11/23/09 -Session 2 - Dube - China: 1949 to 1976

This was another interesting seminar. I was talking with John Mellis, another teacher from Mira Costa, about the first couple seminars and we both said we realized how little we know about Asia. We both have more interest in the arts and culture, but the history is fascinating too.

Once again, I was struck by the tremendous impact of what we call WWII, how it is called by many different names--in Russia it is referred to as the Great Patriotic War; today we learned in Japan it was called the Pacific War, in China the Anti-Japanese war.

The marriage law enacted by the Communists also reminded me of a similar law passed in the early days of the Soviet Union. I remember reading that when it was first passed, some people would get married in the morning and divorced by the evening.

Perhaps it is a bit of a stretch but the early Communists in China remind me a little of early Christians, how few and unlikely they seemed in the beginning, how powerful they became.

The movie you mention above was mentioned in a previous thread titled "movies and books" under the Asia in the Classroom forum. I believe we finally got the title right!

I very much enjoyed last night's seminar. One thing I found interesting was the lasting impact of The Long March. To start with an 'army' of roughly 100,000 on a journey of about 8,000 miles over the course of a year is truly an astonishing feat. The survivors of the trek must have been tempered into a hard core group of believers. I can see why the remnant was able to gather popular support among the poorest members of Chinese society and eventually defeat the KMT.
I've always wanted to look over history books from other countries to see their point of view when it comes to historical events. Its interesting that China (The Anti-Japanese War), Japan (the Pacific War) and Russia (The Great Patriotic War) each have their own name for what we refer to as World War II; the names themselves provide some insight into their respective culture and world-view.

Willie's right about the remarkable Long March. I think it will interest many students. There are many works on the subject. Harrison Salisbury wrote one that I think has some great illustrations and interviews with survivors.

The Long March is perhaps the greatest retreat in world history. It covered thousands of kilometers and only a few made it. It inspired young people during the Cultural Revolution, who were encouraged to go on marches of their own.

Here's a map a faculty member at St. Martin's has posted:http://homepages.stmartin.edu/fac_staff/rlangill/HIS%20217%20maps/Long%20March%20map.JPG

Here's a map company's map of the march (it also describes the march):http://unimaps.com/chinaLongMarch/index.html

It is interesting to see the impact of China in the United States through the media. Before coming to class on Monday, I saw a seven year old Chinese girl on the Ellen show who was a champion ping pong player. She beat a grown man American ping-pong player on the show. It was amazing to see such discipline and talent out of such a young girl.
I am curious if sports and achievement through sports are something that they pull from Western sensibilities?

One reason the rich wanted to marry more than 1 wife is to get more sons. "The more sons you have, the more blessed you are" was the traditional belief. Yuan Shikai, the general who reformed Qing dynasty's army and later helped to overthrow the emperor, had 17 sons (all took his family name). He had 1 wife and 9 concubines. Mr. Zhang Zuolin, the warlord in Northeast China, whose son kidnapped Jiang Kaishi during the anti Japanese War, had six wives. (参见《民国名人罗曼史》一书，作者：王邗华、梁立成、袁廷玉。). I personally know quite a few people who are descendants of concubines. However, those who were exposed to Western culture, such as Dr. Sun Yatsen, President. Jiang Kaishe, etc. were againist polygamy.

For thousands of years, the average Chinese peasants' dream was :"Wife, children and a warm bed"（老婆， 孩子，热炕头) . When a lot of poor bachelors couldn't afford to get married while the rich and powerful had several wives, they wanted revolution. That may be a reason why Mao's army, that named itself as "peasants' brothers", got support from the grassroots, and won the Chinese Civil War, and that the first Marriage Law after 1949 was welcomed by Chinese intellectuals as a social progress, and by the poor, who were happy to realize their dream to start their own family.

[Edit by="lwang on Nov 24, 8:17:54 PM"][/Edit]

My daughter played soccer at a pretty high level and in junior high was at a tournament with a young Chinese national team. This team was so, so disciplined, and played a completely structured style of soccer, it was amazing to see. They were a fabulous team, worked together like clockwork, but I felt something important was missing at the time. What I felt was missing was the spontaneous enthusiasm of young teen girls.
Soccer is called the beautiful game, and one of the things that is so special about it is that when you have the ball, you are like a quarterback, you determine the next play and the direction the game takes from that point on. In baseball, you pretty much know the play any second baseman will make in a certain situation. However, that is not true in soccer, there are always several creative plays that can be made. However, when watching that young Chinese team, it seemed as if each play had been predetermined, no spontaneity, or joy was evident. That being said, they dominated on the field!
We were told that these girls came from all over the country, had been brought to a boarding school type of training program, and really had no say because you just do not say no if the government determines you can help the countries future soccer success. The parents did not have a say either, although many were happy that their children were being educated and had an opportunity to travel, help their country etc. I suppose this was/is also a way for their child to overcome the Hukuo system?

One quote that impressed me during my reading of class materials (although I can not find it now, and do not know who to attribute it to) was a statement to the effect that China or China's population was like a pile of sand (wet sand?). It brought home to me that the individual grains of sands do not hold much value, but how they mold together to make something is what is valued. This reminds me again of Cartman's nightmare about the ability of the Chinese to take over everything, because of the discipline and the willingness to put aside personal goals, needs etc.
Sorry to be so long winded!

[Edit by="bberry on Nov 26, 3:00:11 PM"][/Edit]