Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Landscape Within: Shanghai Photography By Howard French

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Howard French, former Shanghai bureau chief for the New York Times, has recently posted a new collection of black-and-white photographs on his website. The photo gallery, entitled “Disappearing Shanghai Part Two: The Landscape Within,” is accompanied by an essay written by French. Below, an excerpt from “The Landscape Within” and a sample of French’s photography to whet your appetite:

As many times as I have tread those asphalt streets, my mission this summer was altogether different from my photographic explorations of the past. It was inspired, in part, by a suggestion from a friend, the photographer Danny Lyon, that sounded …

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty!

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The first trial of former President Chen Shui-bian 陳水扁, some of his family members, and other defendants has run its course, with verdicts and sentencesbeing pronounced on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. Chen received a life sentence, a fine of NT$200 million (approximately US$6.1 million), and had his civil rights annulled for life. His wife received a nearly identical sentence, albeit with a larger fine (NT$300 million). His son was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison and fined NT$150 million, while his daughter-in-law received one year and eight months while being fined the same amount. Other …

Yale Global On China (And In Chinese)

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We’ve linked to pieces on China at YaleGlobal Online in the past, but wanted to make a special note that they are now running a Chinese version of their website (also hosted by a Fudan U server). YaleGlobal is edited by Nayan Chanda, the author of Bound Together: How Traders, Preachers, Adventurers, and Warriors Shaped Globalization (reviewed in Newsweek by Jeff Wasserstrom). In addition to encouraging you to jump into the Chinese version of YaleGlobal, however, we thought we would also point you to a few recent pieces (in English) that China watchers might find interesting.

1. “Dams in China …

Cities Of The Future, Anna Greenspan

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The future is by definition modern – Carol Willis

Modern means Shanghai – then and now – Ben Wood

At the Skyscraper Museum in Battery Park, where lower Manhattan meets the water’s edge, Shanghai is currently on display. Though the museum only occupies a small space, the design by architectural firm SOM gives the illusion of height, and the show is packed with content (including maps, floor-to-ceiling photographs, architectural models, video, and a 20-minute floating streetscape by Shanghai-based photographer Jakob Montrasio).

For those who can’t make the trip to New York, much of this material is now available online at …

Getting Ready For National Day: A Six-Step Plan

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Back in October 2007, with the Olympics still almost a year off in the future, I devised a twelve-step reading plan for Outlook India, the goal of which was to help interested observers (and maybe even journalists who would be covering the event) get ready to make sense of the Beijing Games. I’ve been thinking for some time that I should do something similar for this year’s National Day. After all, 10/1/09 will have some things in common with 08/08/08, even if National Day is a thoroughly, well, national holiday, while the Olympics by definition is aninternational event. For example, …

A Han Chinese Student On The Urumqi Violence Of Summer 2009, Timothy B. Weston

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In April 2008 I published an interview at China Beat entitled “Growing Up Han: Reflections on a Xinjiang Childhood” that I conducted with a Chinese student named Leong who attends the University of Colorado, where I teach. Leong and I had been talking about doing a follow-up interview since that time but decided to wait until after he returned from a long-planned trip home to Urumqi during summer 2009 to do it. We figured his trip home and the feelings it generated in him might make for a good interview. Of course, neither of us could have anticipated the tumultuous …

China’S New New Youth, Alec Ash

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In 1915, in Shanghai, Chen Duxiu founded a magazine called qingnian zazhi (青年杂志), or Youth Magazine. Soon after, it was renamed xinqingnian (新青年): New Youth. Perhaps Chen came to feel that the youth of the times had something new to offer China, or that his writers had something new to offer China’s youth. Either way, the magazine and the name captured the spirit of the New Culture Movement which led to May 4th. New Youth aimed to call China out of its Confucian slumber with plain, angry writing by the likes of Lu Xun and essays promoting democracy. Later, it …

The Tael Lights Of Old Shanghai

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Clocking in at only 99 pages, Shanghai: High Lights Low Lights Tael Lights is an excellent appetizer for those of us who generally dine on heavier reading fare. The authors, Maurine Karns and Pat Patterson, make their purpose known early in the book: in the preface, titled “an explanation but not an apology,” Karns and Patterson state that they have written Tael Lights“with the hope of enjoying ourselves, of making a little money, and of not committing ourselves to anything for which we might be sorry” (xx). They proceed to describe, with delightful if decidedly un-PC irreverence, the Shanghai they …

Learning With The Kids, Daniel A. Bell

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China, as everybody knows, is not a politically free country. There are constraints on political activity and many social critics fall afoul of the system. The foreign press often reports on those cases, leading to the impression that it’s impossible to do any good outside of official channels. What is less well known, however, is that some areas of social life that were once politically taboo – such as the plight of migrant workers and environmental concerns – are now openly discussed in the Chinese media. There are also a growing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that do good work …

Bush’S Brain (No, Not Karl Rove): How Bush’S Psyche Shaped His Decision Making, Robert Maranto, Richard E. Redding

Education Reform Faculty and Graduate Students Publications

We will summarize the most systematic work on George W. Bush's psyche, stressing that leader personality traits should not be judged as good nor bad: Rather traits which match some situations mismatch others. SAT scores and other available measures indicate that Bush has sufficient intelligence to serve as president. Yet the best studies, in which raters evaluate statements without being aware of their source, suggest that Bush lacks integrative complexity and thus views issues without nuance (Thoemmes and Conway 2007). The leading personality theory (the “5-Factor Model”), as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory, suggests that Bush is highly extraverted …

Current History: Issue On China And East Asia

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Current History‘s September issue focuses on Asia. Though its articles are not accessible online, the publication has allowed China Beat to print short selections from a few articles. In addition to those excerpted below, the issue also includes pieces from Kenneth Lieberthal, Merle Goldman, Bruce Cumings, and others.

From “Unruly Stability: Why China’s Regime Has Staying Power” by Andrew Walder:

It is no longer as clear to China’s intellectuals and other educated urbanites that the nation’s political trajectory compares unfavorably to those of its former socialist brethren. In the late 1980s the socialist world appeared on the verge of a …

For Poland, Shadow Of 1939 Hangs Over Today's Events, Nicholas Hayes

University Chair in Critical Thinking Publications

No abstract provided.

The Future Of The Oecd, Richard Woodward

Books/Book Chapters

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is one of the least written about and least understood of our major global institutions. This new book builds a well-rounded understanding of this crucial, though often neglected, institution, with a range of clearly written chapters that:

• outline its origins and evolution, bringing its story fully up-to-date

• present a clear framework for understanding the OECD

• set the institution within the broader context of global governance

• outline key criticisms and debates

• evaluate its future prospects.

Given the immense challenges facing humanity at the start of the 21st century, the need for the OECD …

Advocate, September 2009, Vol. [21], No. [1], Gc Advocate

The Advocate

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

From the Editor’s Desk: A Riot of Their Own (p. 2)

Political Analysis: Battle over CAFTA Rages in El Salvador. Michael Busch (p. 6)

Adjuncting: Teacher Pay Around the World. Alison Powell (p. 8)

Dispatches from the Front: The Second Language of “Standard English.” Alison Powell (p. 9)

Health Issues: Student Health Services: Still There, Still Needed, Still Yours… So Speak Up! Collette Sosnowy, Health Issues Committee (p. 10)

Some Teaching Mistakes Other People Have Made (So You Don’t Have To). Nichole Stanford (p. 12)

Masthead (p. 2)

Letters to the Editor (p. 3)

On Class Violence. …

Obama In China: Friendly Advice, Robert A. Kapp

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

After Barack Obama’s inauguration, we ran a series at China Beat of various China experts’ reading recommendations for Obama on China (See installments I, II, III,IV, V, VI). At the time, we assumed a trip to China would be one of Obama’s top priorities–as is now clear with last week’s announcement that Obama will visit China in November 2009. So we sent out a few emails to China watchers from a variety of backgrounds, asking if they had advice for Obama as he prepares for the summit in Beijing. Here, the first installment from Robert A. Kapp, former president of …

Readings On Speech And Protest In China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

1. Hu Jintao has made a trip to Xinjiang, his first since riots there in July. Xinjiang was in the news earlier this week as well, when international news organizations picked up a story, first reported in Monday’s China Daily, which announced that trials would begin shortly for more than 200 people arrested in connection with the riots. The regional government, however, quickly denied that any trials have been scheduled, and stated that only 83 people have been officially arrested to date. Over at the Wall Street Journal’s China blog, Sky Canaves writes on this story and what it reveals …

Reports On China Environment

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum has released two new research briefs, adding them to their growing archive of reports on issues ranging fromhealth challenges in Xinjiang to waste disposal in rural areas. Particularly notable is the collection of reports resulting from a collaboration with Western Kentucky University; the two newest reports are both part of this series.

The first report is “Electric Cars: The Drive for a Sustainable Solution in China,” by Peter Marsters:

The CEO of Chinese automaker BYD has recently taken to drinking vials of his company’s battery fluid. The fluid, designed for use in electric cars, …

Tales From Taiwan: Mourning, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Siaolin’s survivors are in the midst of grappling with three main issues: mourning the dead, coping with current difficulties, and planning for the future (see the online chats about these issues on Siaolin’s own website, the 甲仙鄉小林社區入口網). On August 21, I attended two meetings with Professor Chien Wen-min 簡文敏 and his colleagues (林清財, 吳旭峰, 段洪坤, 張東炯, 黃智慧, 潘英海, 簡炯仁, 謝世憲). The first meeting focused on the needs of Siaolin’s villagers, who were preparing a petition to present to President Ma when he attended mourning rituals the next day. Consensus was reached on three main points, namely requesting the government allow …

Nimby Comes To China Revisited

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Many things have happened in the PRC this year that echo phenomena discussed in China in 2008: A Year of Great Significance, including the recent renewal of Shanghai protests relating to train lines. As Associated Press reporter Elaine Kurtenbach notes in her valuable dispatch on the subject, the latest demonstrations have been on a smaller scale than the early 2008 ones discussed in our book. They have also been directed toward a more convetional kind of railway (albeit one that moves very fast) rather than a Magnetic levitation (Maglev) one.

Nevertheless, Kurtenbach’s summary of the situation (in this case regarding …

Bowling Green, Kentucky - City Council (Mss 276), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 276. Minute books of Bowling Green, Kentucky Board of Councilmen (1948-1967), Board of Aldermen (1952-1967), and Board of Commissioners (1967-1987).

Resource: Images Of 1972 China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I received a note on the H-Asia listserv last week from the Asian Studies WWW Monitor (which provides regular summaries of online teaching resources on Asia). The note flagged a fabulous archive of photographs of daily life taken by Wellesley Political Science Professor William A. Joseph in 1972. Below, a few images from this intriguing resource.

Better City, Better Life, Anna Greenspan

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Since in Shanghai Expo preparation is now ubiquitous, and because I share China’s love of numbered lists, here are my top 8 suggestions for how Shanghai could implement its promise–now posted everywhere–of a ‘better city, better life.’

I’ve deliberately not included things that are a) already underway (e.g. more subway stops), b) up to the whim of a single entrepreneur (e.g. a decent bagel shop) and c) too obviously political (e.g. a more open media).

As those of us who love the city know, there is much that Shanghai–with its safe, pedestrian friendly, tree lined streets and spectacular skyline–gets right. …

Readings: Expo Preparation, Food, Music, And Fashion

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A variety of readings that piqued our interest this week:

1. In a New York Times story, Howard French takes a look at the ongoing preparations in Shanghai as next year’s World Expo grows closer. In addition to Expo-related construction in the city center, French notes, attention is also being paid to outlying neighborhoods, which are being spruced up in anticipation that some Expo-goers will want to explore Shanghai’s innumerable side streets and alleyways:

Shiny new aluminum facades are being hastily stapled onto grubby family storefronts, and fresh coats of paint and mortar are being applied, often for the first …

Siaolin Stands Up

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Bouncing over ruined roads washed out by Typhoon Morakot (some roadbeds have been transformed into river beds), a group of scholars (including myself) drove to the township of Chia-hsien 甲仙 (Kaohsiung County) on August 18 to attend a press conference marking the formation of the Reconstruction Committee for Siaolin’s Plains Aborigine Culture (小林平埔文化重建委員會). Arriving in Chia-hsien, one is soon struck by the roar of helicopters and generators, as well as the smell of flood debris and betel nut juice, which serve to cover up other odors. Power has been restored, but there is still no running water, which puts a …

Readings On Liu Xiaobo And Xu Zhiyong

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

News came today that legal scholar Xu Zhiyong was formally arrested last week, though he has not yet been charged, according to his lawyer (see recent China Beat posts on Xu Zhiyong here and here). Xu is one of several detainees whom netizens are seeking to free through a postcard campaign; another is Charter ’08 organizer Liu Xiaobo, who has been in custody since last December. Here are several readings related to Liu, and one on Xu, that have caught our attention:

1. Before Charter ’08, Liu Xiaobo was already well-known as a participant in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. …

The Politics Of Putin's Torso: Marketing A Tough Guy, Nicholas Hayes

University Chair in Critical Thinking Publications

No abstract provided.

Readings

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

There are several recent pieces on China’s internet controls that are worth reading if you haven’t already looked at them. First, “How China Polices the Internet” atFinancial Times, gives an interesting account of what David Bandurski has called China’s “Control 2.0,” an increasingly adept deployment of online discourse on behalf (rather than at the expense) of the government. After vigorous online debate emerged over a Yunanese man’s suspicious death while in police custody, officials did not just cut off discussion:

Wu Hao, deputy propaganda chief for the area, put out an online appeal for “netizens” to help investigate the case. …

Fell Rains

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The people of southern Taiwan are suffering the ravages of the worst flooding to hit the island in 50 years. This tragedy was brought about by Typhoon Morakot, which combined with a tropical depression near the Philippines to produce a blob of tropical moisture nearly 1,000 kilometers in diameter that dumped between 6-7 FEET of rain on Taiwan’s southern regions from August 7-9, 2009, with the most severe rainfall occurring on August 8 (Taiwanese Father’s Day or 八八(爸爸)節). The resulting floodwaters and mudslides have toppled buildings and buried entire villages. Current casualty figures stand at 103 dead and 45 injured, …

China’S Migrant Workers In The Wake Of The Economic Crisis: Unemployed, Undeterred, Robert D. O'Brien

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

After growing at double-digit rates for most of the last three decades, the Chinese economy is now in jeopardy of failing to achieve the eight percent GDP expansion benchmark widely considered necessary for the government to stave off social unrest. Although a fairly insulated and underdeveloped financial market allowed the PRC to avoid the first order effects of the global financial crisis, the drying up of China’s main export markets – the U.S., Europe, and Japan – has wreaked havoc on the manufacturing sector, leading to the unemployment of over 20 million migrant workers.

In the wake of the recent …

Rolling The Dice In Macau, Dustin Wright

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It has been almost a decade now since China regained control of Macau, but the city’s present and future crops up in news coverage much less than Hong Kong, another reclaimed colony. We’re delighted, then, to be able to run this piece about Macau from someone who has been spending time there, meditating on not only whether or not Macau is democratizing but also how Macau’s relationship to the mainland and the world is changing its economy and society. For those interested in background information on Macau, see the reading list that follows the piece.

Sitting in a hip dessert …