A giant sells himself

Seen at sqdaily.com, a “giant” of a man holds a sign implying that he is a bonded servant, saying he’s “selling himself” to find a judge for a cultural festival. It’s his sensationalist, self-deprecating way of drawing attention in Xiu Qian city, Jiangsu province, but the man who gave him the idea was Mr. Bi’te, already noted in a previous story. The “giant” quickly becomes a source of amusement, as he was hoping, for people in the busy shopping district. A short article explains:

A giant in “human bondage” helps advertise cultural festival

On the afternoon of August 10, a “giant” frighteningly appeared in Xingfuzhong Street’s Pumate Square, the “giant” held up a one meter square pot-shaped[*1] board, on which there was written “searching for a good judge[*2] of talent for the Xi Chu Cultural Festival in spite of ‘being a slave[*3] to the festival;’” throngs of townspeople stop, encircle, and stare.

It is understood that the giant is called Kang Jianhua; standing 2.23 meters tall, the man from Luoyang in Henan province, who turns 44 this year, wears a hand-tailored shoe size 54. This visit to Xuqian was by invitation from Chuyuan media company to publicize the first Xi Chu Culture Festival. Alluding to Kang Jianhua’s “selling himself” move, Chu Yuan media company explained that it is just for the sake of quickly arousing business people and laypeople’s attention to the first Xi Chu Culture Festival, hoping that it has the necessary publicity for corporate brands and business people to actively participate, working together to publicize this cultural campaign. Kang Jianhua also does not conceal the fact that “selling himself” is just a stunt seeking collaboration, hoping that during the course of the cultural festival, this can have the chance to bring forth “fascination” and attract attention.

– Translated by Jason Weinberg

EDITOR’S NOTES:
[*1] 鼎 (dǐng). An ancient cooking vessel with two loop handles and three or four legs.

[*2] 伯乐 (bólè). From the idiom “世有伯乐 然后有千里马，千里马常有 而伯乐不常有,” meaning, “an era has a Bo Le, then has a swift horse, a swift horse is common to have, but a Bo Le is not common to have,” (Bo Le is the name of a legendary person in the state of Qin during the Spring and Autumn Period who excelled in evaluating horses); the figurative meaning is a good judge of talent. (Baidu)

[*3] 卖身 (mài shēn). Literally, sell body. Despite the word’s distant meaning of selling one’s body for sex, here it indicates simply that he is looking for a boss to give him a chance to work and make money.

A statue of Bo Le:

More photos of the “giant”: