We’Re Back!,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
We’Re Back!
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
We’re returning from a two-week hiatus just in time to call your attention to the final event in a series of author talks that China Beat has produced in cooperation with several other UC Irvine organizations during the 2009-2010 academic year. Tomorrow’s dialogue at UCI, featuring Ian Johnson and Angilee Shah, is free and open to the public (details here).
Wang Hui, Plagiarism, And The Great Bourgeois Academic Cultural Revolution,
2010
University of Notre Dame
Wang Hui, Plagiarism, And The Great Bourgeois Academic Cultural Revolution, Susan D. Blum
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Another revolution is afoot in China, and it might even be considered cultural. But this one is about academic culture, as China’s slow-moving iceberg floats up against the glacial mass of “international” (read: Western) principles. The fallout is fascinating for observers, though in some cases tragic for the participants.
Questioning The “Chinese Model Of Development”,
2010
University of British Columbia
Questioning The “Chinese Model Of Development”, Zhansui Yu
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Chinese, following Chairman Mao’s famous phrase, tend to use the expression “like a fire burning in the wilderness” [燎原之火 liaoyuan zhi huo] to describe the unexpected rise and popularity of something marginalized or rebellious. Since the literary explosion in the years immediately after Mao’s death, mainland Chinese literary circles have rarely witnessed such a “wild fire.” Recently, however, a fierce literary “fire” suddenly broke out and shocked the entire Chinese intellectual world. The spark that ignited this fire is Chan Koon-chung’s 陈冠中 political novel Shengshi: Zhongguo 2013 [盛世：中国 2013]. [1]
More Questions Than Answers,
2010
University of California, Davis
More Questions Than Answers, Michelle Yeh
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Earlier this month, we ran an opinion piece by Peter Zarrow concerning the plagiarism accusations against Tsinghua University Professor Wang Hui, in which Dr. Zarrow explained why he had signed a letter of support organized by international scholars and sent to Tsinghua’s president. The essay was picked up and circulated by the MCLC listserv, where it generated a number of comments. One of the responses came from Michelle Yeh of UC Davis, and we asked Dr. Yeh if she would expand her remarks and share them with China Beat readers. She has done so in the essay below, and also …
R.I.P. China Blogs?,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
R.I.P. China Blogs?
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
We were amused to see that the most recent Sinica podcast was ominously titled “Death of the China Blog,” since here at China Beat we feel very much alive. To our relief, however, the discussion (among host Kaiser Kuo, Imagethief’s Will Moss, and Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn — who was good enough to do an interview with us last month) ended with the happy conclusion that while the China blogosphere has changed quite a bit in the past few years, it’s still going strong. We heartily agree.
Musings On A Museum: A Trip To Xibaipo,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Musings On A Museum: A Trip To Xibaipo, Kenneth Pomeranz
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
A short trip to China earlier this month took me to Beijing to give a talk, to Shijiazhuang for a conference, and, briefly, to the Hebei countryside — my first time in quite a while in rural North China. And it once again proved that every trip teaches you something, but often not on the expected topics. (One little detail that I found telling: most of the Beijing-based academics who were at the Shijiazhuang conference told me it was their first time there. True, Shijiazhuang is not a tourist hot spot, but it is a provincial capital, with over 2 …
Jia Zhangke Does Shanghai…And Other Notes From The Field,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Jia Zhangke Does Shanghai…And Other Notes From The Field
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
In addition to checking out the Expo (something I’ve blogged about before and will blog about again) and hosting a series of dialogs at M on the Bund’s Glamour Bar (the last of which takes place this Sunday at 2:30 and will find me in conversation about writing for the web and for print with Evan Osnos of the New Yorker magazine and the excellent “Letter from China” blog), I’ve been trying to take advantage of any opportunities that come along in terms of local cultural events. On the whole, I think I’ve been very lucky with my timing.
Reading Round-Up: China And India,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up: China And India
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
• At the Wall Street Journal, Shefali Anand explains why India’s stock market is currently outperforming China’s:
Me, Wang Hui, And Liberal Wishy-Washy-Ness,
2010
nstitute of Modern History, Academia Sinica.
Me, Wang Hui, And Liberal Wishy-Washy-Ness, Peter Zarrow
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Wang Hui is a cultural historian and critic, and professor at Qinghua University in Beijing. He was for several years editor of Dushu, a serious general interest magazine perhaps roughly — very roughly — equivalent to the Atlantic monthly in the US. He is also known as a leader of the so-called “New Left” intellectuals, who highlight the costs of economic liberalization, global capitalism, and rigid Western-style modernization policies. Early this year, charges of plagiarism began to appear concerning some of some of Wang Hui’s work. He has since been subject to numerous attacks, including ad hominen blog attacks.
Notes On The Shanghai Expo,
2010
Hopkins-Nanjing Center
Notes On The Shanghai Expo, Jonathan Hwang
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
1. One of my Chinese classmates mentioned that what really mattered for Chinese visitors were the big exhibitions: Japan, China, Europe, and the US. While still interested in the big exhibits, most Westerners were also astounded by the fact that North Korea and Iran were among the countries with pavilions at the Expo. The pavilions, although far from spectacular, showed a side of the “rogue” nations that is impossible to see in Western media, which often focuses on the proliferation of nuclear weapons and anti-US sentiment. The North Korean Pavilion showed video clips of the Mass Games and random shots …
Joan Hinton (1921-2010),
2010
Northwestern University
Joan Hinton (1921-2010), Charles W. Hayford
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Joan Hinton died last month in a Beijing hospital at the age of 88. It was surprising that so many mainstream American newspapers ran detailed obituaries. Hinton had lived in China since 1948, mostly running dairy farms, and she didn’t go out of her way to address Americans, as did her brother, William, author of the classic Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village (1967). She did publicly attack American imperialism — in 2006, she displayed a T shirt reading “F—k Bush” in Chinese.
Two Pku Professors On China’S Youth,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Two Pku Professors On China’S Youth, Alec Ash
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
In late May and early June, I interviewed professors Zhang Weiying and Pan Wei of Peking University (known as ‘Beida’). I wanted to know what the generation who grew up in the Cultural Revolution thought of the generation who grew up in the Consumer Revolution – and who could be leading China in thirty years. Here’s what they said.
World Cup, World Expo, And “Third World” Links,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
World Cup, World Expo, And “Third World” Links
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
This is shaping up to be a big year for cities of the Global South (or what in the past was more often called the “Third World”) to serve as first-time hosts for mega-events, whether of the top-tier variety (defined here as those, like the Olympics, that involve or at least could involve more than a hundred countries) or of the second-tier type (those like, say, the Pan-American Games, that draw in nations belonging to just one region or having something else specific in common). Starting with a pair of second-tier but still major sporting events, October will find New …
Reading Round-Up, 7/10/10,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 7/10/10
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Apple is opening its first Shanghai location this weekend, the kickoff to what one analyst describes as a planned “major invasion” of China (Apple projects that it will open twenty-five stores on the mainland in the next eighteen months). Read a New York Times article on the new store here; see here for pictures of the store up at Shanghaiist. The Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time Report blog has an account of the store’s launch party here.
“The Heritage Of Shanghai”,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
“The Heritage Of Shanghai”
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Read about all things Shanghai in the latest issue of China Heritage Quarterly, now online. In the “Features” section, you’ll find a photo essay on “Shanghai Modern” by Lois Conner
One Day, Two Birthdays,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
One Day, Two Birthdays
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Most of the people in Philadelphia this holiday weekend have come for the Fourth of July festivities, such as readings of the Declaration of Independence and tours of Independence Hall. This year, however, a special event was part of the city’s eleven-day “Welcome America!” celebration: on Saturday, July 3, a street fair in Philadelphia’s Chinatown marked not only the 234th birthday of the United States, but also the 140th birthday of the Chinatown neighborhood itself (the district’s founding is dated to the establishment of a laundry at 9th and Race Streets in 1870). The afternoon was filled with musical performances, …
Where To Begin: New Perspectives On Chinese Labor,
2010
University of Oklahoma
Where To Begin: New Perspectives On Chinese Labor, Mark W. Frazier
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Studies of labor in China have taken an exciting turn in recent years with the publication of numerous rich and revealing portraits of workers, their jobs, and their place in Chinese politics and in the global economy. As thousands of migrant workers employed in auto parts suppliers for Toyota and Honda went on strike in May and June of 2010, some headlines heralded a political coming of age for China’s migrant workers. While it’s too early to assess the impact of these strikes, it is clear that migrant workers have gained a level of organizational sophistication and political awareness to …
A Transcendent Moment In The Land Of Haibao,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
A Transcendent Moment In The Land Of Haibao
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
I’m finally in Shanghai, where the Gumby-like Haibao is amazingly even more omnipresent than the last time I was through (and then he seemed to be everywhere). I’ve come to check out the Expo, see some new sites, catch up with some old friends, do a bit of traveling, and, as I noted in an earlier post, take part in a dialog on World’s Fairs past and present with Nick Land (that took place a few days ago) and host a weekly series of “Cosmopolitan Conversations” with assorted writers at the Glamour Bar at M on the Bund (those are …
Reading Round-Up, 1/31/2010,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 1/31/2010
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
1. While quite a few writers have discussed the Avatar-versus-Confucius battle currently going on in Chinese cinemas (China Beat posts on the subject can be found here and here), the December 2009 issue of China Heritage Quarterlyincludes a piece by Gloria Davies and M.E. Davies on another attention-getting film, The Founding of a Republic. The authors point out that the movie, released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the PRC’s founding, is notable for setting forth a new narrative about the events leading up to October 1, 1949:
Google And China: The Analysis Continues,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Google And China: The Analysis Continues
The China Beat Blog Archive 2008-2012
Almost three weeks have passed since Google’s January 12 announcement that it would be reconsidering its Chinese operations, and although the company has not yet indicated a final decision about its future in China, the issues raised by this matter have sparked a number of thoughtful analyses. Yesterday, China Beatfeatured a piece by Geremie Barmé on “The Harmonious Evolution of Information in China”; below, some more recent commentaries on the Google and China story that have gotten our attention:
