China's systematic and organized cultural claims,

06:46many foreigners think that Hanbok and kimchi,

06:48Taekwondo, and so on are Chinese culture,

06:50and cases of such misunderstandings are increasing.

06:52As I mentioned earlier, there are more and more cases where China's claims are being quoted

06:54as they are in English Wikipedia or international events.

06:56As a result, the cultural identities of various countries are at risk of being damaged.

06:59Even in some international fashion shows, at food expos,

07:01there have even been absurd cases where Hanbok and kimchi are introduced as Chinese culture.

07:05If this kind of cultural subordination and distortion continues,

07:08there is a high possibility of severe international cultural conflicts.

07:11Especially Korea, Japan, and Vietnam,

07:13and East Asian countries like Mongolia are already strongly protesting against China's cultural infringement.

07:16In the future, these conflicts will not simply go beyond internet debates

07:19and could escalate into diplomatic conflicts.

07:21In fact, the reason China has claimed many cultures around the world as its own,

07:25the reason is simple.

07:26It's because their own cultural identity is weak.

07:28China launched the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 for 10 years,

07:32during which they destroyed their own culture themselves.

07:33This is an extremely rare event even in world history.

07:36To exaggerate a bit, except for Mao Zedong, everything was destroyed.

07:39Countless cultural assets and traditions were wiped out.

07:41So today's Chinese culture is just the culture of other countries.

07:44They're only copying other cultures.

07:45If the Cultural Revolution hadn't happened,

07:47China's soft power would be much greater than it is now.

07:49It would have had a much higher status.

07:51That's only natural.

07:52Considering their history spans 4,000 years,

07:54that was only to be expected.

07:55But since they destroyed that long-standing culture with their own hands,

07:57of course, nothing remains.

07:58What do you all think about this aspect of Chinese culture?

08:00Please let me know in the comments as well.

08:02That's the end of the video. Bye.

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