[clay dube]

What an amazing encounter, Robin. Please share the photos, especially of the 9/11 scroll.

It may be worth remembering how many people from other places perished that day. Wikipedia puts the number at 373, including 55 who were citizens of South Korea, Japan, and China.

[clay dube]

I love Gustavo's reflections on the thanks extended by museum-goers. One's foreign-ness trumps other characteristics in the eyes of most Chinese. Even gender is of secondary importance. But Gustavo's reflection highlights a central distinction between modern China and the US. For centuries people have migrated to the US. And for most of the last 170 years, people have largely migrated from China. My grandparents arrived in the US as children or teens in the 1920s and 1930s. Both grandfathers served in WW II. And I imagine both would have been surprised and happy at the reaction our visit to the museum stimulated. Chuy certainly contributed to the American war effort, though a citizen of another country. He helped feed those working on the home front. His contribution was not sufficiently valued then, I'm sure, and is mostly forgotten today -- but it was real, even if he was not treated as he and others deserved.

[clay dube]

I think that the ideas shared thus far are great ones. Robin's notion of focusing on folk tales is good, but think about how you link in the places we visited and the things we saw (about the Wall, about the palaces, and more). Sally's attention to geography is much needed, both in terms of just location (and place names) and land forms and features, but especially about resources. I love Mary's idea of paying attention to signs of the Yijing (I Ching -- and by the way Rich Smith is a good friend and a fantastic scholar) and to the persistence of ideas associated with Confucian and pre-Confucian Chinese culture. Wherever possible, I hope you'll incorporate both the mainland and Taiwan.

[clay dube]

Deng Xiaoping visited the US as China's top leader in 1979. Jimmy Carter hosted him. Please take a look at one of our Assignment:China episodes which focuses on it and has him waving a cowboy hat:http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2674. It is also available and can be downloaded from our YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIF7U8iy4xI .

Please let me know what you think about it.

We also featured a talk by retired Harvard prof Ezra Vogel on Deng's impact:
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2632.
edited by Clay Dube on 8/8/2012

[clay dube]

Deng Xiaoping visited the US as China's top leader in 1979. Jimmy Carter hosted him. Please take a look at one of our Assignment:China episodes which focuses on it and has him waving a cowboy hat:http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2674. It is also available and can be downloaded from our YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIF7U8iy4xI .

Please let me know what you think about it.

We also featured a talk by retired Harvard prof Ezra Vogel on Deng's impact:
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2632.
edited by Clay Dube on 8/8/2012

[clay dube]

Hi Robin and all,
Well said about trying to get clarity while the memories are fresh. You and Catherine, Lois, and Mary have added some wonderful photos and descriptions. For the photo above, that magician was in the bazaar just outside the Qiao Family Compound. That place was between Taiyuan and Pingyao. A number of us purchased apple shaped wooden telescoping bowls. Some got much better deals than the one I negotiated. When i was looking for a volume discount, the saleswoman taught me math: 2x25 is 50.... Venus and I gave one to our coworker. She wasn't much impressed, but my wife loves hers.

Thanks to all who are contributing photos and descriptions of family visits and more.

[clay dube]

Just to follow up on Eric's excellent observations, this Steven Spielberg film was based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel. It features a very young Christian Bale. Bale, of course, returned to China last year to make "Flowers of War" under the direction of Zhang Yimou. Both films emphasize the experience of Westerners in China. Spielberg and Zhang are two of the most influential filmmakers working today. Here's a link to what Spielberg wrote about Zhang in Time magazine (explaining why he deserved consideration as the "person of the year"):
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1861543_1865103_1865107,00.html

Now -- a word on forum norms:
1. please use descriptive subject lines, for film reviews, the name of the film works well (Kim got this thread started by discussing Aftershock, a Feng Xiaogang film linking the 1976 and 2008 earthquakes. Eric's review of Empire of the Sun should be in the Empire of the Sun thread.)
2. if a film has already been reviewed by someone else, please "reply" to that review rather than starting a new thread
3. if no one else has reviewed the film, then please start a "new topic" for that film

[clay dube]

Jillian - great idea to draw the comparison to other notable women of East Asia. Please let us know what you discover about how they ruled. (Of course, the circumstances of their rise are different and they confronted different challenges.)

[clay dube]

Jillian - great idea to draw the comparison to other notable women of East Asia. Please let us know what you discover about how they ruled. (Of course, the circumstances of their rise are different and they confronted different challenges.)

[clay dube]

Gabrielle, thanks for sharing these photos. Some of you may be interested in the most popular South Korean memorial for the war and those who suffered then and are separated now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68558939@N00/1427307874/

This site has photos of many monuments in South Korea for soldiers from variou nations:
http://eng.koreanwar60.go.kr/50/2006000100.asp?cat=home&page=2&kind=&zone=&sWord=

Here are other memorials in South Korea (the Republic of Korea):
http://www.kwva.org/memorials/korea/p_mem_korea.htm

Here's an article about "contested memories" which examines representations of the war in museums.
http://japanfocus.org/-Tessa-Morris_Suzuki/3193
edited by Clay Dube on 8/4/2012

[clay dube]

Gabrielle, thanks for sharing these photos. Some of you may be interested in the most popular South Korean memorial for the war and those who suffered then and are separated now:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68558939@N00/1427307874/

This site has photos of many monuments in South Korea for soldiers from variou nations:
http://eng.koreanwar60.go.kr/50/2006000100.asp?cat=home&page=2&kind=&zone=&sWord=

Here are other memorials in South Korea (the Republic of Korea):
http://www.kwva.org/memorials/korea/p_mem_korea.htm

Here's an article about "contested memories" which examines representations of the war in museums.
http://japanfocus.org/-Tessa-Morris_Suzuki/3193
edited by Clay Dube on 8/4/2012

[clay dube]

Rob - if you're using an iPad, the problem may be that the machine doesn't let you access the computer's memory. You might try sending yourself the file, making sure it's in a standard format (as listed above) and then uploading it from a computer. You'll see that Fernando had problems, but overcame them.

[clay dube]

Rob - if you're using an iPad, the problem may be that the machine doesn't let you access the computer's memory. You might try sending yourself the file, making sure it's in a standard format (as listed above) and then uploading it from a computer. You'll see that Fernando had problems, but overcame them.

[clay dube]

To attach a document or image, you just click on the "attach file" link that is below the "add new post" window (see below). That will cause a box with a browse button to appear. Click the browse button and navigate to your file. Make sure you have saved the file in a .doc, .docx, .rtf., .pdf, or .txt format. (These are standard formats used by virtually all word processors. Choose "save as" when you want to save your file and select one of those formats.) Click on your chosen file on your hard or flash drive. It should appear below the box and browse button (if you choose the wrong file, you could remove it by clicking the "x"). Then click the add message button. Check to see that your message and file have been added.

[clay dube]

To attach a document or image, you just click on the "attach file" link that is below the "add new post" window (see below). That will cause a box with a browse button to appear. Click the browse button and navigate to your file. Make sure you have saved the file in a .doc, .docx, .rtf., .pdf, or .txt format. (These are standard formats used by virtually all word processors. Choose "save as" when you want to save your file and select one of those formats.) Click on your chosen file on your hard or flash drive. It should appear below the box and browse button (if you choose the wrong file, you could remove it by clicking the "x"). Then click the add message button. Check to see that your message and file have been added.

[Author]

Posts