综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Society

Confucius lottery tickets draw ire

By Yan Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-03 07:21
Large Medium Small

Confucius lottery tickets draw ire
A salesman at a welfare lottery outlet in Liaocheng, Shandong province, holds lottery tickets that use the image and sermons of Confucius. [Kong Zheng]

Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher who prodded his fellow countrymen to seek their fortunes in a decent manner, would now find his portraits and sermons printed on lottery tickets, the only form of gambling allowed by the government.

Late last month, lottery stands in east China's Shandong province began selling Confucius-themed tickets that carry a top prize of 300,000 yuan ($44,000).

Related readings:
Confucius lottery tickets draw ire Confucius' name used to make money
Confucius lottery tickets draw ire Confucius Institutes short of teaching materials: expert
Confucius lottery tickets draw ire China to hold Confucius Institute conference
Confucius lottery tickets draw ire From Confucius to pop, kids bask in multi-culture
Confucius lottery tickets draw ire Confucius' birthday celebrated in Beijing

But the tickets have drawn ire from netizens and columnists who claim that putting Confucius' image on lottery tickets has tarnished the image of the wise man who lived more than 2,000 years ago.

Lottery officials said they were surprised by the criticism.

"The center is not trying to influence the sale of their lotteries (by using Confucius' image)," Tang Nianbing, a manager from the Shandong's lottery center, said in an interview yesterday on the phone. He rejected accusations that Confucius' images were used to promote sales.

The center intended to promote culture instead, added Tang, although he admitted that would only be a secondary aim to raise welfare funds.

The Shandong area was home to Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period, about 2,500 years ago.

Sales of the 10-yuan-per-ticket lottery have remained lukewarm compared to that of prior lotteries after release, with more than 2 million yuan worth of tickets sold in the first week.

"It (the Confucius lottery) accounted for about one-tenth of total sales of all lotteries in the week," said Tang.

Newly released lotteries often sell better than existing ones, but after a while their sales typically fall.

However, even big figures like Confucius cannot crank out more lucky dogs among lottery buyers in Shandong. As of yesterday, only one second prize of 30,000 yuan had been awarded, according to Tang.

Several versions of tickets from the lottery center of Shandong are printed with the region's characteristics, according to articles posted on the center's official website.

It has issued lottery tickets featuring kites made in Weifang city, characters in the novel of Shuihu and ancient vehicles excavated in the province.

"The Confucius-themed lotteries are the country's most real culture-centered tickets," wrote Tang in an article before the introduction of the lottery. "Its cultural content will erect a milestone in the development of our country's lotteries."

In the interview with China Daily, he shrugged off criticism from outside the province, saying the use of Confucius' image is no different from any other cultural-themed tickets, such as novel characters and antiquities.

"Fundamentally, it's just the same," he added.

鄂尔多斯市| 龙州县| 嘉善县| 图们市| 深州市| 乌恰县| 左权县| 根河市| 澄城县| 开江县| 玉环县| 类乌齐县| 南宫市| 新竹市| 错那县| 昌邑市| 三江| 平度市| 哈巴河县| 玉林市| 吉木萨尔县| 东丰县| 神农架林区| 杂多县| 凤凰县| 普定县| 恭城| 玛沁县| 永宁县| 尉犁县| 延边| 文安县| 都安| 余庆县| 安仁县| 岳阳市| 德兴市| 栾城县| 永胜县| 长治市| 许昌市|