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Blogging The Aas

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The Association for Asian Studies annual meeting is taking place this weekend in Chicago. We’ll be posting occasional updates from China Beatniks who are attending the meeting and will be checking in about the sessions and meetings they’ve participated in. Below, our first two postings from the meeting.

From Jeff Wasserstrom (3/26/09, 11:53 a.m.):

As Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, I needed to be on site a couple of days before the Association for Asian Studies panels and other main events begin, and I have been struck since arriving by how many things I’ve seen inside or near …

From The Aas

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

From Kate Edgerton-Tarpley (3/27/09, 4:03 p.m.):

Attending Panel 44, “Visualizing Order: Images and the Construction of Legal Culture in Ming and Qing China” inspired me to continue Paul Katz’s discussion of religion — as well as law and ritual — for a moment. Both Katz’s paper on representations of underworld justice in late imperial China and Yanhong Wu’s paper on legal order in Ming case stories and illustrations provided fascinating examples of ghosts, spirits, birds, and leaves entering courtrooms to either exonerate an innocent person or condemn a guilty one. Katz argued that Underworld justice was seen as less corrupt …

Coming Distraction: Shanghai Girls

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Lisa See has written seven books set in China–including novels like Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, mysteries like Flower Net, and an account of her family’s immigration from China to the U.S., On Gold Mountain. Her most recent book,Shanghai Girls, will be released on May 26, 2009.

Kate Merkel-Hess: Your forthcoming book, Shanghai Girls, will be released in May. What is the book about? What inspired the novel’s subject?

Lisa See: Shanghai Girls is about two sisters who leave Shanghai in 1937 and come to Los Angeles in arranged marriages. Four things inspired me. First, I’ve been collecting Shanghai …

Huiyuan（汇源): My “Nationalistic” Juice, Yu Zhou

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On March 18, 2009, the Chinese Commerce Ministry rejected Coca-Cola’s proposal to take over Huiyuan, the top juice maker in China. This deal was a closely watched one as an early test of China’s newly instated anti-monopoly law. The veto was greeted with dismay in the major western media and widely interpreted as a new signal of Chinese protectionism. The article in the Times and the editorial by Financial Times suggested that the Chinese government made decisions based on nationalistic considerations, rather than any sound economic or legal rationale. The rejection is thought to have far-reaching ramifications for foreign investment …

On Contemporary China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

(In 75 minutes)

It’s no small task to sum up the work of 53 separate authors but I gave it a go last Friday at the Virginia Festival of the Book when I spoke about China in 2008. I shared the stage (and live C-Span connection) with Susan Brownell (who gave a fascinating presentation on the Beijing Olympics and Olympic education in the Chinese schools) and our moderator, UVA professor of politics Brantly Womack. The session turned into a lively discussion with the audience of about 45 about how we can find ways to more accurately represent (and then hopefully …

Coming Distractions: China Events At The 2009 Aas Meeting

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

USC’s very useful US-China Institute website, which helps us keep up with relevant events taking place in Southern California and other places as well, has ahelpful guide to the upcoming Association for Asian Studies meetings, which will be held in Chicago March 26-29. Even if you won’t be anywhere close to Chicago on the relevant dates, scrolling through this list of China-related panels can be an effective form of one-stop shopping for those interested in getting a quick sense of the sorts of things that academics (mostly North American, but the meetings pull in participants from other parts of the …

Marxist Mash-Ups

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Danwei.org recently called attention to plans being made in Beijing to stage a musical based on Karl Marx’s major tome, Das Kapital, and the Guardian also ran a piece about this effort to create an unlikely mash-up of Vegas style entertainment, a Broadway song and dance extravaganza, and a closely argued (and very long) work of political economy. These reports (as well as Jeremiah Jenne’s earlier review on this site of a film about Mao that makes use of unexpected visual techniques) set us thinking about other kinds of unlikely textual or visual mash-ups with either a Chinese or Marxist …

French Tibet, Pierre Fuller

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Visiting family last summer I was surprised to spot the amount of red, blue and gold fabric – yes, Tibetan flags – flying from the roofs of village homes in the French Alps, something of a solidarity I guess with high altitude brethren at the other end of the Eurasian expanse. A little of Tibet in France. After the Olympic torch events of last year, why not. But then that did not prepare me for reporter Edward Cody’s piece on France in today’s Washington Post.

“French Workers Return to Streets in Protest” predictably reported that a million-plus French were pounding …

Around The Web

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We like to keep tabs on the contributors who write for us, and some of them have been publishing some interesting pieces lately. Here’s a quick reader of five excerpts from China Beatniks.

1. At Inside-Out China, Xujun Eberlein has translated an essay (in two parts) by Sun Liping, professor of sociology at Tsinghua University. The essay has been making the rounds on the Chinese Internet. A selection:

In recent years, signs of societal breakdown have become more apparent. The core problem is the loss of control over power. During the past 30 years of reform, despite the establishment of …

Thoughts On China Underground–A Book I Didn’T Want To Like (But Did)

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

To Tweet or Not to Tweet?

That’s not necessarily the question, but it’s one I’ve been pondering for a while.

On the one hand, I’m loath to add another new form of communication to my life. After all, blogging is only something I’ve been doing for a bit over a year.

On the other hand, as I argue in a commentary about blogs that I’m hoping will be published in the next couple of months (in paper format—as it is aimed at people still skeptical about online writing), things change so fast in the digital world that we need to …

Chinese Intellectuals And The Problem Of Xinjiang, Part 2, Sebastian Veg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Having analyzed the issues of colonialism, cultural rights of Uyghur populations, and the question of a Han nationalist revival, Wang Lixiong concludes the book by three “letters” to his Uyghur friend Mokhtar, in which he reframes the discussion on Xinjiang within his more general ideas on political reform in China. His reluctance to consider Xinjiang as “different” from other regions in China (while he is less reluctant to do so in the case of Tibet) is not unproblematic; nonetheless his voice is important because he is a critical intellectual “on the edge” who has visibly not entirely renounced influencing the …

Dutch Treats

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the most exciting developments in the field of Taiwan history has been a steady stream of publications that shed new light on the island’s development when it was being colonized by the Spanish and the Dutch. Notable achievements include Chinese translations of Dutch and Spanish sources by Chiang Shu-sheng 江樹生 and Lee Yu-chung 李毓中, a volume of collected essays by Chen Kuo-tung 陳國棟, and an in-depth study of Spanish rule by Jose Eugenio Borao (鮑曉鷗). This scholarship represents the fruits of unstinting efforts by Leiden scholars like Leonard Blussé, as well as venerable Taiwanese academics like Ts’ao Yung-ho …

Will China Put The "Eco" Back In "Economy"?, Alex Pasternack

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It was the recession that Chinese leaders partially credited for helping the countryreach its Five Year Plan pollution goals for the first time in 2008. Meanwhile, energy consumption has been on the decline (though it rose for the first time in three months in February), along with the demand for Chinese goods.

But to put people back to work and maintain its golden number of 8 percent growth, China will pour $586 billion into the economy. In the process, it may also pour a lot of concrete, a lot of coal into its engines, and a lot of smoke back …

China In 2008 Available

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Our forthcoming volume is no longer forthcoming–as of today, it is available for purchase. While dedicated China Beat readers may find some of the content familiar, about one-third of it is brand-new (and other pieces have been expanded). For those who want to learn more about the volume before purchasing it, we direct you to a few excerpts and discussions of the book:

An excerpt from the Introduction, by Kate Merkel-Hess

A complete table of contents

An excerpt from the Afterword, by Ken Pomeranz

A flyer about the book from publisher Rowman & Littlefield

Discussion about the book from contributor …

The Right Target For A Boycott?, Daniel A. Bell

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Shortly after the Olympic torch’s troubled passage through Paris last April, Chinese nationalists organized a campaign to boycott the French supermarket Carrefour. The chain store is perhaps the most visible symbol of French life in China, with 135 outlets in the country’s major cities. Thousands of nationalists were mobilized outside Carrefour outlets and many customers were afraid to shop there.

But the boycott was completely irrational. Carrefour China had nothing to do with pro-Tibetan protests in France and even the disabled athlete Jin Jing who was targeted by protesters in France spoke out against the boycott. Over 90 percent of …

Self-Promotion Saturday: Upcoming Events

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few reminders about upcoming events involving China Beat contributors.

Shanghai

Jeff Wasserstrom will be speaking about his new book, Global Shanghai, 1850-2010, at the Shanghai International Literary Festival tomorrow, March 15 at 4 p.m. City Weekend has been “live blogging” from the festival, so even those who don’t attend can read transcripts from readings. Some highlights for Sinophiles:Stella Dong and James Fallows and Graham Earnshaw.

Hong Kong

Wasserstrom will also be presenting at the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival on Tuesday, March 17 at 4 p.m. (at University of Hong Kong).

Charlottesville, VA

Susan Brownell and Kate Merkel-Hess …

Quiz Winners And A New Quiz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We received many correct answers to last week’s Frivolous Friday quiz. For the prize of a copy of China’s Brave New World–And Other Tales for Global Times, Jeff Wasserstrom asked readers to guess which two people he had in mind to answerthis question: “If you could bring back to life, for a day, two people you’ve written about who are now dead, and ask them questions about what Shanghai was like then, who would they be and what would you ask them?” The clues were:

1) Both people were cosmopolitan women who spent time in both China and the United …

Can China Go High-Tech When Exports Slump?, Yu Zhou

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As the financial Tsunami batter China’s exporting hubs, everyone is wondering how well China can weather the storm in the next couple of years, but a more important question is how China’s economy will emerge after the crisis. As a result of extensive research, I argue that there have been sustained forces pushing China’s industry to more innovative fields with a stronger orientation to the domestic market. The crisis will only strengthen the shift in a more dramatic manner.

This conclusion is based on my research in Beijing’s Zhongguancun, a region dedicated to innovative industry and domestic market. I started …

Mo Yan, Inaugural Newman Laureate, Honored In Oklahoma, Haiyan Lee

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

On Thursday, March 5, the acclaimed Chinese novelist Mo Yan received the inaugural Newman Prize for Chinese Literature at a ceremony held on the campus of the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Over a hundred invited guests attended the event, including the Chinese consul from Houston, the Oklahoma secretary of state, OU’s deans of arts and sciences, OU faculty, high school teachers, students, alumni, visitors, and donors.

The Newman Prize was created in 2008 in OU’s Institute for U.S.-China Issues at the initiative of its director Peter H. Gries, Professor of political science and author of China’s New Nationalism, who …

Chinese Intellectuals And The Problem Of Xinjiang, Sebastian Veg

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

It is a common assumption that Chinese intellectuals, however critical of their government, its institutions, and its policies, are unreceptive to calls for greater self-government, much less independence, in China’s autonomous regions, most notably Tibet and Xinjiang. It is therefore worth taking note of Wang Lixiong’s book on Xinjiang, published in 2007 in Taiwan, the title of which can be rendered as My Far West, Your East Turkistan.

Wang Lixiong is no newcomer to the question, having devoted the past two decades to researching and reflecting on the place of “ethnic minorities” in China’s political system, in particular in view …

Readings For International Women’S Day

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In honor of International Women’s Day, China Beat posts two reading lists, one of contemporary (recent and by no means exhaustive) visions of Chinese women and another of historical visions of Chinese women.

Contemporary:

1) Xinhua reports on the increasing services for victims of domestic violence in China, following new regulations on police response to domestic violence calls implemented today:

Yu Xiuli, a victim of domestic violence, can turn to police for help if her husband continues to beat her thanks to a regulation which came into effect on Sunday.

The 40-year-old woman in eastern Shandong Province has been bearing …

Self-Promotion Saturday: Conferencing In Shanghai

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China Beatniks Jeff Wasserstrom and James Farrer and friend of the blog Andrew Field will be presenting this week at a March 12-14 conference at NYU in Shanghai (on the ECNU campus), called “Urban Representations.” The conference is sponsored by NYU, Northwestern University, Sophia University, and ECNU. Click through for a schedule and paper titles.

Free Book Up For Grabs

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China Beat‘s First (and Maybe Last) Quiz with a Prize for the Winner

Jeff Wasserstrom recently mentioned in an interview with City Weekend magazine that he’s hoping someone at the audience for his March 15 PRC book launch ofGlobal Shanghai, 1850-2010 will ask him this question: “If you could bring back to life, for a day, two people you’ve written about who are now dead, and ask them questions about what Shanghai was like then, who would they be and what would you ask them?” Well, he wouldn’t tell the magazine who he was thinking of, but he’s now told …

Year Of The Gorilla, Jonathan Tel

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This is a selection from Jonathan Tel’s forthcoming collection of short stories, The Beijing of Possibilities, to be published this summer by Other Press. Tel is the author of Freud’s Alphabet and the story collection Arafat’s Elephant. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker and Granta. Drawn to “writing fiction set in places whose inhabitants believe themselves to be at the center of the world,” Tel first visted China in 1988 and has particular affinity for Beijing.

It’s been a while since the Monkey King set out on his Journey to the West. With his Fiery-Gazing Golden-Eyes he infallibly …

China To Me

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We’ve added a new blog to our daily reading–Evan Osnos’s dispatches at The New Yorker. Currently blogging from Vietnam, Osnos posted a few thoughts on Friday about Vietnam’s lengthy relationship with China (“Long After We Left“) and a few days earlier the delightfully-titled “From Karenina to Cyrus,” which in one short vignette traces the intellectual influences from West to East over the past few generations.

In his first post to the blog, Osnos mentioned a favorite China watcher here atChina Beat, Emily Hahn. Osnos writes, “I like to imagine what she would have made of this blog. Upon arriving in …

Chatting With Wen

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the topics we raised in China in 2008 was the changing relationship between the Chinese leadership and regular people over the past years. Last weekChina Digital Times pointed to another example of this changing relationship–Wen Jiabao answering netizens’ questions online. We’ve run a few related pieces at the site before, such as Nicolai Volland’s “Boss Hu and the Press” and Richard Kraus’s “Preserving the Premier’s Calligraphy at Beichuan Middle School.”

Wolf Totem Revisited (Yet Again)

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I know that this site has run more than its fair share of commentaries on Wolf Totem already, including both a negative review and a piece defending the novel. I’ve even done one piece about it already myself, which took the form of a wrap-up look at the widely varied responses it generated in different quarters. It might seem that enough is enough, but I can’t resist slipping in one more short post, due to a new award that this work is up for that some people who thought it shouldn’t have gotten earlier prizes might be rooting for it …

Commentators On Clinton On China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Following Hillary Clinton’s visit to Asia, there have been a range of commentaries on her new approach to China. Clinton’s downplay of that standard gambit of Sino-American relations, human rights, has pleased some commentators and maddened others. Here’s a selection of five ways of looking at her China visit:

1) A Missed Opportunity, Merle Goldman at the Boston Globe:

The Charter 08 episode in China reveals widespread dissatisfaction with China’s authoritarian market economy, including those who are the supposed beneficiaries of China’s political model. Their participation in the Charter 08 movement may be attributed not only to worsening economic conditions …

Regarding The Guantanamo Uyghurs, James Millward

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

I never thought I’d see “Free the Uighurs” on the editorial pages of major U.S. newspapers, but there it was last Thursday in the Washington Post (Editorial, February 19, 2009, p. A14) and Monday in the Los Angeles Times (Editorial, Feb. 23, 2009). Of course, the editorial was not discussing Uyghurs in China, but the seventeen Uyghur detainees at Guantanamo, whom a federal appeals court ruled could be brought to the U.S. only by an act of the executive branch, not the courts. The Post urged the Obama administration to do the right thing by these men, whom the Bush …

James Hevia On Summer Palace Relics

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

With disputes relating to looted Chinese objects in the news, we asked Professor James Hevia of the University of Chicago, author of an important book called English Lessons, which includes analysis of foreign military actions in China from the 1860s through the post-Boxer occupation of 1900-1901 and was cited in our earlier post on the topic, if he had any thoughts on the subject to share with our readers. Already quoted briefly in a useful Christian Science Monitor article on the issue, here’s what he had wrote in response to our query:

The recent announcement by Christie’s of yet another …