I’m writing this post from a train between Liege, Belgium and Köln, Germany. Qian and I are using her two-week spring break and almost all of my vacation time for the year at work on a European sojourn. A week in to the trip, it has been incredible.
So far we’ve been to Amsterdam and Maastricht, a small town in the south of the Netherlands. My brother is in the second year of his master’s degree program at the University of Amsterdam. We spent four days in Amsterdam doing the touristy stuff – the Van Gogh Museum, Rijks Museum, and Anne Frank House – and hanging out with my brother and his girlfriend. We then spent two days taking in Maastricht.
Maastricht is my European hometown (in a similar fashion to Xi'an being the place that I hold dear in China). I spent four months studying abroad in Maastricht during my junior year at Saint Louis University. Being in Maastricht was my first real time abroad (save for a spring break trip to the Caribbean my senior year of high school). Maastricht blew my mind. Studying abroad as a twenty year-old without a care in the world was a whirlwind, truly the time of my life. My positive experience there certainly primed me for wanting to go abroad after I graduated, which is when I went to Xi’an.
Qian and I had a wonderful time these past couple days in Maastricht. We couldn’t have asked for a more storybook romantic European experience. We strolled up and down the city’s cobble stone streets, took in the Roman-era architecture and city wall (a cool fact of my life is that I’ve lived in two cities with city walls built centuries ago), window shopped, bought chocolates, fruit, and bread at the city's Friday market, and rented bikes that we used to ride over the border to Belgium where we imbibed on delicious Belgian beer (when in Belgium…).
We’re going to spend the next two days in Köln and then will have five days in Paris. I’m confident that the second half of the trip will live up to the great time we've had the first half.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Life and Death in Shanghai
Nien Cheng, the author of Life and Death in Shanghai , is a beautiful person that you will never forget after reading her book. I was struck deeply time and again by her bravery, logic, and unique sense of life as I read her lengthy memoir. The writing in the book, which was published in 1988, is focused on her brutal experiences during Mao's cultural revolution. Her stand against the evil and irrationality that engulfed everything around her is inspiring.
Cheng was born into a patrician family in Beijing in 1915. She doesn't talk at length about her parents and her grandparents, but it is abundantly clear that they came from a blue-blooded lineage of wealth and influence. She experienced a long list of things that hardly any other Chinese person of her generation did. She studied at the London School of Economics for a couple years in 1935. She spent lots of time abroad traveling in Europe, Australia, and the United States. And she hobnobbed in English with foreign intellectuals and dignitaries in China from around the world.
As one might guess, this background did her no favors once Mao and the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949. She and her husband, a member of the Kuomintang government and then an executive at Shell Oil, debated whether to leave China with their daughter at that time. The ultimately decided to stay in China. Cheng regretted that choice later in her life.
All of this is background to the beginning of the cultural revolution in 1966, which is when Cheng begins her story. The following passage is the first page and a half of her book:
"The Wind of Revolution" captures the moments before, and the first days and weeks of, the denunciations, campaigns, and persecution that marked the beginning of the cultural revolution. Life wasn't exactly normal in the early parts of 1966; China had already suffered through the great leap forward a few years earlier and was completely isolated from the world community. But there was at least the semblance of normality on a day-to-day basis. Cheng describes the final days in her house, her art work and literature collection, her servants, her relationship with her daughter, and the other things in her life that were soon to be destroyed.
Cheng is eventually targeted in the political campaigns herself. Her house is ransacked. Red guards went out of their way to destroy many of the centuries-old cultural relics that Cheng, an art collector, had accumulated. She is denounced as a "capitalist roader," or someone who is against Mao and the party's policies. She is removed from her house and put into a political prison.
"The Detention House" is about Cheng's years-long detainment in solitary confinement. She had been singled out by higher ups in the party and they wanted her to confess to a laundry list of crimes that she had not committed. This section is about her long, brutal struggle standing up to constant bullying, manipulation, and torture.
"Struggle for Justice" is about her time once out of prison. I'm not going to go into much detail about this section since there are a lot of potential spoilers. But I will say that it holds up with the rest of the book.
Life and Death in Shanghai is a painful read. It's long, repetitive, and there are sections that are hard to get through. It's not Cheng's writing or story-telling that is the problem, though. It's what she's going through. Day after day of arguing with illogical prison guards is insane and Cheng's writing captures that. One particularly section where she is handcuffed for eleven days straight without reprieve is simply excruciating to digest.
Conceding that the book is hard at times, Life and Death in Shanghai captivated me. The book is 550 pages and I got though it in just a few days. It's very readable despite the distressing experiences described in it. Cheng is a wonderful writer (she wrote the book in English herself). Her writing shines light on the darkest corners of the cultural revolution.
I highly recommend Life and Death in Shanghai to someone wanting to understand China's violent recent past. I also recommend it so that you can see heroic bravery in the face of pure evil. Nien Cheng, who died in 2009 at the age of 94 while living in the United States, was a truly special soul.
Cheng was born into a patrician family in Beijing in 1915. She doesn't talk at length about her parents and her grandparents, but it is abundantly clear that they came from a blue-blooded lineage of wealth and influence. She experienced a long list of things that hardly any other Chinese person of her generation did. She studied at the London School of Economics for a couple years in 1935. She spent lots of time abroad traveling in Europe, Australia, and the United States. And she hobnobbed in English with foreign intellectuals and dignitaries in China from around the world.
As one might guess, this background did her no favors once Mao and the Chinese Communist Party came to power in 1949. She and her husband, a member of the Kuomintang government and then an executive at Shell Oil, debated whether to leave China with their daughter at that time. The ultimately decided to stay in China. Cheng regretted that choice later in her life.
All of this is background to the beginning of the cultural revolution in 1966, which is when Cheng begins her story. The following passage is the first page and a half of her book:
Life and Death in Shanghai is written in three sections: "The Wind of Revolution," "The Detention House," and "My Struggle for Justice." Those three section titles can give an idea to what the book is about and how it progresses.
"The Wind of Revolution" captures the moments before, and the first days and weeks of, the denunciations, campaigns, and persecution that marked the beginning of the cultural revolution. Life wasn't exactly normal in the early parts of 1966; China had already suffered through the great leap forward a few years earlier and was completely isolated from the world community. But there was at least the semblance of normality on a day-to-day basis. Cheng describes the final days in her house, her art work and literature collection, her servants, her relationship with her daughter, and the other things in her life that were soon to be destroyed.
Cheng is eventually targeted in the political campaigns herself. Her house is ransacked. Red guards went out of their way to destroy many of the centuries-old cultural relics that Cheng, an art collector, had accumulated. She is denounced as a "capitalist roader," or someone who is against Mao and the party's policies. She is removed from her house and put into a political prison.
"The Detention House" is about Cheng's years-long detainment in solitary confinement. She had been singled out by higher ups in the party and they wanted her to confess to a laundry list of crimes that she had not committed. This section is about her long, brutal struggle standing up to constant bullying, manipulation, and torture.
"Struggle for Justice" is about her time once out of prison. I'm not going to go into much detail about this section since there are a lot of potential spoilers. But I will say that it holds up with the rest of the book.
Life and Death in Shanghai is a painful read. It's long, repetitive, and there are sections that are hard to get through. It's not Cheng's writing or story-telling that is the problem, though. It's what she's going through. Day after day of arguing with illogical prison guards is insane and Cheng's writing captures that. One particularly section where she is handcuffed for eleven days straight without reprieve is simply excruciating to digest.
Conceding that the book is hard at times, Life and Death in Shanghai captivated me. The book is 550 pages and I got though it in just a few days. It's very readable despite the distressing experiences described in it. Cheng is a wonderful writer (she wrote the book in English herself). Her writing shines light on the darkest corners of the cultural revolution.
I highly recommend Life and Death in Shanghai to someone wanting to understand China's violent recent past. I also recommend it so that you can see heroic bravery in the face of pure evil. Nien Cheng, who died in 2009 at the age of 94 while living in the United States, was a truly special soul.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
AnDa Union
Back in November of last year, a group of Inner Mongolian musicians - AnDa Union - came through Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri on their US tour. The group performed at the Lied Center on the campus of the University of Kansas. In addition to their live show, there was also a screening of a documentary about the group at a library in Kansas City.
I want to share AnDa Union and their music here on my blog. They're awesome.
I'll first talk about their show and then the documentary about the group.
AnDa Union's show was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. They use instruments unique to the grasslands of northern China, belt out "Mongolian throat singing" for their vocals, and select their songs from a catalog of ethnic folk music from the steppes of the Mongolian plateau.
To get a taste of what they're about, here is a YouTube video of the song "Derlcha" from a performance they gave in January, 2011:
Very unique stuff. I'd never seen anything like the bowed instruments most of them are playing. That's not an er hu. It's an instrument native to ethnic Mongolians (that I don't know the name of). I found it interesting that, as you can see from the video, they're not pressing down on the strings when they play that instrument. Instead, they're pushing their fingers onto the fret board next to the string.
Here's a photo of what I'm talking about:
Below is another video of what was probably my favorite song of the show - "Galloping Horses." This song was the finale of the show we saw in Lawrence:
This song, and their whole show really, is so high-energy. In addition to unlike just about anything else in the world, AnDa Union's music is simply a lot of fun. I personally think having a good time is what going to see a music performance is all about and felt very happy after the show had ended.
I regret not getting this post written a few months ago when they were still on tour in the US so others would know about the group. Looking at their website, their next several shows are in Australia and New Zealand and they will be playing in London this summer. Their website also says that they'll have a UK and European tour this summer and autumn. If they're coming near where you live, I'd definitely check them out.
If AnDa Union isn't coming to your area, you should look out for the soon-to-be-released documentary about the group - AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City.
I was lucky enough to help organize the first North American screening of the film on November 2, 2011 at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Library. Several musicians from the band and the director/producer of the documentary were there to watch the film with us and then answer questions afterwards.
The premise of the film is to introduce you to the band in the city where they all live - Hohhot, Inner Mongolia - and then take you to each one of the band member's home towns/villages. If I remember correctly, all of the members of the group are from the countryside of Inner Mongolia (if they all aren't, most of them are).
Inner Mongolia, traditionally, was a nomadic place where life revolved around raising animals and surviving the harsh seasons. Now, there are big cities are popping up throughout the autonomous region. The growth rate in Inner Mongolia is one of China's highest as the region is flush with an abundance of natural resources. A lot of the traditions and culture native to the region are being lost due to the homogeneousness that comes with economic development.
The footage of going back to each group member's home and meeting their families is a wonderful thing to see. The viewer gets to meet their families, see the food they eat, and see the homes where they live. Seeing all of these things is not something you can experience through too many other mediums.
Between visits to different home villages, there's footage of the musicians in the group practicing their songs, teaching lessons to young Inner Mongolians interested in learning traditional music, fine-tuning their instruments, and performing their songs. The film shows how the music is intimately intertwined with the places that they are from.
I really liked "AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City." Not only is it great to see the group doing things related to their music, but it's even better getting to see the culture from which their music is derived. Being invited into homes deep in the Inner Mongolian countryside is not something that many will ever get to experience.
The Screenings section of the movie's website gives a number of film festivals that the film is being shown at in the coming months. If I ever see anything about the film's wide-spread release in the future, I will be sure to post it here to my blog.
I got a huge intake of AnDa Union back in early November. It's so cool that they - and a number of other China-related acts - came through Kansas this past year. The only thing I missed seeing during AnDa Union's stay in Kansas was their jam with local Lawrence musicians at a local coffeeshop. I couldn't make it to that night. I'm sure it was a sight to see.
Edit: Thanks to fellow blogger Ramesh for sharing that AnDa Union was featured on the BBC World Service on 2/14/2012. This is a really good interview with the producer of the film and one of the band members.
I want to share AnDa Union and their music here on my blog. They're awesome.
I'll first talk about their show and then the documentary about the group.
AnDa Union's show was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. They use instruments unique to the grasslands of northern China, belt out "Mongolian throat singing" for their vocals, and select their songs from a catalog of ethnic folk music from the steppes of the Mongolian plateau.
To get a taste of what they're about, here is a YouTube video of the song "Derlcha" from a performance they gave in January, 2011:
Very unique stuff. I'd never seen anything like the bowed instruments most of them are playing. That's not an er hu. It's an instrument native to ethnic Mongolians (that I don't know the name of). I found it interesting that, as you can see from the video, they're not pressing down on the strings when they play that instrument. Instead, they're pushing their fingers onto the fret board next to the string.
Here's a photo of what I'm talking about:
Below is another video of what was probably my favorite song of the show - "Galloping Horses." This song was the finale of the show we saw in Lawrence:
This song, and their whole show really, is so high-energy. In addition to unlike just about anything else in the world, AnDa Union's music is simply a lot of fun. I personally think having a good time is what going to see a music performance is all about and felt very happy after the show had ended.
I regret not getting this post written a few months ago when they were still on tour in the US so others would know about the group. Looking at their website, their next several shows are in Australia and New Zealand and they will be playing in London this summer. Their website also says that they'll have a UK and European tour this summer and autumn. If they're coming near where you live, I'd definitely check them out.
If AnDa Union isn't coming to your area, you should look out for the soon-to-be-released documentary about the group - AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City.
I was lucky enough to help organize the first North American screening of the film on November 2, 2011 at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Library. Several musicians from the band and the director/producer of the documentary were there to watch the film with us and then answer questions afterwards.
The premise of the film is to introduce you to the band in the city where they all live - Hohhot, Inner Mongolia - and then take you to each one of the band member's home towns/villages. If I remember correctly, all of the members of the group are from the countryside of Inner Mongolia (if they all aren't, most of them are).
Inner Mongolia, traditionally, was a nomadic place where life revolved around raising animals and surviving the harsh seasons. Now, there are big cities are popping up throughout the autonomous region. The growth rate in Inner Mongolia is one of China's highest as the region is flush with an abundance of natural resources. A lot of the traditions and culture native to the region are being lost due to the homogeneousness that comes with economic development.
The footage of going back to each group member's home and meeting their families is a wonderful thing to see. The viewer gets to meet their families, see the food they eat, and see the homes where they live. Seeing all of these things is not something you can experience through too many other mediums.
Between visits to different home villages, there's footage of the musicians in the group practicing their songs, teaching lessons to young Inner Mongolians interested in learning traditional music, fine-tuning their instruments, and performing their songs. The film shows how the music is intimately intertwined with the places that they are from.
I really liked "AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City." Not only is it great to see the group doing things related to their music, but it's even better getting to see the culture from which their music is derived. Being invited into homes deep in the Inner Mongolian countryside is not something that many will ever get to experience.
The Screenings section of the movie's website gives a number of film festivals that the film is being shown at in the coming months. If I ever see anything about the film's wide-spread release in the future, I will be sure to post it here to my blog.
I got a huge intake of AnDa Union back in early November. It's so cool that they - and a number of other China-related acts - came through Kansas this past year. The only thing I missed seeing during AnDa Union's stay in Kansas was their jam with local Lawrence musicians at a local coffeeshop. I couldn't make it to that night. I'm sure it was a sight to see.
Edit: Thanks to fellow blogger Ramesh for sharing that AnDa Union was featured on the BBC World Service on 2/14/2012. This is a really good interview with the producer of the film and one of the band members.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Red Color New Soldier
Li Zhensheng was a photo journalist during China's cultural revolution in the 1960s and 70s. Li, a young man originally from Shandong Province, was relocated to Harbin, the frigid northern city on the edge of Siberia, to be a photojournalist for the newspaper there.
Although the Chinese Communist Party employed him at the state-run paper to take photos that would glorify the Mao's radical revolution, Li took it upon himself to document more than just the propaganda that his bosses asked him to emphasize.
Li knew that something had gone horribly wrong as Chairman Mao exhorted China's young red guards to bully their teachers, to kill intellectuals, to destroy cultural relics including the "four olds," and to make Mao himself into a god-like figure.
Determined to record all aspects of the chaos going on in Harbin at that time, Li captured the darkest aspects of the decade that China was ruled by a senile madman. He risked his life by shooting what he did and hiding the negatives so that his work would be preserved for history's sake. In 2003, Li published a collection of these photos in his book, Red Color News Soldier.
The book's format is: a short introduction from China historian Jonathan Spence, a few pages of writing from Li, photos from the time period he'd just described, more writing from Li, more photos, and so on for more than 300 pages. There are also a number of newspaper front pages mixed in throughout the book to give the reader a feel for what the official Party mouthpiece was spewing as well.
While the writing in the book is at times illuminating, the reason the book exists is to display Li's extensive photo collection. The photos in this book are not light reading. There are photos of property being destroyed, young children and working people declaring their love for their dear leader, and intellectuals and Party enemies being tortured, humiliated, and killed.
The following few photos aren't necessarily the "best" in the book, but they're ones that I could find on a quick internet search:
These photos speak for themselves. There are a couple hundred more like them in the book.
I'm glad I added Red Color News Soldier to my library. It's difficult to get through. But it is an important perspective on the madness that China descended into less than fifty years ago.
Although the Chinese Communist Party employed him at the state-run paper to take photos that would glorify the Mao's radical revolution, Li took it upon himself to document more than just the propaganda that his bosses asked him to emphasize.
Li knew that something had gone horribly wrong as Chairman Mao exhorted China's young red guards to bully their teachers, to kill intellectuals, to destroy cultural relics including the "four olds," and to make Mao himself into a god-like figure.
Determined to record all aspects of the chaos going on in Harbin at that time, Li captured the darkest aspects of the decade that China was ruled by a senile madman. He risked his life by shooting what he did and hiding the negatives so that his work would be preserved for history's sake. In 2003, Li published a collection of these photos in his book, Red Color News Soldier.
The book's format is: a short introduction from China historian Jonathan Spence, a few pages of writing from Li, photos from the time period he'd just described, more writing from Li, more photos, and so on for more than 300 pages. There are also a number of newspaper front pages mixed in throughout the book to give the reader a feel for what the official Party mouthpiece was spewing as well.
While the writing in the book is at times illuminating, the reason the book exists is to display Li's extensive photo collection. The photos in this book are not light reading. There are photos of property being destroyed, young children and working people declaring their love for their dear leader, and intellectuals and Party enemies being tortured, humiliated, and killed.
The following few photos aren't necessarily the "best" in the book, but they're ones that I could find on a quick internet search:
These photos speak for themselves. There are a couple hundred more like them in the book.
I'm glad I added Red Color News Soldier to my library. It's difficult to get through. But it is an important perspective on the madness that China descended into less than fifty years ago.
Friday, January 27, 2012
CNY, Foxconn, and Baijiu
Happy Chinese New Year!!
I love that video. So happy and joyful. China is a wonderful place to be during the days leading up to and the days following the lunar new year. Qian and I have missed China a lot the past few days.
Now that you've finished reveling in the awesomeness that is China in wintertime, listen to this hour-long This American Life podcast about an American guy visiting the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen. This is worth your time.
And then finally, to all of you capping off this taking-in-some-Chinese-culture-session with a shot of baijiu, I say to you ,"Gan bei!"
I love that video. So happy and joyful. China is a wonderful place to be during the days leading up to and the days following the lunar new year. Qian and I have missed China a lot the past few days.
Now that you've finished reveling in the awesomeness that is China in wintertime, listen to this hour-long This American Life podcast about an American guy visiting the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen. This is worth your time.
And then finally, to all of you capping off this taking-in-some-Chinese-culture-session with a shot of baijiu, I say to you ,"Gan bei!"
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