Reprinting

I really like this poem and hope it can reside in the public domain. I'm not sure of its status, because it's been posted online, as well as printed in a literary magazine. If this is not allowed, please e-mail me and I'll take it down.

歸來

陳義芝

是風問還是人在問
你好不好？
夜來坐看跨岸的橋影
迅速落過妳脖頸的一抹月光
驀然聞到甘蔗香的蓮霧
我說好，不是風
是心底的聲音

你好不好？沒有答案
我問或是妳問都是一樣
一樣在水邊
夏日轟轟的聲音已沈寂
微光透過窗 枝葉因風而猶疑
帶上門，長廊在窺看
電梯不等人

你好就是我
我好也會是你
不管季節有情無
風如何來來去去
灌滿警示水深的巷弄
不管應桃紅了，或唇冷了
記憶總在白花花的縐摺裡翻湧

沒有人像你
也沒有人像我
當日曆一天天的換裝，一年又過
鮮麗的容顏用小陰的雨挲染
日常的語言用小晴的雲勾描
手指梳理發燙的身體
亂髮飄盪頑皮的呼吸

一千零一夜的故事
一千零一個晚上怎說的完
除非夜夜向蒼穹的盡頭張望
銀河的車窗全開著
祈願的香頭全部點燃
越過重山後我們又歸來
水岸的燈火仍搖晃著

Homecoming
I-Chih CHEN
translated by Chris Wen-Chao Li

Was it the wind or was it someone
asking, How have you been?
As night dawns, sitting there watching the bridge's reflection cast across the river,
a sliver of moonlight dashing across your neck,
then suddenly the scent of bellapple mixed with sweet sugarcane.
Fine, I said. That was no wind,
but a voice deep from the heart.


How have you been? Then no answer
coming from you or me.
At the water's edge also,
the din of summer had died down,
a glimmer of light shining through; the leaves were wavering, swayed by the wind,
which shut the door behind it. As if the corridors were spying;
like an elevator which waits for no one.


I'm fine if you are
and you're fine if I am,
whether or not the seasons show mercy,
as storms come and go,
flooding the back alleys to alert level,
whether it's cherries bright red or lips turned cold,
memories of you will forever toss and turn, dancing between those shimmering white
folds.


No one's quite like you
and no one's quite like me.
Pages torn from the calendar each day tell of another year gone by:
your glamorous face wet-brushed by the drizzle of weather overcast,
our daily exchanges set against the bright clouds of sunny skies,
fingers combing through the warmth of your body,
frazzled hair dancing to your playful breathing.


Are a thousand and one nights sufficient
to tell the tales of nights a thousand and one?
Not unless we gaze nightly towards the sky's edge,
roll down the windows to the universe
and set every prayer candle ablaze.
Over the hills and through the woods, we've come back full circle,
the lights across the shore still flickering.

---

Originally published/原載於民國九十五年二月十六日《聯合報》副刊。
Translation published in the Chinese PEN (Summer 2007).

QIXI 七喜

Isn't that some kind of soft drink? 嘻嘻夕~

Just kidding. Happy Chinese Valentine's Day everybody. ♥

Oh, and while you're still feeling sappy, did anyone notice that Qi-Xi would be pronounced like "chee - zee" in English? Just sayin' ... =P

Tea Party wha?

It's so cute... I just realized that the British press have to explain what the "Tea Party" is and explain its historical roots, because it's not an automatically understood phrase there. From an article in The Daily Telegraph, a UK newspaper.

Objecting first to Mr Obama's $800 billion stimulus bill and $1 trillion health care reform, the tea party movement took its name from the 1773 protest in Boston against taxes imposed by George III.

Colonial history, huh? Of course, there is a certain POV associated with the newspaper and this article in particular, which may be why they chose to describe Obama's plans and the Tea Party Movement in those terms. Background info, yes, but also a rhetorical device.

Maybe I should also check what The Guardian, The Times and The Independent say. (And is it in news stories or just columns?)

Our Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3. Joyful nostalgia looking back; a sense of new adventure looking forward. Being taken care of, played with, loved. The power and the sheer delight of imagination. The whole gang is back together again! And the circle is now complete. Plus a Totoro cameo, declamation on popular sovereignty, and a thespian hedgehog. ★★★★★

This movie outing was so long delayed, but I'm glad that we finally saw Toy Story 3!

Last night, we almost thought we couldn't find a movie theater in Beijing that was still playing the film, but I persisted in searching, and finally turned up a couple places that still had showings, including one in 中关村. While we were on the subway (a looong subway ride from 永安里) one of our friends who arrived first thought that there weren't any good seats left and suggested we go to another nearby theater. (He neglected to mention that the new place was not playing Toy Story 3). But when the rest of us got to the subway station, we returned to the first theater to double-check the arrangements. It turns out that there were seats -- and in a theater seating only 88 people, the view from the "back row" was actually quite good.

I'm surprised that the movie theater experience in China isn't easier, more popular, grander. Yes, DVDs are available cheaply on the sidewalks, but for an experience that transports you into another world? One could imagine really doing a good job at it, and the whole theater industry being extremely well received as it is elsewhere in the developing world. Too bad the cinema is so controlled -- instead of being about delivering the best possible experience to the audience, or showcasing and sharing the best films in the world, it has become another national tool of propaganda and protectionism. The limited selection of films, plus the stunted state of Chinese film-making both contribute to an apathetic feeling. It's just like the sad state of (CC)TV here -- not all that pleasant; not well-produced; patronizing, propagandizing, and not very original. And still it holds a monopoly. So I don't really watch TV when in Beijing.

Anyhow, back to Toy Story 3:

As Phil noted, this really was a movie for us – for kids of our generation, who watched the very first Toy Story while we were growing up. We were the ones who were introduced to Woody the Sheriff and Buzz Lightyear; who laughed at the antics of Rex, Hamm, and Mr. Potato Head, a stalwart toy we actually owned; who cheered on the Army Men's bravado and Slinky's optimism and good cheer. A few years later (wow, was it 1999? That's over a decade ago...) we were the posse who excitedly showed up at the theater for the sequel, where those characters appeared alongside new ones. We feigned nonchalance at this old cartoon for younger children, but simultaneously bore grins of happy memory.

And now, in 2010, comes this new film. It was like seeing a bunch of old friends and finding out where they are now, a decade later. We're rounding up the gang again! A sense of nostalgia permeates the film, even as the audience's attention is caught by new adventure -- and some novel dangers. Part of it is because Andy is going to college, a time of transition that any adult can identify with, and his toys are facing the prospect of life-after-adolescence. (A note of empty-nest syndrome is also struck near the end of the movie). Part of it is because the colors and scenes of childhood play are particularly evocative, recalling that time in all viewers' lives. But for a particular age of viewer, Toy Story 3 recaptures childhood in a way that 40-year-old critics can't imagine -- it's not only a childhood that is called up, but our childhood that came at the same time as these movies. This was one of our cultural touchstones, and for some of these children, the memories of playtime might even have involved the same toys as featured on-screen. (Thanks, Disney juggernaut! Luckily I didn't have that meta level of nostalgia to deal with.)

It’s hard to think of something we grew up with as a “classic” as opposed to something contemporary and new and simply “us.” Toy Story has always been the “new” cartoon—not exactly Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny caliber, but certainly very beloved. But I suppose in the Pantheon of Cartoon Classics, Toy Story (1, 2 and 3) will assume their place -- not only because of their historical role as the first CGI movie to be released, but because of their cultural resonance and their plainly-good story-telling.

One thing I particularly enjoyed were the numerous references to past movies: familiar traits or incidents or characters that brought a knowing chuckle. This was done in a subtle and natural way, unlike the heavy-handed "references" that George Lucas tried to pound into the Star Wars "prequels." (In those movies, the attempt to evoke nostalgia completely flopped, because the milieu, the setting, the very *sense* of the movies was different, and the spark of recognition was too contrived and too forced. Not to mention that it flew in the face of established canon, a universe that fans had read about and populated and created by their participation. Lucas displayed such utter disregard for the fan universe, which is regrettable. Once a concept is out there in the public sphere, it also partly belongs to the users who nurture and expand and grow it, and the releases that you make to support that growth cannot be so easily swept aside for convenience.)

Yet despite the familiar feeling of the Toy Story characters and our delight at seeing old friends once again, there were still surprising new things about characters uncovered in the course of the film. Por ejemplo, Buzz tiene una modalidad española!

Now if we shed the nostalgia for a moment and take it as a movie on its own terms, it was still by all means an excellent movie. Gripping storyline, with scenes of great emotive force. The audience's horror at the toddlers bashing and smashing the toys in the playroom was great; and there was the right kind of magic in Woody's rescue by a new girl and his interaction with a new posse. Alert: Totoro sighting!)

The movie overall is quite a feel-good piece, and while a couple of friends claimed that they almost bawled during the film, I can't say that I was really close to tears. It was just ... very pleasant, very delightful, and emotionally evocative. It's not only a goodbye as the toy chest closes and everyone is sent to the attic, but leaves you with something new, too, as a different child begins the cycle of play again.

Toy Story is pretty complete now—we've really come full circle, with Andy playing, then growing up, then back to play, but handing off the duties and the new years of fun to another fellow traveler.

Play ... In this world, "play" is best expressed when the sense of imagination is alive. He had it. And she has it. That idea of play, beyond just the physical, to mental worlds of creativity, is very much a theme in this film, too.

So now that the circle is complete, I think we can happily end the saga of Toy Story. The tale of Andy's toys does not really need any more telling. Sure, new adventures are always nice, but the life mission of these toys has been fulfilled, and anything new will simply be an interim adventure, the next in a series of adventures. The contours of a toys' life are known -- the potential and the possibilities, explored.

Eventually, the universe might be expanded, if Pixar feels there's another story to tell (or another wave to capitalize on). But at least for now, the frame of a toy's life has been laid out, and we can take our leave from Toy Story with a sense of joy. Thanks to this last film in the trilogy, we can step away from that world, too -- at least until we hand it over to our children.

However, if the franchise were to continue, I suppose they could refresh things by creating new stories of toys somewhere else in the world, like China, with an array of East Asian toys -- some kind of distinct toy experience. Or perhaps an immigrant or refugee story, as a lone toy in a war-torn country is separated, and then seeks to be reunited with his owner in America. So yes, I suppose other stories can be told. But that is for a time in the future.

It's gotta be an ensemble cast!

Olympic Coping

For the 2008 Olympics, Beijing issued guides instructing its own citizens how to behave -- presumably to avoid presenting an embarrassing image to the world. Now, in anticipation of the 2012 Games, a UK tourism body has issued its own cultural guide. It is ostensibly meant to help Britons be better hosts, but it comes across more like a survival guide detailing how to cope with an onslaught of uncouth overseas visitors. (They're not tryingto be oafs! Such behavior isn't rude where these colonials are from. Ah, the burden of noblesse oblige. LOL.)

Or as the Associated Press put it, "Seeking to improve the sometimes frosty welcome on offer to tourists, VisitBritain issued advice Wednesday on how best to handle foreign visitors."

Some gems quoted in the Daily Mail:

INDIA
Avoid physical contact when first meeting someone. Be tolerant if Indians at first seem impolite, noisy and impatient. This is partly the result of living in chaotic cities and environments.

ARGENTINA
Don’t be offended by Argentinian humour, which may mildly attack your clothing or weight

JAPAN
A smiling Japanese person is not necessarily happy. They tend to smile when angry, embarrassed, sad or disappointed.

And the AP:

Brush off coarse jokes from Australians or Argentines.

Canadian tourists are likely to be upset if mistaken for U.S. citizens

Americans won't hesitate to complain when things go wrong.

According to the Daily Mail, the guide (called "Delivering a First Class Welcome") was actually "written by natives of the countries featured who work for VisitBritain." So this isn't necessarily the British perspective of foreigners, per se. In any case, I'm sure the staff had a field day with the caricatures.

Tendrils extend outward

In response to an article on CNET that says that the "long-rumored geolocation 'check-in' feature at Facebook is slated to debut within weeks" -- i.e. Facebook can tell where you are.

>> The takeover is coming.

Facebook's tendrils extend outward

First it's the 户口 household registration system, and then it's the grain rations. Your 单位 work unit will keep track of your housing and benefits -- and don't even think about trying to evade the neighborhood committees. Eventually, The Facebook will eat all public space.

Meanwhile, private space will be continuously converted into public space. Privacy is not allowed you see -- too much risk of plotting by the black classes. After all, why wouldn't you want everything to be public? Where's your revolutionary spirit, don't you want The Facebook to have access to and monitor everything? That way, the internet will be a good experience, on the whole, for the great majority of the people, you see.

What, too much room for abuse? Don't be such a rightist! "Privacy" is just a feudal concept used to oppress the masses. "User rights" are so bourgeois. Resistance is futile, so get with the program, folks.

The Facebook: Vanguard of the Revolution

 

拆！Tear it down!

It is frustrating to be a witness to this ongoing tragedy. What will we say to our children -- that we never cared enough? That we were too short-sighted to realize what we were doing?

China heritage chief says building boom is destroying country's heritage

Heritage boss Shan Jixiang says frenetic development is wasting resources and razing valuable city centre districts to make way for 'superficial' skyscrapers

为什么中国不好好地保护中华民族的传统文化？很多城市以为拆掉「旧」的建筑来盖摩天大楼，就是现代化。其实，他们只是在破坏和不断淡化自己的文化。这种行为非但不重视市民的利益，反而带来了很多现代化的弊端。这不是「以人为本」——目的显然不是让市民的生活更方便，否则按照城市规划的原则会选比较 "人本化"的构造——也不重视文化，只重视金钱。

这不只损害到现在生活的人，也对我们的后代很不负责任。破坏文化遗址是一种很严重的罪过，古建筑是整个社会的遗产，我们应该极力保存它。虽然现在有人觉得文化遗址是可以被忽略的，以为自己的行为叫做「现代化」，其实只是一种很烂的「西方化」（不模仿西方好的，只模仿外表而已 ...... 造成一种最低级的同化、也许可以称「水泥化」）。

现在的我们如果肆无忌惮地破坏这些遗产，后代必定后悔莫及。西方的城市（如巴黎、伦敦等等）都极力保护他们城市的老建筑、为什么所谓“历史最悠久”的国家不能采取适当的措施？那么爱提“五千年的历史”的中国人应该更在意这些，不是吗？

Sigh. Why does China do this to its own culture? Why must it destroy what is unique about the country -- the very things that ought to be cherished and protected and celebrated -- and replace them with poorly-made imitations of "modernity"? What the Chinese currently think is "modern" will ultimately not stand the test of time -- just ask the folks from other major cities.

As relics, historic sites, and people's homes are torn down with gusto, fueled by dreams of cash (for the developers and for the officials who aid them), such short-sightedness and greed seem not only highly irresponsible, but also a bit selfish. It'd be nice if a culture that loves to cite "five thousand years of continuous civilization" took some pride in the past, and acted as a better custodian of its inheritance.

Future generations will not forgive us if we participate in the destruction of our common heritage -- for it not only belongs to those presently alive, but to our children and their children as well. It's just sad that in this of all places, history and tradition are so easily tossed aside. But I suppose one should not be too surprised, as reverence for the past, for tradition, for anything other than "Money money money!" "Mine mine mine!" have been blotted out.

One day we will realize that, in the end, culture may be the thing that persists and that actually matters.

● ● ●

I understand that people deserve better living conditions -- but I think accommodations can be found that not only improve people's circumstances, but simultaneously give the proper respect to our history and preserve our heritage, while also keeping communities -- living, breathing, thriving social networks -- intact. For instance, shipping people off into isolated, far-flung apartment blocks, past the fifth ring road on the outskirts of town, is not an appropriate strategy.

We just have to be creative and a little more thoughtful in coming up with solutions that privilege the things we may value aside from money, such as "a connection to the past" or "a sense of community" or "harmony and ecological balance." The main fear is that things in China are moving so rapidly that we won't have time to give due consideration to these other things, and what you end up with is "growth for growth's sake" simply to enrich a few people.

The projects are couched in the language of "development and improving people's lives", but if they actually were intended to "help the people," then shouldn't we see more human-centered projects instead of massive-but-sterile office buildings and extravagant shopping malls? In this dynamic, developers and local officials set up a false dichotomy, denying that alternatives exist to their plans for construction and "development", when in fact there is a rich and diverse set of possibilities -- we just have use human ingenuity to search for them.

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/04/china-culture-cities-heritage

TUSO 夢

Tsinghua University Symphony Orchestra concert last night at the National Library of China. The program included:

Roman Carnival Overture by Berlioz
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/5G6hi1KzCeQ/

御风万里 "Riding the Wind"
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/JlLJF4YcTxs/

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5
(III) http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/rXYo4zgIqR0/
(IV) http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/3a1nfkGdDFM/

This past week has seemed like a dream, and it's hard to believe it is over. For now at least, there no more rehearsals, no more cheerful banter in 118室, no more moments with newfound friends and all our smiles and glances. Ah well, I am simply happy knowing that a group like TUSO exists, and glad that I could be part of the family, even if it was only for a short while.

I'll eventually post more on what TUSO is like -- what I saw there and what it was like to play with such an ensemble. In the meantime, 誰要陪我禦風? Who wants to ride the wind with me?

Facebook is Revolutionary

Are you Revolutionary, too? Get with the program, don't be a laggard! Join the movement now! Quiet back there, no questions!

Is it just me, or is Facebook getting kind of big for its britches -- and also kind of mean?

For instance, will it continue to delete references to Quora? Several people liked my "answer" to a "question" regarding the issue of "Quora vs. Facebook Questions", in which I conjectured how the sites could differ because of distinct user behaviors, but then Facebook just removed the whole thing. ("the item no longer exists ...")

In fact, a day after that, all my Facebook Updates that said, "Person X likes your answer" were also wiped clean from the updates bar.

This seems very Microsoft-authoritarian: "We just expunge (和諧, har har) whatever we don't like." What happened to the freedom-of-speech ethos?

It's sad, because people are starting to become suspicious of Facebook and its intentions, and thinking of it as a bully like Microsoft -- quite an accomplishment for a company that hasn't even gone public. Facebook is swaggering around because it think it's become indispensable, and can thus be careless with user-generated content. (For example, in the last round of changes, it forcibly grabbed our profiles and changed everything written in them into the "group page" format. This felt really rude and inappropriate -- it treated our writings like data points to be shoved into categorical boxes, rather than expressions of ourselves. It would be like taking someone's blog and saying, "Ah, this is a blog about cooking!" And then cutting out the content and replacing it with a cooking tag. Perhaps the example is a little hyperbolic, because Facebook profiles don't have as much text as blogs, but the text that was there was carefully crafted and chosen to represent ourselves.)

Maybe Facebook thinks users are an uneducated, stupid mob that need to be told what to do and how to behave. But sometimes, the company's actions feel not only patronizing, but a bit controlling, too. Facebook has pretensions of being a "popular" or "grassroots" movement, but in fact, it's somewhat elitist. It feels like the company looks down on the user, who is presumed to be incapable of choosing properly, because we're ignorant bumpkins.

Now, there's nothing wrong with "elitist" per se -- after all, they are the software experts/programmers (and our fellow classmates from Stanford =P), and have a better idea for what might improve the user experience. (Still, asking consumers what they want is not a bad start, though obviously not always definitive.) Apple keeps tight reins over its products to assure quality, for example. But something feels a little bit off with Facebook these days.

At least with Google, we have "Don't be evil." In contrast, it seems that Facebook doesn't think it's capable of being evil, so it doesn't have even this normative safeguard. So dangerous ...

Ironically, I am typing this from behind the Great Firewall.

Theory: For now, maybe Facebook allows most content online, except for things that threaten its "core interests." Like, for instance, its decision to enter the social question & answer space. Once it's done that, then we have to nix all references to Quora. Innocuous, right? "Q&A is something Facebook is now taking care of -- sorry, no one else is allowed to get involved. After all, who better than Facebook itself to provide the right service, choose the right features, create the right atmosphere, for the user?" A very harmonious atmosphere indeed.

But I suspect those "core interests" will expand over time, to include not only Xinjiang and Tibet, but the Spratly Isl... oops, I mean ... whatever else Facebook fancies itself becoming. Eventually, the site will subsume all public space, and all "public" activities will have to be conducted through the Party ... erm ... through the Facebook platform.

Night Market Rules

Impromptu rules for 夜市 (Night Markets) in Taiwan. Crafted this evening with the help of Sara Maatta.

1. Don't eat dinner beforehand. There are countless stalls selling mouthwatering treats, so you'll want to come with an empty stomach.

2. One order feeds two people. Whether it's 冰 or 餅, an order is more than enough to share. (Plus, instead of filling up on a single item, you'll get to chomp on a variety of goodies).

3. Go with a friend. The first two rules indicate that night markets are naturally a team affair. Rally the troops and off you go!

Only violated rule #1 this evening ... oh stomach ...

P.S. I bet any Taiwanese four-year-old could have told us this ... but hey, you live, you learn.

Two Sights

Two interesting sights today.

In the subway this morning, on the way to 沃爾瑪, I sat down on the bench across from a Chinese family -- parents with children. A brother and a sister were playing a lively game of ro-sham-bo (rock, paper, scissors / 剪刀、石頭、 布) and giggling wildly. I didn't think much of it, though I noted that the boy seemed rather 調皮 and the parents weren't saying too much to reprimand him.

As I was watching the little boy and his younger sister rhyming line by line, thrusting out two fingers, or splaying a hand out into an open palm, or raising a clenched fist (all the while giggling uproariously at the results), it suddenly hit me: this is not a sight that is common in China anymore. What would be a normal scene on the DC Metro or the Taipei MRT is really something special.

Elsewhere, one would think nothing of this exchange -- two cute and lively kids messing about while their parents beam at them. But with the One Child Policy in force, fewer and fewer children here will have this kind of experience as they grow up -- the chance to play and laugh and interact and have fun with a sibling. I was privy to something special and walked away with a newfound sense of delight.

The second sight that was rather novel: In the subway on the way to 五道口, I saw a familiar face and a familiar name on a large poster: Demos Chiang's biography was being advertised in the station. Now, for students of Chinese history, I shall simply point out that he is indeed of that Chiang family, and you will understand how different a place China is today than even a couple decades ago.

Demos (蔣友柏) is a great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek -- the leader of the Nationalists who was president of the Republic of China, who fought Mao Zedong and the Communists, and who fled to Taiwan and ruled there until 1975. During the Cultural Revolution through the 1970s, a simple mention of a Chiang could be disastrous for you and your family. People were dragged into the streets and beaten for having "bourgeois" books, to say nothing of documents with the villain "Chiang" stamped on them.

It's a bit jarring to see his descendant's name splashed across the subway wall. But perhaps it reflects warming cross-Strait ties and the beginnings of a re-evaluation by Mainland China of Chiang's role in Chinese history. One point for historical change, one point for capitalism. (Gotta sell those books you know!) Zero for Maoist persecution.

More on the new biography here and on Demos here and here.

Humanism in China

There may be hope yet. The ideas and language of humanism are slowly gaining purchase in Chinese society today. (Again. The first time was in the early 20th century.)

It seems like this mode of thought ought to be a natural fit -- after all, Confucianism has at its roots a deep sense of humanity. Not all aspects of it are the same as in "Western-style humanism," but there are elements that seem compatible. (However, it may be problematic to claim that China remains "Confucian" today. sigh)

According to an article in the New York Times:

"Western-style humanism flourished in China a century ago, brought over by the Chinese students of Irving Babbitt, a professor of French at Harvard University," who advocated "retaining the good things from the past. He insisted on the importance of the individual, and the study of the humanities."

"Humanism’s gentle, evolutionary approach clashed with the make-it-new passion of many students, intellectuals and politicians grouped around China’s early 20th-century May Fourth Movement. [If only they had known what was coming -- they might have chosen differently.] In 1949, the revolutionaries won the argument when the Communist Party founded the People’s Republic of China. For over three decades, humanism vanished from Chinese thinking. 

And no wonder. Humanism directly challenged the Communist system by valuing the individual over the collective. It rejected blind obedience to authority, whether religious or political. 

Secular, it opposed deification of any kind, including of a leader like Mao Zedong. Its emphasis on human well-being, freedom and dignity threatened the party’s control over its citizens. It was, orthodox Communists said, a bourgeois theory of human nature. 

Today, it’s back, spreading among intellectuals, writers and ordinary people alike in a process that began 30 years ago, following Mao’s death in 1976. Still controversial, it is periodically subject to attacks from a state that fears that it may become the basis of an alternative ethical system that will challenge Communist Party rule. The bumpiness of humanism’s road reflects the challenge in bringing about intellectual and political change in China."

-- "In Search of Modern Humanism in China" (May 14, 2010)

In the article, Gloria Davies, a scholar of Chinese intellectual history at Monash University, observes that “Humanism has quite a lot of purchase now. It’s used in public culture as a way of maintaining some form of integrity in relation to corruption and censorship.” She pointed to [Chinese blogger and public intellectual Han] Han’s declaration “I am just a humanist,” circulating widely on the Internet. “That’s key. Amid tightened censorship, people are looking for more inventive ways to try and keep the public sphere and civil society alive, so they are resorting to words like humanism. They can always use this as some form of criticism.”

The article also notes that "how to live according to core human values like respect, kindness and care for others has deep roots in Chinese thought, written about widely by Confucius and other philosophers." Furthermore, at an event on "Humanism in China" hosted at Harvard this year, Tsinghua Professor Wang Hui expressed a new, urgent concern for what some might call more old-fashioned humanistic values.

The article classifies Wang as part of the "New Left", calling him a "sophisticated theoretician and critic of China’s present model of capitalist development." One thing I really like about this piece and Prof. Wang is his exploration of the writer Lu Xun. He looks at the kinder, deeply human side of Lu Xun -- the one who exists underneath the pointed criticism and mordant satire:

"To make his point, he turned to a little-known 1908 text by Lu Xun, arguably China’s greatest writer of the 20th century, who was appropriated by the Communists. Lu Xun, said Mr. Wang, was actually a humanist. In “Refuting Malevolent Voices,” his major concern was to find “new voices” that spoke from the heart, and spoke the truth. 

A healthy society needs truthful voices. And truthful voices come from truthful people. China sorely lacks that [Wang says.] To solve its problems, it needs more open discussion and more self-critical thinking. “A lot of people say a lot of things, but they don’t believe these things, they are just echoing other people. China is full of noise, but it’s silent. You don’t hear real voices.”

Along with a sense of humanity, this Lu Xun was also dedicated to the truth. Two meaningful things: truth and humanity. They are worth searching for. They are also necessary.

Teach Chinese. In Oklahoma.

An article in the New York Times about Chinese teachers coming to the United States to be language instructors in American classrooms. The headline is, "Guest-Teaching Chinese, and Learning America" which already hints at how the issue is framed.

There are some funny points that contrast the American education system and the Chinese one. For example: “In China,” she said after class, “if you teach the students and they don’t get it, that’s their problem. Here if they don’t get it, you teach it again.”

In theory, America has a more open education system that teaches critical thinking and makes space for personal expression and creativity. These are excellent qualities for an education system that I fully support, and hope can be emulated by others. However, the reality of the American classroom is also starkly in focus in this article. With rude students who aren't serious about learning (and sometimes blatantly disrespectful), the impression of America doesn't always come off well.

Some choice lines from the article:

"In interviews, several other Chinese teachers said they had some difficulties adjusting to the informality of American schools after working in a country where students leap to attention when a teacher enters the room."

"One Chinese teacher who has built a successful language program in Wisconsin, Hongmei Zhao, said a few students sometimes disrupted classes by speaking English so rapidly that she cannot understand them. “Then the whole class laughs, maybe because of my accent,” Ms. Zhao said."

My first reaction was, "Wow, screw you, idiotic kids! If you're going to be rude, just don't take the class. No one is forcing you to be there, learning Chinese." But then I thought, maybe if we don't continue to engage and give them an opportunity to change, then they're just going to be left behind. Teachers really are important in the lives of their students, and maybe they can help change minds by being more patient and understanding -- by treating their students with love.

There is a question of streamlining though: should we put the best, most serious students on one track, while nominal students are on another? It doesn't seem fair to hold back a few talented and serious students, to make them suffer in an inhospitable context not conducive to learning, when they could be excelling in a classroom with motivated peers. But we should also not ignore or 忽略 those students who are not as quick at picking up new skills.

But part of the problem may also be a lack of a culture of learning and studying in the U.S. What is happening in our schools if not this? It is a little problematic. [See blog post on schools in S. Korea and Finland.]

Ms. Zheng said none of her students had been disagreeable ... [but] she believed that teachers got little respect in America. “This country doesn’t value teachers, and that upsets me,” she said. “Teachers don’t earn much, and this country worships making money. In China, teachers don’t earn a lot either, but it’s a very honorable career.”

Here's a rather interesting quote:

Barry Beauchamp, the Lawton superintendent, said he was thrilled to have Ms. Zheng and two other Chinese instructors working in the district. But he said he believed that the guest teachers were learning the most from the cultural exchange. “Part of them coming here is us indoctrinating them about our great country and our freedoms,” he said. “We’ve seen them go to church and to family reunions, country music concerts, rodeos. So it’s been interesting to see them soak up our culture.”

Erk ... this is just so ... culturally problematic urgh ... There are almost intimations of cultural imperialism, a missionary attitude -- "We'll bring them over and Christianize and democratize them." I don't have a problem with inculcating new norms and ideas and introducing people to our way of life -- but it should be founded on an idea of mutual respect, of tolerance and pluralism. It should not be about waving *our awesomeness" in their faces and trying to shove it down their throats -- that feels very threatening, makes them defensive, and is the quickest road to rejection. Instead, people should observe and make their own judgments about the positive qualities and desirableness of certain traits. We shouldn't just assume everything about our system is superior -- there are things we can learn from each other -- even basic issues like respect for elders and teachers. The phrase "our great country and our freedoms" is what really pushes my buttons.

I love this country -- the ideals it embodies and the opportunities it represents. But I don't like the moralizing and lecturing; it feels very self-satisfied and complacent, rather than expressing concern for the well-being of others.

Some more hilarious aspects of America featured in the article:

Our fat-ness:

After her morning classes, Ms. Zheng drove west through Lawton in search of lunch, passing a seed elevator. The Buick fought a stiff wind that had kicked up a vast khaki-colored dust cloud. Pulling into a Burger King, she ordered a fish sandwich. “I’ve gained 10 pounds in Oklahoma,” she said.

Our inefficient vehicles:

Some districts pay more, but Lawton is one of the few that lends their guest teachers a car — in Ms. Zheng’s case, a lumbering blue Buick Century once used for drivers’ education.

Our ignorance of the world -- always looking in:

That afternoon, Ms. Zheng taught classes at Central Middle School, drilling 22 eighth graders on how to count to 100 in Chinese and explaining some Chinese holidays before turning her back to write a Chinese tongue twister on the board. Out of the blue, a girl with long brown hair asked her classmates loudly: “Where’s France at?” “In Europe,” a boy with baggy jeans called out from across the room. “France is not in Europe,” another boy said. Ms. Zheng just kept writing Chinese characters on the board. “American students don’t know a lot about the outside world,” she said later. “Mostly just what they see here.”

It's possible the students knew exactly what they were doing -- they were just being sarcastic (and random) in an attempt to disrupt class. Simply juvenile. And what a waste of space. I know I should be more patient, but it's pretty frustrating to see people behave this way in the classroom, when there's actual teaching going on. There are lots of other kids out there who would love to be in your seat studying. Teachers can command respect if they live up to their duty and do things properly. But students should also behave in a proper fashion, too. Doesn't require obsequiousness, just an attempt to do your part.

Moral beings visit distant shores ... what ensues?

Interesting piece on humanity's moral development through the ages: is it functional and practical? Is it purely based on reason?

If the former, does it include intimations of enlightenment, alongside general moral progress?

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/the-moral-alien/

Wright says that we choose to humanize others at first purely for functional reasons: it allows us to engage in win-win exchanges. But he notes that alongside this kind of development, we also gain at least some small aspect of increased humanity, increased enlightenment. And over time, that evolution leads to more compassion and humanity in and of itself.

P.S. On the path to enlightenment, the practice and action of loving kindness is important. So maybe at first it's only functional and pragmatic -- maybe even self-serving. But over time, especially if we can be aware of it and of ourselves, it becomes something reasoned, something chosen, as peopl understand why we are doing something.

But the action is the first step, and that's good.

Our job is to also take the next steps for moral advancement, as well as having a peaceable society and a planet we want to live on.

The Revival Begins ...

I saw this piece in the NY Times, and I was absolutely stunned by the beauty and the sense of what might be.

"Music Bridges the Political Divide Between China and Taiwan"

When a Taiwan music ensemble performed its reconstruction of Chinese imperial court music last year in Beijing, it marked not just a cultural milestone, but a political one.

The concert provided a rare opportunity to hear ancient sounds salvaged from a nearly vanished musical tradition. The 3,000-year-old genre known as yayue, or “elegant music,” faded with the collapse of dynastic rule in 1911, and nearly succumbed to the later Maoist assault on “feudalistic” elements of China’s past. [e.g. the Cultural Revolution].

But it was also a chance for people from both sides of the long-divided Taiwan Strait to compare notes on which parts of their joint Chinese heritage have been preserved, or not.

“The audience response was quite strong. Many were hearing this music for the first time,” said Xie Jiaxing, director of the China Conservatory in Beijing, which had invited the Yayue Ensemble of Nanhua University to perform in the capital.

“For political reasons, we haven’t done enough to research yayue,” Mr. Xie said. “Taiwan’s Nanhua University has done a really good job in this respect. Afterwards, our students wrote to the school saying how happy they were to discover such a great treasure in ancient Chinese culture, even though they don’t really understand it.”

I am suffused with joy and pride and a deeply emotional sense of possibility ... despite the horrific harm and damage that it suffered on the Mainland in the 20th century, maybe Chinese culture can make a comeback. Taiwan is a treasury of Traditional Chinese Culture, and now it has a chance to share it with the Mainland.

We have cultural elements that have been preserved and are continuing to be lived all over the Sinic world -- Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, other Overseas Communities in SE Asia. 希望可以讓他傳回中國.

Chen Huei-ying, director-general of the cultural and education affairs department of the Mainland Affairs Council, the Taiwan government body in charge of policies toward China, sees benefits. “Cultural exchanges are helpful to peaceful development of cross-strait relations,” he said. “They increase understanding and appreciation for each other and especially feelings people on each side have for one another.”

They are also allowing mainland Chinese visitors to see how their culture evolved on Taiwan, shielded from the Communist campaigns against many traditional practices.

Some folk customs — such as the worship of Mazu, the sea goddess — thrive here in ways they no longer do on the mainland. Chinese temples are seeking help from their Taiwanese counterparts on how to revive Mazu festivals.

These kinds of folk practices and traditional customs, which were discarded or forgotten on the Mainland -- now there's a way they can start to be explored, and maybe become relevant to people's lives again. Because there is meaning there, in the past and in traditions that have been passed down for generations -- an inheritance which we have not only the responsibility, but also the wonderful privilege to explore.

URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/arts/21iht-music.html

Food Bank Photos

May Day!

This morning, I read the story "May Day" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Strangeness abounds, in these worlds of Fitzgerald, waking from a dream of life into reality.

This evening, I went to the 五月天 Mayday concert in San Jose. It was awesome! They are a rockin' band, with lots of high-energy songs, but they also play ballads that are very soulful. (In fact the ballads are some of my favorite pieces). The band sings in both Mandarin and Taiwanese, which is kinda neat to listen to.

After a quick dinner -- during which our level of excitement rapidly escalated -- we ran several blocks to the venue. Saw a couple rows of Stanfolks there too.  ^  ^ In addition to great music, there were the requisite glow sticks. (I learned after attending the Sun Yanzi concert in Beijing that these are key). Oh yeah, and thousands of screaming, cheering, shrieking Asian fans.

Not to make too much of it (I know it was just a backdrop for the music), but the back-story was kind of fun: the concert theme of DNA was broadcast through several high-quality movie scenes, which were actually rather cinematic. Nice camera work and graphics. The plot was a bit strange, revolving around a group of individuals [the band] stuck in the daily grind of life, with a wish for the opportunity to become "who they are". They think of cloning themselves to start anew, but since they can't do this, they decide to clone a whole new world, instead. Striking a musical theme, they undertake a mission to acquire John Lennon's DNA and start things over.

DNA is vital here, but it isn't determinative. "Who are you?" -- the question kept arising, and the clips initially suggest that nucleotides are important. But as they continued to play, and the band's adventures take wild turns (including car chase), the question is resolved by the final message that "You are what you do!"

The other major theme of the evening (homage to Lennon?) is L。O。V。E ! (This comes into full force after child-Lennon and other historical figures as children run through the grass.) I like the energetic and earnest quality of "love" explored by Mayday. It isn't sappy, and definitely didn't feel as saccharine or over-produced as some Chinese pop is. It's just very ... quirky and delightful. It encompasses friendship and caring as much as relationship-type love. Maybe this is because they're a band, so there's an element of camaraderie and friendship inherent in their conception of what love means.

There are the one-on-one moments though, especially with pieces like 最重要的小事, 天使 and 志明與春嬌, where guy and the person-of-his-affection are separated. Sweet and very sad ...

I was talking to Yunli about this later, and it seems part of Mayday's appeal lies in the fact that they are kinda weird, rather than neatly polished like some Chinese pop stars today. Some of the Mayday band members are positively child-like too, like 阿信 -- it's pretty endearing.

The stadium actually wasn't full O_o probably in contrast to LA where they likely played for a full (full full) house. It was a Sunday night, and they actually changed the concert date from February to April, which might have reduced attendance -- the original tickets we bought were for February. But the excitement was still palpable, and I can hardly believe they were right there ... just yards from the crowd, lol.

One more item to note: I felt proud that a band from Taiwan could produce music like this, with a unique sound and particular artistic quality. It was also neat that 華人 from all around the Bay Area wanted to come and hear them.

Picasa Web Album to come.

Touched an iPad

I touched an iPad today. My roommate and I went to the Apple store in downtown Palo Alto around 9:30 this evening, and we fiddled around with the "revolutionary" new product.

Read different web pages (TED Talks, NY Times), tested apps like iTunes, Numbers (the Apple version of Excel), YouTube, Photo Gallery, etc. 

The iBooks application was quite interesting: it simulated many aspects of a book quite well, like flipping pages, searching through chapters, even showing you how much of the chapter is left. But the two things I wish it could do better: (1) There should be an easy way to highlight and keep text that you want. The current method is a bit involved; you have to double click, then drag a node to highlight text. Maybe you could just hold a button with your left hand, and then any text you highlight or circle would become highlighted. And (2) you should be able to write notes on the page, on top of the text.

Left: Roommate watching a TED talk. Right: Me reading the NY Times. As always. =P

Another neat thing: I could also hand-write Chinese characters! Woohoo! It was kind of awesome. There's something very tactile, something that gives one a sense of pleasure in writing the characters themselves, instead of simply typing the pinyin and selecting the matching symbol. That directness is very satisfying, like pen to paper -- perhaps even closer, because it is one's own finger. I do wish Apple would hurry up and provide support for 正體/繁體 traditional characters, though.

Pedal Power! Electric two-wheelers in China

There was a nifty article in The New York Times today on electric bikes:

An Electric Boost for Bicyclists
By J. David Goodman (Jan 31, 2010)

"Detroit may be introducing electric car designs and China may be pushing forward with a big expansion of its highways and trains." But millions more are "taking part in a more accidental transportation upheaval."

In China, "an estimated 120 million electric bicycles now hum along the roads, up from a few thousand in the 1990s. They are replacing traditional bikes and motorcycles at a rapid clip and, in many cases, allowing people to put off the switch to cars.  In turn, the booming Chinese electric-bike industry is spurring worldwide interest and impressive sales in India, Europe and the United States. China is exporting many bikes, and Western manufacturers are also copying the Chinese trend to produce models of their own. From virtually nothing a decade ago, electric bikes have become an $11 billion global industry."

Electric bicycle riders in China, where about 120 million such bikes
are used, with some going up to 30 miles an hour. (NY Times)

More perspective on e-bikes from other publications:

E-Yikes! Electric Bikes Terrorize the Streets of China (WSJ)
“Electric bicycles, or e-bikes, have taken off in China. But some people say they are dangerous, and may not be so green after all." (Jan 17, 2010)

China’s E-Bikes: Less-Than-Perfect Pioneers (WSJ)
Blog entry from WSJ's Shai Oster. With video! (Jan 19, 2010)

Putting the brakes on pedal power (Washington Post)
"Bicycles give way to automobiles, but e-bikes keep two-wheel tradition alive." Alex Wang of NRDC is quoted in this piece! He rides an e-bike to work in Beijing. (Dec 14, 2009)

As a bonus, here is an academic paper I came across last quarter doing research for the solar cells class. (Published in Energy Policy)

The future of electric two-wheelers and electric vehicles in China
J. Weinert, J. Ogden, D. Sperling and A. Burke (2008)


URLs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/business/global/01ebike.html
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703657604575005140241751852.html
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/01/19/china%E2%80%99s-e-bikes-less-than-perfect-pioneers/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/14/AR2009121403411.html
http://pubs.its.ucdavis.edu/download_pdf.php?id=1168

Where Chan Chan comes from

Hong Kong, you make me sad sometimes. But according to this piece by Philip Bowring in the IHT, at least you haven't given up completely...

"This city is normally associated with money making, not radical politics. But activism has been stirring, creating unease in Beijing and among local oligarch business interests. However puny Hong Kong’s voices of dissent may seem, they are a reminder of the catalytic role the territory has played in politics in the past — as a source of new ideas for China and refuge for dissenters like Sun Yat-sen, Ho Chi Minh and Emilio Aguinaldo of the Philippines."

This week, "five members of two pro-democracy political parties are due to resign from the Legislative Council, Hong Kong’s lawmaking body. Their objective is to spark a special election that they want to use as a referendum on universal suffrage for the next elections in 2012. At present, Hong Kong is on track for democratic reforms at a snail’s pace. The local administration, pressured by Beijing, which associates democratic development with dissent, remains reluctant to submit to greater public accountability. All democrats, whether or not they support the move by legislators planning to resign, want more directly elected seats to the Legislature in 2012 and a timetable for the full democratic election of the legislature and chief executive."

In recent years, Hong Kong has been seen as rather compliant with Beijing's demands. Yet Bowring notes several strains of dissent that have been growing, in addition to the continuing calls for greater self-rule from the democratic parties:

1. People on the bottom end of a growing income gap, who are getting the impression that "government is simply an accomplice of big business"
2. Middle class people, who want stability, but want the government to be more responsive to their needs.
3. Students, who care about things like human rights and the environment, which are often subsumed to the interests of powerful polluters

As Bowring points out, "the rise in anti-government and anti-Beijing sentiment may seem surprising given the recent improvement in Hong Kong’s economy and its increasing dependence on the mainland’s surging economic growth. Patriotism and pride in Chinese achievements have also been on the rise. [And I can tell you, some Hong Kongers are very pro-China.] Yet here's the crux of it:

"But Hong Kong has always separated its Chinese identity from Communist Party rule. Beijing’s unholy alliance with local vested interests offsets much of its patriotic appeal. Recent mainland crackdowns on dissent and the Internet have added to Hong Kong’s fears."

Indeed "Beijing’s recent moves may have strengthened Hong Kong’s role as a refuge for future Sun Yat-sens." So thus, Bowring notes, it may turn out that the resignation of members of democratic parties on the Legislative Council won't work. "But as an assertion of commitment to values other than money-making, they will make an impression not just on Hong Kong but on China, where the intertwining of political power and money-making is germinating a new radicalism."

I hope Hong Kong will stand up for values. Show the world there is something more than money! It goes far beyond making waves in the West -- you must demonstrate this idea to the Sinic world. Google can do it. So can you.

URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8473486.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/opinion/27iht-edbowring.html