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clay dubeLet's use this section of the discussion board to talk about post-1800 China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
clay dubeFrom the 11/22/04 issue of the LA Times: "Unions across divide". This article discusses Taiwanese men traveling to China to secure mates. There are several teachable topics in the article (what people look for in a spouse, differing rates/forces of cultural change, politics and its impact on individuals…). Click on the link below to read the article.
It is okay to post such articles for discussion here.
AnonymousI think this would be an interesting article to share and pair it with an article I read a few years ago profiling the difficulty of Mainlander men in finding wives because of the one child policy. It would be a great discussion about gender, class and the concept of "marrying up". What is also fascinating is to pick up a local Chinese American newspaper and turn to the back section for the dating ads. There is constant conversations in my family gatherings about who is authentically Chinese. And as a daughter of two parents from Hong Kong and Taiwan where to I stand in my heritage. When I went to visit China as an adult I was constantly refered to as the Overseas Chinese, not as an American.
clay dubeI've attached a copy of a Dec. 6 NY Times article on how Chinese history is taught in China's high schools. Please click on the icon below to open the article. You may find the discussion of how controversial recent events (occupation of Tibet, suppression of 1989 democracy movement) are treated especially interesting.
clay dubeAttached is an article from the 12/6/04 LA Times. It argues that urban Chinese have embraced the advantages of having fewer children and that some are even electing to go childless.
As I noted in previous session -- the big forces driving down births (worldwide, over time) are: increased education for women and urbanization. We see this in China where economic opportunities for women are increasing, where housing is in short supply, where the costs of raising kids dramatically outweigh their perceived utility as retirement assets.
AnonymousI found this article to be very interesting. Of course, there were many forces driving down the birth rate due to a post-industrial society, but societal values were also a driving force. Even with incentives to have more children, the population is still not growing. The article mentioned peer pressure as a factor. With so many years of the government tauting the virtues of having only one child, it seems that it may take a long time to convince people to change these values.
AnonymousIts not surprising that China's textbooks glosses over events such as the Korean War and the occupation of Tibet. Not only would they show the current Communist government in a bad light, but these are both still ongoing areas of concern. I doubt that they will ever present a fuller description of these events, or of the Tienenman Square massacre of all those idealistic students and others, something that I personally will never forget.
Yet, we should not be too smug about this since our own history books took decades to present a true account of U.S. Indian policies, and of civil rights abuses even into the 1950's and '60's, not to mention continuing problems today. Also,from the current American history textbooks that I've seen, we still barely mention the fact that the trappers and miners who "settled" in California virtually wiped out the Native American population, often intentionally, and devastated the natural enviroment, or that the "heroes" of the Alamo were fighting as much to retain their slaves after Mexico outlawed slavery, as much as they were fighting for their independence--a preview of the Civil War. And, lets see how the textbooks deal with Bush's unprovoked, and poorly justified attack on Iraq based on "mistaken" intelligence. We can of course still raise these criticisms publicly, though many elements of the conservative right, including the present administration,would label this "unpatriotic," much as China's government does with its dissenters. The consequences of this in the U.S. would not be as severe as in China, unless perhaps you are of Middle Eastern descent. As it has been said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
clay dubeThe attached article tells about the Chinese government's efforts to promote the use of Mandarin, an effort partly aimed at forging national unity. In this specific case, the issue is how to dub the popular cartoon "Tom and Jerry."
Certainly, students will find this interesting and you could tie it to discussions of regional distinction in other places (Indonesia, the US....).
AnonymousThe marriage service described in the article “Unions Across a Divide” is very similar to what now occurs on primetime television across the U.S. Add a few make-up artists, an image consultant, a dynamite host and a camera crew and you have an Asian version of The Bachelor or Joe Millionaire. Yet these Taiwanese men come to main-land China privately, relatively speaking, with the hopes that an agency can do the leg work of matchmaking for them. They want to save some time. But three weeks off from work seems like a lot of time spent to me, and choosing a bride, a life partner, after a fifteen-minute conversation and maybe a few dates seems very risky, especially since you may have to send this woman to trainings before she can be considered entirely suitable to be a Taiwanese bride. Some men, however, are quite aware of the risk involved and attempt to rule out high-risk women during the initial selection process. But how much can you really know about someone after so little time spent with them? Is it enough to decide marriage? I think not.
AnonymousIt occurs to me that the problems China’s high schools are having with the content of their textbooks is the same problem every country has. When a country does not want to admit their mistakes, or the shortcomings/faults of their political decisions or maneuvers, they gloss over them or erase them entirely from their written record. It is the history that you aren’t taught in textbooks that is closer to the truth. Such is true in the United States as is in China. I’m sure it is the same in other countries around the world. If it weren’t then why would people write books about the history no one teaches us? Perhaps this is a bit simplistic a view of the situation in China, considering the tensions between China and Japan, but as I can see, the problem in China is no more unique than that in the United States, where textbooks are also riddled with lies.
In his national bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James W. Loewen concludes that not one of the twelve leading high school American history texts he surveys “does a descent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict and drama from [America’s] past … From the truth about Columbus’s historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen [must revive] our history, restoring to it the vitality and relevance it truly possesses … because ‘truth should be held sacred, at whatever cost.’”
According to Howard Zinn, politically controversial author of A People’s History of the United States, “every teacher, every student of history, every citizen should read [Loewen’s] book.” Zinn describes Lies My Teacher Told Me as a “refreshing antidote to what has passed for history in our educational system and a one-volume education in itself.”
Why do educators and historians in China not write a text similar to Loewen and Zinn’s? Is it perhaps because the government would not allow it to be published? Is that even a possibility? Do the Chinese not have the right to a free press? I recognize that educators in China do their best to teach the history as they are instructed, following a structure of standards dictated by the government that I imagine is similar to ours, but could they not offer their students an alternative reading list, encouraging them to seek out their own information concerning the history of their country? Or, would that be considered a certain type of treason? I am not knowledgeable enough about the state of citizen’s rights in China to determine whether or not these answers are plausible, but I can imagine there are always ways around the law.
Certainly the miseducation of a nation’s youth is a tragedy, but it is occurring everywhere, not just in China. In an article written for the Washington Post on July 23, 1993, Cohen states “the under-30 generation is pathetically ignorant of recent American history.” And “although some defend [China’s history] curriculum, many academics say the way history is taught in China … leaves students confused about their own country's place in the world” (French, H.). The story is the same; the teaching of history is a controversial topic everywhere. Schools will continue to produce students who are ignorant of the truth unless more scholars like Loewen and Zinn write supplementary texts. Writing their own text is the first step for China’s scholars. Then, there, as here in the United States, teachers need to make sure these texts reach the hands and minds of students. Perhaps someday there won’t be a need for a supplemental history text. But until then, these texts are perhaps the only way to prevent further generations of populations ignorant of their country’s truths.
AnonymousI was surprised by the attitudes of many couples and individuals quoted in this article, “China Fears a Baby Bust”. While I imagine that twenty-five years of emphasis on single child families would have great impact on people’s views of family size, I never imagined it would yield such distaste for children in general. Comments such as “child-rearing is costly, exhausting and frequently annoying,” astonished me. While yes raising children can, I suppose, be annoying, but doesn’t the good outweigh the bad? Perhaps I just couldn’t imagine a parent openly using the word annoying in reference to raising his/her own child.
A 30-year-old editorial director of a Shanghai fashion magazine, Zhang said she and her husband had decided not to have a baby. Their reasons: They can remain the center of their home, focus on their careers and enjoy more free time. They don't have to deal with the rising cost of educating a child, and they can decorate their home as they wish.
Decorate their home as they wish? I understand it, but I’ve certainly never heard that excuse for not having children before.
She also takes issue with those who believe that having kids will provide financial security. "It's a stupid idea that children will take care of you," she said.
What happened to the idea of filial piety? Aren’t children in China supposed to care and provide for their parents? What is happening to tradition? Is it diminishing with modernization?
What caught me the most about this article, however, is also what concerns Zhang Qi, an assistant headmistress of a middle school in the city. Qi states that "every student thinks she's in the middle of the circle. They consider little of others … think it's a great harm to our nation." Having worked in an affluent district outside Boston, I came into contact with many “only children”. Most of them were spoiled to the point that they could think of no one but themselves. They had to have their way always, and they rarely understood the concept of fairness. These attitudes caused a great deal of conflict within the classroom, as well as within my relationships with these students and his/her parents. I could not imagine what it would be like to exist in a society comprised solely of spoiled brats. It most certainly would be a nightmare.
AnonymousFirst of all, I disagree with the decision to add dialogue to the Tom and Jerry cartoons being broadcasted in China and agree with comments made by Li Guangbin, an artist in Heilongjiang, that “even though [the dialect dialogue] is funny, the aesthetic feeling [of Tom and Jerry as a silent movie] is completely destroyed.” However, the addition of dialogue is not the topic of concern in China, but merely the dialects in which that dialogue takes place.
With a county of comprised of 1.3 billion people, it is naïve and perhaps ethnocentric of officials in Beijing to believe that uniting China under one dialect, Mandarin, is possible, if even desirable. Forcing the speakers of 56 different dialects to refrain from perfecting their native tongues and instead learn only the governmentally assigned Mandarin erases much of China’s historical and sub-cultural roots.
However, in a fast paced economy where getting ahead is based on social status and social status is based on the ability to speak flawless Mandarin, teaching Mandarin in public schools is imperative. But why can’t regions preserve their historical dialects while simultaneously allowing its citizens the opportunity to perfect their Mandarin? Is there not an understanding of being multi-lingual, or multi-dialectical? In the United States, as in almost every other country around the world, possessing the ability to speak multiple languages or dialects of languages is important, if not seen as an asset. And where the dialects of Chinese follow the same system of writing, knowing how different regions pronounce words and refer to items would seem important, especially if anyone plans on traveling.
Expecting 1.3 billion people to erase years of their region and family’s culture does not solve the problems created by having multiple dialects in China. Educating citizens in many dialects, however, does. And if listening or watching public programming in dialect furthers that education, then that programming should be encouraged not banned.
clay dubeAttached are three news clippings addressing language/dialect questions in China. One survey suggests nearly half of China's population can't speak the "standard" dialect. The second article notes the state directive not to translate foreign programs into local dialects. The third notes that Hong Kong may slip in its importance to world business unless English is re-emphasized in education.
Would it be appropriate to raise such issues with your students? One lead-in might be the ethnic tensions evident in a smaller nation, Iraq: Kurds, Sunnis, and Shites. You might also show a bit of Chinese currency, which has five languages (Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Manchurian, and Uyghur) all saying People's Republic of China. We have ballots in multiple languages, but our currency just has English and a bit of Latin.
You can see Chinese currency at:
AnonymousI enjoyed reading this article, and couldn't help thinking about dating in America with internet dating and reality shows. I think many students would also enjoy reading this article because it is a topic which is relevant and interesting to them.
I was also thinking: isn't there a shortage of women in China due to the past laws regulating the number of children? How does the intermarriage between Taiwain and China affect the shortage in China?
Just wondering?
AnonymousIt does not surprise me that history is rewritten and completely distorted to keep the truth from the Chinese people. What is interesting to me, is the fact that professors are admitting that the history is taught vaguely and untruthfully. It shows that things have changed because I would think that in the past a confession such as this would not have been tolerated. It also shows that the educated elite know the real history and the truth.