Read and then blog at this course blog thread below Part 4 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
1.) I thought it was cool that the businesses in Chinatown had two different meanings in English and Chinese. I know that some words, in both languages, are very hard to translate, but these were blatantly different, like Chinatown Gifts was: Service Center for Personnel Leaving the Country in Chinese. So is the gifts the front or the service center, or do they do both?
ReplyDelete2.) On page 404, Hessler wrote "Characters provided an element of unity to an empire... Writing created a remarkable sense of historical continuity: an unending narrative that smoothed over the chaos of the past." I thought it was interesting how much effect the Chinese logographic system had on the country.
3.) I really liked the idea that Willy combined his daughter's baby book with his notes from the VOA. My mom kept a baby journal of me which I like. I can read and get her perspectives on it, but there was stuff going on when I was little that I don't remember, and would only know through school now. But with China's strict censorship, that might be the only way Willy's daughter would ever learn about those events.
4.) In Artifact K, Hessler mentions that the most used animal word in China was the horse, which signified that it was the most important animal relationship to human society in China, and this research was done throughout present and ancient history, but were those texts from years where it was the year of the horse, therefore skewing the data.
5.) Overall I feel I learned stuff about China, but I'm not sure how particularly relevant it is to the course. He was a newspaper clipper, hence the journalism aspect, but a journey through time in China? It wasn't much of a journey it was a simplified version of history through 3 years, and brought in ancient history throughout the chapters about Anyan. So our journey through China was pretty limited.
My question is What is Hessler up to now in China?
1. Page 371- In Chinatown they had signs in English and near it was the Chinese name. The translation in Chinese was totally different from the English version. For instance they had a restaurant called The Wok N Roll Restaurant transformed itself into “Hall of Precious Flavor.” Another store advertised CHINATOWN Gifts the Chinese sign meant something completely different, it read: SERVICE CENTER FOR PERSONNEL LEAVING THE COUNTRY. For some reason this reminded me of the movie Men in Black where they had the aliens disguised as humans so the other real humans didn’t know they were among aliens disguised as humans. WILD.
ReplyDelete2. Page 401- “In Ancient times, they simplified and standardized; the sketches became pictographs. It worked until they reached the undrawable-abstract concepts…” It’s interesting to see how the Chinese system has evolved from simple pictographs to something totally abstract-which is what modern Chinese writing looks like.
3. Page 402- It was interesting to read about homonyms in China. In the book they used the example: modern Chinese 伟 (great) is written differently from 萎 (wilt) and 伪 (false), the three are pronounced exactly the same wei but have different meanings. This type of writing system is called logographic, “Each character represents one spoken syllable, and syllables having the same sound but different meanings-homonyms-are represented by different characters.”
4. Page 403-“Nobody knows why the [Chinese] writing system remained so stable” I thought it was interesting how other countries based their current writing system from the Chinese logographic system. The Japanese, originally used only Chinese characters but then converted them into a syllabary, making it a simpler writing system that made it easier to handle changing the word endings.
5. Page 411- A total of 515 characters were simplified in the Chinese writing system as well as a number of radicals. I think this is amazing because since they began creating this writing system it hasn’t really changed much over the years.
My question about China is: What’s China’s secret on making/growing really great tea? How do they do it? Can it be mimicked in America?
Observation One: Page 386- when speaking of the Cultural Revolution, basically saying it wasn’t good for the Shanghai museum. They said it was basically just fighting for survival. When speaking of the “struggle session” and how they dropped staff member to the marble floor this is what caught my interest? They handle things in such a different manner in China versus the United States. If something is wrong they handle it more violently thinking it is the right thing to do. It is interesting because it makes you think about the Chinese morals and what they thing is right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteObservation Two: Page 388 – It states how it is rare for the Chinese to state that they are wrong. This is interesting because in the United States we may not like admitting that we are wrong but eventually most people do so. Going back to the morals from my observation above, what makes them think that claiming they are wrong is a huge deal? It all has to do with how a person grows up and in what environment they were in as a child.
Observation Three: Page 402- The Chinese language is a hard language to understand. In this chapter in general there are so many things to learn to even be able to understand some of the Chinese language. It is interesting to me how symbols and sounds are what their language is made up of. It seems so ancient and very mind-boggling.
Observation Four: Page 446- it states how in China, they wrote the most in the times when they most needed to redefine themselves. This is interesting to me. In the book it relates how in America movies are meant for this purpose. I don’t think that it is just one thing that can help people see the light or redefine themselves it is a mixture of everything around them. However it is interesting how they made the tie between the Chinese writing and how American depicts movies because I would have never thought of relating the two subjects.
Observation Five: Page 458 – the last words of the book make me think. “ Those are the notes. We have to provide the music ourselves.” It weird, how this statement kind of sums up the entire novel, by this I mean, the oracle bones and the writings was the overall idea of this text. These bones told stories and created history for the main character to keep on with his journey in China. Throughout this book you learned that writings in china are not only ancient but are very treasured. Therefore, this statement explains how all the writings in the world can change a perspective but it is you as an individual who has to take action to make the music in your own lives.
QUESTION: What are traditional right and wrong scenarios in China. For example, what do they value, what are their morals and why do they believe this?
Observation 1: pg.375 “a common united states tactic had been to encourage ethnic or religious groups that resisted bigger powers like the Russians or the Chinese. Once the geopolitics shifted, the support ended, and the resistance groups were forgotten. This American pattern of encouragement followed by neglect had contributed to the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan.” I had never heard of this before and would like more explanation about it.
ReplyDeleteObservation 2: pg. 379 “Americans won’t tell you to your face that they don’t like you” Polat said “it’s not like the Chinese- if they don’t like you, then it’s always very clear. Americans are smart enough to hide those feelings.” This relates to the Chinese mothers are superior article because Americans tip toe around people’s feelings trying not to hurt or upset anyone.
Observation 3: pg. 397 “In October of 2001, when President Bush visited Shanghai for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, several key phrases disappeared from his television press conference. Twelve of those key lost words were: The war on terrorism should not be used to persecute ethnic minorities” It’s surprising to me that this sentence was censored from the Chinese people because its not even anything bad.
Observation 4: pg. 438 “Something like this doesn’t just go away” he said. “I don’t believe that those feelings will just disappear. Actually, they get deeper and deeper over time. Every time that people see the pictures on the television, and every time they hear the words ‘Bin Laden’ or ‘Islamic’ on the news, it adds to those feelings.” I never realized how stereotypical people were during the time after the September 11th attacks and even to this day. I hope that other Islamic minorities in the United States aren’t still being treated this way.
Observation 5:pg. 455 I like how Hessler ended the book with how people age and time will pass you by. I like the quote “After every interview with an older person, I returned to the world of daily events- the overnight cities, the breaking news- with a different perspective. All of this will pass with time.”
My Questions is… It’s not published in the news as much as it used to, but I wonder if Islamic minorities are still being decimated against in the United States.
1. One important and interesting thing that Hessler is the Chinese want for foreign recognition, such as “trade relations, WTO membership, the Olympics. I believe this stems from the fact that for over a few centuries, China has markedly been isolated, and a quick realization during the early 20th century that China needs to integrate with the world has changed this attitude. (Pg 396).
ReplyDelete2. An interesting aspect of President Bush's visit was during the Q and A questioning on page 399. Questions regarding Taiwan and the term “peaceful reunification” were constantly mentioned. Bush's response never employed the use of “peaceful reunification”, but only “settlement”. Perhaps this bantering is only indicative of a shallow relationship between the Chinese people and the US government.
3. Hessler observes that the Chinese writing system has remained relatively stable throughout its history. He mentions this on page 403, pointing out that the words eye, rain and ox have very close resemblance to its Shang counterparts. I like to believe that this continuity of the Chinese character system has played a significant role in molding our concept of China's history. It most likely did - but as Hessler writes, “nobody knows why the writing system remained so stable”.
4. Hessler's chapter on the attempted conversion of the Chinese language to an alphabetic system is fairly enlightening. It is interesting in many senses because most people do not place great importance to such a change. The effects of Chinese Simplification are also not clearly understood, which greatly saddens me. Hessler notes that the simplification of Chinese characters started in 1955. In 60 years, Traditional Chinese has been overtaken by another system that has persisted for over 4000 years. It is, to me, saddening. (Page 411)
5. Emily's story strikes me as the most interesting. Hessler writes that after she returned to Beijing, she had lost some of the “energy” and became distracted. “She hated the way that people in Shenzhen thought constantly about real estate, buying an apartment and then trading up, and then doing it all over again”. This dissolution is sadly, to my understanding at least, repetitive. I think that this phenomenon occurs constantly in history, especially during times of prosperity. People generally forget about their roots, and the cost of participating in such activities. It will be interesting to see how China's new generation copes with such a problem. (Page 423)
Question: Will Simplified Chinese take over Traditional Chinese one day? (I really hope not)
#1: Hessler brings up the idea of "obscurity" having a price, and uses the Uighur culture as his example. He introduces the idea of such a small group, "not being perceived on their own terms." I feel that this happens with not only the Uighur culture, but also with other small groups that many people don't know much about.
ReplyDelete#2: On page 380, Hessler mentions his discussion with an older Uighur gentlemen, regarding his interest in the way Americans perceive culture. The man talks about America's "broad tastes," for other cultures. I think his observation goes to show the diversity that is represented in American culture.
#3: Polat's perception of African American culture, as mentioned on page 380 was very interesting to me. He felt that despite their current situation, "slavery had destroyed their language and culture," and felt that such loss will never be remedied.
#4: Hessler's depiction of President Bush's visit to China beginning on page 393, was filled with interesting information. However, what struck me the most about it, was his closing observation; that after Bush's public talk, Hessler did not hear a single student express an opinion on the topics addressed.
#5: In his closing, Hessler says that the more time he spent in China, the more similarities he detected between China and the U.S. One of the many similarities that he mentions, is the fact that each country has a difficult time coping with failure. He attributes the immense power of each nation to this difficulty, in addition to the fact that both cultures are accustomed to "controlling and organizing their worlds." (440)
My Question about China is... why didn't the students Hessler mentiona express their opinions about President Bush and the US after his address?
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ReplyDelete1. I thought the English to Chinese translations in the bootleg of "Simone" were funny how inaccurate they really were. For example, the English audio says 'I was the keynote speaker, you must remember my Speech: 'Who Needs Humans?'" and the Chinese subtitle reads, "I was the king of speed, you must my speed means humans." I wonder if all Hollywood bootlegs are like this.
ReplyDelete2. On page 420 Hessler made an interesting connection between China and competition. He says, "Will and Nancy's school competed with the public school, their city competed with Ningbo, China competed with the Outside world." China is one of the most competitive countries when it comes to import, export, manufacturing, and trade.
3. The Chinese language is intimidating to foreigners. There are thousands of characters, pictures, and sounds and no real alphabet. On page 406 Hessler describes learning Chinese as "Learning Mandarin is the equivalent of an English speaker being forced to use Dutch in order to read and write." This makes learning Mandarin seem nearly impossible to learn. Plus, other Mandarin speaking regions require more characters. For example, Hong Kong has an additional 1,000 characters.
4. On page 371, Hessler and Polat run into a store that has a Mandarin sign that translates as "Service Center For Personnel Leaving The Country" which is the same type of 'travel agency' that Polat used to leave China and helped him get into America. Polat says "Why would anybody need help getting out of America?" It came to my mind that if everyone hates America as much as they do, why can American's enter any other country so easily?
5. On page 397 Hessler mentioned a New York Times survey that shows that nearly half of Chinese kids 12 and under believe that Mcdonald's is domestic. I find this funny because the food served isn't Chinese one bit and is almost foreign actually. How would Mcdonald's translate into Mandarin anyway?
My question is, how much of China knows English? Is it going to be difficult to find people to communicate fluently with?
1. On page 370, i found the chinese/ english translation of the shops signs kind of funny and interesting. The names that were up there were not as awesome sounding as they should in Chinese, such as Wok n Roll, but it actually was supposed to be "Hall of Precious Flavor".
ReplyDelete2. Throughout the whole China town section of the book i noticed that he said there were a lot of United States flags every where. He said that every house or store or any thing else always had an American flag hanging especially after the terrorist attacks.
3. On page 374, when one of the delivery drivers gets back from a delivery, and then was said that he was from such a remote part of Xinjiang that he did not even speak chinese. He snuck into America from canada, i wonder if he could even speak english.
4. ON page 384, when they were talking about Chen, it said that he was opposing the writing reform and the government was behind it, so now he was opposing the Government. Its the usual trend that i see through out any thing about the Chinese Government, some one saying something that the government thinks goes against them, and then they are a social and political outcast.
5. On page 397, it says that nearly half of all Chinese children under twelve years old think that McDonolds is a domestic brand of fast food. I find that very interesting and kid of funny that they would think that, but i also can see kids under twelve years old not being as educated as many others in the country.
My question about China is what parts of china are so remote that there is no one that speaks Chinese, and what are they like, what are some other places like this?
1. On page 388 I found it interesting that they have used astrology to actually date Chinese chronology. It seems like the sky has been important in the beginning of basically all human histories. I think it also is good to note that without the modern sense of time how else would you keep track of what we have titled time, and for the ancient Chinese they recorded these probably magical natural phenomena.
ReplyDelete2. On page 405 while it is discussing the issues with the Chinese language when it is brought up that “in the 1910s, Qian Xuantong, a prominent philologist, proposed that China switch, in both spoken and written language, to Esperanto”. I had never heard of Esperanto and find it curious that someone would be able to give up something so deeply rooted in their culture. Although studies show that Esperanto is one of the easiest languages to use, from some Internet scanning it doesn’t seem to have a deep following.
3. On page 413 Hessler brings up an interesting movement of 1957 known as the “ ‘Hundred Flowers’ campaign, during which intellectuals were invited to speak their minds, however critical”. This sort of freedom of speech was apparently replaced by another campaign that sent these intellectuals to jail or labor camps. I wonder if this was a play to get these intellectuals out of the woodwork and get rid of them?
4. On page 432 when Hessler is talking to Mengxiong he discovers that these intellectuals were forced to wear the “hat of the Rightists”, and that “once you wore the hat of the Rightists, then you couldn't work”. This sort of labelling seems to be akin to other marks of shame that have been a negative part of history. I think it is fascinating that people were forced to wear their mark of shame for having been intellectual and open about their beliefs.
5. On page 436 Mengxiong is talking to Hessler about the tragedies that befell a new era of traditional people. He mentions that one woman is thrown in jail because she mixed up a new form of the Chinese characters where ten thousand became essentially zero, and that “Many people died. There were so many famous scholars and artists who were lost”. It’s awful to think that a culture could cripple itself in such a way.
Q. My about China is that I wonder what china would be like if these reforms had not cost them so many artists and cultural figures.
1. On page 373, Hessler is talking to a man named Alim Seytoff, aUighur who lived in America. “we have more problems in China than any other ethnic group, much more than the Tibetans. But they get more attention because they have the Dalai Lama.” I found this interesting because as an American I haven’t heard anything about this other group of people until this year in my China classes.
ReplyDelete2. “General Tso and Colonel Sanders: great chicken imperialists. Don’t eat Kentucky, Don’t eat Xingjiang (377).” I found this quote to be funny, which is why I picked it. Most people don’t think of the history behind the names of the food that they eat, but many things are named after people who were of significance in the past. Another thing I found interesting about the food in this chapter was on page 381 when Hessler was talking about how everyone that worked at the Japanese restaurant was not Japanese and the cuisine is not authentic. It is catered to western pallets and Japanese not only have no part of the creation but they also have no part in the consumption.
3. On page 388, Hessler is talking to a reporter about Chinese scholars after Chen Mengjia’s death. The reporter tells Hessler that some of them were dishonest and took his work claiming it as their own, but they won’t admit it. “The Chinese don’t like to examine themselves in this way. It’s rare for them to admit that they were wrong.” The idea of maintaining ‘face’ as my other professor puts it is an interesting concept because it is much different than that of the west. There is forgiveness in the west, where as in the east image and honor are vitally important.
4. I found the quote from then Vice-President Hu on page 398 from his introduction of then President Bush to be interesting. “Thirty years are just a moment in human history, but the great changes that have occurred during this period in the two countries’ relations will go down in history.”
5. I also found a quote from President Bush that was equally as interesting from that same trip, he is describing changes he noticed since he had first visited the country. “In 1975, everybody wore the same clothes, now people pick their own clothes.” I think it is interesting because China has changed so much in such a rapid period of time that many of the residence remember these vastly different periods because they have now lived through two or three major transitions.
My question about China is, I wonder how our relationship with China will continue to change, and I wonder how Hu sees the relationship going into the history books?
p369: "Polat avoided talking to Chinese people about his political background, and the landlord had no interest in sharing his story, either."
ReplyDeleteBoth Polat and his landlord were from China and ended up in the United States. If I moved to some other country and lived with another American, I would definitely want to know why they were there.
p396: "Soon the Americans would be asking the Chinese to add value to their currency, because trade had become so imbalanced."
I thought this was interesting coming from 2006 because I was also told this by my other core professor and saw something about it on the news a few weeks ago. This issue could be the one to propel China's economy to the top.
p399 President Bush not addressing the question about Taiwan:
Hessler said that the questions that the students were asking Bush were predetermined. I wonder if someone had a student ask about Taiwan to put him on the spot or if they actually expected an answer from him.
p413 on Chen Mengjia
Chen Mengjia decided to speak out against the simplified characters that the Chinese were starting to use and was silenced by the government. Being sent somewhere to work on a farm and being banned from publishing any of his work for five years were his reward for proposing an idea that conflicted with the government's.
p439-440: Hessler's comparison between Americans and Chinese
In Hessler's description of the similarities between Americans and Chinese people makes it seem like he is making the revelation that people are generally alike, no matter where they're from. It's interesting to me that he mentions this after saying something about taking many trips back and forth between China and the U.S.
My question about China is "How will China act when its economy passes the rest of the world's?"
On page 371 I thought it was interesting that the sign read something different in Chinese. I always wonder about things written in Chinese because only someone who knows Chinese knows what it means so Americans just sort of look the other way because they have no idea what they’re looking at. So for all they know it said “Chinatown Gifts.” The thought always comes to my mind when I see Chinese tattoos. Like how do you know the tattoo artist wasn’t pissed and wrote penis on your arm instead of peace I guess you would never really know.
ReplyDeleteOn page 372 Hessler was talking about Polat’s car accident and how the man manipulated him because he didn’t speak English. I feel like that is the typical asshole American thing to do and unfortunately people do that. If I were Polat I would have called the police especially if he smelled alcohol because then he could have profited from the situation and he would be much better off.
On page 397 he says that “The New York Times reported that a recent survey had shown that nearly half of all Chinese children under the age of twelve thought McDonald’s was a domestic brand.” I want to know how they tried to un-America McDonald’s. McDonalds is one of the most recognized brands in the world; everybody knows it’s an American fast food restaurant.
On page 426 he talks about China making English a mandatory class from 3rd grade on. China is the third largest English speaking country and that is crazy to think of because their language is so different but so many of them know English well enough to communicate. I wonder how well we will be able to get around china with our limited knowledge of Chinese. I wonder how much English we will be able to speak with the people we come across. I sure hope its a lot because I don’t really think I will be able to learn that much Chinese.
On page 438 Polat is saying that people wont forget about 9/11. I feel like America gets over things fairly quickly. Yes 9/11 is still a terrible tragedy but I don’t think were still pissed at the minorities about it. I feel like we have moved on and started accepting people again. Polat was partially right because stereotypes never die but they do fade over time.
My question about china is will I be able to find something I will eat over there? Im pretty picky and I don’t like to try new things.
1. On page 377, I found it interesting that Hessler mention that General Tao’s chicken was a misspelling, and named after a really important Chinese general. I’ve never really thought about the name though, the real person. Now whenever I order my General Tso’s chicken, I know that the man behind the chicken helped make china what it is today.
ReplyDelete2. On page 379, I found it interesting that they mentioned Essex, Maryland, because I used to live there. But what shocked me was that still today there is so much prejudice in the world that a man was asked to leave a gas station because of his race.
3. On page 382, the quote that Polat said stuck out. “ …A lot of the people who aren’t so smart still have a good life. I figure if they have a good life, why can’t I?” I feel like this is the impression that a lot of immigrants have. People think that coming here will solve all of their problems and that they will have a great life, but this is normally not the case.
4. On page 384 and 390 Hessler talks about Chen Mengjia. He talks about how his opinions and writings were criticized and how that Chinese government named his a “Rightist.” In Li Xueqin’s opinion, this is what led him to kill himself.
5. In all of chapter 21, State Visit, I was taken back by the way that Hessler spoke about Bush. What I found really interesting was the idea of freedom of opinion. Throughout the book there are so many references to Chinese writing restrictions and sever punishments for not obeying them. But Hessler clearly shows us the freedom in American writing.
p. 380 Hessler has a conversation with Polat and his friend about American perception of culture and how it differs from the way the Chinese perceive it. Polat’s friend notes that Americans appreciate other cultures, which they express by displaying the artwork of other cultures in their homes. This is very different from the way the Chinese feel. Polat disapproves of the American way; he feels Americans should be focusing on their own culture first, because in his mind, culture is more sacred than anything else.
ReplyDeletep. 388 It’s rare for the Chinese to admit they’re wrong. Hessler’s friend points out that the Chinese don’t like to examine their past deeds or to do any sort of soul searching.
p. 404 Classical Chinese writing connected people across space and time. It has remained essentially unchanged for nearly 3000 years. It’s interesting that throughout China’s history the official writing was standardized, but the day to day speech evolved differently. So even if their native languages were different, two people from different parts of China could understand each other’s writing, as long as they were both literate.
p. 433 When Hessler talks to Mengxiong about Chen Mengjia, he says that when the Chinese are uncomfortable about a memory, they sort of beat around the bush when telling about it. Details are given loosely, if at all. And, as he has said before, they tend to remain emotionless. BUT, when they decide to be frank and open, it can be overwhelming.
p. 440 Hessler compares China and the United States, and he realizes that there are many similarities between the two countries. He points out that they are both geographically isolated and that their cultures are so powerful that it’s hard for people to imagine other perspectives.
My question about China is can the country maintain its cultural integrity as they increasingly participate in today’s global culture?
One thing I found interesting was on Page 374 when Hessler talks about China trying to vilify Uighurs by starting to call their territory East Turkestan and labeling the people as terrorists. It seems odd to me because while the government was attempting to use this as a strategy to control Xinjiang province more completely it also sheds light on the fact that Uighurs have their own culture and are a different Ethnicity than most other Chinese people
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I found Interesting was on page 379 where Polat says that Americans won't tell you to your face that they don't like you, while the Chinese will. I fell that concerning Americans this is not particularly true, and it made me wonder if his perspective on this was different since he was a foreigner in America, and a member of the minority in China
A third thing I found interesting was on page 384 where Mr. Chengyuan is telling Hessler about Cheng Menjia and his trouble with the government and says, "...He wasn't just opposing Writing reforms, he was opposing the government." I thought it was sad that he basically had his life ruined because of his opinion that traditional Chinese writing was beautiful.
I thought it was a bit funny on Page 387 when it talks about how in the Chronology project decisions on dates that the scientists disagreed on were decided by votes. That is probably the least scientific way of choosing, and yet it's happening in a major cultural history project.
I thought it was interesting on page 405 where Hessler says that in the early 1900's it was proposed that China switch it's entire language to Esperanto. it seems weird that a wildly different European-based language would be given consideration as china's national language, given that during the previous couple of decades China was not on the best terms with the west.
My question is, how much easier is simlified chinese to write, compared to traditional?
Observation 1- I found it interesting that even though Polat was in the right when someone hit his car, he still accepted a low settlement because he was an immigrant. In contrast, many westerners are extremely quick to seek legal discourse when caught in similar circumstances.
ReplyDeleteObservation 2- I did not know how the Uighurs were persecuted so severely in China. It was shocking to hear how many of them have spent time in jail for being political prisoners.
Observation 3- It was interesting to hear one Chinese perspective on the War on terror. However, I was appalled to learnt hat the Chinese government made statements after the 9/11 attacks trying to link the Uighur ethnic group to the Taliban themselves.
Observation 4- It was amazing to hear about the admiration for President Bush in China when he went tot speak at Tsinghua University. It was also interesting to learn that the Chinese government removed a few key words from his speech. Specifically, “the war on terrorism should not be used to persecute ethnic minorities”.
Observation 5- The story about Galambos’ website was very amusing. I found it intriguing how he outlined the differences between Americans and Chinese by stating how ignorant we really are. The demands some people made were absolutely ridiculous especially when he explained that there was no Chinese alphabet to be had. And in the end, he managed to turn a profit despite all of the nasty American sentiments left in his inbox.
My one question about China is how has the war on terror affected the relationship between China and the United States?
Excellent final ORACLE BONES posts, colleagues!
ReplyDeleteMissing: Snyder, King, Taberman.
Be blog-full! Looking forward to reading CHINA ROAD!
Mojo a go go,
Dr. W
1. My first observation from this section of the book comes from page 371, where Hessler talks about Polat becoming accustomed to driving in Washington. If there was one thing I noticed right off the bat when I was in China, it was that they have some of the craziest drivers I’ve ever seen. While they pull some crazy maneuvers, I was surprised to not witness one car accident throughout the entire nine-day trip. It would not surprise me that Chinese drivers could adapt to driving anywhere in the world and still be able to get away with minor violations because of the kind of driving they are used to doing at home.
ReplyDelete2. My next observation comes from page 388, where Hessler talks about Song Jian and his interest in archeology all over the globe. He makes a comment on the bottom of page 388 that foreign chronology is much clearer than China’s. I can really relate to this comment because, while I can somewhat understand the history of Europe and other western areas chronologically, China’s history seems so vast and repetitive with all the different dynasties and conquerors that I really have tough time keeping it all straight, and knowing what dynasties came before other ones.
3. My third observation is from page 396, where Hessler discusses China’s dependency on the U.S.A. and vice versa. He explains that while in the past, The United States where the ones who held all the cards, and China looked to the U.S. to help them with foreign relations, the roles have now switched. It is becoming more and more evident that the U.S. is growing more and more dependent on China, not only for products, goods, and off-shore labor, but also for their relations with other Asian countries whom the U.S. does not have good relations with, such as North Korea. This is something I found to be very evident after spending time in China.
4. My next observation comes on page 402, where Hessler explains how Chinese characters come together to form words. This is a concept that I’ve always been interested in but never really understood, but this section of the book makes it much more understandable. While I was in China I remember looking around at the signs and posters and having no idea what anything said, which is something I’m not really used to because even in foreign countries you can usually figure out what a sign says by looking at the words and how they fit together. This was certainly not the case in China where practically all the characters looked the same and I could hardly distinguish one from another.
ReplyDelete5. My final observation comes from page 406 where Hessler talks about how Chairman Mao made a conversion from Chinese characters into English lettering that made up the Chinese word. Hessler says that Mao felt this conversion was inevitable, and that one day Chinese characters would be a thing of the past. I had always wondered who first started writing Chinese words in English lettering. This observation reminds me of when we were at the Chinese University in Wuhan. We were watching the professor typing Chinese characters onto the computer projector, and we all wondered to ourselves, how does she type Chinese characters with a keyboard? And we realized that she was typing Chinese words with English letters, and that was then being converted into the characters within the Word software. I thought that this was a very clever idea, and way of being able to type characters in a much simpler way.
My question from this section has to do with the decision to start writing Chinese words in English lettering. When this decision was first thought up, was it frowned upon by the Chinese people, as a disgrace to their