Olympics... incredible feat.. and the commitment the Chinese made to presenting their city Beijing to the world was impressive. I remember seeing the photographs of the country side, skyscrapers, and tourist places all on TV and recall all the blue sky there was.Sadly now that the olympics are over, the air quality in China has resumed back to pre olympic pollution levels.. It's unfortunate that they have not maintained those high standards they upheld in summer 08 for their own citizens today.

Just a comment on sports and the special place ping-pong has in China. It contributed to developing a gradual relationship with the U.S. The first tentative communications were sent via Yahya Khan, the president of Pakistan, who was friendly with both governments. In the first public sign of improved relations, Mao's regime invited the U.S. ping-pong team to visit China. The team toured the Great Wall and the Summer Palace and played exhibition games against their host. The trip became know as Ping-Pong Diplomacy. Not long after, presidential advisor Henry Kissinger secretly traveled to China to meet Premier Chou En-lai, laying the ground work for Nixon's historical visit.

I love this discussion - so many varied and interesting points and we're lucky to have Lilia and others sharing on the ground experience.

-- a note on the loose sand idea. That was Sun Yatsen's complaint, that the Chinese people were too atomized, separate. There was no sense of nation. He was eager to tie people to together and build the Chinese nation. That's why he named the party he built the Nationalist Party (in the older romanization, the KMT Kuomintang, and in pinyin, the romanization used in China and in most US publications these days, GMD or Guomindang). Sun, though, complained that foreigners didn't fully understand that what he sought was liberty for individuals within a united body.

"[T]he Chinese people have only family and clan solidarity; they do not have national spirit. Therefore even though we have four hundred million people gathered together in one China, in reality they are just a heap of loose sand. Today we are the poorest and weakest nation in the world and occupy the lowest postion in world affairs.Other men are the carving knife and serving dish; we are the fish and the meat. Our position at this time is most perilous. If we do not earnestly espouse nationalism and weld together our four hundred million people into a strong nation, there is a danger of China's being lost and our people being destroyed." (1924)

You can hear echoes of these ideas when China's current leaders worry about Western regions. There is a long-standing suspicion in China that foreigners who talk about protecting ethnic diversity and promoting human rights are really just using these issues to weaken China and perhaps to divide China.

-- a note on sports. Richer countries feel less need to develop sports factories because we have existing leagues, competitions, and so on. We had a delegation visit USC two years ago from China's university sports federation, the visitors were shocked to hear that, although USC trains and sends many student/athletes to the Olympics (about 40 last year), the US government doesn't pay the university for this. USC does it, like many other schools, of course, because they also compete for and represent the school. In China and, earlier in Soviet block nations, the eagerness to win medals and recognition for the nation causes the government to choose to invest in accelerating this process and leave a whole lot less to chance.

We screened a fascinating documentary from China last night. Director Gu Jin showed Dream Weavers, her film about the preparation for the Olympics. Among the stories she followed for years was the development of three gymnasts, two of whom eventually made the national team and starred in the Olympics. I suspect that American competitors are pushed just as hard as their Chinese counterparts. There may be a difference in the earliest stages, though, where I imagine it is the parents and peers doing the pushing. In any event, it's a lot to ask of a adolescent. Making the transition from getting up early for skating or spending every afternoon in the gym out of a love of the activity to the grueling work that all top competitors now engage in can't be easy and it's no doubt the reason Olympians of all nationalities astonish us with their performances.

Dream Weavers 2008:
http://china.usc.edu/ShowEvent.aspx?EventID=1215

Hu Kou （户口）is also called Hu Ji （户籍）system. It dated back to Confucius's time and was strengthend during the Qin Dynasty when the 1st emperor Shi Huangdi (Qin Shihuang) unified China ( his name is in 6th graders' social studies book) . The main purpose back then was to collect tax, and recruit soldiers. If you have watched the movie "Mulan" by Disney, you may get some idea about the connection between Hu Kou and the forced army recruitment systemin Chinese history.

Wow, I'm finally "on board" (bad pun intended). Hi everyone.

I'm really enjoying the lectures and I'm looking forward to "attempting" to implement some of the strategies we've covered in my own class. The biggest issue I've faced thus far in my APWH class has been integrating all of the themes (political, economic, religious, social, intellectual/artistic, geography) EVENLY throughout my lectures--while transitioning smoothly (as if it were a narrative). I guess historical perspective comes in time, though...right?

Being a product of the public schooling system in CA, I'd like to think I have a pretty good understanding of Western Civilization. Eastern Civ--not so much. Obviously, the development of civilizations in the East is as unique as it is in the West. Each region has its own story to be told.

I've been plugging away trying to incorporate each of the themes in our look at the Classical and Postclassical-era Chinese.

Clay, any pointers?

[Edit by="cwilson on Dec 5, 4:54:15 PM"][/Edit]

In 1949, Mao said "Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up." Seeing this comment made me reflect upon how Prof Dube descirbed the recent Chinese national day celebration. He desribed how the military came out in forse and how it seemed to show "Here we are....strong and ready. We will no longer be subject to your foolishness."

It seems to me that Today's China continues to reflect what Mao said in 1949. But with its modern international strength...they mean it and are showing it! -- Posted By: ktarvyd on 12-06-2009 08:36 AM

No kidding...muscle flexing at its finest. Check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDGMS01MiQ4[Edit by="cwilson on Dec 9, 6:40:15 PM"][/Edit]

I was going through my reader and saw that I made note after the last seminar that Clay had mentioned Lu Xun and how he was known for his short stories. A little internet searching yielded a page with some of the stories. I particularly liked the one towards the bottom titled "Forging the Swords"

Lu Xun Short Stories

Yes I too was talking with another teacher about the History of Asia it is fasinating- I really am enjoying hearing about how different the asian culture is. It is amazing how restricted in their lives they were, and it does make me think about our culture as well & how maybe it wouldn't have been so great to be a woman back then. The readings in our packet are helpful in giving me perspective especially the articles that were written by people who actually experienced it. I used to teach History and it was nice when the text book would incorporate quotes or pieces of writing from actual human beings. I think that the students respond to it better and they have a sense that it is more "real" then just reading and sort of being told something.