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clay dube
SpectatorOne of the first autobiographies from China to make a big splash was Son of the Revolution by Liang Heng and his wife Judith Shapiro. It was published in 1983. In 1990, a television movie, Forbidden Nights, which was based on the book, was broadcast. Melissa Gilbert (of Little House on the Prairie fame) played English teacher Shapiro and Robin Shou, a martial arts film star, played Liang Heng.
I've attached a reading guide from the University of Indiana for the book. The web source is here.
Judith Shapiro and Liang Heng eventually went their separate ways. She's become a prominent scholar on China's environmental problems. Click here for more on Shapiro.
SpectatorPearl Buck was one of the most influential writers on China for a couple of decades. Her novel, The Good Earth, brought her fame, fortune, and prizes. She went as an infant to China in 1892. She was first published in 1899! The Kentucky Christian Observer published a letter she wrote:
Dr. Mr. Combers,
I am a little girl six years old. I live in China. I have a big brother in college who is coming to China to help our father tell the Chinese about Jesus. I have two little brothers in heaven.... I wrote this all by myself and my hand is tired so good-bye.The Good Earth was a bestseller and was made into an Academy Award winning film.
Click here to listen to a six minute Fresh Air segment on a biography Hilary Spurling published in 2010 about Pearl Buck.
The trailer for the film can be watched for free on YouTube (it's $2.99 to watch the film). The dvd is available from Netflix. Several clips from the film are available on YouTube.
An essay by Charles Hayford entitled "What's So Bad about The Good Earth?" is attached. It's from Education about Asia, 3.3 (Winter 1998). EAA back issues are now available online for free from the Association of Asian Studies.
Paperback copies of The Good Earth are readily available, but get the edition that includes an introduction by Peter Conn. Conn later published a full biography of Buck, but his introduction to Buck's most famous novel (she published more than 50 books) provides an excellent outline of her life.
edited by Clay Dube on 10/24/2014SpectatorA novelist before she married, Alicia Bewicke married an English merchant who had already lived and worked in China for 25 years. She went to China as Mrs. Archibald Little in 1887. By 1906, she'd become incredibly knowledgeable about domestic lives of Chinese. She was the best known writer in English on China and she'd played an important role in the campaign against footbinding.
This reading is from
Croll, Elisabeth. "An Intimate View of Chinese Women: 'The Chinese Goddess of Mercy' and against Footbinding, Mrs Archibald Little," Wise Daughters from Foreign Lands: European Women Writers in China. London: Pandora, 1989.Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.SpectatorMilitary conscription begins during the early Meiji period, but in 1927 a Military Service Law was enacted. Men, at 20, had to report for examination. Assuming they could met the basic requirements (and those became looser over time), these men were obliged to serve for two years. Students could avoid service until age 26. A huge proportion of Japan's male population served during the Pacific War, an incredibly long war.
SpectatorI love the idea of having students review this treaty and discuss the motivations for the various sections and the consequences of its provisions. Could they note the treaty ports on a map and perhaps learn what happened to them in the 172 years since the treaty was signed?
SpectatorI've attached a one page handout for the session. In begins with questions for your consideration. Please do offer your thoughts on them both in class and here in the forum. Please also note the key terms and names for this period.
SpectatorPlease read these short quotations offering explanations on the CCP triumph over the KMT/GMD in 1949. Which of them seems most compelling?
SpectatorThanks to Catherine for posting the key readings for the 19th century. Here we'll put up a few others for the period of Chinese history that we call "Republican." It refers to the founding of the Republic of China in 1911 through to its replacement on the mainland with the People's Republic of China in 1949. The Republic of China, continues, of course, on Taiwan.
The attached selection is a long essay by Liu Shaoqi, a key figure in the Communist revolution and the first two decades of the PRC. His title is "How to be a good communist." It is a sharp statement on what is expected of good communists. What are their priorities? It makes for interesting reading today. The party marked its 90th anniversary in 2011 and is now in the midst of a giant anti-corruption campaign. Compare what Liu says party members must think and do with what current party leader Xi Jinping is saying.
For our discussion, you aren't expected to read the entire essay. Please read the first section, however, and see if you can answer the questions I've raised in the introduction.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.SpectatorIncluded in compressed format, note that presentation includes several slides borrowed from:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCYQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsiteresources.worldbank.org%2FINTEAPREGTOPENVIRONMENT%2FResources%2FCN_WPPI_presentation.ppt&ei=CiILVPmPA-jMigKQroHwBQ&usg=AFQjCNHppgja1v-fR0cbbTPUhale5yATKgAdditional report from the World Bank:
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTEAPREGTOPENVIRONMENT/Resources/China_WPM_final_lo_res.pdfSpectatorcompact report, could be shared with students
Spectator2009 Asia Society initiative
SpectatorChina 2030 - joint report with the Development Research Center of China's State Council.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/02/27/china-2030-executive-summaryChina urbanization, March 2014
Includes video summary, downloadable report
http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/publication/urban-china-toward-efficient-inclusive-sustainable-urbanizationSpectatorGreenpeace prepared this ahead of the famous Copenhagen climate change conference.
SpectatorThis presentation, even much compressed, is too big for the forum. Click here to go to another USCI page to download the compressed pdf.
SpectatorHere are some documents for this session:
The Qianlong Emperor to King George, 1793
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=1083Commission Lin Zexu to Queen Victoria, 1839
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=402Treaty of Nanjing, 1842
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=403Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=404John Hay, Open Door Note, 1899
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=406 -
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