A video clip shows the sensitive part of the sculpture David was intentionally blurred.

CCTV, China’s largest media outlet, ignited a national uproar when it blurred a major western sculpture from the Renaissance on July 9.

The sculpture, David, is a masterpiece by the famous Renaissance Italian sculptor Michelangelo and was created between 1501 and 1504. It is a 5.17-metre marble statue of a standing male nude and symbolizes the defense of civil liberties embodied in the Florentine Republic.

Together with another 60 art pieces, David was shown in the National Museum of China in celebration of the museum’s centennial. In its news program, CCTV blurred a ’sensitive part’ of the nude man - his external genitalia. Unexpectedly, the show received a great deal of criticism from the Chinese public and soon the producers removed the blurring mosaic in the replay.

The move has become an object of scorn among the Chinese internet users. They believe it was a move that lacked respect for western aesthetics. “If the sculpture Venus is shown in China, do we have to dress her first?” they asked, sarcastically.

But some argue the image was blurred by the staff in good faith and they were working in strict accordance with their professional ethics because western objects shown in the museum may be not for children’s eyes.

Indeed, in a tradition-bound China, any contents related to naked body may easily be seen as pornographic and few people would risk showcasing artworks that contained nudity in public places.

As the Chinese community grows increasingly permissive, the power of tradition to censor art is losing its ground, as we can see from the comments of Chinese Weibo users.

User 叨叨民 wrote:：“#CCTV Blurred A Western Sculpture# In a country like China, art may be considered pornography.”

User 股海溪流 wrote: “#CCTV Blurred A Western Sculpture# If sex education in China had moved forward, it would not be a problem.”

User 拿铁L摩卡 wrote： “#CCTV Blurred A Western Sculpture# Why did they blur such a good artwork? Did they group art with pornography? It is really unreasonable.”

By Xu Xinlei

Contact the writer at xuxinlei@chinadaily.com.cn.