By: Mabel Runyon
http://www.popsci.com/chinas-answer-to-hubble-telescope
The Chinese National Space Administration, founded officially on April 22, 1993, has been incredibly successful since the start. It was started by the Chinese government to expand their space program, which was a great deal smaller and less important at the time. Below is a picture of their slogan, or symbol.
Right now, the China National Space Administration is undergoing expansion (Both literally and in terms of intelligence), and it is in the process of planning new outreach missions, especially concerning the launch of the Tiangong III, a orbit and supply module meant to send supplies currently up in the Tiangong II. The Tiangong II is China's current space station.
Presently, there are two astronauts up in space in the Tiangong II. These are astronauts Jing Haiping and Chen Dong. They also have another station called the Shenzhou, which is being manned by Fei Junking, Nie Haishing, and Lui Boming. These are only a few of the many astronauts and people who work for the CNSA currently.
China is also planning another trip to the moon as early as 2020, or 2025, depending is all things go well and according to plan. This would especially be a huge leap for them, because the next moon mission would be manned. There are also plans for another moon mission, this one either in 2031 or 2036. Who the astronauts for these missions has not yet been determined.
Finally, the Chinese space program really connects to the theme of imperialism, because it represents and physically demonstrates an expansion of power and knowledge through expansion of territory. The China National Space Agency also relates to some of the cultural themes of China, due to the fact that it represents intelligence and education, which shows respect and self - cultivation, one of the most important themes in Chinese society. By reaching out to other places and planets not yet touched by humans, the concept of P'u, the uncharted block comes into play as well as the Dao, the all, and the nothing. Places without the contamination of human knowledge and history are the closest to the Dao and therefore the uncharted block (The most simple and untouched). Returning to the symbolism of the uncharted block is one of the main goals of life not only in Daoism, but also in Chinese culture.