reading - in manchuria, ch. 4-6

[Anonymous]

In the second section of the reading, chapters 4-6, what significantly stood out to me was in regards to Chinese identity. Page 56 demonstrates this best, “Mandarin didn’t hyphenate a person’s compound identity as American English does. Frances was Chinese-American, but Mr. Li wasn’t Manchu-Chinese. He was Chinese, and a Manchu, in that order.” National identity above all else is a Chinese assertion many Americans would not subscribe to, as we value personal identity. It was eye opening for me to experience Chinese culture through Meyer to understand how Chinese, regardless of province or family name, view their national heritage.

[Anonymous]

I enjoyed reading chapter 4 and Meyers quest to find some history while in NE China. As he was searching for history, you get the idea that Chinese culture is quick to discard imperial era history. During the Cultural Revolution, many important historical sites and artifacts were destroyed and history was forgotten in the classrooms. Even in Manchuria, Manchu history is ignored because as Frances puts it, "Their dynasty failed". The ancient site of Liutiaobian and the Willow Palisade is largely forgotten, ignored and in disrepair. When Meyer does find a museum, he mentions that the items on display are the Manchuko emperor and the Aid Korean War Memorial.

[Anonymous]

The Willow Palisade was “a one thousand mile long barrier that started at the pass and wishboned deep into the Northeast. Made from soil and trees…divided Mongol, Manchu, and Han Chinese areas of the settlement, protected imperial hunting land and secured the court’s lucrative sable and ginseng trade” (p. 52-53). While searching for this wall, Meyer discovered that most people had never heard of it. Failed events in history were discarded as if it didn’t exist. Focus was given to events that brought liberation or painted them as successful. “No one cares about our Manchu history, after all” (p. 56). History is told from many perspectives and sources that on occasion it is difficult to see the whole picture from just one source. Many times, we don’t learn/teach the full facts. As teachers, we are required to teach a curriculum and cover certain standards in a specific time frame. This prevents us from incorporating and teaching all the perspectives and facts about a particular event/person. Whenever my students do research projects, I emphasize the importance of researching multiple sources. They are also required to get secondary and primary sources, if available.

Meyer describes Jilin as a sleepy metropolis made up of four million people. The word “sleepy” makes it seem as if the community has nothing eventful or lively going on, but the people don’t have social interaction. This is a completely different than the visual I get from reading the description from a century ago. At that point in history, it was a shipyard and trading post. That visual is lively. People would want to come to Jilin not only trade and buy the various goods (i.e furs, leathers, animal skins, carved wood, etc.) but socialize with other cultures and people. It was described as the “Kyoto of Manchuria”. Qingming is a poem written twelve hundred years ago. The part when Meyer and Frances were talking about his students translating the poem to English was funny because I can relate. Pronunciation of words is important. This skill is difficult when learning a new language.

Meyer, Michael. In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China. Bloomsbury Press, NY (2015).
edited by malvarenga on 6/11/2015

[Anonymous]

One aspect I continued to snicker at throughout the book was Meyer's description of each city in terms of their population. Jilin, "a second-tier metropils with four million people- and sleepy by chinese standards." The city of Los Angeles has less! (not metropolitan LA...that is around 13 million), so is that a mid-size city in comparison??).

[Anonymous]

I found Meyer's description of his encounter with Dr. Liu at Eastern Fortune very interesting. First there's Liu Yandong, who founds Eastern Fortune, and Meyer feels like his rags to riches story is too good to be true until the detail about bargaining over the price of the business license. At that point Meyer recognizes Liu as a true Northeasterner.
Then there is Dr. Liu, who represents a different kind of no-nonsense Northeastern type. She learns from the ducks that there is such a thing as being too generous to your workers. Another strong blend of eyewitness, interview-based reporting and interpretation by selection of the telling detail.

[Anonymous]

Meyer learned that little of the palisade remained most of it had eroded away but the gateways are still used and to go through them, however they do charged a fee. Which reminded me of when Frances said she felt that she was “intruding” to be at the historic site without paying for it. Most, of the historical sites are money makers but how wonderful it would be to go to a place without tourists & fees
I agree with Mayra in that we don’t always have the time to cover all the facts. But boy are we sure lucky to choose those that we might feel a passion for, and are able to delve into them, digging deeper to find out as much truth as we can. Unlike what Frances said “ school never taught us about it. Anything we learned about the Manchu was bad anyway, since their dynasty had failed.”

[Anonymous]

The idea of personal history arises in chapter four. Farming has been the main livelihood of people in the region dating back to the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze ages (P.46), but written documents weren’t started until the 7th century (P.6). It seems that historians and villagers remember time differently. For example, Meyer talks about the construction of a wall north of the Great Wall, the Willow Palisade. Historians recorded its existence, “the Manchu built a one-thousand-mile-long barrier… deep into the Northeast. Made from soil and trees” (P.52). However, the villagers in Wasteland did not know where it was even though Wasteland was within Manchu territory. After asking many people and taking some wrong turns, Meyer stumbled upon the only stone marker of where the palisade stood (P.61). History such as where the Manchu-Mongol border once stood did not hold much significance to people who seem to measure time by the seasons. It seems that the villagers live in the present, but are mindful of the past, so long as it relates to them or their livelihoods. There is a personal and practical sense to their history where more villagers know that the willow trees were cut down for firewood and the moat used for farming (P.56) than what the trees were a part of. I concluded the chapter pondering what was more important, preserving Manchu history or surviving frigid winters. Or rather than choosing, how could both goals be accomplished.
edited by jalves on 6/18/2015

[Anonymous]

Ch. 4 "Ruins and Remains"
What was the Willow Palisade? What did Meyer learn while hunting for it? What does he mean when he says that in Huangdi 荒地 (Wasteland) is personal? Why might history in Manchuria be limited to particular messages?

• Much like, or unlike, the Great Wall, the Willow Palisade was a barrier that stated at the pass (First Pass Under Heaven) and went ("wishboned") deep into the Northeast. It was 1,000 miles long and made of soil and trees. At the time of Meyer's visit, there was little left of it and not many people knew of it. Frances confessed that they hadn't learned about it in school and anything that they'd learned about the Manchu was bad. Many people that Meyer talked to, even while standing near/in the Palisade, didn't know what it was or why it was even there.
• History and Wasteland, for them, was personal, only going back as far as they could remember. History in Manchuria is limited to particular messages because it's what the government sends to them (so it seems). The banners, the advertisements, the lessons in school, the razing of the monuments all contribute to the short memory of the village, when the elders are gone, so are the memories of that generation unless they are shared. They feel like no one cares about the Manchu history.

Ch. 5 "The Waking of Insects"
We learn about big changes for Ms. Guan, the English teacher that Meyer helps. How has Jilin changed from the time of the Japanese occupation? Why does Meyer describe his house and Wasteland in general as straddling the 19th and the 21st centuries? What is Qingming? Why is it difficult to mark in Wasteland? How does Frances celebrate her father?

• Ms. Guan had streaked her hair with blonde and she was being tranferred to a "better school".
• Jilin, at one time, was made of wood and was a shipyard and trading post but a fire destroyed most of if in 1930.
• Meyer's house and Wasteland in general was straddling in the 19th and 21st century because they had cement floors, a single propane burner, and tin roofs. Each room had a kang with stacks of rice stalks piled outside. The rooms had platform beds. There was no indoor plumbing, but they DID have internet, ironically.

Ch. 6 "Grain Rain"
We open with Auntie Yi observing a paradox in Wasteland and in China generally -- the odd and ad hoc mix of socialism, private enterprise, and traditional beliefs/symbols. What is she referring to? Can you identify other examples? Sometimes, one can fight city hall. How did San Jiu prevail against village authorities? What does the resort built by the rice company suggest about what they think about locals, about potential tourists?

• There's a lot of paradox going on with the Eastern Fortune Rice and their slow take over of Wasteland. The idea is that if Eastern Fortune profits, the village profits. The thing is, though, the company takes the farmers' land, razes it, and creates their own rice paddies. The farmers, though, seem trapped. Tradition seems to tie them to the area and to their family's land, and no one outside of the village can rent the land, and the farmers don't move out. Frozen, there is little advancement and they become dependent on each other and the agribusiness.

[Anonymous]

Chapter 4

The illusive Willow Palisade was once a thousand mile long barrier made of soil and trees built by the Manchus to mark their territory. It was constructed of two berms of soil defining a moat and topped with willow trees lashed together with ropes. Emperor Qianlong said that it was not a, " Construction of walls that exhaust the people." Meyer learns that this famous barrier is almost forgotten in Manchuria, and barely acknowledged by the Chinese government. A historian too poor to own his own book, an old woman, a toppled marker, and a few rural farmers are left to remind the the world of its existence. Modern roads pass through what remains of ancient gates.
Wasteland is personal because it is personal connection that allows entree. Whether it is procuring a house, a cure for a cold, delving into local history, or finding a job everything requires acceptance through personal connection.
It is obvious that the cultural revolution and the pressures of modern life have limited the history of Manchuria to limited messages. Many Chinese immigrated to the region and have little interest in or connection to Manchu history. The cultural revolution wiped out any trace of a past that did not mesh with official party doctrine. Michael and Frances are amazed to find a Shrine to the Emperor of the Soil untouched by the destruction unleashed by the Red Guards on, "old customs, culture, habits, and ideas."
edited by karenrieger on 6/19/2015

[Anonymous]

Chapters 4-6 struck me as a huge dichotomy between new and old. The cities he visits have such a rich history that has been replaced by industrialization or tourist traps. For example, "Jilin's amphitheater of pine-clad hills was fronted by factories like this, manufacturing poison against the prettiest backdrop of any Northeast city." The environment is being changed by the industrial factories that come to these small towns to make money and find new resources. Further support, "Fire destroyed most of wooden Jilin in 1930. Industrialization took care of the rest." The author here is showing how remnants of an old and classic city have disapeared not only by industrialization, but natural disasters as well. The author also explains the shift in societal structure, with students expected to study rather than take over for their parents in the fields. A new emphasis on education and urbanization is helping to change these countryside villages. He even describes a shift in the people that live in Wasteland in which they prefer to lease their land to sharecroppers while they pursue other capitalistic endeavors such as opening restaurants. It was fascinating to read about these changes that the author could see. I hope I can notice some of these changes, as I think this will play very strongly into the lesson plan ideas I have.

[Anonymous]

Chapter 5

The house Meyer lives in with Ms. Guan's brother is a mixture of traditional and modern. This is why he refers to it as "straddling the 19th and 21st centuries." It is heated by rice stalks that fuel the kangs in the two rooms. The yard is a garden lauded for its onions. The kitchen was coated in soot and minimally equipped with a wok, a small refrigerator, a single propane burner, vinegar, soy sauce, and cabbages. Very traditional with a nod to modern conveniences. There was no indoor plumbing yet there was broadband internet and a VPN. Jilin, the site of Ms. Guan's new school, was transformed from a beautiful wooden city into one consumed by industrialization after the Japanese occupation. Chemical plants stand side by side with new apartment complexes.
Qingming is a national holiday with ancient traditions. It is a tomb sweeping festival, a way to remember and honor the dead. Wasteland has no tombs to sweep and Auntie Yi puts it very well when she says, "It does seem strange, not having any tombs around here. The dead just vanish." Frances and her mother and brother honor her father by taking his ashes "out for some air" in the warm sunshine. The family talked to him as if he were alive, lit a cigarette for him, prepared his favorite dishes, and burned paper money for him to use in the afterlife. All cultures find ways to preserve traditions from the past and it would be very interesting for my students to compare Chinese and American customs and holidays (Qingming/Memorial Day).
edited by karenrieger on 6/21/2015

[Anonymous]

Chapter 6

Auntie Yi is very aware of the strange mix of ancient, socialist, and capitalist traditions that make up modern China. She points this out when she says, “A private company is taking care of our Socialist road and named its resort after a god.” Eastern Fortune Rice Company, a capitalist venture, has assumed the communist roll of collectivizing agricultural land while badgering farmers with communist style slogans such as “Reflect on the past months and sign contracts at once.” They distribute free calendars with ancient poems honoring the hard work of farmers adorned with modern farm equipment.

The private resort in Wasteland built by Eastern Fortune Rice Company is priced so that it is out of reach for local families. The admission price to use the swimming pool is the cost of renting a threshing machine to harvest a paddy of rice. In effect, the resort exists to serve the vacation needs of wealthy city residents and enrich Eastern Fortune Rice Company. They justify this inequitable situation with a communistic sounding rationale, “ As Eastern Fortune profits, the village profits.”

San Jiu is a lucky village farmer who stuck to his guns and prevailed against City Hall. He learned a valuable lesson in the process, never lease land belonging to someone else. Fortunately he had a signed contract and good legal advice and was able to fight the government’s attempt to redistribute the leased land by presenting his case to a court in Beijing and obtaining a ruling, a document called a gonghan, in his favor.

[Anonymous]

I am rereading as we travel and seeing what I pick up on differently as we travel. The chapter Ruins and Resourcefulness, demonstrated examples of reimagining something with a different purpose. The temples he been made into police stations, and hotel room tv advertisements including personal ads and personal lonely heart ads. There was plenty of examples but I made a note of that while reading no it heightened my interest in that here, the way cardboard boxes are used as storage when traveling and paper for handles, tioilet paper for cleaning, and various other instances. Often times there are different, specific products sold $$$$ that we buy for different purposes. It made me think of how I could be more resourceful and make it into a product based project for students giving them a sales pitch and showing them pictures from the trip. A culture experience And a marketable skill.

It also is fascinating to see the into woven ways ethnicity is central in the way As in the nation, identity card. It made it such a focus and I couldn't imagine that being on my card. It brought up questions of what decision making led up to that and Have there been discussions to remove it. This is something that could easily be used in history classes and have students discuss the purpose nd what if it was made in their own location. What discussion points do student have about identity that would be essentialI. The section about verbal history.

[Anonymous]

As we traveled and I reread my notes on these chapters, it seemed much more relevant to discuss and highlight the the mentioning of pesticides, food pesticides and food safety in the chapters. While traveling, I saw vast amounts of farmland and efficient use of land and thus I wondered how had it progressed. I also wanted to tie this into the Agricultural Revolution for my classes with the sections of the book. It called the area up in the North East as the Paris of the East which I heard multiple times. I loved the quote of "An independent nation that has confidence in itself must not be afraid to acknowledge the positive contributions of foreigners in its history." It would be a great introductory sentence for us to use in the Arabian Peninsula section of 7th grad and multliple other areas of the 7th grade curriculum, the Silk Road, and general ocurances with trading centers.

[Anonymous]

What stood out to me in this section is Meyer's description of "mass incidents" (p. 83). According to Meyer, the Chinese government refers to protests as "mass incidents." In Ch. 6, San Jui gets his way because he is able to manipulate this system. It also seems that the Chinese government can also manipulate the media (i.e. first-hand experience of seeing a story on CNN blocked out) and manipulation of phrases. San Jui understood this system and used it to his advantage.

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