Humiliation And Normalization: A Tale Of Two New China
Books,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Humiliation And Normalization: A Tale Of Two New China Books, Jeffrey Wasserstrom
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Henry Kissinger and Robert Bickers don’t have much in common. One is a U.S.-based octogenarian; the other a U.K.-based scholar roughly half as old. Only one, Kissinger, has been characterized by Christopher Hitchens (among others) as a perpetrator of war crimes. And only one, ironically Kissinger again, has won a Nobel Peace Prize. Kissinger spent some time as a professor, but then went on to work as a diplomat and business consultant. Bickers, however, while writing about diplomats and entrepreneurs (along with policemen and other kinds of people), has made his career solely within the academy. This list could be …
My Life As An Art Soldier In Mao's China: Art And Politics,
2011
Old Dominion University
My Life As An Art Soldier In Mao's China: Art And Politics, Shaomin Li
Management Faculty Publications
The author narrates how in Mao's China his personal experience took unexpected turns when China dramatically transformed politically, economically, and culturally, and how in reacting to these overwhelming changes he evolved from the role of artist to student activist, businessman, political prisoner and academic. The article focuses on the relationship between art and politics in Mao's China and how the two evolved into what the author characterizes as "market communism" in today’s China.
New Media And Old Dilemmas: Online Protest And Cyber
Repression In Asia Panel Report,
2011
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
New Media And Old Dilemmas: Online Protest And Cyber Repression In Asia Panel Report, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
As I noted in an article I wrote for the Dissent website earlier this week, one of the major China-related stories of 2011 has been the government’s ever-increasing crackdown on public expression. What started subtly back in January—a slowdown in internet service here and there, more websites (including this one) being blocked—became a full-blown international issue on April 3, when artist and activist Ai Weiwei was detained at the Beijing airport. Ai’s disappearance has sparked a flood of analysis and commentaries: Colin Jones discusses “The Purge of Ai Weiwei” at Dissent, Evan Osnos at the New Yorkerhas written a series …
Factories Without Smoke,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Factories Without Smoke, Chris Cherry
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
They are China’s most precious economic asset: migrant workers. Each year, millions upon millions untie themselves from the rhythms of rural life to chase down a future in the prestige cities and sudden boomtowns of the eastern and southern coasts. In doing so, they begin a dramatic journey from farmer to worker; one marked by a profound shift from cultivating land they own, to producing goods they don’t. But few will be allowed to transform completely. Oft belittled for their unsophisticated ways, to urbanites they are forever “waidiren” — outside people. Most will be marked by their speech the moment …
We Chinese,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
We Chinese, M. Scott Brauer
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
“We Chinese” grew out of a curiosity to find out what Chinese people think about their country and their future. Media coverage of the country and its development often raises questions about the direction of the government in Beijing on the world stage. Few reports take into account the feelings of the Chinese people, instead making reference to the country as a monolithic actor without constituent parts. A country’s trajectory through history cannot be mapped without careful consideration of the people. This project aims, in a small way, to develop a portrait of the country by looking at the individual …
Pre-Summit Positioning,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Pre-Summit Positioning, Scott Kennedy
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Preparations for Wednesday’s state visit by Hu Jintao have been underway for several months. Most of that time was spent negotiating over what deals would be reached, whether there would be a joint statement, and what food would be served. I’m particularly interested to see: 1) Whether Chinese first lady Liu Yongqing will eat the standard fare put on the table as everyone else. She typically travels with her own chef and food; and 2) Whether the American media will get a good photo of the back of Hu Jintao’s head to determine once and for all if he has …
On The Joys Of Online Book Shopping,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
On The Joys Of Online Book Shopping, Maggie Greene
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
In the fall of 2010, I advanced to candidacy at the University of California, San Diego, and bearing the new title of PhD candidate in modern Chinese history, I set off for that great and time-honored pilgrimage to the People’s Republic of China to start researching my dissertation. I’ve been here four months, and while the process of researching Chinese opera (particularly kun opera and ghost plays) in the PRC has not been as smooth as I would have hoped, there is one thing that’s been going swimmingly: book shopping. More precisely, shopping online for books related to my dissertation.
Reading Round-Up, 2/20/11,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 2/20/11
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
• If you’re looking for a few China book recommendations, check out these two recent interviews at The Browser’s “Five Books” feature: the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos suggests five books that first-time visitors to China should read before they go, and Victor Shih of Northwestern University shares his favorite titles dealing with the Chinese economy.
Book Review: Embattled Glory,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Book Review: Embattled Glory
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Will virulent nationalism make China a threat to the international order? This is the question that Neil J. Diamant sets out to address in Embattled Glory. A number of academics as well as the mass media have argued that after 1989 the Chinese Communist Party purposely fostered a wide-spread and strongly-felt popular nationalism, and that this sense of nationalism pushes Chinese foreign policy toward more hard-line positions that could lead to diplomatic or even military conflict between China, its neighbors, and even the United States. Diamant points specifically to Peter Gries’ China’s New Nationalism: Pride, Politics and Diplomacy as an …
Bay Area Readers: See Datong: The Great Society,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Bay Area Readers: See Datong: The Great Society
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Our readers in the Bay Area who enjoyed learning about the new Kang Youwei docu-drama Datong: The Great Society earlier this week have an upcoming opportunity to see the movie, which will be screened at UC Berkeley on December 13. Filmmaker Evans Chan will be on hand for a Q&A after the film.
China’S Empty Apartments,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
China’S Empty Apartments, Michael Gsovski
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Southeast of Kunming, a new city has risen from the earth, so new that it is literally called the “Chenggong New Area.” Giant complexes of towering, modern apartment buildings line the wide, recently built streets, broken every few kilometers by parks as large and as well designed as any in Kunming proper. Every block of apartment buildings has a police substation, and some have functioning schools. Along the recently constructed highways linking the new city to the old, it seems as if farmland has been transformed into a high-rise commuter suburb like those on the outskirts of Hong Kong and …
Thoughts On River Elegy, June 1988-June 2011,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Thoughts On River Elegy, June 1988-June 2011, David Moser
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
I remember watching the legendary six-part CCTV miniseries River Elegy in my dorm room at Peking University in June of 1988—the last June in the Chinese historical calendar that would not have its 4th day permanently stained red. At the time I could not understand much of the stentorian voice-over (I was only a couple of years into my lifelong struggle with Chinese), but during the week the show was broadcast it became clear that the documentary had hit academic circles like an atomic bomb. The series’ content—a sweeping, brutally painful critique of the deep structure of Chinese culture—was the …
Beijing Subway’S “Great Leap Forward” Provokes
Resistance,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Beijing Subway’S “Great Leap Forward” Provokes Resistance, Jared Hall
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
An elderly couple camped outside as most of the city took shelter from the winter chill. They were doused in gasoline, flanked by a box of matches and a coffin. A small crowd looked on solemnly as the pair read posters recounting their story. These were Wang Shibo’s grandparents, whose store on the southern end of the popular Nanluoguxiang (南鼓巷) shopping street had been slated for demolition to make way for a new station along Beijing Subway’s newly-extended Line Eight.
Q&A: Yi-Li Wu, Author Of Reproducing Women,
2011
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Q&A: Yi-Li Wu, Author Of Reproducing Women, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
MEC: Your book examines “medicine for women” (科 fuke) in Qing China. How did the practice of fuke then differ from present-day obstetrics and gynecology? What has changed in the Chinese understanding of women’s medicine?
China Beat On Break,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
China Beat On Break
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
We’re going to put China Beat on hiatus from now until early July so I can get settled in Shanghai (where I’ll be based for the next couple of months) and all of our consulting editors and contributors can enjoy some summer vacation.
Ai Weiwei At The Venice Biennale,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Ai Weiwei At The Venice Biennale, Jon Wiener
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
At the world’s biggest art event this summer, the Venice Biennale, the world’s most famous imprisoned artist, Ai Weiwei, was not exactly neglected—but his case received virtually no official acknowledgment.
Q&A: Robert Bickers, Author Of The Scramble For China,
2011
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Q&A: Robert Bickers, Author Of The Scramble For China, Jeffrey Wasserstrom
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Several months ago, I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of The Scramble for China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire, 1832-1914, Robert Bickers’ fascinating new book. Published in the United Kingdom and most other parts of the world in February, this work will be released in the United States later this month. In anticipation, I caught up with Robert (an old friend and sometime co-author of mine, as well as a past contributor to China Beat) and asked him some questions about the book. A stylishly written and carefully researched work, it contains everything …
The National Imagination (Spring 2011),
2011
Clark University
The National Imagination (Spring 2011), Robert D. Tobin, Beth Gale, Alice Valentine
Syllabi
What images make people think of the United States of America? Cowboys? The flag? And are there similar icons in other cultures that help define cultural identity? The National Imagination explores the concept of a national community as constructed and critiqued through literary and cinematic narratives, as well as other cultural texts.
Our underlying premise is that national languages and cultures promote the identity of particular communities. We are interested in examining those subjective expressions of culture—images, symbols, narratives—that lead people to feel that they are members of the communities we call nations. We are also interested in discovering points …
The Sounds Of Zhèngmíng: Setting Names Straight In Early Chinese Texts,
2011
University of Richmond
The Sounds Of Zhèngmíng: Setting Names Straight In Early Chinese Texts, Jane Geaney
Religious Studies Faculty Publications
In early Chinese texts, straightness often indicates correctness, hence many things are said to be zhèng 正.1 But among them, only zhèngmíng 正名 emerged as a rhetorical slogan promising the production of order and elimination of human confusion and fakeness.2 In scholarship on Chinese ethics, the slogan is usually understood as working toward these goals by making behavior accord with names or by making “names” (norms or social roles) accord with behavior. By contrast, on the assumption that uses of the term “míng” (name/title/fame) involved what something is called or what is …
Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 10 No. 1, May 2011,
2011
University of San Francisco
Asia Pacific Perspectives Vol. 10 No. 1, May 2011, University Of San Francisco, University Of San Francisco
Asia Pacific Perspectives
Contents:
Editor's Introduction by John K. Nelson
The Contemporary Global Political and Economic Context for Interreligious Dialogue Including China and India by Eric Hanson
The recent political and economic advances of China and India, and their changing relationships to each other and to the rest of the world, constitute the most crucial long term national adjustments necessary in the current international system. The differences among religions of the book, religions of meditative experience, and religions of public life make it extremely difficult to use any understanding of religion in itself as the focal piece for such dialogue. Religion and Politics …
