Beijing Review

46 BEIJING REVIEW APRIL 20, 2017 http://www.bjreview.com

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Does Historical Distortion in

Entertainment Mislead Children?

A

popular mobile game, King of Glory, has
recently come under fire for allegedly
promoting inaccurate representations
of ancient Chinese history, distorting historical
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the game portrays famous Tang Dynasty poet
Li Bai (701-762) as an assassin, while prestigious
doctor Bian Que (407-310 B.C.) from the Spring
and Autumn Period is cast as an expert on poi-
sons. Over 60 characters in the game take on
the names of well-known historical or legendary
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In 2016, King of Glory generated 6.8 billion
yuan ($1 billion) in revenue, some 17.7 percent
of the total revenue for mobile gaming in China.
Many of the players are primary school students,
who have little historical knowledge. Parents
and teachers are worried that the distorted sto-
ries in the game will mislead children and ruin
their outlook on history. However, some others

argue that the game can do a lot of good, as it

is likely to stimulate young studentsí interest in

history and inspire them to look more deeply

into history.

Disrespecting history

Chen Qingpu (www.tianjinwe.com): King

of Glory is a multiplayer online battle arena

game. With every player operating a role, this

is a relatively simple game and is very popu-

lar with players. As for the distorted historical

figures and invented stories, itís all right if

the players are adults, but if they are primary

school students, this game risks imposing

false history on them.

The creation of mobile games is a kind of

art. As long as it is art, fabrication is inevitable.

However, this does not mean that game de-

velopers can distort history at will. Currently,

you may find ridiculous arrangements of

characters in a lot of online games. To some

extent, this phenomenon reveals game com-

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or incapacity to create their own stories. To

make games based on well-known historical

figures proves much easier than to create

new characters.

Yang Yafei (Beijing Evening News): Itís

known that King of Glory is a big mess, with

figures from history, legends and novels.

Every player can fight in the game by play-

ing the role of one of the characters. Some

adults say even they are so confused by the

game that they have to go back to history

books to confirm whether their knowledge

of history is right or not. What do you expect

this game to bring to young pupils, who

mostly have little historical knowledge and

are much more vulnerable to distorted his-

tory than adults?

The game should categorize its many

characters in chronological terms. If every

character in the game represents a histori-

cal figure correctlyóas recorded in history

materialsóplayers, particularly teenagers,

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confused by it.

Innovation is something we all advocate,

but when it comes to mobile games, the

bottom line is to respect basic historical

common sense. Chinaís rich history and

culture are not supposed to be consumed or

even trampled in this way. We hope King of

Glory will help inspire young peopleís interest

in history, instead of ruining time honored

Chinese civilization.

Deng Haijian (China Education Daily):

Times, places, figures and events are the

basic elements of history, but King of Glory

distorts these basic elements. When even

adults complain that they are bewildered by

the game, is it plausible that this game can

help pupils learn history?

There are some worrying statistics: This

mobile game has attracted more than 100

million players around the country. Although

the game developer suggests that the

players should be at least 16 years old, 54

percent of them are reportedly aged be-

tween 11 and 20.

We donít regard mobile games as ogres,

but for pupils who lack basic historical knowl-

edge, this time-traveling mobile game is

harmful. Pupils are still at the stage of devel-

oping their outlook on history and the world.

Any kind of distorting and entertainment-

oriented explanation of history will erode

history education at school.

The controversy over this mobile game fully

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ity on the part of the game developer. A wave

of innovation is sweeping various sectors of

the nationís economy nowadays. Itís therefore

especially important to impose discipline on

culture and history-related products and to

make these products respect basic historical

common sense and rules. Commercial activities

should be based on fundamental ethics, while

innovation should not cross ethical boundaries.

Game companies are supposed to spend more

time developing their own stories and brands,

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and distorting history at the same time.

The precondition for spreading tradi-

tional culture is to pay homage to history

and have a basically correct attitude toward

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