Menu
close
Home › Forums › Short Online Seminars › Contemporary China, Spring 2019 › Session #3 - March 12
Brett Kier.
cgaoREQUIRED
Readings
Video
3a. Expanding Choices
This video lecture focuses on the greater freedom Chinese began to enjoy after 1978 to make decisions for themselves. Jobs continued to be assigned when you graduated from high school and college until the early 1990s, but you could opt out and open a business of your own. You could begin to move and to live whereever you could find work. If you could afford it, you could buy your own apartment. Before the 1990s, urbanites had to get housing from their work units (their danwei 单位, their employer). You also had greater choice in health care, though as with other choices, the market began to determine access. If you couldn't afford the care you needed, you couldn't get it.
3b. Individual Choices Today
OPTIONAL
Margaret SiryjIn the article titled, "In China, 'Once the Villages are Gone, the Culture is Gone', Johnson points out that it is an insult to refer to a Chinese person as a "farmer". It is interesting to note that in the United States, a common idea prevails in certain regions. However, the author suggests that Chinese citizens are tradtionally rural-based. The traditional culture that has gone back multiple decades is being threatened because the roots of agriculture also bring out "practices like landscape painting, calligraphy, and court music".
The article mentions that not only are the number of villages is declining, but the cultural scene is in jeopardy. Since the Communists came to power in 1949, pilgrimages to cultural events were discouraged, but in more recent times, a cultural revolution is happening. I teach American Government and it is stressed that governments matter. I encourage my seniors to vote and not be complacent with who is in power, or who is running for a particular office. I have explained that Communism is all for the people, but unfortunately, the people do not have much say in their government and how it is run. Johnson suggests that the Chinese have deep roots in rural living and strong cultural ties to the land. It is great to read that foundations such as the Ford Foundation underwrites programs for Chinese children to keep their culture alive.
Brett KierSchumpeter is alive and well in China. Modernization – read westernization – is by its very nature is akin to the World Engine in the blockbuster film Man of Steele. It will remake anything it touches into a perfect commodified unit of desire. This also puts me in mind of Russia's cultural renaissance with the Eastern Orthodox Church over the past decade. Once the cultural Marxism had rotted on the vine and revealed itself for what it was (authoritarianism), one began to see the religious revival of Russia's heritage once again begin to flourish. Unfortunately, as I write, I must admit that both China and Russia still have quite the love affair with authoritarianism, but there seems to be an effort made to preserve their respective cultural artifacts. Curiously, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) survived all of the cultural revolutions within China. Food for thought.
Brett KierThe result of the infiltration of western culture into China post 1978 has been mixed. There seems to be a complex set of interests attempting to shape the narrative of what China is, and will become. There are great efforts underway to direct the flow of the cultural awakening of the Chinese people (from inside and outside the country) into activities that will ultimately distract and amuse, id est, bread and circus (as the song goes: “What does the billboard say? Come and play. Come and play. Forget about the movement”). There are reasons to remain optimistic, however. Environmental protests seem to evidence an exercise of real liberty – but protestor’s faces are collected and stored, only to be put under constant surveillance. Also, the appearance of NIMBY’s is a sure sign of a rising middle class and the continued development of social consciousness among the Chinese people. During Jinping’s era, we have witnessed a reversal from the energy of the student movements of the late 1980’s, and the investment and development of technology will only be used to create ever more intricate systems of social control. The state panopticon’s Jingjing and Chacha are apt examples.
For students in the classroom, China can serve as a good case study in the westernization and liberalization of societies, and how popular culture can either contribute to, or degrade the health of a society. Social health indicators could be introduced to see if students would be able to draw any conclusions about cause and effect: teen pregnancy rates, marriage and divorce rates, domestic violence rates, et cetera. Parenthetically, the Tiananmen Square protests receive a lot of attention in 10th Grade World History. In the past, I have introduced primary source documents to explore the nature of the protests in an effort to encourage students to develop their historical imagination, and think carefully about how historical events are recollected, written about, and studied by future students. The document below may add value to your lesson plans when covering this subject.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b8b6dc_f87d9a19209c4660afb8782194f60080.pdf
Chris HertzogGreat week for many ideas on how to connect U.S. High School students to trends and movements in China! It is really something how modern China has mixed the internet, commerce, communication and capitalism in the biggest communist country in the world. Definitely breaks some stereotypes. But that is good for getting students interested and hooked into a lesson. Obviously I am simplifying a lot of material here from this week, but there are literally hundreds of attention grabbers here. In AP World, the course often highlights syncretism in culture, music, religion, technology or whatever else. Old to new or horizontal ideas that seemingly are popping up all over China.
The Falun Gong movement was really the most fascinating in that it is a relgious movemtn combining much of Chinese past belief systems as well as using some new ways of communications to shock and scare the authorities into suppressing it, even though it appears to be just a peaceful movement... now conveniently labled a cult. How often is this in history, a group that challenges the system by peacful means and becomes labeled as subversive and dangerous.
That probably could be argued about the Wham concerts and passing around of cassette tapes in the 80s, but now there is the internet with full surveillance, and yet people are communicating, organizing and creating, all in under a pretty repressive regime. I'm sure the camps that Falun Gong members were sent to were horrific. It is crazy that the communist party with is some 90 million strong can have that much influence and control with so many groups that outnumber them all over the country. I guess we shall see how many Tiananmen like demonstrations China will have, or if the future will involve technology in a way that even Falun Gong movement will seem simplistic.
Margaret SiryjAfter going to the Bowers Museam this past weekend to view Gao Pei's exhibit, I have come to the conclusion, that indeed, Chinese culture is alive and well. This overwhelmingly stunning art and Chinese couture fashion display was a display of Chinese culture on steroids. The article mentioned the traditional farming aspect and the concerning shift from an agricultural emphasis to a more urban environmental population burst. Gao Pei was born in the late 1960s in China, and payed homage to her Chinese roots. She mentioned that her grandmother was inspirational with her love of fabric and fashion that Gao so supurbly demonstrated in her life long career. From a cultural standpoint, Gao was inspired by the dragon, a pivotal character in Chinese history and one of her lines was solely focused on this mythical creature. She utilized European history and payed tribute to Napoleonic themes and military uniforms.
I hope to weave the museam and Gao Pei's extradinary work to my Economic students to focus on the economics of China vis a vis United States. Totally recommend this awesome exhibit at Bowers Museam 2200 Main St, Santa Ana. It is conveniently located off the 5 fwy in Santa Ana.
Chris HertzogBrett makes some good points and great ideas for using these articles and topics in the class. I agree the the Tiananmen Square protests do get a lot of coverage in 10th grade world history class. There is much out there on these events, for good reason.
With our material this week it has caused me to think about where else I can bring in material to other topics related. Music for certain and how that has been an uncontrolable force in China, or say the internet, or those VHS movie houses. This is directly tied to pop culture movements, but what about the vehicle in these to carry ideas of intellect, politics and/or religion. It seems that ideas are coming at China, like all parts of the world, at lightning speeds and that when you embrace economic reforms all the rest will eventually come with it. Even Chinese workers simply learning English to read an instruction manual or pamphelet to a "western" product and learning something new. This of course is not even touching the video game issues and the psychological affects or messages contained in those. Warcraft? That has some metaphors.
Sarah KatchinskiyChina seems to struggle regularly with the push-pull of lionizing its own cultural heritage and neglecting it by turns. Bouncing back and forth between looking outward and facing inward are patterns that China has repeated over and over since at least the medieval period. The destruction of villages and the subsequent loss of cultural memory is one face of this internal conflict. The persecution of Christians and identification of Chiristianity as a foreign religion which must be contained is another face. The government shows a seriously conservative bent, limiting the influence from outside by clamping down on churches. At the same time, ironically, tearing down villages in an attempt to modernize hastens the destruction of the culture it judges superior.
Sarah KatchinskiyI find it interesting that while China attempts to keep foreign influence out, (to greater or lesser degree by way of censorship and restrictions) that same foreign influnce (via orgs like the Ford Foundation) place a value on Chinese culture and attempts to support and preserve it. Is this a concious strategy on the part of the Chinese governement, or simply accidental irony?
Phillip MoshoyannisAfter reading this article I was not sure whether or not this is a Chinese issue or an isuse of modernization per se. While it was stated that the rural base is decreasing at a rapid rate, a few hundred villages per day, and the loss of cultural artifacts that were indignous to those areas, there is a conscientious attempt by those who have been displaced to continue their traditions. I am not so sure if this sentiment is shown in certain rural areas of the US for example to the same degree. Perhaps it is becuase these farmers and peasants of the land go back thousands of year and not merely a few hundred. For my class I would ask them what traditions from agricultural America have been kept and transmitted to the next generation(s) and what have we lost as extinct artifacts? Were there some traditions that were better off forgotten? Are there some practices that we could or should reintroduce?
Judy SchechterThis week’s articles about wang bas (net bars) and the phenomenon of “left behind” children were of most interest to me.
I was struck by the Xinhua news agency’s comment that internet bars are “‘tumors’’ that must be removed from society.” I found myself thinking about Tipper Gore’s lauded and lambasted efforts to call out violent video game and music content in an effort to protect American children from sex, drugs, and violence. It’s interesting to me that contemporary China appears to have similar concerns and preoccupations.
At the risk of opening a can of worms, what is considered “pornographic” in China? Is it a case of Party members “knowing it when they see it”? Or is there something inherent in sexually explicit materials that somehow challenges the authority of the Chinese government? I traveled to Vietnam in the summer of 1998 and was taken aback by a customs form that asked me if I was bringing any pornograpy into the country (just so you know, I wasn’t 🙂 ). Border guards literally emptied my luggage and went through all of my books. It was all done in a very showy manner. What was the message here? Have these cultures always been prudish, or is this a recent happenstance? Is pornography seen as a foreign and evil influence? But as Trekkie Monster sings in “Avenue Q,” the internet is for porn, and this is hardly a Chinese phenomenon. Digital citizenship curriculum, anyone?
Continuing with the theme of harm to children, I came away from the Pan and Ye article a little disappointed. The authors went on--and on--about the ill effects visited on “left behind” children, but added little meat to the bones of their arguments. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they’re wrong. I was particularly interested in learning more about the different gender-tied effects of being left behind. I wasn’t at all surprised to see that women and girls are more burdened by these effects than their male peers. I would be curious to know if Chinese schools have adapted any special education curriculum or strategies to help these children. It sure sounds like they haven’t.
Judy SchechterThat sounds like a great lesson, Brett. Debate and persuasive writing would be perfect here, too.
On a somewhat related note--and maybe Clay can address this--is anyone doing longitudinal health studies on those aging dancers?
Matthew LiversReflecting on both of the videos it was very interesting to see how a gradual cultural change took place instead of a racial switch towards western culture. I really enjoyed looking at some of the fashion treads that were taking place (sunglasses in the club) to the opening of arcades that weren’t all that glorious. With this post one of the things I wanted to talk about was the movie industry and how the movies that are made in other countries are impacted by the Chinese markets. In a podcast from the Daily, titled “What the west got wrong about China,” the narrator pushes the question, “What was the last film that you saw where China was the villain or the bad guy?” There aren’t that many that come to mind right away and the reason for this is because of the influence China has on the entertainment world. China makes sure to not have itself portrayed negatively by not allowing movies that depict China badly into its country. This concept of why the movie industries want to not upset China is talked about with the release of the movie, World of War Craft and how it made almost four times the amount of money in China than it did in the United States.
clay dubeThe Bowers exhibit that Margaret mentions: https://www.bowers.org/index.php/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/448-guo-pei-couture-beyond
Chris HertzogThere is so much to comment on the matierial and topic of the article "Children of Great Development." What industrialization and commercialization is doing to the children throughout the rural regions and then to those who make it to the cities and urban centers and still are left to fend for themselves. It harkens back to the industrialization of the United States, places like the Tennessee River Valley or in England in places like Manchester or London and not just with child labor but the abandonement, lack of education and the continual cycles of systemic poverty.
Thereare so many areas to connect this article into World History lessons. Also, there is a good connection to the world wide reaction to the children migrants in the Syrian War crisis, but little to no reaction to this situation in China. The numbers are staggering. It raises questions of how China will be able to keep up with this issue and why there is such an income gap, which seems to be continuing to grow.