China's restive far west hopes to win hearts with 'Princess Fragrant' cartoon

You have to wonder is it shear audacity or willful stupidity that China's Communist party  believes   that by broadcasting an anime based on an 18 century Chinese folk tale  that the animus that currently exists between the Uighur's and the Han Chinese will be magically washed away.  During this past Ramadan the Chinese government banded all celebrations even though  its the most sacred of  all Muslim holly days.   

Let's face it. When a government systematically represses a large ethnic minority one which has lived in that region of Asia for thousands of years one might except a backlash.

Her name is Ipal Khan. The wide-eyed Uyghur beauty is the protagonist of an upcoming cartoon based on the well-known tale of a girl from the city of Kashgar who captivated China's Qianlong Emperor with her good looks and sweet fragrance in the 18th century and became his concubine.

According to the legend most Chinese are familiar with, the girl fell in love with the emperor and became his cherished consort.

"She is a figure that has contributed much to cross-cultural communication," Deng Jianglei, director of the cartoon, "Princess Fragrant," told CNN. The animation is set to become a television series at the end of 2015, and a film the following year.

I'm sure the Uighur's a waiting with baited breath to be given the chance at some cross-cultural communication with a majority that widely discriminates against them.

Although the legend of Fragrant Concubine has become a symbol of national unity for many Chinese, modern Uyghur interpretations of the tale portray her as an imperial sex slave who was murdered by the emperor's mother after stubbornly rejecting the emperor's advances.

Deng said he wants the series to be entertaining while also fulfilling "political needs."

"(The cartoon) is a re-understanding of the friendship between Han and Uyghurs, which is especially significant to the re-education of the children and teaching them to accept different cultures."