Read and then blog at this course blog thread below Part 3 of Peter Hessler's book ORACLE BONES: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME IN CHINA. Remember to begin keying in on Hessler's themes - China's "deep" history, the importance of writing as a cultural unifier and censor, etc.
BLOG GUIDELINES
1. In your blog post, list and describe FIVE of Hessler's observations about China in this section of the book that you find important, intriguing, confusing, or useful, using 2-3 sentences to describe each observation. Feel free to use quotes from his book, but keep your selected quotes to a sentence or shorter, and be sure to cite a page number.
2. In the same blog post, raise one SPECIFIC question about China that this section of Hessler's book raises for you. Be sure your question starts with the following words: "My question about China is..."
Mojo a go go,
Dr. W
Observation 1: In the 12th chapter I thought the conversation between Polat and Hessler was interesting. When they were walking through Washington D.C and discussing all of the different races and minorities. Since Polat is a foreigner it was interesting to hear what he thought about other foreigners. It seems like he thought he was better than some of the other people in his neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteObservation 2: pg. 236 Hessler said “But now that I was finally here with somebody from China, almost nothing about my native country seemed recognizable.” This quote made me realize what it’s like when you leave a familiar place for a long period of time things can change. Hessler had been living in China for a few years and he got so used to their customs and scenery that I think he had these great memories of what home was like. That once he finally returned he was kind of let down because the states were as great as when he built them up to be in his mind.
Observation 3: pg. 259-260. It’s interesting that China prepared so much to have the Olympic Games in Beijing. They even had cab drivers learn a few key phrases such as “the city will be more beautiful when it hosts the Olympic Games.” I guess I didn’t realize how special it is to a country to be able to host the games. It was really important to China to be able to host the Olympic Games. The movie we watched in class a man on the train had said that the Chinese better win the Olympics because they have a few billion people and the States only have a few million. It would be a huge upset if they didn’t win because they have so many more people.
Observation 4: “Confucianism makes people more conservative she said look at America- Children are taught to be independent and creative. In China, it’s all about discipline. There isn’t enough creativity and if you have creativity then you can’t adopt and change. You just follow the same old pattern and you don’t get any better. That’s true for sports as well as other things.” If Chinese mothers believe in Confucianism and raise their children they way we read about in Chinese Mothers are Superior then Chinese children aren’t going to be great at sports and win the Olympics. Shouldn’t Chinese mothers want their children to be great at sports and be able to compete in the Olympics? Isn’t that just as important as doing well in school and playing the violin?
Observation 5: Reading the chapter about September 11th it makes me wonder what the Chinese people in China really know about what happened. It seems like they got some of their information from bootleg movies, which clearly didn’t depict what truly happened. Also with the amount of censorship on Google and the internet I would if anyone was able to read about what happened. I think it would be interesting to find out what Chinese people actually know about September 11th.
My Question is…What do Chinese people know about the terrorist Attacks on September 11th?
#1: Hessler introduces Brian Mezger, his friend Polat’s lawyer, on page 238. Mezger helped one hundred Uighurs obtain refugee status in 2001. Hessler mentions that although Mezger is happy with his success as a lawyer, he worries that he is “helping to destroy Uighur culture,” because the children of refugees adapt so quickly to American culture and way of life.
ReplyDelete#2: As an aspect of his discussion of the Chinese Olympics, on page 265 Hessler mentions the dissimilarity that he has observed between American and Chinese athletes. One of the most apparent differences is that it is “rare to watch a Chinese athlete perform with true joy.” He credits this observation to the fact that most have been trained in “assembly-line sports” beginning at a very young age.
#3: In Part Three Hessler describes an experience he had with members of the Bejing police force, after they took him into custody due to his presence at an election. They questioned him continuously, and I found the nature of some of their off-topic questions to be very interesting. One of the officers asked him things like; “Why are there so many people living on the streets in America? Why doesn’t the government give them money?” and “Why do they provide birth control to middle school students in America?”
#4: On page 308, Hessler introduces 9/11 into the book by discussing his friend Polat’s reaction to the attacks on America. It was very interesting to hear that in the month of September, Polat removed the two flags (representing American and the East Turkestan Republic) that he had previously displayed on his dashboard.
#5: On page 313 Hessler discusses the Chinese perception of September 11th. I was surprised to learn that even though the country presented a sympathetic and supportive front, the people of China felt that after the attacks America could understand what it felt like when the Chinese had their Belgrade embassy bombed. Hessler goes on to talk about the reactions of specific people to 9/11, he says that some were “excited and happy,” and they liked watching the buildings fall down, saying that “America always makes so many movies, but now they’ve finally made a great one.”
My question about China is: Do the parents of athletes have an impact on the lack of joy Hessler believes is demonstrated? Does it have something to do with the aggressive parenting style illustrated by Amy Chua’s article?
1.) On page 257, Hessler says, "Scholars have interpreted so much Shang music- the royal lineage, the patterns of warfare, the fears about weather- but they still don't know the simplest question of all: how to crack an oracle bone in the traditional manner." I thought that this was strange because what we know of the culture is based on these bones. Later on, we're told that the bone was thrown into the fire and by being near coals it cracked- how simple was that!
ReplyDelete2.) How Long is a Chinese name. Hessler does a modern twist to this when discussing Wang Wei, the fighter pilot who died in April 2001. " People in China do not use phonebooks in part because of names like Wang Wei." In Chapter 15, Hessler spends a brief time talking about how common names are. I knew China had a lot of people, and thus lots of common names, but I never thought about how big the phonebook is and how ridiculous it would be to use it.
3.) I was shocked that people actually saw bin Laden as a hero. On page 314, Hessler interviews someone who says bin Laden was possibly more famous than Mao Zedong, and another person said now America knows how it feels. I know countries hate the US, but I was surprised that people hated the country that much!
4.) I thought it was interesting that tea was thought of as a barbarian drink, and often compared to urine. When I think of China, I think of green tea, but that wasn't always part of their culture.
5.)In Chapter 13, Hessler discusses what China did for Beijing, prior to the I.O.C. representatives coming, and that how they did all these paint jobs to host the Olympics, which ended up happening in 2008, yet they wouldn't go out of their way to make the city more appealing to its citizens.
My Question about China is...
What is China's current status with Taiwan?
p225: "He wears a certain blank facade that is common among Chinese when they talk about bad memories-all emotion hidden somewhere far away."
ReplyDeleteHessler interviewed a lot of Chinese people and must have noticed this a lot to write about it in his book. It shows a cultural tendency away from what we're used to here, where people get all emotional over their tragic memories.
p249: "The Shang are obsessed with the dead-in their world, departed ancestors have power."
This is another cultural observation. Religious or spiritual beliefs make the Shang perform rituals to their ancestors. This isn't really different from putting flowers on a grave, it just has a different purpose.
p252: "In classical Chinese literature, the hero is essentially a bureaucrat."
This was interesting to me because it is the opposite of classic American literature. The hero in American stories is a leader, especially on the battlefield. It shows that Chinese culture is less interested in violence and extreme action and more interested in other aspects of people.
p261: "Tens of thousands of workers, students, and volunteers had been mobilized to clean up streets, and the government had embarked on an ambitious urban beautification program."
The preparation for a visit from the Olympic committee was huge. I can only think of war situations where people in this country were put into such action. This also interests me because China was acting like it had something to prove other than Beijing was a good place for the Olympics.
p280-287 on being detained in China
Hessler had broken several laws and needed to answer a lot of questions that were unrelated to the incident. This type of harassment would never fly in this country because you can simply ask for a lawyer and say nothing. It seems in China that the authorities are much more authoritative and have more power over the people than they do here.
My question about China is "What is the most popular sport in China?"
Observation #1
ReplyDeletePage 214.....The discussion about knives was really cool. I don't know if this is true, but knife related deaths and accidents in China account for the majority of crime related incidents.
Observation #2
Page 248....... State coverup of Chen's archeology discovery of the Shang world.
Observation #3
Page 261 " New Beijing, New Olympics". I picked this because I believe this sums up just what the Chinese government wanted to do, while hosting the olympics.
Observation #4
Page 261....."touched up 142 bridges, 5,560 buildings, and 11,505 walls, for a total surface area of 26 million square miles". America hasn't invested this amount of energy into its infrastructure in like 30 plus years.
Observation #5
I like the reporter police, looking for troublesome reporters during times of elections.
My question after reading this section. What is the general opion shared my Chinese citizens on state police controlling media and news coverage?
1. On page 224, i found the reaction of the male female relation by Yan about Chen. I find it that he is almost reluctant to talk about it, maybe because he finds it taboo or because he is upset about her suicide. I would want to know why it would be because of Taboo.
ReplyDelete2. on page 248, i found it interestign that they covered up the findings of Chen, and when the Korean war broke out and the chinese and United States lost contact, so he did not want to write anything that the government would consider treason. So he wanted to wait till everythign cooled down.
3. On the next page (249) i found it interstign that the ancestors are pretty much who the peopel of China, began by the shang, worship and that they have power. Also, with bad happenings they will determine which ancestor is angry and needs a sacrifice or worshiping.
4. On page 259 when the inspection team was in Bejing to see if the olympics would be there and every oen in China was instructed to be polite to the visitors and even had a small crash coarse on the english language. They did this so that they would have a better chance at having the 2008 olympics there, and the government made sure they were going to have their country represented in a positive way.
5. on page 319 it explains that in public schools there is usually framed photos of the politically correct, Chairman Mao and so on, but then in the school they were in there was children's artwork. I find it interesting that they begin the children off so early in propaganda for the Chinese Government.
My question about china is, why pound Chinese propaganda into every ones head from such an early age?
1. Page 232. It’s very easy for an illegal immigrant to obtain a Virginia license/state I.D. because the applicant didn’t have to show proof of residence or identity. “The only requirement was a notarized affidavit testifying that the applicant lived in Virginia and had valid documents.” It’s just that simple for someone to obtain a US’s ID. This fact just reminded me on how unsafe and messed up everything is in this country. There are so many loopholes in the system and people get away with pretty much anything.
ReplyDelete2. Page 248- I was really surprised that there are only 30 oracle bone scholars worldwide. This seemed like a really hot topic so I imagined that there would be more studies on oracle bones among the many scholars in the world.
3. Page 251-252- It’s interesting to see how the rituals of burying the dead in early China has changed from present day China and how different and unique it was compared to other countries. “…early cultures followed a practice that is described as “secondary burial.” The dead were buried, and then, after a period of time, the bones were exhumed, cleaned, and arranged into patterns…” Keightly sees these tomb diagrams as art and writing and that they take pleasure in depicting important powers, forces, presences in an abstract way. China had a unique/abstract way of showing their kings.
4. Chapter 14: Sands- “ storms of sand and dust. At night, when a sandstorm was in progress, the particles reflected the glare of the city lights…” This chapter had me thinking about why people in the Asian region look the way they do is because of the sand and wind. I heard this somewhere that the “epicanthic fold” the ‘slant’ of the eyes was formed to protect them from the wind and sun, because Asia was a huge desert land---Adaptation….
5. Page 312- The Chinese take on 9/11 seemed like pure entertainment to them. On the video shelves they had videos from the attack next to less serious movies like Reptilian- it was nothing to them! They glorified the attack and packaged it to look all Hollywood like. The bootleg of the attacks also had credits that didn’t make any sense like one had copied credits lines from Patton. Some also duplicated bits of English summaries from random films and what not.
My question about China is why did they have to take a very serious and tragic event (9/11) and totally twist and poke fun at it? Not appreciated.
1. I thought it was very interesting how Hessler described the comparisons between the capitol cities of Washington D.C. and Beijing. He talked about the intricate organization structure that they were designed under and the complex and chaotic workings of the underground scenes present in both cities.
ReplyDelete2. The way that Hessler addresses prejudices about foreigners is very intriguing. When he is visiting Polat in America, Polat states that there are two North Korean men, who, because of the way they were acting and the similar way they were dressed, were seen as a potential threat and suspicious. What he didn’t realize, and what Hessler later brought up, the two of them were speaking Chinese, probably acting strange to an outside viewer, and wearing almost identical outfits. This says a lot about forming the slightest of prejudices when viewing a situation for an uninformed vantage point.
3. I find it very interesting how seemingly easy it can be to become a U.S. citizen for some. Had Polat, or any of the other Uighurs been of Latin American descent instead of Asian, the likelihood of them even gaining political asylum would be dramatically reduced. It is also interesting that anyway that they fool the government in the process of gaining asylum is not held against them in the process of becoming a citizen.
4. The contrast in the impact of religion in the attitudes of China and the West is incredible. For example, the organized and predictable nature of the Chinese gods, the lack of original sin, and the absence of pure evil in ancient Chinese folklore has made the culture dramatically different from that of the West. It probably also contributes to the Western obsessions with self-esteem and competition.
5. It is fascinating that although American considers itself to be a leader in democracy, when Hessler was questioned at a Chinese election, the officers were quick to mention the “mistake” that was made in the 2000 Bush/Gore election. They were dumbfounded that someone who hadn’t received the majority of the popular votes had won the election.
My question is: How much of the information that the Chinese receive about America is altered?
On page 259 I found it interesting that the government played messages to cabbies telling them to be polite to foreigners. I understand that they were trying to impress the Olympic committee but I would think its standard operating procedure for them to be nice to everyone. I also found the English lessons interesting so the cabbies could better communicate with their fares.
ReplyDeleteOn page 289 I read that words were derived from animal tracks. I found this interesting because I often wondered where the origins of writing came from. When I look at the Chinese characters I do not see these animal tracks but hey whatever floats their boat right?
On pages 296-7 when Hessler was breaking down the plane crash incident, he broke down the basics of what each countries reaction was. I found it interesting that the Chinese took no fault for this issue right away even though it would be absolutely impossible for it not to be. Giant recon plane vs. small fighter jet, you tell me who hit who there.
On page 311 I noticed that Hessler said that they were selling bootlegs of the 9/11 attacks. I know that theyre bootlegs but I figured the Chinese wouldn’t let that happen. It seems a bit disrespectful for them but I guess those clips were shown about a million times a day here in the states. I assumed it would have gotten enough news coverage in China that they wouldn’t need to bootleg it.
On page 338 I found it funny that so many people got hurt on that movie set. American movies actors are protected so much they cant even do simple stunts without the insurance company going insane. This movie set was plagued with so many injuries and it didn’t seem like anyone cared. How famous are actors in China? Do they live the same Hollywood lifestyle as American actors?
My question about China is how do they really feel about the terrorist attacks and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
1. On page 232, Hessler talks about Polat and an advertisement he read in the classified section of the newspaper about an organization in Virginia that will help immigrants get a drivers license because of the loopholes in Virginia. For $150 they will take care of the required paper work and accompany you when taking the license tests. I found this interesting how easy a license can be obtained in a country with so many regulations. This summer I went to Peru and you just had to pay for a drivers license, no tests or anything.
ReplyDelete2. On page 237, the Uighur population was estimated to be about 500 Uighur's in the United States. I feel that this is way less than the real amount, especially since most of them are illegal immigrants. In China, it seemed as if every Uighur would love to live in America and knows someone who was able to immigrate there, legally or illegally.
3. On page 248, Hessler says his job title is a foreign expert, he is the go to American in Beijing it seems. However, there are only 30 oracle bones scholars world wide. I am not sure if Hessler is one of them or not. But again, like the Uighur population, how do they come up with these numbers that seem way to small. The oracle bones have the ability to depict China's history, shouldn't there be more foreign experts researching?
4. On page 253, it says "People who travel less are less likely to exchange ideas and technologies." This is why China's history is so limited and unknown. Because of Chinas geography, specifically the rivers, they already had everything they needed and stayed away from the West unintentionally it seems.
5. On pages 298-300 Hessler mentions the unfortunate plane crash of a US military plane and one passenger Chinese Military plane that landed in the ocean. The Chinese and America went back and forth communicating through Newspaper articles and the Chinese wanted a formal apology. Eventually, the U.S. made public that they were 'very' sorry. This translated to the U.S. apologizing twice for the family and the accident itself. It was interesting to see all the headlines and articles translated differently.
My question is are we going to be staying along the great wall at all and what is the weather going to be like in March?
The first thing that I found interesting in the reading was on page 225 when they are talking about the book by Chen Mengjia. I found it really weird that the Chinese government would publish a book written by someone they considered a political enemy, change nothing about the actual content, and just remove the author's name and change the title.
ReplyDeleteA second thing I found interesting was on page 239 where the lawyer is talking about the fear of torture question on the asylum application form. From that passage and others, such as Polat's friend snatching a gun away from a mugger, throughout the reading it seems that bravery is an extremely important part of Uighur culture.
the third thing I found interesting was the discussion of ancestor worship creating a bureaucratic mindset, and the difference between ancient Greek heroes and ancient Chinese ones. It seemed to me that with the Chinese bureaucrat-hero mindset makes sense for the communist government to have taken power, but in contrast the William Blake quote on 253, "...It is the Classics that desolate Europe with wars" points out some of the issues in the western mindset too.
The forth thing I found interesting was on page 298 where all fourteen characters that represent the name Wei are listed, and how Hessler then mentions that People in China don't use phone books. this really just blew my mind, it made me think about an incident at work over the summer where I was not able to deliver a package addressed in Chinese, and the three people I asked for help who could read Chinese had a hard time helping me because they were translating the name differently.
The fifth thing I found interesting in the reading was on page 302 where Hessler says, "It was hard to teach from a book like that. The details were probably true... but that didn't make this information a useful starting point for a student in a remote Chinese city. They needed context not trivia; a bunch of scattered facts only confused them." I feel like this quote applies to a lot of media about foreign places, here we hear snippets of information about China, and it does not lead to a full understanding of their culture, just like they hear bits of information about America, and probably do not fully understand it.
My question is, are the sand storms in Beijing in March, that Hessler mentions, going to be a problem when we visit?
1. “He was labeled a Rightist. Rightists weren’t allowed to publish. But the book was very important, so they published it without his name. Of course, everybody knew who had actually written it.” This quote on page 225 said by Old Yang about Chen is something I find very interesting. It makes me think of how the US acted during the ‘Red Scare’. Anything that was made by a communist or someone accused of being one was banned from the public.
ReplyDelete2. On page 245, Hessler talks about a new generation of Chinese from around 1944. Despite all of the war they wanted to be intellectuals and were connecting with the west. “Many went to America and Europe to be educated, and most intended eventually to bring their new skills home to China.”
3. On page 248, Hessler talks about how Chen was able to re-create the Shang world: calligraphy, grammar, geography, astronomy. I find it really interesting that Chen was able to do this by looking at a bunch of old bone fragments that had been dug up.
4. “The first Chinese character dictionary was compiled around 100 A.D., during the Eastern Han dynasty, and the author’s afterword described the legendary invention of writing (289).” I find this interesting because China has such a long and extensive history compared to the individual western cultures.
5. I find it interesting when Hessler is describing his friend Polat on pages 308-310. These are where he is talking about September 11th. I find it interesting that his friend was driving around and only able to understand the words pentagon and smoke. He had no real idea about what happened.
My question about China is do Chinese people keep up with current events in other countries?
1. In your blog post, list and describe FIVE of Hessler's observations about China in this section of the book that you find important, intriguing, confusing, or useful, using 2-3 sentences to describe each observation. Feel free to use quotes from his book, but keep your selected quotes to a sentence or shorter, and be sure to cite a page number.
ReplyDelete2. In the same blog post, raise one SPECIFIC question about China that this section of Hessler's book raises for you. Be sure your question starts with the following words: "My question about China is..."
1. On page 225 when Hessler is having a converstion with Old Yang about Chen Mengjia’s suicide he says “He wears a certain blank façade that is common among chinese when they talk about bad memories—all emotion hidden somewhere far away”. I wonder if this is an observation that pertains to the population at large, or if it is a relic of a generation on its way out the door.
2.On page 251 Hessler and Keightley are discussing an almost philosophical question of order in Chinese ancient history. Keightly is quoted when discussing the taotie “These are not naturalistic pictures; they are highly structured, dictatiorial designs. Pattern and order are fundamental.” As a graphic designer, I think this is a very fascinating observation as it seems to be inherited into modern Asian design.
3.On page 259 Hessler is discussing the curious situation when the inspectors are deciding on who should host the Summer Olympic Games of 2008. I think it is almost comical that countries need to be on their best behavior in order to gain approval for just a few days. It begs the question why can’t we just always be on our best behavior?
4.On page 276 Hessler makes a journey to a village called Xituogu, he explains that the abandoned villages in the region were the result of years that “people had been moving steadily down the hillsides, and sometimes they left their former homes standing—ghost towns of the new economy”. I wonder why these cities places could be so easily deserted?
5.On page 349 Hessler is listening to Jiang Wen and his analogy about the different growing seeds. In Wen’s mind he explains that “Mao used traditional Chinese language to oppose old things, and he became a traditional emperor”. This statement gave me some great insight into how the Chinese see their form of government, as if it is only a new new rendition of how they have been doing things.
Q. I have always viewed the Chinese version of Communism was different than what I had thought the actual form of government was, where it seemed more like a dictatorship than a land of equal peoples. Is the Chinese government the ideal form of Communism, as they are doing so well economically? If this is true, does communism lead to the lack of human rights?
Observation 1: In ancient times, the Chinese had their version of a sport similar to soccer; it was called cuju. There are also Ming Dynasty scrolls detailing a game called chuiwan, or sticks, balls, holes. Chinese historians claim it to be a Chinese version of golf.
ReplyDeleteObservation 2: The Chinese have never been particularly fond of making sports competitive. To them, competition wasn’t the primary goal of athletics. Even the Chinese word for sports, tiyu, is a 19th century term derived as a result of Japanese influence.
Observation 3: I found it interesting that the Olympic games were so important to china. Not just because of the added economic bonus, but also because it will help others see their country as it really is. For China, the Olympics are a chance for exposure.
Observation 4: I found the talk about sports between Hessler and Yang was pretty interesting. It was intriguing how Yang credited America’s dominance in sports and superior athletic quality to its food consumption and quality of life. He felt that because China is still developing they couldn’t truly compete with Athletes from the United States.
Observation 5: It was funny to see some of the things written in the Cabbie’s handbook of English Phrases for the Olympics. I especially enjoyed the phrases, pollution is a global problem, and I’m proud of being Chinese.
My one question about china is do Chinese citizens know of, or watch American football, Lacrosse, and Hockey? And if so, what do they think about them?
o, 236 "In the Peace Corps, that had literally been my job title: "foreign expert". But now that I was finally here with someone from China, almost nothing about my native country seemed recognizable." Hessler notes how different DC is from where he's been living. He is struck by the contrast between the two places, and how foreign his own country seems. He also mentions how abandoned the streets seem compared to China, where there's activity all the time.
ReplyDeletep. 265 “ The average Chinese athletics observer didn’t care much about understanding a sport or respect individual effort; the victory was all that mattered.” With regard to the Olympics, “the goal was to beat the foreigner at his own game” (p. 264). Chinese athletes don’t get involved for love and passion of the sport; it’s only about winning. This is why they do well in routine based sports, where it’s all about organization and training.
p. 225 When Hessler visits Old Yang to ask about Chen’s death, he notices that he guards his emotions carefully, even when talking about things that seem like they would be particularly painful. Hessler notes that he can’t make out what emotions the man is feeling because “he wears a certain blank façade that is common among Chinese when they talk about bad memories – all emotion hidden somewhere far away.” I guess the Chinese have had to learn this skill to protect themselves from repercussions from the government.
p. 278 “That was the “people’s democratic dictatorship”: multiple parties and candidates were welcome, as long as they were approved by the Communist Party.” The Beijing committee gave the I.O.C. a quick explanation on Chinese politics. Hessler observes that basically, even though they’d like to appear to have a multi-party system, really, everyone falls under Communist power.
p. 285 “Finally an explanation for the Chinese cops: I asked the young man what he did for the local government. He said, “I work for the Propaganda Department.” Here Hessler asked about the name of a police station, Not –Old Station. An official told him the story of a man who went to the top of a mountain, ate a peach, and became immortal. When Hessler asks him what he does for the government, he says he works for the propaganda department. It’s clear the man is good at telling stories.
My question about China is: With the 2008 Olympics, the Chinese government seemed to be really concerned with image and how the rest of the world saw them. Why are they so concerned with their image?
Powerful posts here, Mojo posse.
ReplyDeleteMissing?
Andrew C
Emily K
Sean T
Blythe W
A go go!
W
OBSERVATION ONE: Page 249; how the Shang was obsessed with the dead, they thought their departed ancestors have power over the living. If the living didn’t respect them they punish the living through sickness, misfortunes, and natural disasters. This is interesting to me because who came up with the idea that ancestors have all the power? I get that in china they deeply treasure family and their ancestors, which is great, it is just interesting how the Chinese put all their faith into their dead ancestors, when they should be focusing on their own power.
ReplyDeleteOBSERVATION TWO: Page 251; how they believed in order, regularity, and organization. The bones an notes were always extremely organized. This shows how important the dead, were to the Chinese. They thought it would lead them to happiness. Therefore they took a lot of time out of their lives to organize all this history.
OBSERVATION THREE: Page 253; there is no evil act in China. This shows how they really expect a lot out of the Chinese. They really believe in having no evil is the route to all good. Which is a great thought, we need more of that in the United States. Which is why they have such emphasis on their ancestors, they see they need to respect them even after they are gone.
OBSERVATION FOUR: Page 265, It says how it was rare to watch a Chinese athlete perform with true joy. This should shock me but due to other articles I have read in this class, It doesn’t. it is just a shame that they can’t enjoy the sport like the United States does. Sports are meant to be fun, but not for the Chinese they see it as a schooling technique and force it on them at the beginning of their childhood.
OBSERVATION FIVE: Page 289, “animal leave tracks; tracks are copied into patterns; patterns combine to create new patterns. Words mate- pieces of one character are attached to pieces of another – to create new words.” This is very interesting to me I never knew this how they came up with the Chinese language, but all in all it doesn’t necessarily surprise me due to the Chinese background.
QUESTION: What made the Chinese come up with the idea that Chinese language should be invented through the use of animal printing?
1. My first observation from this section of the book comes from page 231 where Hessler discusses the similarities between the Chinese capital of Beijing, and the American capital of Washington D.C. Having been to both of these cities myself, I must say that I personally don’t find them to be similar at all. However the points that Hessler brings up in these first few chapters makes me think twice about how officials design the layout of a capital city, and whether or not it is similar, not only in China and the U.S. but all over the globe.
ReplyDelete2. My second observation comes on page 255, where Hessler discusses his choice to become involved in Chinese orientated journalism, and the reasons behind his decision. At one point in the paragraph he covers the nineteenth century in China, and conveys a desire to write about opium smoking, and how the Chinese let themselves fall victim to this British vice. This is a period that had always fascinated me as well, and I’ve always wondered what led to the Chinese opium dens. Until this year however I never knew that it was the British who brought the opium in and got all the Chinese addicted to it, but know that I know this fact its easy for me to see, judging on how the British have treated other places that they’ve wanted to colonize.
3. My next observation comes from page 259, where Hessler discusses how the proposition for Beijing to host the summer Olympics in 2008 changed many things for foreigners. He explains being in Beijing during the week that the International Olympic Committee was inspecting the city to decide whether or not to host the 2008 summers games there. In one paragraph he talks about how the cab drivers were constantly being reminded over the radio to be kind and polite to foreign fares, and were all given tapes that taught them specific English phrases. This reminded me of our cab experiences in Beijing, and how difficult it was for us to get the driver to even turn the meter on, charge us the right amount, and give us a receipt for our fares. Reading this section makes me wish we were in Beijing during this time because on our last night in town we had gone out to Club Coco Banana, and at around 2 AM I was trying to hail a cab ride home for myself and my slightly inebriated friends and was turned down at least ten separate times, either because I was foreign, or because our hotel was too far away. This experience was highly nerve racking and I began to think that we would end up walking back to the hotel.
4. My fourth observation comes from page 263, where Hessler describes some of the sports and games played in ancient China. He talks about two sports that the Chinese invented long ago that have close similarities to our versions of soccer and golf. This section of the chapter has made me realize even more just how many of the luxuries we have today are based on inventions of ancient China, even down to our sports and games.
ReplyDelete5. My final observation comes from the last few pages of the “Games” chapter, where Hessler describes the process of the I.O.C. in their decision whether or not to host the 2008 summer games in Beijing. He talks about riding in the car with a few of the members who were checking out how the remote controlled traffic control system worked as they were given a green light at every traffic light they approached. This section of the book shows me how much the Chinese were determined to host the Olympic games, and how much it meant to their country and national pride. While our class was in Beijing, I noticed many signs and banners that still commemorate the 2008 games, and convey how the games presence in Beijing changed the country for good. I am reminded of the opening ceremony of the games, and the time and dedication put forth by the people who partook in the dances and acrobatics. It was evident to me then, and even more so now, how much the games meant to the Chinese national pride, and also reminds me of the controversy over the young female gymnasts who were argued to be too young to participate in the games, although their passports said they were 16. Because the games meant so much the Chinese teams were willing to do anything they had to, to ensure their win.
My question for this section of the book concerns the process of deciding to host the Olympic games in Beijing. What kind of process did China have to go through in order to get the games hosted there, and how did the presence of air pollution influence that decision? Finally how have the Olympic games changed the way that China perceives themselves, and how the world perceives China?