[clay dube]

Manny - nice work. I loved how you not only described what we did, but also reflected on it.

The Two Chiang's website is quite interesting: http://www.twochiang.com/ The site opens with Flash animation, but then offers links to the store and other resources.

The Civic Exchange website is at: http://www.civic-exchange.org/wp/. It includes links to their newsletter (and there you'll find links to Christine Loh's op-ed newspaper essays.

[clay dube]

Below is the LA County Office of Education's History Day announcement. It is, of course, is a big event. I'm not sure of the contours of the 2011 topic, but perhaps it includes public diplomacy, something that's been in the news lately. Public diplomacy is often linked to "soft power," the idea that a country's culture and society is attractive to others and that this attraction affects policies and relations.

USC has a Center on Public Diplomacy. We also are looking at the Shanghai Expo as a major experiment in public diplomacy both for the Chinese and participating nations. One of the US efforts in this regard is the student ambassador program at the USA Pavilion. You can learn more about this, see videos, and see what students are writing about the experience by clicking on the EXPO button in the upper right corner of the USCI website:
http://china.usc.edu

History Day L.A. Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures,
Consequences
March 12, 2011
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Azusa Pacific University
Azusa, CA 91702-7000
This annual event encourages teachers to engage their students in History Day
learning opportunities (i.e. exhibits, performances, web sites, posters,
documentaries, papers) for the purpose of increasing academic rigor of historysocial
science education, meeting the California History-Social Science Academic
Content Standards, and building skills of collaboration and team work. Last year
more than 600 students participated in the event. Winners of the competition
compete at the California History Day state competition.
Fee: $40 per student
Deadline to Register: February 4, 2011
A Request for Information is attached. Contest details and registration materials can
be found at http://www.lacoe.edu/historysocialscience

[clay dube]

Another of the "model" operas/ballets that Jiang Qing, Mao's wife, decreed were okay to be performed.

Here's a 46 minute "clip" from the film. Google Video allows for you to easily move between sections. Sorry -- no English subtitles.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4081455131757425665#

Here's an excerpt from Red Azalea by Anchee Min about this opera:
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/twenty/mao1.html (Sarah, Red Azalea has memoir-like features.)

The ballet was performed last year in the run up to China's 60th anniversary celebration of the founding of the People's Republic:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-09/28/content_8745518.htm

[clay dube]

The Pacific Asia Museum included a cover of the album featuring the music of "The White Haired Girl." It was one of the ballets permitted to be performed during the Cultural Revolution.

Here are some clips available at YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P49X-fVrvcM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBMoyNSTdG8&feature=related (this one was originally put up on Tudou, one of the Chinese video sharing sites).

Here's a clip of a concert performance of a song from the opera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5zFNbgf3vM&feature=related

There is a recent documentary on the model operas which includes interviews with surviving performers, directors, and writers. Yang Ban Xi is screened on Link TV and elsewhere. Here's the website for it:
http://www.filmforum.org/films/yang.html

Here's the trailer for the documentary:

http://www.spike.com/video/yang-ban-xi-8-model/2723018

[clay dube]

I've attached a .doc version of the evaluation form. Please open it, fill it in, save it with your name in the file name (use "save as" rather than save), and return it to us by email ([email protected]). Of course, you should feel free to share your assessment in the forum as well.

[clay dube]

Mark notes the great disparities between north and south Korea and suggests there's something more than different political systems at work. This is definitely true, though that's a big factor. Two quick explanations for some of the difference: the north is more mountainous and the south had access to the US and the West for educational opportunities and exports. The North was tied to the much less prosperous Chinese and Soviet economies.

[clay dube]

David -- This is a terrific way to help us remember that special place. I love the photos.

Pingyao 平遥became an important banking center during the Qing dynasty. I've attached a recent academic paper on the rise of Shanxi 山西 banks. It's clearly written and includes discussion of how the bank's owners kept tabs on and motivated their branch managers. The discussion gets a bit deep in places, but on page 7, for example, there's an explanation of how the banks facilitated trade by vouching for merchants. You might also find the section on "jade parachutes" interesting. The article also has details on the role of banks in facilitating trade on the silk road. Scrolling down to the end of the article brings up examples of documents discussed in the text (e.g., deposit slips).

[clay dube]

Michael, great job summarizing an important day. Because everyone had different encounters during the morning, I hope everyone will post photos and share their impressions of the kids, of the facility, of the very idea of the school. Discuss the location, the surroundings, the teachers you met, and the range of supporters we saw at work and making donations. Read the newsletter I sent around earlier to get an idea of what they are proud of and the challenges they perceive.

Zheng Hong was the retired professor who founded Dandelion School.

Interesting developments are occurring in Beijing's suburbs are target migrants and outside petitioners:

China Digital Times translation of a Caixin
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2010/07/the-truth-behind-beijings-sealing-the-village-management/

Global Times essay by a Canadian
http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/foreign-view/2010-08/561974.html

Toronto's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/inside-chinas-gated-communities-for-the-poor/article1644361/

[clay dube]

Great work Priya getting us started discussing health care (and the economics of health care). Thanks, too, for posting a photo and including a link to a potentially useful article.

Here's a link to the presentation:
http://www.sphpc.cuhk.edu.hk/cms/images/stories/event/Event/2010/20100721_usc_us_china_workshop_fin.pdf

Of course, Priya's right. This was a long day and included discussion of migrant (and mostly domestic) workers, a new internationally-oriented school in Guangdong province, and Hong Kong politics. It would be great for others to chime in on this.

[clay dube]

That long wait aboard the plane was tough. At least they feed us and kept the air conditioning on. That doesn't always happen.

I hope that others will discuss their impressions of the Expo and the individual pavilions. Here are some interesting resources to look at:

What student ambassadors are saying:
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2042

Nations are trying to brand themselves:
http://china.usc.edu/ShowArticle.aspx?articleID=2103
To see interviews with Japanese, Spanish, and other officials about their efforts to influence Chinese minds and a great video about the Expo at night, please go to:
http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/index.php/research/shanghai_expo_blog/

[clay dube]

Nice post, Jen -- you managed to catch and hold on to a lot from Teresa. I think that we could usefully discuss this cross-island building project. Why was it a priority? Are there similar projects to point to elsewhere in East Asia or the US?

Also -- it might be interesting for students to learn that not all jade is green. What properties does jade possess that has caused people to value it over the years?

Again -- friends, please don't hesitate to post a picture from the bridge, the marble figures at the ends of bridges, and other sights.

[clay dube]

Thanks for getting us started on what for many was a memorable day. Perhaps Amanda and others could weigh in on some of these questions (Amanda has touched on many of them) --

-- why are some Chinese dancing in the park? what music were they dancing to? what does this suggest about life in China?

-- what were the games being played? how do the marketeers fit in?

-- besides dancing and other exercises, what other recreation activities did you observe?

-- describe the setting, even street corner parks have people dancing, practicing taijiquan, qigong, and martial arts

-- what ideas/values are conveyed in the design of the various parts of the Temple of Heaven complex (numerology, construction

Many of you have interesting photos from this visit. Please choose one or two and share them by attaching them.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks,

The system will time you out if you don't post or move about the system for ten minutes. That's to keep people from inadvertently staying logged in after they leave a public computer.

If you're writing an extended post that will take more than 10 minutes to write, you can always just hit the preview button, that displays your post as it will eventually appear. You then hit the edit button and it takes you back to the post entry screen. Of course, you could also use a text editor or word processor to write out your thoughts. This has the advantage of offering spell/grammar checking.

[clay dube]

First -- I love Joseph's avatar, Typhoon 3 is a big deal. Here's information about the typhoon warning system.
http://www.hko.gov.hk/informtc/tcsignal.htm

Second, thanks to Amanda for sharing information about her family visit. As with the small groups in Taipei at the Lishan High School, we had access to different informants and perhaps different perspectives. I hope everyone will chime in on the experiences YOU had. That's the point of the forum, allowing us to remember and share the impressions we gained.

Third, Joseph, what causes you to label the terracotta warriors as infamous? (I think this could be an interesting discussion starter -- How should we remember Qin Shihuang? Famous? Infamous?)

[clay dube]

Mongolia is not a big country, population-wise, but I guess it is big enough to have the full range of craziness:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/02/mongolia-far-right

Mongolian neo-nazis , yes, salute and swastika, and all, hate Chinese. One of the believers is quoted as saying, "We have to make sure that as a nation our blood is pure. That's about our independence."

[Author]

Posts