If you read Chinese and want an interesting newspaper to read...

...I highly recommend Southern Weekend (南方周末). It is an independent, interesting paper, published weekly (comes out each Thursday evening) by the Southern Daily Group. Some inspiration from the paper's New Year's message:

　当我们扪心自问之时，我们心中对这个国家深挚的爱已经给了该如何行事的答案。

　　这就是为什么我们不只赞美国家的进步，也批评它的不尽完美；为什么像捧着烛火一样捧着“真相”，在群论汹汹之际也坚持独立的立场；为什么若我们只能发出荧荧之光，也有崇高之意。

　　这也就是为什么你会在今天买下这份报纸，而它没有提供可供获利的消息甚至也不提供什么消遣。

Equally beautiful in translation (by David Kelly):

When we look within, the warm love in our hearts for this country tells us to how to proceed. That is why we not only praise the country's progress, but also criticise its imperfections; why, holding up "the truth" as if holding a candle, we maintain our independence in the face of mass opinion; why if we can only issue a gleaming light, it bears a noble meaning. This is why you bought a copy of this newspaper today, though it offered little of profit and no entertainment whatsoever.

Atheism: Sleep in on Sunday mornings

This slogan comes from a campaign in Britain (actually from a failed spin-off in Australia) of advertising about atheism to counter religious groups' advertisements. According to the article, it hasn't set off much controversy, which I think is a definite contrast to how much dissent there would be to such a campaign in the US. There is so much social context in religion and perception of religion. For my final exam, I did interviews based on topics discussed in class. There was one unit on supersitition and belief, and for some reason, one girl ended up talking about religion. She said in Chinese society there is a lot of pressure not to believe. Obviously this social pressure functions in the complete opposite way that social pressure in the US works. It is something I had never really considered.

I've been thinking more about the topic of religion lately after my student's comments and watching Religulous - a Bill Mayer movie about the ridiculousness of religion. I will write more about the movie (which I actually didn't like too much despite some amusing moments and general agreement with many of his ideas) another time.

言论自由 Freedom of speech in China

Ever since my first class while studying abroad at Peking University a few years ago, I have been amazed by how much freedom of speech there is in China. There are of course limits, most noticeably if you are publishing something in book, article, or blog form, and I've written recently about the limits of academic freedom. But otherwise, if you're not speaking in a public setting, you can say pretty much anything you want.

The original surprising incident for me was that our first class topic in an international relations class at PKU was the 1989 Tiananmen protests. Of course, it was a class taught in English of mostly foreigners, with a few Chinese students thrown in, and I'm pretty sure the professor, who received his phd in the US, chose the topic intentionally to destroy all previous notions we had about freedom of expression in China. He certainly succeeded. One of the Chinese IR majors in the class said that they did discuss this incident in her Chinese classes as well.

The recent incident was at my university's new years/end of the semester party. The opening act (Chinese parties are basically a combination of a variety show and banquet) was someone who did imitations of the top two leaders in China, as well as the previous top two leaders. At first I thought he was just going to poke fun at the school's leaders because I was under the belief that publicly making fun of the top leaders was unacceptable (of course, many people do so in private conversations and online). Granted, he didn't compare Hu Jintao to a monkey and his imitations were very very mild by Daily Show or Colbert Report standards, but there were parts I found funny and even more parts the Chinese teachers found funny. Still, this goes what most Westerners think of when they think of freedom of speech and China.

Yang Jia: Criminal or hero?

In China, if you weren't talking about the Olympics this summer, you were probably talking about this case. Article also here.

By Jennifer Haskell

On September 1, Yang Jia was sentenced to death by the No. 2 division of the Shanghai Municipal People's Court. His crime, killing six policemen and injuring a number of others in Shanghai's Zhabei District public security bureau, would not have attracted much sympathy by the judicial system nor the court of public opinion in any country. Yet in this year's summer of discontent in China, Yang Jia became somewhat of a people's hero. While it is unlikely that he will receive much sympathy from the China's supreme court when his case comes up for review, Chinese netizens have been surprisingly supportive of Mr. Yang. Immediately after the Weng'an incident, the overwhelming response to Yang's case demonstrated the large amount of dissatisfaction that people have with local lawmakers and law enforcement.

Supporters have questioned how a "nice guy" from Beijing who enjoys traveling and photography could end up as a cold-blooded killer. As more of the story came out, the public found out that Yang was held by the police last year on suspicion that he had stolen the bike he rented while on vacation in Shanghai. While a portion of the transcript reflecting acrimony on both sides was made public, police held him in custody for six hours even though he had proof that he had legally rented the bicycle. Allegations of abuse during his time in custody arose, as afterwards Yang Jia had unsuccessfully sued the police for 10,000 RMB for mental anguish suffered.

Furthermore, the conduct of the trial elicited questioning of its fairness. The trial was closed to the public; neither family members nor the media were allowed to witness the proceedings. Doubts about the appropriateness of Yang's lawyer, Xie Youming, arose, especially from the suspect's father who tried to have his own lawyer represent his son. Mr. Xie worked as a legal consultant for the Zhabei District government, so he would have had the same supervisor as the police officers who were killed, presenting what some argue is a conflict of interest. Additionally, Yang's lawyer dismissed the possibility of the insanity plea, as he himself found Yang in perfectly sound mental health and also asserted that he deserved the death penalty (note: all Chinese articles raising such doubts have been censored).

While some commentators sympathize with the slain policemen, arguing that Yang deserves his punishment, others have focused on the unfairness of the trial. Still, a large number seem to empathize with Yang Jia on a more emotional level, labeling him an "upholder of justice and righteousness"(义士). In a CCTV television report, investigative reporter Bai Yansong provided some possible explanations why the general public has been so sympathetic to Yang Jia. One such reason is that people see the police as a large, evil organization and thus see Mr. Yang's attacks as righteous and justified. Even if the individual police officers who died did not deserve such a fate, their lives can be ignored if Yang Jia's actions were in pursuit of a larger goal. Such an explanation begins to grasp the rampant distrust of local authority. As one commenter on our Chinese website wrote, "Yang Jia did what we all would like to but don't dare do, therefore, in a society where the rule of law is not evident, black and white are blurred, justice is not extended, there is no order, and violence is used indiscriminately, we have lost hope in the law. We hate the powers that be, naturally hope for a righteous hero, and sympathize with Yang Jia." Sympathetic reactions to Yang Jia's case not only seem to defy what many people in Western countries see as the obvious response to the killing of police officers but also suggest that more cases like Yang Jia's could appear in the future if law enforcement and the justice system do not reform for the better.

Other netizens have proffered that Yang Jia committed murder because he was born and raised in Beijing. More specifically, if the Shanghai police brought a migrant worker from the countryside into custody on suspicion of stealing a bike and treated him roughly, he would just be thankful to emerge alive. Accustomed to prejudice and bullying and convinced that there is no justice, someone from the countryside would not try to seek compensation through the justice system, seeing such actions as laughable because of their obvious inefficacy. Only someone brought up in Beijing, aware of his rights, would attempt to seek justice through the system and then turn violently against the system if it fails him.

Yet, we should hope that all citizens can reach the level of legal consciousness that Yang possessed and not maintain the expectation of injustice. It was not his understanding of his rights that led him to commit the crime but his sense that those rights had been violated and nothing had been done to correct for this wrong. While there are people who would act rashly under any system, a fairer and more just legal system could limit cases like Yang Jia's. As noted by his lawyer, his great understanding of the law is exactly the reason why the Shanghai justice system should have made the trial more transparent and open to the public. There is no doubt that Yang Jia committed the crime and most Chinese citizens would agree that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for someone who murdered so many police officers. Therefore, it is not the verdict that is in question, it is the process. By holding a fair and transparent trial, the justice system could have said to both Yang Jia and his sympathizers: while the system failed you once, it has not failed you again. Instead, the questionable choice of a defense attorney and closed door proceedings only confirmed the inequity and injustice inherent in the system, which Yang already understood.

As the CCTV reporter Bai Yansong pointed out, people's lives are important; he asks how the people can expect the government to put the people first and fully respect human life if the people hold up Yang Jia (a killer) as an upholder of justice and righteousness. Police officers died, and their lives should be respected, but that does not mean that people cannot understand Yang Jia's motivations. The huge number of mass incidents in China that come about because of local injustices demonstrates that many Chinese have similar grievances. In fact, a true respect for human life would call on Yang Jia's sympathizers to work to reform the system so that it does run by the motto of putting the people and human lives first, thereby reducing incidents of injustice that can lead to violent consequences.

能否归回家？ Going home

So as most of you probably know, I'm heading back to the US in August. Yes, I know this means I'm missing the Olympics, but tickets for events are either impossible to get, too expensive, or for events I don't want to see anyway. That and thanks to Olympic security regulations, I need to process my next visa in the US. So to comfort myself for missing the Olympics (which I have always wanted to see live...really, I asked my parents if we could go to Atlanta in 1996), I made a top 10 list (in no particular order) of why I'm glad to be going back:

1. pollution

My biggest complaint, hands down, about Beijing is the air quality. Click the link to see what i'm talking about, though it has gotten much, much better this summer, thanks to temporary measures such as shutting down factories and curbing traffic.

2. subway security checks

They are checking bags at every subway stop (kind of....they sometimes force you to go through the back check, sometimes they don't), but it is causing nightmares (I had a blogpost with a picture of a crazy long line outside one of the stops but he took the picture down...sorry). It will only get worse when the Games actually come.

3. crowds

With 1.3 billion people (all of whom, I swear, live in Beijing), there are always crowds in China, but thanks to the restrictions that limit private cars, more people are taking public transportation. Thankfully this doesn't seem to have greatly affected my daily bus route. But still, the crowds are there.

4. 老外 foreigners

The city will be filled with foreigners who don't speak Chinese. No offense if you're one of them, but I'll be glad to miss the chaos.

5. no street food or cheap, dirty restaurants

Why can't the lady who sells fruit near the office sell me my mangoes in peace? I understand that most foreigners are used to higher levels of sanitary conditions, but I like the cheap food!

6. American television coverage of the Olympics

So the one channel on TV that I watch with any regularity is the sports channel and lets just say they play a lot of Olympic re-runs. Obviously CCTV is not an unbiased organization and all sports channels cheer for their own country, but you could at least give the other team credit (a 好球 here and there when deserved) for their achievements. This does seem to be improving – I watched an international volleyball tournament live recently and the announcers did say “nice shot,” etc for the other team.

7. shopping in peace

Please just let me look at what you have in your store/stall and decide what I want to buy. You bothering me is only going to make me less likely to buy from you.

8. bbq

Ever since the 4^th of July I've been craving bbq. I can't wait!

9. kicking out of migrant workers

Sure, migrant workers are more likely to stare at me, but they're also the ones that built all the Olympic facilities, and from a pure human rights perspective, they should be allowed to stay in Beijing.

10. China's inevitable 小题大做

People have all sorts of theories about what will go down come August 8. Mine is that small groups or individuals will, probably more than once, try to engage in public protest, and I'm pretty sure Beijing will overreact. I really hope such overreaction doesn't happen, but I'm not optimistic.

And obviously it will be great to see everyone. I realized that in the course of a little over a month, I will be in every city that I think of as “home;” this also includes every place, excluding one, where I've lived at least 3 months of my life. (LA, Pennsylvania, bay area...i will also probably be going to Boston and NYC for a day or two...let me know if you'll be in these places!)

PS. I have a few things I've wanted to post...both other people's articles and my own. I will do that ASAP.

Morality check: the “running teacher” and public values in China

I really like this article. And I don't usually say that about things I like. Really! here.

By Jennifer Haskell

The May 12 Wenchuan earthquake acted as a mirror in which China saw a reflection of itself. And for the most part, the Chinese people liked what they saw. Sure, corruption is rampant among local governments, as embodied by collapsed school buildings, but the central government seems to genuinely care about the common people, as represented by the tears of Premier Wen Jiabao. The Chinese people also saw in their fellow citizens a willingness to selflessly help others in times of distress, a quality that was not immediately evident before the disaster. In the weeks following the earthquake, people found hope in the generosity of the millions who donated, in the bravery of the volunteers and soldiers, and in the stories of heroism, of parents and teachers who sacrificed their lives.

Ten days later a story of a different nature appeared online. Fan Meizhong, a high school teacher in Dujiangyan, a hard-hit town, wrote a post on the widely popular Tianya forum detailing his experience during the earthquake. When the disaster hit, he yelled, “Earthquake!” and then immediately ran from the room, giving his students no instructions. While his school was not damaged and no students were harmed, his students had remained in their classroom; not a single one had followed their teacher out of the room. He justified his actions by saying that there is no specific legal regulation that gives instructions on how a teacher should behave in an emergency, and those who expect him to act heroically are imposing their own expectations and sense of morality. According to Fan, his belief in liberalism allows him to be selfish and value his own life first; he would only be willing to sacrifice himself in order to save his daughter and would even leave his mother to die, a direct assault on the importance Chinese tradition puts on filial piety.

Obviously, his post caused an uproar among Chinese netizens, leading to his nickname “Running Fan” or the “Running Teacher” (Fan Paopao), and even to his firing. His actions were criticized as disgraceful, and people wondered why on earth he would publicize his cowardice. Yet, Fan Meizhong's story has also elicited a debate about morality in China, and provided an opportunity to re-examine the country's collective moral values.

Like other targets of netizens' outrage before him (see: Grace Wang), criticism of Teacher Fan quickly crossed the line of common courtesy. As Si Wenhan, the pen name for a member of the Standing Committee of Dadukou District People’s Congress in Chongqing, points out, no officials at any level of government, no matter how responsible they may have been for the collapse of “tofu dregs” school buildings, have been on the receiving end of such harsh censure. This all came to a head on June 7, when Fan Meizhong and Guo Songmin, one of his critics, met in a head to head debate on Phoenix TV, during which Mr. Guo, who seemed to see himself as the upholder of morality, had a string of harsh words for Teacher Fan. He called him “shameless,” “a beast,” and “a half-breed,” and showed no concern for common courtesies of debate, often interrupting his opponent. Because of Mr. Guo's behavior, Chinese netizens have named him “Guo the Clown” (Guo Tiaotiao), indicating that he had made a fool of himself. Since the TV broadcast, they have also generally been more sympathetic to Fan Meizhong than the moralizing Guo Songmin.

As numerous commentators have pointed out, one reason we should all hesitate before lashing out at Teacher Fan is that, in truth, we are all like him. As Cao Lin pointed out in the Oriental Morning Post, Fan Meizhong had the courage to tell his story, and “Who dares assert that they do not have a part of Fan Meizhong in them? Who dares say that in the far reaches of their minds, they have never had a flash of thinking like Fan Meizhong's?” Chinese netizens and “morality police” have taken their own fantastical, idealistic notions of morality and tried to enforce them among the general population. They forget that they, like Teacher Fan, are human and have the same human flaws of hypocrisy, conceit and insecurity, all of which came out during Guo Songmin's tirade.

Yet, the controversy surrounding Fan Meizhong has provoked more than nasty insults. His story and especially his rationale for running have stimulated a debate about what common moral values we can expect others to hold. Teacher Fan used aspects of liberalism and his right to pursue the safety of his own life over saving others as justification for his actions. Shao Jian, a teacher in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Nanjing Xiaozhuang College, however, believes that his understanding of liberalism is flawed. While liberalism grants people certain rights, it also requires certain duties, and in leaving his students behind, Fan Meizhong abandoned his duty as a teacher.

Additionally, while the liberal market system and liberal governmental systems often presume that all individuals will act selfishly in their own interests, only extreme believers in liberalism – like Ayn Rand – actually view selfishness and lack of charity towards others as praiseworthy. Heroism and even cooperation cannot be counted on but that does not mean they are not virtuous, as a belief in liberalism is most certainly not equivalent to valuing selfishness. Because there were no regulations instructing otherwise, it can be assumed that most liberals would see Teacher Fan's behavior as lawful but definitely not admirable. Had the same situation occurred in the United States, Americans would probably harbor similar feelings of disgust towards the “Running Teacher,” (Americans craved stories of heroism after 9/11 just as Chinese did after the earthquake) though there would also likely be more questioning of why the school or education system as a whole had no regulations governing teacher and student behavior during emergencies.

Teacher Fan's run – and especially his public account of his actions – certainly challenged the status quo of traditional thinking about morality in China. But where does that leave us in constructing new ideas about public values? Li Zhongqin, a writer and former member of the Shandong Writers Association, argues that the Chinese need to stop advocating ideas of morality that correspond more closely with the morality of a sage* or the morality of a hero. It is unrealistic to expect people to put others' interests before or even on the same level as their own. The morality police who self-righteously expect others like Teacher Fan to sacrifice their own interests and even possibly their lives for others are also acting selfishly and unfairly by putting a higher value on the lives of some over others (as Li points out, Fan Meizhong's students were all in their second year of high school – almost adults – not young children). While attempting to uphold such unattainable standards of morality, the idea of citizen's morality has still not truly emerged in China; such an idea makes use of the liberal assumption of innate selfishness, yet as Li explains, from this assumption can come win-win outcomes and mutual benefit. Such a moral system would still give praise and credit to those who act heroically but would not depend upon each person to do so.

Is China ready to adopt such a citizen's idea of morality? That is not entirely clear. By invoking the word “citizen,” in addition to requiring people in China to respect individual choices of others, Li Zhongqin also implies that people should also begin to engage and question the government, as per the duty of a citizen. Instead of dwelling on Fan Meizhong's personal failings, they should worry more about systemic problems, such as the collapse of schools and the lack of regulations regarding classroom behavior in the case of disaster. The firing of Teacher Fan indicates that China might have a long way to go, but at least the conversation has begun.

*In Chinese history, the sage is looked up to as someone who embodies the highest level of morality, with Confucius being the most famous and revered. In Li Zhongqin's article, the morality of a sage is higher than that of a hero, as the sage puts others' interests first, while a hero puts others on an equal plane.

迷信 Superstition

All countries have superstitions, I just happen to find China's more interesting, not just because I live here but also because they tend to use language in interesting ways (with the exception of the superstitions or 谣言 – rumors as the government has called them – about ways in which the earthquake should be been prevented). For example, the number 4 is bad because it sounds like death, while 8 is good because it sounds like becoming rich. You should never split a pair (分梨) because you don't want to split up (分离) – they also sound the same).

As I said, the number 8 is good. In fact, its auspiciousness is so ingrained in Chinese thinking that the non-religious, anti-superstition Communist government planned the beginning of the Olympics for 8/8/2008 at 8pm. Though now people are beginning to doubt the traditional thinking that 8 is lucky. Note the following dates:

1/25 snowstorm

3/14 Lhasa riots

5/12 Sichuan earthquake

If you add up the digits in each date, they each add up to 8. I usually stack this stuff up to coincidence (and as noted in a blog entry I read today, the Shandong train crash doesn't fit this pattern), though it still does make you wonder.

I'm not superstitious. Most of the time. As a die-hard sports fan though, one always believes that things one does ruin opportunities for their favorite teams. Additionally, when I was told that in your 本命年 – every 12 years or the year that is associated with the same animal of the Chinese zodiac as the year you were born in – you are supposed to wear red every day, I bought a red bracelet that I have worn ever since. I don't believe in anything, so why not “believe” in this? One day a few weeks back, I was having a really bad, annoying day. About halfway through said annoyingness, I looked down at my wrist and realized that I had forgotten to put on my red bracelet after taking a shower. Let's just say I've been extra careful to make sure i'm wearing it ever since.

北京的圣诞节 (Christmas in Beijing)

It's that time of year, where if I were still a Stanford student, I would have just finished finals and would be at home sleeping in, frantically looking for Christmas gifts for family, and spending time with old friends. The Christmas season has, in many ways, hit China. I was in Walmart the day after Thanksgiving, and they were selling Christmas decorations and playing carols. Malls and restaurants have Christmas decorations up, just like in the States. I'm sure I could easily find a tree to put up in my apartment if I wanted to but getting it up 6 flights of stairs would be quite a task. Still, in China, Christmas is a work day. It's a Tuesday, so I don't have to teach but all my friends are still at work, and the plan probably consists of just a dinner out, which is how young Chinese people celebrate Christmas anyway.

I've been teaching a Christmas lesson this week during which the most interesting discussion question asked about whether its a good thing that Christmas is becoming so popular around the world, even in non-Christian countries. Most students said yes, citing the happiness and love that holidays inspire, as well as the cultural connection it could provide They also inevitably mentioned that businessmen profit greatly from Christmas and that the more days for rest and relaxation, the better. Most classes usually had at least one person who saw a downside. One girl called it "cultural invasion" (and she has a point - globalization brings a lot more of Western culture to China then Chinese culture to the West), while most others emphasized the importance of remembering traditional Chinese festivals instead.

Still, just as America changes its imported holidays, food, traditions, etc, there is a Chinese version of Christmas. Like in the US, it's highly commercialized and people love to shop, though it seems like usually on Christmas Eve. However, for young Chinese, Christmas is about spending time with friends, not family, since their parents do not normally celebrate the holiday and Spring Festival is right around the corner anyway. And most interesting of all (at least for Chinese learners/speakers) is the tradition of giving people apples and oranges. It comes from a play on words in Chinese - apple (苹果) stands for peace (平安 their first syllable is pronounced the same way), while orange (橙) stands for success (成功 ).


See this article for similar insights: http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=10118