Asian History Commons^™

Our Daily Reads: Best Of China Blogs

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The contributors at The China Beat read a lot of China blogs. Here is a primer of a few of our collective favorites. We welcome you to add your own must-reads (or plug your own blog) in the comments section.

Best One-Stop Source of Information: China Digital Times

Best Media Blog: A tie between Danwei and China Media Project

Best Industry Blog: China Law Blog

Best News Blog: Beijing Newspeak – Written by Chris O’Brien, a language polisher/rewrite artist for Xinhua, a fascinating and frequently hilarious look behind the scenes of Chinese media.

Best Issue Blog: China …

In Case You Missed It: They Chose China

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In the opening scenes of Shuibo Wang’s 2005 documentary, “They Chose China,” American soldiers dressed in the long, padded winter coats of the Chinese military cluster around a microphone to explain the international threat posed by McCarthy’s witch hunts and U.S. intolerance for freedom and democracy. The documentary tells the story of these twenty-one American soldiers, held as POWs by the Chinese during the Korean War, who refused repatriation after the 1953 armistice.

Through a mix of archival footage, Chinese and American TV clips, and contemporary interviews with one of the few surviving defectors, Wang tries to unearth why the …

Five Good Short Books On China: A Guide For Readers With Limited Attention Spans

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This list is for an imaginary couple who are about to take their first trip to China and have made it clear to me that they only have a limited amount of time to spend reading up on the country in advance. Or, perhaps better yet, they’ve been honest enough to tell me that they won’t start to read up on China until their plane actually takes off, and they want some ideas of what to cram into the limited space of their carry-on bags. Though busy, these imaginary friends (I do have real ones, but none that have asked …

On The China Beat

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

China has been looming ever larger in the global economy and the global imagination in recent years, and the international chatter about the country hit a crescendo last year with reports about things like lead paint, moon shots, an architectural face-lift in the capital in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, high growth rates, a rising middle class, and ever sharper divides between haves and have-nots. As China draws more attention from the Western media and its readership, the need for storytellers and interpreters of China has also grown. As China scholars and writers who are concerned about the way …

After The Avalanche

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Most Taiwan observers expected a convincing KMT victory in last Saturday’s Legislative Yuan elections, perhaps even a landslide. What we got was an avalanche, with the KMT garnering 81 of 113 seats (71.68%), as opposed to a paltry 27 for the DPP. The scale of the rout was unprecedented, especially since the KMT ended up with just over 51% of the popular vote, as opposed to approximately 37% for the DPP, numbers that do not differ that dramatically from those of past elections.

A wide range of factors contributed to the DPP debacle, including profound concerns with the slow pace …

Anniversaries: The Rise And Fall Of Wang Mang

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

We subscribe to an online encyclopedia to help one of my sons with homework, and because I placed the order, their “This Day in History” feature comes to my inbox. China rarely figures, which isn’t that surprising. After all, they need brief, punchy items that will catch readers’ attention, and that means items familiar enough to a general audience that a five word title is understandable, and that only three sentences are needed to remind us of what happened and why we should care. So I’m not crusading for “1644: Manchus enter Beijing with the help of Wu Sangui” to …

Venturing Into The Minefield: Turkish Liberal Historiography And The Armenian Genocide, Bedross Der Matossian

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Historiography normally refers to the act of writing history, the collective writings of history and the history of such activities over time. I This chapter addresses the collective writings of history by a group of scholars of "Turkish origin," mainly deriving from a tradition ofleftist sentiments. What is particular about this group of Turkish liberal historians is that they provide an alternative historical interpretation2 of a specific historical event that is otherwise accepted by the official Turkish history (resmi tarih) as an historical travesty.1 Historical events, which are conventionally regarded as the "building bricks of history," are composed into a …

Soviet Russia: An Interpretation, John J. Heeren

Open Learning Resources, General/Selected

Summary

This paper offers an interpretation of Soviet Russia, based upon several weeks of direct observation and investigation conducted in the summer of 1932. The Soviet Union presents itself as a colossal experiment in recasting human society along Marxian lines. The following pages examine both the philosophical underpinnings of Communism and the visible outworking of this revolutionary transformation. Impressive industrial centers reflect a Planned Economy of great ambition, yet marred by shortages, inefficiencies, and a reliance upon capitalistic methods such as piecework and wage incentives. Visible wealth and inequality have been replaced with widespread, uniform poverty. In the countryside, collectivization …