reading - in manchuria, ch. 7-9

[Anonymous]

In chapter seven, Meyer describes the process for planting a rice field. I found it interested in the sense that it didn't seem labor intensive. Much of it was done by machines (although this is a recent development). I was always under the impression that China has sufficient labor that any labor intensive work was done by hand. In addition, the use of organic and chemicals to maintain the field was interesting. San Jiu describes that using chemicals for weed control is needed, but you can use frogs, fish, and ducks to keep bacteria, bugs and worms at bay. They also use CDs and their light reflecting properties to keep birds away. Earlier in the book, the spokesman for the large farming business in Wasteland described the growing organic movement in China. This was surprising, since it had been going since the early 2000s. American consumers were not as obsessed with organics at that point, but China was moving in that direction. In addition, San Jiu commented that going organic was too expensive. Mostly, the large corporations were able to do it. This is opposite to America. Here, large farms were the last to go organic and it was the small independent farmers that were among the first organic growers.

[Anonymous]

What caught my attention in this section in regardless to lesson integration was the reference of "yellow journalism". On pages 116-117 there is mention of Jack London being dispatched by publishing magnet William Randolph Hearst to cover the Russo-Japanese War. I cover yellow journalism quite extensively in my US History classes, primarily from the perspective of the Spanish-American War. I appreciate another way to integrate this information, especially since it allows me another opportunity to include East Asia into my lessons.

[Anonymous]

Hu Hong was the owner Sufeiya, a restaurant named after his mother. The restaurant was under renovations at the time that he met Meyer. While he had components of Russian and Japanese, he considered himself, “just Chinese. Most Chinese know that our country is a mix of many cultures and peoples” (p. 126). I found it interesting to know that they do not hyphenate. He is not Chinese-Russian-Japanese. He is simply Chinese. His family’s story demonstrates the mixing of cultures/races though time as people migrated and settled in other countries. I consider myself Salvadoran-American (even though I have only visited El Salvador once): my mother was born in El Salvador, but I was born in Los Angeles. If I lived in China, would I be considered American or Salvadoran??

A major reason why his story caught my attention is that his story reminded me of mine when I switch job paths from working at a law firm to teaching in a middle school. I was never happy nor content reading books on law codes and driving to courts to file paper work. I understood perfectly well when Hu Hong stated, “I trained as an architect but I’d rather spend my time on the job site, making things. Sitting in a meeting room seeking approval of a design…is just absurd” (p. 125). Hong enjoys a hard day’s work; seeing the fruit of his labor. I enjoy the day to day interaction teaching the children and seeing their immediate comprehension.

Meyer, Michael. In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China. Bloomsbury Press, NY (2015).
edited by malvarenga on 6/12/2015

[Anonymous]

[font=Times, 'Times New Roman', serif]Railroads drastically changed Manchuria's culture and landscape. Chapter 8 starts out by calling Harbin the "Paris of the East" in 1920 because of the access of the city to foreigners through rail. It was this access, however, that led to a changing north that the southern Chinese didn't accept or like. As the book continues this title as "Paris of the East" is no longer true, but I am excited to see the remnants of once a bustling city. I am also excited to see the Russian and Jewish influence here, where once it was the Far East's largest Jewish community. [/font]
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[font=Times, 'Times New Roman', serif]Chapter 9 focuses on the preservation of cities in terms of their museum exhibits. I think the question Clay poses, "What [/font][font=Times, 'Times New Roman', serif]would you and your students put into a Chinese museum to introduce your city," would be an amazing activity for the classroom because they all have a different idea of what their city looks like in their mind, but then have them take a step back and think about the stereotypical choices that would also have to be made. For example, the Betty Crocker items for Minneapolis that Meyer saw- he understands what that means but that isn't what he would have put into the exhibit[/font]

[Anonymous]

Liang Siyong would appear to be a hero to Michael Meyer. He traveled through northeastern China at a time of maximum peril, and he kept his cool while performing important archaelogical research. Meng, on the other hand, seems to stand for the gullibility of a population without a strong tradition of scientific method. His alien sex adventure pales in comparison to the real-life wildness that Liang Siyong encountered by riding the rails back in the 1930s.

[Anonymous]

Meyer starts off chapter 7 with a very poignant issue, whether Beijing should learn from the failings of US development and change its course. Auntie Yi made an interesting point stating that China has “every right to make the same mistakes that America made” (P.91). China and other countries have the right to develop their towns, villages and cities in ways that work with their geography, customs and other practices. However, the question of development can become more controversial when you consider that many developing countries are contributing to global pollution.

From a western perspective, the US supports the growth of foreign markets and urban development around the globe, but also want developing countries to reduce their carbon footprint in their race to “catch up” to countries with higher GDP. It may seem easy to judge other nations for using such energy sources, but both Europe and America did the same thing during their periods of industrialization. Although both geographic areas have made strides to reduce their carbon emissions, many developing countries cannot afford to do so. Even if more companies in China went greener, I have a hard time seeing the people mentioned in Meyer’s book being able to afford the added costs, which most likely would be passed onto consumers. For example, one of the workers Meyer met was hired by EF to trimming trees on Red Flag Road (p.78). After three days of work he completed two miles of tree trimming without any power tools. A worker who cannot afford to buy a power saw or a study metal ladder to aid with his work would not be able to absorb additional energy costs.

Perhaps there is middle ground that can be found among developing and developed countries. This would make an interesting assignment for students where they could take on different perspectives and try to find solutions to a current problem.

[Anonymous]

China is very large in land mass- so thinking that it has been developed too much would not relate to the actual land mass, but more about the people. How small towns, want to maybe stay small. They like knowing everything about everyone & keeping tabs on all things going on around them. They take a lot of pride in their own accomplishments and do not seem to want or really encourage Eastern Fortune coming in and developing more.
I am a little more worried about the “slathering their skin in bacon fat as a barrier against palm-sized mosquitoes!” How bad are they?? (the mosquitoes that is) They love me...oh boy!
Many of the religious sites were turned into schools & some of them were even rebuilt so that they could use them as backdrops for wedding photos! All relating back to money$.
The empires outside of China prospered because it gave them a chance to have a short cut to the port/ocean and it was ice free year round! This helped Manchuria with more people/traffic coming thru and possibly spending more money & helping to develop the area, “our country is a mix of many cultures & people.”
In 1930 Liang Siyoung (a 26 yr.old Harvard graduate) an archaeologist in charge of one of China’s first scientific excavations. He found artifacts from seven thousand years ago! It showed how the hunter/gatherers & fisherman had a culture & that they were smart & very hard working. A connection to the Chinese today who work very hard with their land.
I think it would be important to put some things that represent our city- almost like a time capsule of objects- we are near the ocean, so maybe some stone, sand & shells, pictures of the countryside showing how many people have horses, and a lot of land with trees. Whales can be seen in the fall & spring, bicycles the ride all around our peninsula. “Zai jian”

[Anonymous]

I loved chapter 8 and the description of how the train system changed Manchuria over time. Again, this is a great case study in imperialization and cultural influence. Harbin became Paris of the East due to its railway station connecting many different cultures and regions, "...spoke 45 languages on its cobblestone streets." He also describes the change in landscape on his way to Harbin, from gravel streets to cement, etc. The railway brought all sorts of businessmen, foreigners and Chinese alike, diversifying the region. Another fact I though was interesting was the fact that the Chinese and the Russina governments that created the railways no longer existed after WW1. This created instability and Russian refugees to Harbin. Chapter 9 goes into more detail about the different cultures interacting in Harbin as a result of its easily accessible rail station. I'd love to bring this up in class as a case study and look at how a simple invention and placement of a railway can create such diversity, opportunity and despair.

[Anonymous]

Chapter 7
Meyer has definite opinions of what is too much development. He mourns the destruction of his old courtyard neighborhood in Beijing where he fell in love with his wife. For him sanitary updates would be enough. He tries in vain to convince Chinese bureaucrats that urban sprawl is something the west is trying to correct and move away from, but he receives the answer, “We have every right to make the same mistakes that America made.” China wants modernization. Bigger, taller, faster! Wasteland is an example of this race to the future. Paved roads, internet service, a resort, state of the art pesticides, modern agricultural strain selection, a plan to tear down the old and build anew. Wasteland is itself a boom town, created fifty years before from dunes and marsh. It was an outpost of civilization turning raw land into productive rice fields.
Missionaries left their mark on Manchuria. In Jilin City Meyer and Frances find a Catholic shrine to the Virgin Mary. They think it odd that in a city where no Buddhist site survives the government preserves a Catholic one.

Chapter 8

Manchuria was bordered by 4 great empires; Mongolia, Russia, Korea, and Japan. The vast expanses of virgin forest, grassland, marshes, plains, and dunes drew invaders to pillage its raw materials. Manchuria had seemed an insurmountable quest from the perspective of early explorers traveling on foot or by horse. The building of the trans-Siberian railroad changed travel to Manchuria into a comfortable journey. The Qing Empire was being pressured from outside and the inside. The Taiping Rebellion, lasting 14 years, killed up to 30 million people and nearly bankrupted the Empire. In the north the Russians stole great chunks of Manchuria while other European nations forced the opening of Chinese ports during the Opium Wars.
In Harbin, Meyer meets Hu Hong the owner of a Russian restaurant, Sufeiya (Sophia). He is the son of a Russian mother and a Chinese father and a living embodiment of the mixture of Chinese and Russian that is Harbin.

Chapter 9

Liang Siyong was the father of Chinese archeology and a graduate student at Harvard. At 26 he found the 7,000 year old remains of a hunter gatherer society in Manchuria. Liang visited Manchuria during the turbulent times in 1930. He was revolted by Chinese invading and farming Mongol pasture land. These actions were justified with the argument that Mongols were not making good use of the land. This is the very same rationale that Europeans used to make inroads into Manchuria (or Americans made for western expansion).
In the seventeenth century three Qing administrators were dispatched to repel Russians from the frontiers of Manchuria. The remoteness of the location preserved and protected the Manchu language through the hundreds of years of turmoil that separates the past from the present. The Cultural Revolution brought paranoia, and a belief that Manchu speakers were spying for Russia. This nearly erased the Manchu language altogether. Thankfully the elders of the small village of Sanjiazi were stubborn and kept the language alive. Thanks to the efforts of Shi Junguang, Government permission has been granted to teach Manchu language classes for a few hours each week at the elementary school.
As I read the descriptions about the sister city displays I thought about my little town of Temecula and its Dutch and Japanese sister cities. What should a Temecula display include? I would start with the bones of the Pleistocene animals that roamed the grassy hills, mastodon, camel, dire wolf. I believe Manchurians would enjoy knowing about American camels though none exist here now. Next I would include a Native American display of baskets, grinding stones, acorns, and throwing stones to represent the native people who first settled the Temecula Valley and whose ancestors traveled to the new world across Beringia, the land bridge from Siberia (and possibly Manchuria). I would hope Manchurians would be reminded of Liang Siyong’s discoveries. Next I would include items from Temecula’s cowboy period such as saddles, lassos, spurs, cow horns, chaps though Manchurians might think the cowboys are currently riding the range (covered now with housing tracts). Finally, I would include items that reflect Temecula’s modern wonders, Wine Country and the Pechanga Indian Casino. Obviously a collection of empty wine bottles from Calloway, Weins, Leoness, etc. Next a Pechenga logo, gambling chips, a picture of the crowded Pai Gow room (this may cause Manchurians to overestimate the size of Temecula’s growing Chinese population). Sadly, this modern part of the display may promote the misconception that our wholesome little town is a den of gambling and drinking.
Meyer who grew up in a bedroom filled with maps noticed immediately that maps were missing from the sister city exhibit.
Meng Zhaoguo embodies the claim that, “When you live up here, you see strange phenomena all the time.” His discovery of a UFO crash and his interaction with Aliens while working as a lumberjack resulted in fame and fortune. He moved from rural poverty to a comfortable job at a metropolitan university. The truth is stranger than fiction.
edited by karenrieger on 6/22/2015

[Anonymous]

Harbin being a "crossroads" was very evident in the architecture, landscaping, and cultural aspects that were subtly referenced in the book and then very evident during our visit of Harbin. To see multiple religious institutions next to each other an their buildings next to one another with distinct characteristics in contrast demonstrated the crossroads influence. I wondered if I would be able to see actual religious buildings being used with the current climate in China and instead I saw more of the buildings being used as storage or places where people sat. These places still were built and people with different backgrounds were able to be near close proximity. The Railways were discussed at length and yet I saw little of it on our journey but I wondered about the process and wanted to compare it to the Railways being build in the USA for our students.

[Anonymous]

Ch. 6- Meyer states, "We have every right to make the same mistakes that America made" (p. 83). In the three cities we visited in Manchuria, I felt that all we very similar in that there was vast urban sprawl and numerous high rise buildings. I have traveled to many different US cities, and the closest comparison in the look and feel of those cities I can make would be to NYC, based on the amount of people and buildings within the four mainland cities we visited. So for me, China has in some ways surpassed the growth of US. For me, they are making "mistakes" that America has not yet made because our population is lower than China's and we have not had to deal with the problems or advantages of that issue.
edited by jilliansheehan on 7/21/2015

[clay dube]

Please feel free to discuss anything in these chapters that you found interesting. Please also consider why or how you might introduce such issues or stories to your students. How could these questions or others fit into your curriculum?

Ch. 7 The Pilgrims' Progress
Auntie Yi asks "How do you know when a place has developed too much?" This question could be applied everywhere and all the time. How might it be applied to Wasteland, to Manchuria, or even to all of China.
What are the "boomtown" aspects of Manchuria's past and present? What is it about religious sites and symbols in Manchuria that surprises Meyer, Frances, and you?

Ch. 8 To the Manchuria Station
How did expanding empires outside China come to impact the Qing empire? What was the impact within Manchuria? How did railroads change Manchuria?
Who is Hu Hong? What does his family's story illustrate about the region?

Ch. 9 Tunnels in Time, Sidings in Space
Who was Liang Siyoung? How did Liang compare Chinese in Mongolia with foreigners in China? How has politics discouraged or encouraged the use of and study of Manchurian?
Meyer visits a museum devoted to Harbin's sister cities. What would you and your students put into a Chinese museum to introduce your city? What are the symbols? What sort of explanation is necessary for them to be understood? Could such symbols be misinterpreted? What does Meyer think is missing from the museum?
"When you live up here [in Manchuria], you see strange phenomena all the time," says Meng Zhaoguo. Did he live this claim or does he embody it?

Factoid: A researcher has argued that the poorest 1% of Germans are better off than 60% of Chinese.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/01/the-secret-to-being-rich-is-surprisingly-simple/?wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1

How might this factor into considerations of development? Is development enough, when I am comfortable? When you are comfortable and secure? Or when all are? Or is development like a hamster wheel we can never get off? 3 channels become 300, phones become portable, then smaller, then larger mini-computers/cameras/health monitors, homes go from being shelters to emblems of our wealth and taste....

And - after you've visited China, do you believe this researcher's conclusions about relative well-being?
edited by Clay Dube on 6/4/2015

[Anonymous]

In chapter 7, the answer to the question, “how do you know when a place has developed too much?” is in the eyes of the beholder. In the case of Beijing, it might be when everything has been remade. Even then, it probably will never be developed enough. For Wasteland, it might be for as long as the geography remains the same, or until the resources are depleted. The quick success of the Easter Fortune Company and its goals to make it the top village and its overall transformation from dunes and marsh to overnight success, make it a boomtown.

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