Following the appearance of “tragically ugly” illustrations in the Chinese math textbook, Chinese authorities fined 27 people associated with the publisher that published the book. The case was under investigation. Conclusions? The drawings are unsightly and “do not reflect the cheerful image of Chinese children.”
The pictures in the primary school math textbook include boys catching girls. Children have small eyes and high foreheads, they make strange faces, and at least one of them has a tattoo on their leg. The flag was also controversial China reverse drawn and costumes in the colors of the flag USA.
Most Internet users ridiculed illustrations that were described as “tragically ugly”, but some saw them as deliberately destroying Chinese culture and the result of Western infiltration. There were opinions that there were “bad intentions” behind it – reported the What’s On Weibo portal, including examples of illustrations.
Illustrations in a Chinese math textbookGetty Images
Punished for illustrations in the textbook
According to the British daily “Guardian”, the textbook published by the Ministry of Education, the People’s Educational Publishers, has been used in primary schools for almost 10 years. The scandal broke out in May when one of the teachers posted pictures of the illustrations on social media.
The Department of Education has announced that it will investigate the controversial drawings and evaluate all textbooks in use in the country to ensure that they are “in line with the correct political direction and value orientation.”
Investigations concluded that some of the drawings in the math book were “not aesthetically pleasing”, “could easily be misunderstood” and “did not adequately reflect the cheerful picture of Chinese children,” the education ministry announced on Monday in a lengthy press release.
In connection with the case, 27 people were punished for “neglect of duties”, including the president of the publishing house, who received a formal reprimand. The editor-in-chief and head of the mathematics department have been fired, and the cartoonists have been “dealt with the right way” and will no longer be hired to illustrate the textbooks, it was written, without giving details.
Main photo source: Getty Images