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Temika and all,

Being a writer in China has many challenges. The book I mentioned yesterday (Spence, The Gate of Heavenly Peace) has a lot on Ding Ling's experiences (important early writer in the new culture movement, joined the Communist-led revolution, criticized and temporarily silenced by the party, rehabilitation). Her writing in The Diary of Miss Sophie and in the book on land reform (The Sun Shines....) might be excerpted for use with students.

Ohio State has a lot of resources on modern Chinese literature. http://mclc.osu.edu/

Here are interviews with Yu Hua (To Live):
2003 http://mclc.osu.edu/rc/pubs/yuhua.htm (I had planned to be a dentist....)
2003 http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=5470
2007 http://www.pri.org/theworld/?q=node/14438
2009: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/05/08/books/1194840083927/an-interview-with-yu-hua.html (video)

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Thanks to Diann for mentioning the two fictional works by Anchee Min on Ci Xi (Tzu Hsi). I think Min is a fantastic writer and her first book, the memoir Red Azalea, is an excellent window into life in Mao's China. Her husband, by the way, used to teach journalism and English in Rowland Heights!

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Thanks to Diann for mentioning the two fictional works by Anchee Min on Ci Xi (Tzu Hsi). I think Min is a fantastic writer and her first book, the memoir Red Azalea, is an excellent window into life in Mao's China. Her husband, by the way, used to teach journalism and English in Rowland Heights!

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Social studies courses could certainly include info about vendettas, but it also seems a great opportunity for literature courses. The story of the 47 Ronin has been turned into kabuki and bunraku (puppet) dramas, films, and television mini-series. Given the enduring popularity in the US of the Hatfield/McCoy story, I suspect that vendettas are a theme that would work in a literature class as well.

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Social studies courses could certainly include info about vendettas, but it also seems a great opportunity for literature courses. The story of the 47 Ronin has been turned into kabuki and bunraku (puppet) dramas, films, and television mini-series. Given the enduring popularity in the US of the Hatfield/McCoy story, I suspect that vendettas are a theme that would work in a literature class as well.

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Eric and others,
The are many critics of The Last Samurai.

Here's one: http://hnn.us/articles/2746.html.

Fred Notehelfer, among those who have previously taught in our seminars, wrote a book about one American soldier in Japan:
American Samurai: Captain L.L. Janes and Japan.

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Eric and others,
The are many critics of The Last Samurai.

Here's one: http://hnn.us/articles/2746.html.

Fred Notehelfer, among those who have previously taught in our seminars, wrote a book about one American soldier in Japan:
American Samurai: Captain L.L. Janes and Japan.

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Zaibatsu 財閥 were the large, bank-centered conglomerates that dominated Japan's economy before the war and which rose again after the war.

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Zaibatsu 財閥 were the large, bank-centered conglomerates that dominated Japan's economy before the war and which rose again after the war.

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Thanks to those who are coming up with ways to utilize the ideas / resources shared. I agree that students might really welcome the diary entry. What questions would you ask them to think about while reading?

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Thanks to those who are coming up with ways to utilize the ideas / resources shared. I agree that students might really welcome the diary entry. What questions would you ask them to think about while reading?

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Katie suggests that it would be great for participants to talk with each other about how these things might be taught. I quite agree, but we devote most of the in-class time to providing information (since our time is so limited and since people have varied interests and teaching responsibilities), expecting that at other times you'll talk with participants about how to use these ideas. We also use the forum for this. How might the ideas you heard or read about today be introduced to students?

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Katie suggests that it would be great for participants to talk with each other about how these things might be taught. I quite agree, but we devote most of the in-class time to providing information (since our time is so limited and since people have varied interests and teaching responsibilities), expecting that at other times you'll talk with participants about how to use these ideas. We also use the forum for this. How might the ideas you heard or read about today be introduced to students?

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Ching-fen is right about the crazy mistakes people make. In 2006, during a visit by the Chinese Communist Party's General Secretary Hu Jintao, the US hosts introduced the Chinese national anthem by referring to the "Republic of China" (Taiwan's formal name) rather than the "People's Republic of China."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/world/asia/22china.html (China's media didn't highlight the problems: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,192622,00.html)

Grenada officials made a similar mistake, playing the Taiwan anthem -- after the Chinese built them a stadium!
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-2429938.html

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In the Chinese tradition, the dragon represents the emperor and the phoenix represents the empress. Mythical beasts of immense power. Of course, the dragon has become a symbol of China. Can you attach or provide links to examples of this?

Please ask me Tuesday to say something more about such symbols.

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