From The Group Comes The Nation: China’S First Mass Political Organization, The Baohuanghui,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
From The Group Comes The Nation: China’S First Mass Political Organization, The Baohuanghui, Jane Leung Larson
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
We recently learned that the Chinese government has deemed the term “civil society” [gongmin shehui 公民社会] too sensitive to use in Chinese news reports. Apparently, even the mention of Chinese citizens voluntarily joining together for a common cause challenges the authority of China’s rulers, especially when that cause is political. Such aversion to autonomous organizations goes back to imperial China, and it was not until the last throes of the Qing dynasty that the first truly political Chinese organization emerged and grew. And that organization had no choice but to be based outside of China.
(Not Quite) Frivolous Friday: High Tea And The Opium War,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
(Not Quite) Frivolous Friday: High Tea And The Opium War
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Have you ever wondered how you might have fared as an opium trader in the early decades of the nineteenth century? Maybe not . . . but now you can try your hand at the trade nevertheless. UC Irvine grad student Christopher Heselton alerted us to this opportunity by sending along a link to High Tea, available free online from Armor Games. Players are given a tea order that they have to meet by a certain deadline, but must first raise capital to buy the tea by joining the ranks of opium smugglers operating around the Pearl River Delta. Watch …
Not Drowning But Waving?,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Not Drowning But Waving?, Tom Bannister
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
There are many migrant workers in China. Look from any urban window and you will doubtless see several hundred constructing the next high-rise apartment block in that city’s endless stream of development. The migrant worker is one of the most remarkable features of the reform era; with numbers in the range of 200 million, they represent around 3% of the world’s population and would form the world’s fifth most populous country. Together they have created the phenomenon of China’s ‘floating population’ (Liudong renkou, 流动人口), the largest peacetime movement of people in history. However, this is not the ordinary …
Reading About China,
2011
Johnson County Community College
Reading About China, Andrea Kempf
Library Papers and Presentations
A review of literature centered around Chinese culture and people. Originally published in US-China Review, Winter 2011, Vol. XXXV, No. 1.
US-China Review is a publication of US-China Peoples Friendship Association, A California non-profit corporation.
Swearing Down The Law – A Debate,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Swearing Down The Law – A Debate, Jerome Bourgon, Paul R. Katz
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
The following debate between Jérôme Bourgon and Paul R. Katz treats one of the most important issues in the study of Chinese social history in general and Chinese legal culture in particular, namely the striking similarities, or correspondences, between litigation and judicial rituals performed to resolve disputes or even deal with plaints filed by the dead.
Misunderstanding A Nationalist Cause,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Misunderstanding A Nationalist Cause, Angilee Shah
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
The plight of Uyghurs in China entered U.S. consciousness after 9/11. Since 2002, 22 migrant Uyghurs were detained at Guantánamo Bay after being turned over to the United States by bounty hunters in Pakistan. By 2008, the men were no longer considered enemy combatants. Seventeen of them have been released to Switzerland, Palau, Bermuda and Albania. The United States so far has not accepted any of the innocent detainees, nor is the State Department willing to send them back to China where they would likely be persecuted as separatists.
Reading Round-Up: February 8, 2011,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up: February 8, 2011
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
• The Philadelphia leg of the “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibit, which has already made stops in Orange County, CA and Houston, was abruptly canceled last week. Why? At Far West China, Josh Summers explores several theories regarding the reasons behind this decision.
What China Can Teach Us About Tucson,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
What China Can Teach Us About Tucson, Peter Vernezze
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
From 2006-2008, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, teaching oral English at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu. During this time, I drew on my previous life experience as a philosophy professor to hold a regular philosophical discussion group with Chinese undergraduates. Twice a month we met for ninety minutes to debate the status of truth, the meaning of life, and the reality of fate, among other topics. I believe their deliberations on timeless topics contain a very timely message for America today in the wake of January’s tragedy in Tuscon.
More To Come, But For Now …,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
More To Come, But For Now …
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
While we usually take off the last two weeks of December, we’re delaying our break a little bit due to the momentous events of the past week: recent protests in Wukan, the death of Václav Havel, and now the announcement that Kim Jong Il has also passed away.
How China Says No: Thoughts On Being Blacklisted By
China,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
How China Says No: Thoughts On Being Blacklisted By China, Dru C. Gladney
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
China can say no, as was once declared in the title of the popular 1990s Chinese book. A sovereign country, China has every right to admit or exclude those who seek permission to enter. That it has chosen to exclude a group of scholars who contributed to an edited volume on the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, now known as the “Xinjiang 13,” should not and will not elicit much concern in the wider academic world, despite a slew of recent articles in Bloomberg, the Washington Post, the New York Times, blog fora like China Beat, and on listservs such as …
The Prc And Pr: Baffling Messages In Times Square?,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Prc And Pr: Baffling Messages In Times Square?, Christopher C. Heselton
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Amid all the fanfare and fear-mongering over President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States last week, the Chinese government has also launched an advertising campaign to enhance its national image in America. The campaign includes a 60-second ad showing on a mega screen at Time Square, New York, a 30-second segment at Gallery Place, Washington DC (DC’s “Chinatown,” though it’s a rather small one), and a series of 15-second advertisements airing on several news networks over a multi-week period. A host of Chinese celebrities, models, entrepreneurs, astronauts, and other household names appear in these advertisements, standing and smiling at …
“The Rise Of The Hans”: A Critique,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
“The Rise Of The Hans”: A Critique, Thomas S. Mullaney
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
“Rise of the Hans,” by Joel Kotkin, is a troubling article to find published in a high-profile venue such as Foreign Policy. It reinforces misleading ideas about China and is problematic for a variety of specific reasons, the biggest of which has to do with Kotkin’s use of key terms.
The Internet And China’S Response To The Japan Earthquake,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Internet And China’S Response To The Japan Earthquake, Daniel Knorr
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
A few days after the Japan earthquake last month, the high school student I tutor asked if I had considered leaving Beijing with my wife. I had been keeping up with the news about the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant, and to the best of my knowledge there was no real threat to us in Beijing so I was a little surprised by his question. Even though I assumed the nuclear plant was the source of his concern, I asked what he was referring to. (Honestly, part of me was a little afraid that he knew something I didn’t.) …
Frivolous Friday: In Praise Of Jianbing 煎饼,
2011
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Frivolous Friday: In Praise Of Jianbing 煎饼, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Wednesday morning began like any other. I poured some cereal, made a pot of coffee, and flipped open my laptop to catch up on what had filled my Google Reader and Twitter feed overnight. One of the links I clicked on took me to Evan Osnos’s Condé Nast Traveler article about the ongoing “creative destruction” of Beijing, where my morning routine ended as soon as I read this paragraph:
A Quick Q & A With Tom Scocca–Author Ofbeijing
Welcomes You,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
A Quick Q & A With Tom Scocca–Author Ofbeijing Welcomes You, Jeffrey Wasserstrom
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Tom Scocca’s engaging new book, Beijing Welcomes You: Unveiling the Capital City of the Future, which explores his experiences in China during its pre-Olympic and Olympic moments, has been getting enthusiastic reviews, includingone by Jonathan Yardley of the Washington Post and one that yours truly did forTime. Seeing references online to the author giving talks about his book at various East Coast venues, I decided to send a few questions his way on topics ranging from the reaction he’s getting from audiences to how he keeps up with Chinese events now that he’s based back in the US. He readily …
Dalian’S Past, Dalian’S Present, Part 2,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Dalian’S Past, Dalian’S Present, Part 2, Miriam Kingsberg
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
The tens of thousands of Dalian residents who gathered this weekend to demand the relocation of a chemical plant were responding to a contemporary situation. Their protest, though, reflected a complicated relationship among the people, the state, and the environment that was inscribed in the city from the very moment of its founding.
Screening Tiananmen,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Screening Tiananmen, Chris Berry
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Recently, I’ve been spending a lot more time in Shanghai than in Beijing. This is because of a research project comparing moving image screens—mostly Lighting-Emitting Diode (LED) screens—as part of everyday culture in public places in Cairo, Shanghai and London. (If you’re interested, you can read more about that here.) But in the meantime, I had heard about the Jumbotron screen installed in the middle of Tiananmen Square. So, when I made it back to Beijing for the first time since just before the 2008 Olympics to do a bit of teaching at the Chinese Film summer school organized by …
Reading Round-Up, 1/11/11,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 1/11/11
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
• When a football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings was canceled in late December due to heavy snow in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell was not pleased. Calling the United States “a nation of wusses,” Rendell went on to say
The Man In The Picture,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
The Man In The Picture
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Earlier this week, we published Alice Miller’s post on what wasn’t new about Hu Jintao’s recent comments on human rights; at about the same time, Time.com posted a commentary by China Beat consulting editor Jeffrey Wasserstrom that listed other things that weren’t novel about the recent summit.
China Events In Southern California, February 8-22,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
China Events In Southern California, February 8-22
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
China Beat readers living in and around the Southern California region might want to check out one or more of these events in the upcoming weeks:
