Continuing Coverage Of Country Driving,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Continuing Coverage Of Country Driving
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
We’ve reviewed Country Driving, and have been reading what others think of the book as well. Reviews are appearing in a variety of places: just a few we’ve seen are at Urbanatomy, The Boston Globe, and the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.
Peter Hessler At Uci,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Peter Hessler At Uci
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
A few images from today’s “conversation” between Peter Hessler (currently on tour to promote his newest book, Country Driving) and Ken Pomeranz at the University of California, Irvine, with almost 100 in attendance.
Rebuilding,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Rebuilding, Paul Katz
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Just over five months have passed since the devastation wrought by Typhoon Morakot, and the survivors of the Siaolin Village 小林村 tragedy are coping as best they can with a lot of help from their friends, charitable organizations, and the government. However, the effects of the disaster still linger. Over 400 bodies of victims buried or washed away in the mudslide that followed hours of torrential rains will never be recovered, and there is not a large enough tract of arable land in the unscathed portions of Siaolin, or even all of Chia-hsien Township 甲仙鄉, to rebuild a community sufficient …
What Does China Imagine?,
2010
University of California, Los Angeles
What Does China Imagine?, Guangyi Li
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
One day when I was four, I found an interesting book on the shelf, called A Strange Patient. This anthology starts with an impressive piece of science fiction,Miracle on the World’s Highest Peak by Ye Yonglie. The story describes an investigation of Mount Everest, where, with some Tibetans’ help, scientists find a precious dinosaur egg embedded in amber and preserved intact over time. Unlike their counterparts in Jurassic Park, however, the Chinese scientists don’t extract dinosaur genes and clone this extinguished species. Instead, they hatch a baby dinosaur!
Jia Zhangke Does Shanghai…And Other Notes From The Field,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Jia Zhangke Does Shanghai…And Other Notes From The Field
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
In addition to checking out the Expo (something I’ve blogged about before and will blog about again) and hosting a series of dialogs at M on the Bund’s Glamour Bar (the last of which takes place this Sunday at 2:30 and will find me in conversation about writing for the web and for print with Evan Osnos of the New Yorker magazine and the excellent “Letter from China” blog), I’ve been trying to take advantage of any opportunities that come along in terms of local cultural events. On the whole, I think I’ve been very lucky with my timing.
Me, Wang Hui, And Liberal Wishy-Washy-Ness,
2010
nstitute of Modern History, Academia Sinica.
Me, Wang Hui, And Liberal Wishy-Washy-Ness, Peter Zarrow
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Wang Hui is a cultural historian and critic, and professor at Qinghua University in Beijing. He was for several years editor of Dushu, a serious general interest magazine perhaps roughly — very roughly — equivalent to the Atlantic monthly in the US. He is also known as a leader of the so-called “New Left” intellectuals, who highlight the costs of economic liberalization, global capitalism, and rigid Western-style modernization policies. Early this year, charges of plagiarism began to appear concerning some of some of Wang Hui’s work. He has since been subject to numerous attacks, including ad hominen blog attacks.
Joan Hinton (1921-2010),
2010
Northwestern University
Joan Hinton (1921-2010), Charles W. Hayford
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Joan Hinton died last month in a Beijing hospital at the age of 88. It was surprising that so many mainstream American newspapers ran detailed obituaries. Hinton had lived in China since 1948, mostly running dairy farms, and she didn’t go out of her way to address Americans, as did her brother, William, author of the classic Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village (1967). She did publicly attack American imperialism — in 2006, she displayed a T shirt reading “F—k Bush” in Chinese.
Reading Round-Up, 1/31/2010,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Reading Round-Up, 1/31/2010
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
1. While quite a few writers have discussed the Avatar-versus-Confucius battle currently going on in Chinese cinemas (China Beat posts on the subject can be found here and here), the December 2009 issue of China Heritage Quarterlyincludes a piece by Gloria Davies and M.E. Davies on another attention-getting film, The Founding of a Republic. The authors point out that the movie, released to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the PRC’s founding, is notable for setting forth a new narrative about the events leading up to October 1, 1949:
Google And China: The Analysis Continues,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Google And China: The Analysis Continues
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Almost three weeks have passed since Google’s January 12 announcement that it would be reconsidering its Chinese operations, and although the company has not yet indicated a final decision about its future in China, the issues raised by this matter have sparked a number of thoughtful analyses. Yesterday, China Beatfeatured a piece by Geremie Barmé on “The Harmonious Evolution of Information in China”; below, some more recent commentaries on the Google and China story that have gotten our attention:
Christ In Pingyao,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Christ In Pingyao
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
In the old town of Pingyao, right next to the Confucius temple, Christmas banners still hang on a Catholic Church, built 1910. Mr Zhang, housesitting the Church while its priest is away, stands messianically in his room, shortly after his quiet attempts to convert me.
The Harmonious Evolution Of Information In China,
2010
The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
The Harmonious Evolution Of Information In China, Geremie R. Barme
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
As the contretemps involving Google’s conflicted presence in the People’s Republic of China unfolds, it is timely to recall one anniversary that passed by all but unnoticed in 2009: that of a covert Cold War-era clash between John Foster Dulles and Mao Zedong in 1959. This overlooked anniversary is worth recalling now, since it is of particular relevance to contextualizing the remarks—and the Chinese response to those remarks—that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made regarding Internet freedom and US policy at the Newseum in Washington on 21 January 2010 (see here for full text of Clinton’s speech).
Blogging Aas 2010,
2010
Princeton University
Blogging Aas 2010, Shellen Xiao Wu, Daniel Little, William A. Callahan
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
As many of our readers are already aware, the Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting is taking place this weekend in Philadelphia. The largest annual gathering of Asia scholars in the world (this year there will be about three thousand in attendance), the AAS meeting brings together university-based and independent scholars and writers who work in fields ranging from history to political science to literature and studying cultures and countries across Asia.
Google.Cn & Beyond: Politics Of Digital Media,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Google.Cn & Beyond: Politics Of Digital Media, Silvia Lindtner
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
A bit more than two months ago, on January 12, 2010, Google released an official statement on its corporate blog that described the company’s plan to push back over censorship of search results on Google.cn. The following is an excerpt from that statement, which was inspired in large part by sophisticated cyber attacks against Gmail users that originated from within China:
Tangka,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Tangka
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
“Baimaobar, a Tibetan friend from Qinghai province, poses next to the thangka-esque art he painted on the wall of my Beijing flat in 2008.
Five Questions (And Answers) About “Autumn Gem”,
2010
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Five Questions (And Answers) About “Autumn Gem”, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
At the beginning of March, Rae Chang and Adam Tow came to UC Irvine to show their docudrama about the life of Qiu Jin, Autumn Gem (see here for their blog post about the UCI event, and here for a list of upcoming screenings around the country). The movie traces the life of “China’s first feminist,” Qiu Jin (1875-1907), who was a leader in both the nationalist and women’s movements and was executed at the age of 32 for her involvement in a plot to overthrow the Qing government. Hailed as a revolutionary martyr in China, Qiu Jin is little …
Lusting For Old Shanghai: Andrew Field And Tess Johnston @ Silf 2010,
2010
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lusting For Old Shanghai: Andrew Field And Tess Johnston @ Silf 2010, Marta Cooper
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Shanghai is a city where one has to work particularly hard to find simple, unadulterated culture. So, when the blue moon opportunity comes to bask in it for two weeks, I do just that. Most recently, that’s meant heading to the sophisticated Glamour Bar, overlooking the curve of the Bund and the sci-fi lights of Pudong, which has been hosting the 2010 Shanghai International Literary Festival (SILF)this month. The venue has been brimming with excitement, with authors from County Cork to Manila sharing their work with the spoiled audience.
In Case You Missed It: An Introduction To Chinese Philosophy,
2010
University of California, Irvine
In Case You Missed It: An Introduction To Chinese Philosophy, Miri Kim
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
In this well written and organized book, Karyn L. Lai lays out the founding personalities, texts, and interventions in the early history of Chinese philosophy. What could easily have been a tortuous path through centuries’ worth of extant materials and a plenitude of voices devoted to their understanding is, rather, a brisk and focused guided tour that covers major developments in Chinese philosophy without eschewing its lesser known – but still important – aspects. An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy does exactly what it promises to do: provide a clear introduction, neither too truncated nor too bogged down in detail, that …
Buying American,
2010
Ron Javers Worldwide
Buying American, Ron Javers
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
When New York rumors began flying about fresh talks between Newsweek and The Daily Beast over Tina Brown’s taking over the editorship of the venerable but now reeling newsweekly I found myself wondering what Xiang Xi in Guangzhou thought of all that.
A New Book On Mao: A Quick Q & A With Author Rebecca Karl,
2010
New York University
A New Book On Mao: A Quick Q & A With Author Rebecca Karl, Rebecca Karl
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Rebecca Karl, who teaches at New York University and is known in Chinese studies circles as the author of important studies of nationalism during the final years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) and the development of Marxist thought between the 1920s and the present, has a new book coming out soon. Titled Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World: A Concise History, it’s being published (simultaneously in paperback and hardback editions) by Duke University Press. The publisher promises that it will provide readers with a “lively and concise historical account of Mao Zedong’s life and thought,” and it comes …
In Case You Missed It: Dreaming In Chinese,
2010
National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
In Case You Missed It: Dreaming In Chinese, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012
Each time my three Chinese I classmates and I complained that we had chosen a language that was simply too hard to learn, our professor had an answer at the ready.
