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clay dubeLiu Shaoqi -- how to be a good communist in difficult circumstances (operating underground) [Ebrey, Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization and Society]
edited by Clay Dube on 7/29/2013
clay dubeSeybolt - oral histories [Seybolt, Through Chinese Eyes]
clay dubeFew institutions mattered more in China between 1959-1999 than the hukou system. It still matters as it has great impact on access to education and to health care. Chan's summary of the system is solid.
clay dubeEbrey, Red Guards
clay dubeEbrey, Victims
clay dubeDube, democracy protests, 1979-89
clay dubemagistad (still reporting from Beijing for The World radio program)
chang (no longer reporting from China, but book is a classic)
meyer (still living and writing in China:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/13/beijing_forever)
clay dubea reward for reading parts 1-8 - Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
AnonymousIt is interesting that from the very beginning the United States presented the USSR as an absolute enemy. From the 1950 NSC report: "No other system (communism) is so irreconcilable with ours, so implacable with its purpose to destroy ours... and powerfully evokes irrationality in human nature".
I am part of the generation that does not remember cold war conflict. I was 7 when the Berlin Wall fell and I do not feel that much animosity towards the USSR or communism. I have even written essays on some of the philosophical benefits of communism (I don;t think it works in practice.) If some of you older teachers would oblige me, I am curious about your experiences with communism as you grew up and how you feel about the system as a whole right now.
edited by sthroop on 7/30/2013
AnonymousIf you read my previous post on the NSC Report - once cannot say that the communist system does not possess rationality after reading this speech. The principles given by Shaoqi show a great amount of common sense and understanding of how the human psyche works. It makes sense, of course - this allowed the communist party in China to grow by very between the 1920s and 1950s.
I have to admit that I was chuckling to myself a little bit while I was reading this text. This is because Shaoqi champions several things that my Chinese students still identify as problems with the communist regime in China. These include: the ability to accept criticism from subordinates, decisions should be made democratically, the acceptance of divergent views in the party (with the goal of resolving them), etc.
I especially found the discussions about the democratic process to be interesting. Shaoqi views democratic values as a natural extension of communist thought. Obviously, the "great divide" between communism and democracy did not exist in the minds of Chinese communists in 1921. It would be interesting to study how this divide eventually took place.
AnonymousREAD THIS ARTICLE! It was by for the most enlightening article for me so far. A study of the Hukou system resolves a lot of the questions that I still had about Chinese culture after talking to my Chinese students. Professor Dube mentioned several aspects of the Hukou system yesterday, including how the family based Hukou system makes it difficult to perform an accurate census and how social class is tied into the family classification rather than geographic location, education or job.
Ultimately, found Chan's premise very interesting. I can see now how the Hukou system allowed the Chinese government to simultaneously guarantee cheap labor (without having to provide government benefits), and requisition the needed land for the economic expansion that China is known for over the last 50 years. Despite the historical significance of the Hukou system, I hope that changes are made in China to allow agricultural peasants to enjoy some of the same privileges as the urban workers.
AnonymousThe best part about these cartoons was the dates attached to them. It shows some of the changing US attitudes towards China. Loved the last one about the cigarettes and the factories by the river.
It makes me wonder... when is the average Chinese agricultural/factory worker going to have a say in what goes on in there country? It still seems that despite protests, the government will do whatever it wants, whenever it wants. Perhaps it should not be so shocking that the Chinese government still works this way. After all, here in the US, the government just reaffirmed that it was ok for it to spy on its populations.
Today's journey from the early communist manuscripts to the representations of absolute power enjoyed by the communist Chinese state reminds me of Lord Acton's famous phrase - Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.
edited by sthroop on 7/30/2013
AnonymousThis article in the Asian Sentinel discusses the recent election in Japan, what it means, and also how it demonstrates issues in Japan's electoral structure, as mentioned earlier in the week. I found it interesting to have the details of the situation and what it means for Japan and then its neighbors, since one of the goals of Prime Minister Abe is to remove Article IX of the Japanese constitution that renounces Japan's right to make war. I found a fun map of the electoral districts and results and have attached it below. I can look at this with my fifth and sixth graders and compare it with all kinds of issues in the US electoral system.
AnonymousI think this is a very relevant topic for my student population, a group of children who have been brought to America and are not citizens. I show the movie Under the Same Moon which dramatizes a "left behind" child when the mom comes to LA to work and send money back home. Here's a great CNN clip about the Hukou System http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re8MN2gbFJA that I think students will be able to connect with. Addressing this topic and bringing in China as another example of discrimination against migrant workers will help my students to expand their experience and connect with others globally in their struggles for fair treatment.
AnonymousI find 2 readings especially useful-one on the family whose father was addicted and died of Opium and the reading on Red Guards. They will definitely appeal to my students. We will use APPARTS to analyze and illustrate them. Then each student writes his reflection in the notebook. Before all these we will define key terms and unfamiliar phrases.