[Ray Clark]

I want first to respond that the videos froze for me too, although I played with one of them, and if you skip certain parts, you can watch most of it, but it takes a lot of effort!  

I, like Jonathan, agree with your main point, and I think the typical American is closer to the French mentality in having a hard time with coming to grips of declining global status.  Partially due to geography, but also definite cultural & historical factors, the sense of the unique "American" place in the world is a useful tool of politicians and others to preach/ market their particular agendas, whether  to sell products, or to rage against immigration or ideas. Sadly, the lack of real historical depth of knowledge of this country (and the world at large) in the general populace puts us (in the USA) at a disadvantage  in my opinion, especially vis-a-vis China.

[Ray Clark]

I was initially a bit confused when I listed to the first video, because I always associate Nixon with normalizing relations with China, and it seems that the actual "normalization happened under Carter. Perhaps, because years later , I recall a Chinese official telling my father what high regard he had for Nixon which made an impression on me.

[Ray Clark]

At first I did not see the connection between some of the articles and part of the lecture, but as I finished, I saw the theme of relationships with the environment, especially as I am becoming more aware of the limited amount of agrable land, the scarcity of water, the increasing (though not as fast as before) population, are all stressors on the society, not to mention the poisoned environment, and the long-term dangers that brings.

I was  very intrigued by a few of the articles, most notably "Chinese Youth & the State" by Rosen & Yan's "Courtship, Love & Premarital Sex in a North China Village", but I hope they are updated soon, as I imagine that in both cases, things have changed even more than these authors noticed.  I had already heard of the park where people went to find spouses for their children, although it was still shocking to see the reality of the video where one lady was saying so precisely exactly how she wanted her daughter-in-law to look , and the height that was in the acceptable range, or the specificity of what some potential in-laws or suitors wanted.  I recently saw a show on PBS about young, educated women who have good jobs, and several of them spoke about not wanting to get married, or be in relationships, because they don't need men, but there is that conflict about taking care of the family (especially parents-- the old Confucian filial traditions, and having children, etc).  Even as a Westerner, there are still the tradionalist tugs to 'not be so selfish", I can imagine it being even more difficult as a young woman in today's China, especially because even within my lifetime, China has basically LEAPED into world power status, and has become a leader in exercising power across the world.

As I further learned about some of the innovations they are developing with solar panels, wind farms and other forms of renewable energy, I wished I were a bit younger, because it would be quite the adventure to study about some of those technologies, as well as Mandarin, perhaps putting it to work in some kind of international context, maybe in a collaborative project in some part of the developing world that the Chinese are already involved in (or will be soon).

[Ray Clark]

The videos were quite enlightening , because I remember being very shocked by Tiannamen Square, as was much of the (Western, at least) world, but I also remember somone telling me that there was a limit to freedom.  A few others have previously commented on the horizontal linkage, and I would like to know how this fits in with the trend towards assimilating the people into a larger "Han-nization" as they seem to be doing through methods such as the forced moves, detaining minorities & dissidents, and other methods.

Most of us are aware of the surveillance of the Chinese government on the populace, but are there significant differences depending on location, age or other variables, as to how much surveillance or the amount or types of data collected?  If a person typed in a term such as falun gong that was censored, does that automatically mean that one is visited by the authorities or even possibly detained or interrogated?  Does it matter if the person is a foreigner (not of Chinese descent) or a CCP member?

Lastly, I noticed that McDonalds and Starbucks didn't reach mainland China until the 1990s, but I had seen them in Hong Kong prior to that. Is that because it was seen as foreign territory at that time, or are there other reasons? 

[Ray Clark]

I agree with Ryan on his above point about J.P. Morgan doing a similar report on the United States, because that was one of my first thoughts, but I just finished that article around 2:30 today! 

Actually the lectures and the readings brought up many questions that I hope will be answered, either in the upcoming sessions or by someone who knows more than I do.  One of those is that while China does have significant challenges, for example the poisoned environment, is it being dealt with as seriously as it needs to be, uniformly?  I look at the United States &  Mexico as examples, that there are policies in place in certain areas, but there are also pushbacks at all levels against enforcing of national standards that would be universally beneficial in the longterm.  

I would also like to understand the shrinking labor force better. Both videos and several of the articles mentioned the migration towards the cities and jobs, but I also noted that there was a disconnect from schooling (for the children of migrants, for example), to the jobs or even the training that would prepare them for the jobs that are needed.   In a related point, I wonder if the lack of "social trust"   that Clay mentioned is in large part due to the migration of the past few decades, since people are no longer as connected to their previous communities, there is more mixing of people  from different areas of China, as well as a scrabbling for resources & opportunities, in addition to increased income inequality. I would add that an ever increasingly powerful surveillance-state does not help matters.

 

[Ray Clark]

Unlike most  of the people here, I got a lot of new information from the lectures and readings.  Even some of the simple things such as how little of Western China is really habitable, even the fact that the Three Gorges Dam may have triggered (or at least contributed to) that devasting quake was all information that I had either not thought about or had not heard before.

Likewise, while I know that many dialects of Chinese, for example Mandarin & Cantonese are not mutually intelligible , I was shocked to find out that the dialect of Mandarin spoken in huge cities like Beijing & Shanghai might not be mutually understood.  My sense was always that Putonghua was almost an articially standardized form of Chinese (from the Bejing dialect?) that was supposed to be spoken by everyone, and that this was the lingua franca of the educated population.  

Finally, I think I could easily hook my students with some of the information shown, such as the relative amounts that we spend here as opposed to the average in China, and I could further expand it by having them find out the information locally, since even in California, some of those amounts vary by where one lives, and at the moment, I actually have students living in different states and countries.

[Ray Clark]

Greetings, 

I teach World History, US History & AP US history in Los Angeles.  I have been fortunate to grow up as an Afro-Latino in Western Europe  & have visited many parts of the world, but unfortunately have not yet been to mainland China, only places such as Macao & Hong Kong, that were once colonies, and a couple of short trips to contested areas , such as Taiwan.  I am looking forward to learning more, especially since I think that China will become the dominant world power in the near future.

[Ray Clark]

Being fortunate to grow up in Europe, I loved seeing huge cathedrals & opera houses, and even as a child, I felt transported, and I am most definately NOT a musician!  Like you, I also teach history, and I have always imbedded the arts in my classes.  your final paragrapgh in particular resonates with me, and I am encouraged by the growth of many STEM programs becoming STEAM focused. I have been fortunate to collaborate with art and music teachers in the past, and I know for certain that all of our mutual students benefitted.

[Ray Clark]

Actually, I really appreciated what you said in the live Zoom discussion about classical music in China being at a different level as far as accessibility. It does make sense for reasons of cost etc, that it is out of the range for the masses.  I think that is a little different than some Western Classical arts, because Shakespeare & Chaucer, for example, were written for the masses, but I think that some of the music may be similar to the Chinese case, although I know that some religious music wascomposed for the masses, but to show the extent of how "glorious" heavenly music was from "regular/folk" music.  In the same way, the great cathedrals were so magnificent, i.e. Notre Dame, so that humans entering would feel very tiny compared to God.

[Ray Clark]

I attended a panel discussion on film censorship (and media overall) regarding China and it caused me to wonder if there is any censorship of classical music in China?  For example, under Nazi Germany, certain forms of music, such as Jazz, as well as certain authors, painters, etc., were forbidden. Even in today's world, certain societies forbid certain types of music, dance etc.  Are there any composers that are frowned upon or even forbidden in China (besides during the Cultural Revolution)?

[Ray Clark]

I attended a panel discussion on film censorship (and media overall) regarding China and it caused me to wonder if there is any censorship of classical music in China?  For example, under Nazi Germany, certain forms of music, such as Jazz, as well as certain authors, painters, etc., were forbidden. Even in today's world, certain societies forbid certain types of music, dance etc.  Are there any composers that are frowned upon or even forbidden in China? 

[Ray Clark]

Meghann, 

It has been a long time since I saw this movie, but I was considering re-watching it to use for this assignment.  I probably still will do that at some juncture, but will probably now choose another film.  On the other hand, I might be able to pick out some scenes to show my students, since I am at the high school level, and there are a lot of  themes that I think older students could explore.  I am glad you posted this.

[Ray Clark]

Megan, I appreciate you listing this film, since I think this would seem likely to interest my students. Do you know if it is based on a true story?  I can hardly wait for your review essay , but I am considering purchasing it, although I will look and see if I can find other things that I do not know of (yet), since at least I know where I can find this one.

[Ray Clark]

Hi Shane.  I looked though a couple of the lessons you posted and I really like them.  I hope you don't mind if I modify them and use them for my World History classes in the upcoming semester.  I also like how you add in links and other resources as well.  How long have you been teaching about the Uyghurs?  Are you still in Bratislava at the moment, or are you somewhere else?  Do you have many Chinese or Muslim students at your school?  I hope you're not bothered by my questions.

[Ray Clark]

I found the reading very interesting, although a bit dated, since it seems that the Uighur/ Uyghur situation is very different in 2020, compared to the situation in 2014.  I knew that there were minority populations of Tajiks, Uzbeks, Mongolians, etc in China, but I did not know that the largest group was the Hui, and in fact, I thought the Uyghurs were the largest minority population. I am glad that in your lecture, you do mention  the changes that have been going on recently, regarding the Uyghurs and the re-education camps.  One thing that I didn't see addressed though, was if the interests of the neighboring Muslim countries have shifted (regarding the Uyghurs and other minorities) given the growing power of China, as well as increased international proof of enslavement and dispersal of entire Uyghur communities which you partially address in your lecture. I am looking forward to our "in-person" Zoom session.

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