session #3 -- october 23

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

As Professor Dube stated in the video lecture that China has gone through many social transformations, including women's dresses.  During the cultural revolution, women wore very dull clothes mostly in dark grey and black.  Modeled by Jiangqing, Mao Zhedong's wife, Chinese women wore men's suits. Skirts and colorful dresses were rarely seen then.  Today, Chinese girls and women can ware whatever clothes they want and show female beauties as shown by the high school proms in the video lecture.  The women's "uniform" during the Cultural Revolution not only limit their choice of clothes but bound their thoughts and freedom.  Women can have male qualities and strengths without male suits.  There are many beautiful female leaders in the world, such as Margaret Hilda Thatcher, who often wore very bright colors, but known as an iron woman. 

Here are a few of Jiangqing's images:

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

Shikumen was first built in the 19th century as  I read.  They were architect with western influence although they had the typical symmetric structures in Chinese buildings.  As houses and apartments were built for wealthier families, the Shikumen became houses for the poor.  Many families lived in one single Shikumen because they could not afford houses and apartments.  But I found these Shikumen buildings with traditional charms.

Here is a link with images of Shikumen:

https://image.baidu.com/search/index?tn=baiduimage&ct=201326592&lm=-1&cl=2&ie=gb18030&word=%C9%CF%BA%A3%CA%AF%BF%E2%C3%C5&fr=ala&ala=1&alatpl=adress&pos=0&hs=2&xthttps=111111

 

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

Hi, I posted a link of Shikumen images, but the link is not contained inside the message frame. I did not want to break the link into parts, then images may not be viewed well.   Anybody know how to fix it?

[clay dube]

Stephen,
Ai Weiwei's use of the middle finger is well known outside of China, but censorship has limited his impact within China. But the middle finger has definitely filtered back into China. I've seen it for about 15-20 years, but mainly among returnees and others. Chinese media frequently broadcasts reports of protests outside of China (to show that people elsewhere have complaints, too, and that life in the US and elsewhere is far from perfect) that include such non-verbal gestures. So -- Ai Weiwei, who lived in the US for years, may have helped inspire the middle finger salute, but he's likely not the main driver. Globalization comes in various forms.

[clay dube]

Natali,
I quite agree with you and with Jonathan, who is an alum and a friend. China's main tool for poverty alleviation has been to empty the countryside and to expand towns. And it has done so on the backs and through the efforts of many, but disproportionately of those who started life with agricultural hukou (household registration status). Now we're into a whole new generation that has only lived in the city, but don't always get the benefits available to those fortunate enough to have local urban hukou (note that Beijing residents who have urban status, but in some other city, are also ineligible for education/health care benefits available to those with Beijing hukou - the system is that specific). From my perspective, it is the main contradiction in China today, exacerbating most other social problems.

[clay dube]

Lin's right to note that the Dalai Lama spoke here some years ago. I got to hear him then and at Berea College when he spoke there in 1994. He's spoken throughout the US for about 30 years. In 2017, however, he gave the commencement address at UCSD. That led to complaints from the Chinese government (which always happens) and from some Chinese students. The Chinese government unofficially slowed visits by Chinese scholars to UCSD and other joint programs have run into trouble (e.g. Fudan University - UC joint center).

https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2017/06/17/dalai-lama-speaks-at-ucsd-commencement-amid-chinese-student-objection/37433131/

https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/uc_san_diegos_connections_with_the_dalai_lama_run_deep

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/20/china-punishing-american-university-hosting-dalai-lama

And why did the Dalai Lama visit a small college in Kentucky? See the attached article, "Bodhisattva in Berea." John Stephenson was the Berea president who hired me.

Attachments:

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[clay dube]

Tenja Young became an American commercial officer and now works as a business consultant. She wrote this for the institute website when she was a student here.

https://china.usc.edu/kfc-birthday-palace

The film Shanghai Calling features a character loosely based on Jim Rice, a US businessman in China. Bill Paxton played him in the film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLF8QEok3SQ
 

[clay dube]

If you highlight the entire link, a right click option is to open the link in a new tab. That will show some of the images that the search engine found.

[Marcos Rico]

After Lecture 5: Expanding Choices, I was under the impresion that Christianity was allowed by the Chinese government. After watching the video The Rise of Christianity in China, I realized that it is not really allowed, but more likely just tolerated as long as they follow the rules set up by the Chinese governemnent. 

Churches are not allowed to display crosses on the outside of their buildings, or the government will forcefully remove the cross, and sometimes even demolish the building. It is estimated that there are more than 140 million Christians in China. Mostly Catholics and Protestants. Protestants being the fastest growing religion in China. Pretty soon China become the largest Christian country in the world.

I remember that I read an article back in September about Pope Francis making an agreement with China about the appointment of bishops. Vatican will officially recognize several bishops appointed by the Chinese govenement. China has the official, government regulated and approved Catholic churches. (Bishops are appointed by the governement) and secret, underground Catholic churches where the bishops are chosen by the Vatican. Pope Francis agreement with China’s government angered many catholics around the world, specially in China.

[Marcos Rico]

It briefly talks about the behavioral and physiological change that humans experience when they move from the country to the city, and become “Urbanized”. One of the surprises was the chart with several countries were being compared side to side. It claimed that the USA has a literacy rate of about 86%, while China has about 95% literacy. How is this possible?

The speaker also point out that while the gap between the rich and the poor keeps on growing, China has managed to lift 350 million people out of poverty. The benefit being mainly for people on urban areas, while people on rural areas suffer.

I remember from studying world cultures back in Middle School that China was a powerful empire, but I never understood what had happend or when China had lost it’s place among the rich and powerful empires. The speaker mentioned how until the 1500’s China was a powerful empire that dependend on its agriculture. China had control of  about 25% of the world’s economy. Then the industrial revolution happened, other countries improved and urbanized. While China kept on doing thing the old way, because it had worked well in the past. It took them a couple hundred years but China is now the 2nd largest economy, just behind the USA.

[Nira Sun]

Hi Natali,

I absolutely agree with you on the significant contribution made by the immigrants in California and the migrants in China. Roma wasn't built in a day and, certainly, wasn't built by "higher-class" citizens only. I think the issue that Chinese central government facing now is how to deal with the poverty and underdeveloped medical and education situation in rural areas so that either people are willing to stay or they feel secure with the children that they left behind.

[Natalie Sanchez]

Teaching about religion in China has been somewhat of a weakness for me. I understand that the country is officially atheist but there are millions of people that practice a religion in China. In doing some research I came across “The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao” by Ian Johnson. The short book trailer does a good job in showing a glimpse of the past and where the future may go in terms of religion.

 

https://religionnews.com/2017/05/17/china-once-officially-atheist-now-booming-with-religion/

 

[Katrina Oh]

The proliferation of internet cafes (wangbas) in China’s rural areas has allowed poorer Chinese denizens to connect to the internet. The government has simultaneously shut down many internet bars for failing to block web sites considered subversive or pornographic.Most residents use the local internet to play multiplayer video games. E-commerce is not as popular in the rural areas because of the lack of infrastructure, the difficulty of transportation, and low population density.

[Lin ZhaoDavison]

Thank you.

[Christine Xu]

In China there are 5 registered/ allowed religious organizations and some other unregistered religious groups. Chinese government monitors both of the groups to prevent activities that “disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the State,” as stipulated by the Chinese constitution. In practice, however, monitoring and crackdowns often target peaceful activities that are protected under international law, according to some human rights watchdogs. “Religious groups have been swept up in a broader tightening of CCP control over civil society and an increasingly anti-Western ideological bent under Xi Jinping,” writes Freedom House. China is home to one of the largest populations of religious prisoners, likely numbering in the tens of thousands, while in custody, some are tortured or killed, according to human rights groups. Instances of arbitrary detentions and violence carried out with impunity have led the U.S. State Department to designate China as a country of particular concern over religious freedom annually since 1999. 

In my class we are going to compare western religious groups to the Chinese ones. Students will discuss and share about their views and opinions. They are going to talk about the similarities and differences.

 

Sources: cfr.org  

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