first week done
Posted by wangbo in life in Beijing on February 28, 2008
It feels kinda odd, considering I’ve actually only worked three days (not counting prep done last week and Monday), but there you go, the first week back is over and done with.
Three days, because there were no classes Monday because the students were registering and collecting timetables and textbooks and so on, and because my super-sweet timetable for this semester gets me Fridays free. Three day weekends, I’m enjoying them already.
And I’m a little surprised by this, but it’s actually felt good to get back into the classroom, even though, thanks to Monday classes being cancelled, I both started and ended the work week with my toughest class- and yes, it felt good to be back in that classroom, too.
I’m also feeling a bit more positive about the textbook we have, too, and I’ve got a pretty good idea of the direction I want to take them this semester. Sure, it’s still just boring, dry as a Beijing spring wind academic writing, but still, I’m feeling pretty good about it- so far, at least.
Interesting, today I asked my students if they kept blogs. In one class only girls admitted to having a blog. Somebody pointed out the boys were too busy playing games to bother writing a blog. In the second class, only two students admitted to writing a blog. And in both classes there was a bit of embarrassed giggling about the idea of having a blog. And of course, none of them ever write any blog posts in English…
recommended reading
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study on February 27, 2008
Just a quick note before I head off to class: Read this now.
no surprises
Somehow, nothing in this article surprises me, especially this bit:
Asian respondents believed there was a reluctance on the part of New Zealanders who they said seemed unaware of the importance of long term relationships. A perceived lack of interest and minimal market knowledge also left some wondering how serious Kiwis were about doing business in Japan and China.
“I like to co-operate with those who have a real interest in China, have long term and detailed business plans and goals, and come to China to understand and interpret us and our consumers more. I don’t like those who do not have much thoughts put into the Chinese market,” a Chinese respondent said.
Nah, I couldn’t possibly be less surprised.
good news or bad?
I don’t know what to make of this report– is it good news or bad? Does it signify a huge opening in the market, a potential economic opportunity for my wife and myself? Or should we take it as a warning to just stay here- Kiwis ain’t interested in learning Chinese, for whatever bizarre reason? The two people quoted are interesting: First is Nora Yao, director of Auckland’s Confucius Institute:
Ms Yao said: “I guess New Zealanders have lived in a society that is monolingual for so long that it is hard for them to see the importance of learning a language other than English.”
Well, yes, and then again, no, not quite… We’re all exposed to Maori from a very early age, and there are many Kiwi kids growing up with languages other than English in the home or not too far away. But then again, New Zealand is just as hopeless as the other Anglo-Saxon countries with language learning.
Next is principal of Belmont Primary School, Bruce Cunningham:
“We can’t find the time to fit it into our busy curriculum, and also it’s not easy finding a teacher who is proficient in teaching Mandarin,” he said.
A perfectly valid statement. The only question is: Can we take this at face value, or is he making excuses? I suspect, though, that we can and should accept this reason for not teaching Mandarin. It’s hard enough finding properly qualified Maori teachers, let alone trying to introduce a foreign language.
But there is one really huge question in my mind that has gone both unasked and unanswered in this article: What about the teaching methods? Are the Confucius Institute teachers using the traditional, teacher-centred, “shut up, listen and copy” approach that is still so infuriatingly common in China, or are they using more modern, more effective, student-centred methods? And are they making any attempt to adapt to New Zealand culture, and more importantly, New Zealand’s very multi-cultural environment? Answers to these questions would tell us far more about the reasons for the Confucius Institute’s lack of success than a quote from a primary school principal.
But it’s not those glaringly obvious questions left unasked and therefore unanswered that infuriate me most about this article: It’s the first sentence. Really, has the Herald started hiring 12-year-old boys? Or has New Zealand’s wannabe paper of record let its standards slip so low that blatantly racist jokes are acceptable openings to articles? And how the hell do you go from a stupid, childish “Confucius say” joke to the second sentence:
That is probably what the great Chinese philosopher would say if he were alive today – going by the experience of staffers at an Auckland Chinese institution named after him.
No, he wouldn’t say that, and if you’re aware of the fact he’s a great philosopher, why do you treat him with such incredible disrespect?
Anyway, what should lzh and I read into this? Is there a desperate need for decent Chinese teachers in New Zealand? Should we rush off to get ourselves qualified then head back to New Zealand to cash in on this need? Or should we assume the opposite?
why?
Posted by wangbo in Uncategorized on February 25, 2008
Why is it that I get the feeling that Victoria University of Wellington‘s student newspaper Salient is of a far higher quality than New Zealand’s mainstream media?
what?
Posted by wangbo in Uncategorized on February 25, 2008
When I saw the headline, I was wondering about the article, but then I saw the NZ Herald’s (all too typically) short and seriously superficial excuse for an article, and all that is going through my mind is:
WHAT?!?!?!?
Sure, censorship exists in New Zealand’s publishing industry. It’s a part of publishing, curtailing the excesses of authors, keeping them on the straight and narrow. And sure, the article in question is attributed to Newstalk ZB, a radio station, and New Zealand’s radio stations are little more than vehicles for advertising, with the occasional outbreak of “news”, weather or music. But censorship is a pretty damn big accusation to be levelling in a Western democracy. Could nobody have thought to, like, actually, investigate these claims?
And people wonder why I have no respect for my country’s excuse for journalism….
smashed up
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on February 24, 2008
So the Guozijian archway collided with a truck last night. As one would expect, the archway, being mere wood, came off second best. Click the link to see photos of workmen taking down the broken pieces.
The Beijing News/新京报’s Yang Siqi reports:
国子监牌楼被撞折
Imperial College Archway smashed
昨日凌晨5时许，东城区国子监街，国子监西侧一牌楼被试图驶过的施工挖土车撞断横梁。事后东城区交通队封锁了该街两端道路，东城区派出所调查了肇事司机，相文物保护单位现场研究修缮方案。
At about 5 yesterday morning, in Guozijian Street, Dongcheng District, a beam was broken off an archway on the west side of the Imperial College by a construction excavator trying to drive past. Afterwards the Dongcheng District Traffic Brigade sealed off the two ends of the street, the Dongcheng District Police Station investigated the driver responsible, and the related cultural relics protection unit is researching a repair plan.
警方：肇事司机违反禁行规定
Police: The driver responsible violated regulation forbidding traffic
国子监街一副食店老板张女士称：“今天早上，我正睡得迷迷糊糊的，听到有警车声，还有喇叭的喊话，叫前面的车停住、靠边。”后来出门看才发现国子监的牌楼竟然被撞断了，一辆黄色挖土车停在路边，司机被警察带走了。市政施工人员随后赶到现场，对牌楼进行了简单处理。
Ms Zhang, boss of a food store on Guozijian Street, said: “This morning, I wasn’t sleeping too well, I heard a police car siren, and a loudspeaker calling a car up ahead to pull over and stop.” Then she went outside and saw that the Guozijian archway had unexpectedly been broken, a yellow excavator was stopped on the side of the road, and the driver was taken away by police. Soon after municipal construction workers hurried to the scene and made some simple repairs to the archway.
昨日上午10时许，在国子监街西侧一工地内，一个高6米左右的挖土车停在院内，高昂的挖土斗上，可见摩擦痕迹。警方正对工地人员进行调查。警方表示，肇事司机违反了该路段禁止大运输车辆行驶的规定，特别是损坏了文物，将受到惩罚。
At about 10 yesterday morning, inside a work site at the west end of Guozijian Street, an approximately 6 metre high excavator was parked inside the courtyard. Friction marks could be seen on the high shovel. The police were investigating workers from the site. The police stated the driver responsible had violated a regulation banning large transport vehicles from passing, and especially from damaging cultural relics, and he would be punished.
10时左右，中国建筑科学研究院专家们来到现场修缮。文物专家当场爬上搭起的脚手架，测量横梁受损切面数据、研究修缮方案。
At about 10, experts from the China Construction Science Research Institute came to the scene to repair the archway. Cultural relics experts climbed scaffolding that had been erected, surveyed data on the damaged section of the beam, and deliberated a plan for its restoration.
“国子监”三字的牌匾倾斜得摇摇欲坠，部分木框裂开。横梁受重创，断裂成八字形，立柱裂出了几条大缝隙，石质底基无明显损坏。
The board with the three characters “Guozijian” was leaning to the point of imminent collapse and part of the wooden frame was split. The beam was heavily damaged, the pieces hanging diagonally down, the pillar was showing several large cracks, but the stone base did not show any sign of damage.
文物局：市级文物遭重创可惜
Cultural Relics Bureau: This incident of heavy damage to a city-level cultural relic is regrettable
12时30分，该路两个出口被交警放上禁行牌。
At 12:30, the traffic police lifted roadblocks at both ends of the street.
昨日下午4时许，施工人员小心翼翼地将撞损横梁取下。5时50分，该路段恢复通行。
At about 4 yesterday afternoon, construction workers cautiously removd the damaged beam. At 5:50, traffic was returned to that section of the street.
昨晚8时许，北京市文物局负责该牌楼修缮的王先生说，国子监牌楼是民国时期修成的，2002年曾翻修，具有相当大的文物价值。这次遭受重创真是可惜。
At 8 yesterday evening, the person from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics in charge of restoration of the archway, Mr Wang, said the Imperial College archway was erected during the Republic of China period, had been renovated in 2002, and was an extremely valuable cultural relic. This incident causing serious damage was very regrettable.
他表示：“经各方调查研究，修缮资金将控制在10万元以内。我们将连夜施工，修起一个围挡将牌楼圈起来。力争快速稳妥地修缮好这一市级保护文物。”
He stated: “From every aspect of investigation and discussion, restoration funds of over 100,000 yuan will be needed. We will work into the night to erect a barrier around the archway. We will work hard to quickly and cautiously restore this cultural relic protected at the municipal level.”
东城区派出所表示，肇事司机责任正在认定中，具体情况不便透露。
The Dongcheng District Police Station stated the driver responsible was still under investigation, but the specifics of the situation were not divulged.
Note: Guozijian/国子监 is the Imperial College, the highest educational institution in imperial days. China.org.cn and the Geiss Foundation both say it was established in the Yuan Dynasty, but Baidu Baike traces its history further back to 278, when the emperor Wu of the Western Jin established the Guozixue. But it seems that Baidu Baike is talking more about the history of imperial colleges, and not the Imperial College. Anyway sticking with china.org.cn and the Geiss Foundation, because they largely agree, and my internet accound is running too low to go running around chasing ephemeral links trying to figure out the complete history of imperial colleges, it was the place where the emperor would expound on the Classics with his officials attentively listening and was also a top research institute for researchers and scholars. After 1949 it was completely renovated and housed the Capital Library. The Geiss Foundation article ends with this fascinating little tidbit:
Of the more than 50,000 people during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, who successfully took examinations and became jingshi, the basic grade of a successful candidate in imperial examinations, all have their names, their origins and positions inscribed on 198 steles on either side of Dacheng Gate. Some famous historical figures whose names are carved on these steles include:
Lin Zexu an imperial envoy in the late Qing pivotal in the Opium Wars against England
Yu Qian, a famous Ming general
Yuan Chonghuan, another Ming general who fought against the Manchu invasions.
It could be interesting to wander through and see the names of famous, infamous and notorious people who have passed through those hallowed halls. Or maybe not. Either way, it’s a part of Beijing I really should get back to one of these days.
not unexpected
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, news on February 22, 2008
This article in The Beijing News/新京报 should not come as a surprise:
北京开查暂住证护奥运安全
Beijing to begin investigations into temporary residence permit holders for Olympic security
www.thebeijingnews.com · 2008-2-22 8:09:26 · 来源： 新京报
22-2-2008 8:09:26. Source: The Beijing News
今起持续39天；在京拥有住房流动人口仍须办证，拒办者可罚50元
Continuing 39 days from today; the floating population residing in Beijing will still be required to apply for permits, those refusing to apply could be fined 50 yuan.
TBJ’s Wang Shu (王姝) reports:
今日至3月31日，北京警方将在全市范围核查流动人口身份证件，所有符合条件者均须办理暂住证。警方称上述举措的目的之一，是为奥运创造安全和谐的治安环境。
From today to the 31 March, Beijing Police will inspect the identity documents of the floating population throughout the whole city, all those meeting the requirements must apply for a temporary residence permit. The Police say one of the goals of this measure is to create a secure and harmonious public security environment for the Olympics.
登记暂住证实现四目标
Four goals to achieve by registering for temporary residence permits
北京市公安局人口管理处昨日表示，这项名为“依法登记办证，共创平安奥运”的专项活动，为期39天，要达到四个目的，即加强流动人口、出租房屋基础登记；全面掌握北京流动人口底数；落实服务保护措施；为奥运安保创造安全和谐的治安环境。
The Population Management Office of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau yesterday stated this was called the “Legally registering for permits, together building a safe and sound Olympics” special exercise, lasting 39 days, with four goals to be achieved, namel strengthening the basic registration of the floating population and rental accomodations; comprehensively grasping the base number of Beijing’s floating population; implementing service protection measures; and creating a secure and harmonious public security environment to maintain Olympic security.
新来京人员逐一登记
People newly arrived in Beijing to register one by one
“提醒广大来京的暂住人员，主动到暂住地派出所办理暂住证”，人口管理处相关负责人表示，本次专项行动中，北京各 公安分县局、派出所将指导流动人口管理员，展开代办暂住证服务。尚未登记办证、新来京人员，将逐一登记；凡符合办证条件者，全部办证。如证件有效期已满， 逐人重新审核，换发新证。
“Remind all those temporarily residing in Beijing, take the intiative to register for a temporary residence permit at your local police station”, the relevant person in charge of the Population Management Office stated that in this special campaign, all Beijing’s local Public Security Bureaux and police stations would direct managers of the floating population to open services for applying for temporary residence permits. Those who have not yet registered and persons recently arrived in Beijing would register one by one; all those meeting the requirements would register. Where documents had expired, people would be re-examined and new documents issued.
目前，北京暂住证有效期限最长为一年。暂住期满、需要继续暂住者，须在期满前办理延期、换领手续；暂住证丢失，应至派出所补办；在京拥有自有住房的流动人口，同样须办暂住证。
Currently the longest term of validity for temporary residence permits in Beijing is one year. Those needing to continue their temporary residence must apply for an extension and go through the formalities before the expiration of their permit; if a temporary residence permit is lost, they should go to the police station to get a replacement; members of the floating population who own their own home in Beijing must apply for the same temporary residence permit.
警方称，活动期间将在流动人口返京集中地区，如机场、火车站、客运长途汽车站、高速路收费站等主要进京通道，及流 动人口聚居区、大型市场、建筑工地，设立宣传点，宣传《治安管理处罚法》、《北京市外地来京人员户籍管理规定》、《北京市房屋租赁管理若干规定》、公安部 《暂住证申领办法》，并现场解答群众办证咨询。
The Police said that during the exercise period they would establish publicity stations at important channels where the floating population re-enters Beijing, such as the airport, railway stations, long-distance bus stations, and expressway toll booths, and in floating population residential areas, large-scale markets, and construction sites, to publicise the “Law on Public Security Management and Punishment”, the “Beijing Municipal Regulation on the Registration and Management of People Coming to Beijing from Other Areas”, the “Certain Beijing Municipal Regulations on Property Rental and Management”, and the Ministry of Public Security’s “Method for Application for Temporary Residence Permits”, and would advise people on the applications for permits at these stations.
同步处罚出租屋违法行为
Punishing illegal property rental at the same time人口管理处指出，查验、核查流动人口身份证件的同时，警方还将处罚出租房内的各类违法行为，以此增强出租房主“合法出租、依法履责”的意识，达到提高流动人口登记办证率的效果。
The Population Management Office indicated that at the same time as it investigates and inspects the identity documents of the floating population, the Police would also punish every kind of illegal behaviour in the property rental, in this way strengthening the consciousness of “legal renting out and fulfillment of legal responsibilities” of landlords to attain an increase in the rate of registration of the floating population.
北京警方目前正在推行全市片警入户调查专项行动，这一行动将持续到本月底。两个专项行动前后推行，表明奥运前，北京对流动人口的管理力度正在加强。
Beijing Police are currently carrying out a city-wide special police investigation of residence permits which will continue until the end of this month. These two special campaings from beginning to end will make it clear that in the lead up to the Olympics Beijing is strengthening its management of the floating population.
五类人须办暂住证
Five kinds of people must apply for temporary residence permits
依据公安部《暂住证申领办法》，暂住证是公民离开常住户口所在地，在其他地区暂住的证明。
According to the Ministry of Public Security’s “Method for Application for Temporary Residence Permits”, a temporary residence permit is a certificate of temporary residence in a place other than a citizen’s place of registered permanent residence.
凡离开常住户口所在地、拟在暂住地居住一个月以上年满十六周岁的下列人员，在申报暂住户口登记的同时，应申领暂住证：
All of the following people over the age of 16 who leave their registered place of permanent residence and plan to live for more than one month in a place of temporary residence, at the same time as registering their declaration of temporary residence, should apply for a temporary residence permit:
●机关、团体、企业、事业单位雇用的人员；
People hired by offices, organisations, enterprises, and public institutions;
●从事工业、手工业、建筑业、运输业的人员；
People involved in industry, the handicraft industry, construction and transportation;
●从事商业、饮食业、修理业、服务业的人员；
People involved in commerce, the food and beverage industry, maintenance and the service industry;
●从事种植业、养殖业的人员；
People involved in horticulture and livestock breeding;
●其他需要申领暂住证的人员。
Other people who need to apply for temporary residence permits.
Don’t you just love the delicious vagueness of that last clause? Worded so that it could apply to basically anyone 16 years of age (oh, and that’s by Western counting, just to make that clear- those Westerners would call 15 but Chinese would call 16 by the traditional method are not subject to this regulation) and living away from the address in their hukou (residence registration) for more than one month. Given the emphasis on industries and occupations, I would assume that fifth clause is meant to cover people working in some field the Ministry of Public Security didn’t think of when they drew up the regulation, but I’m neither lawyer nor bureaucrat nor cop, so don’t quote me on that.
Anyway, this is followed up on the same page with what seems like a separate (and older?) article by the same journalist, Wang Shu:
■ 处理
Approach
拒办暂住证可罚50元
50 yuan fine for those refusing to register for a temporary residence permit
警方未明确说明暂住证是否作为奥运期间停留北京证明
The Police have not clearly explained whether or not the temporary residence permit is a certificate for temporary stays in Beijing during the Olympics
拒不办暂住证将受到哪些处罚？奥运期间，暂住证是否将作为流动人口在京停留的身份证明？对此，北京警方昨日未作出明确说明。依据公安部《暂住证申领办法》，拒不办理暂住证者，面临两类处罚：50元以下罚款或是警告。
What punishment will people refusing to apply for a temporary residence permit receive? Will the temporary residence permit serve as an identity document for members of the floating population staying temporarily in Beijing over the Olympics or not? The Beijing Police did not set out a clear explanation of this yesterday. According to the Ministry of Public Security’s “Method for Application for Temporary Residence Permits”, people refusing to apply for temporary residence permits will face two kinds of punishment: A fine of 50 yuan or less or a warning.
北京市公安局人口管理处昨日透露的信息表明，本次北京全市范围内核查流动人口暂住证，公安部《暂住证申领办法》为其执法依据之一。该部法规写明，如不按规定申领暂住证，且经公安机关通知拒不改正，直接责任人或暂住人，可被警方处以50元以下罚款或警告。
The information divulged by the Population Management Office of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau yesterday explains that one of the bases of this city-wide inspection of temporary residence permits of the floating population is the enforcement of the Ministry of Public Security’s “Method for Application for Temporary Residence Permits”. This ministry’s regulation states clearly that they don’t apply for a temporary residence permit according to the regulations or having been notified by the public security organs refuse to rectify their situation, the person directly responsible or the person temporarily residing could be fined up to 50 yuan or given a warning.
《暂住证申领办法》同时规定，骗取、冒领、伪造暂住证，可处500元以下罚款或警告；雇用无暂住证人员、法人或直接责任人，可被处以1000元以下罚款或警告。
At the same time, the”Method for Application for Temporary Residence Permits” stipulates that those who fraudulently obtain, falsely claim, or forge temporary residence permits can be fined up to 500 yuan or issued a warning; if a person without a temporary residence permit is hired, the lawyer or person directly responsible can be fined up to 1000 yuan or issued a warning.
2003年《收容遣送管理办法》废止之后，国内不少城市取消暂住证。
After the abolition in 2003 of the “Management Method for Internment and Repatriation”, many cities in China cancelled temporary residence permits.
■ 背景
Background
流动人口管理5年几近“真空”
5 years of management of the floating population is almost a “vacuum”
北京市公安局负责人曾坦言，自2003年《收容遣送管理办法》废止后，北京流动人口管理基本处于真空地带。
The person in charge at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has already frankly acknowledged that after the abolition in 2003 of the “Management Method for Internment and Repatriation”, the management of Beijing’s floating population was basically in a vacuum.
据北京一基层民警讲，2003年后，办暂住证主要靠群众主动。为提高办证率，片警经常上门服务。法规虽有罚款等规定，但近5年内，对未办、拒办暂住证人员，警方很少采用惩戒措施。
According to a grassroots police officer, after 2003, the registration of temporary residence permits mostly depended on the people taking the initiative. To increase the rate of registration, police often make visits. Although the legislation has fines and other provisions, in the last 5 years, the police have very rarely used disciplinary measures against those who have not or refuse to apply for temporary residence permits.
暂住证强制力削弱后，北京究竟拥有多少流动人口？官方一直没有准确数据。3000多片警入户调查、本次流动人口暂住证核查，连续推行的两次专项行动，北京警方均公开表示，“掌握流动人口底数”为主要目的。
After the weakening of the power to enforce temporary residence permits, how big a floating population does Beijing actually have? Officials have never had accurate data. The Beijing Police all have publicly showing “The grasping of the basic number of the floating population” as the main goal of carrying out the two special operations of the 3000 police making a door-to-door investigation and the inspection of temporary residence permits of the floating population.
Done.
random thots
1: lzh bought, and I watched, 《我叫刘跃进》/I am Liu Yuejin over the holiday. It was good, yeah, certainly better than 《苹果》/Lost in Beijing, but…
Well, I found it a bit 乱七八糟 (chaotic). It’s certainly worth a look, but I won’t rave over it.
But notice the name of the title character: 跃进- ‘Leap’ and ‘Forward’… 大跃进？Great Leap Forward? Is that what I’m supposed to be thinking. So while the character’s name (and somehow, thanks to the opening sequence, it never got clear in my mind whether the character who was supposed to be Liu Yuejin was actually Liu Yuejin. And what happened to the other candidate for that moniker?) is, perhaps, supposed to conjure images of mindless optimism and backyard steel foundries consuming grandma’s favourite wok and uncle’s old bike in Mao’s zany attempt to leapfrog the West, I’m watching this rather amoral character running around a Beijing even bleaker than that presented in Lost in Beijing (and both films are centred around the CBD and mostly “geographically tight”- sticking very much to real places that real Beijingers will recognise in their real positions relative to each other), a migrant worker even further out of his depth than the two in LiBJ, trying to extort a nice wee nest egg for himself. But the point I was intending to make is this: There’s a huge cognitive dissonance created by the clash of the title character’s name and the “reality” of the film. I think that is the best reason to watch I am Liu Yuejin, in fact. I’ve pondered over this film for a couple of weeks, now, and I’ve just about come to the conclusion (although, I’ll need to watch it one or two more times to be sure) that that cognitive dissonance is precisely the point of the film, it’s raison d’être.
2: I’ve been ruminating on this for months now, and I should precede it with a disclaimer that I don’t watch much TV (anywhere- I long ago, way back before I ever left New Zealand’s rugged but fair shores), and most, as in 99.999% of the TV I see here in China I see simply because my wife is watching it while I’m keeping myself busy some other way. Anyway, something I’ve noticed is a distinct north-south split in TV styles- and I think this carries through to film, too, although the distinction in film is not as great as that in TV. Now, I’m talking purely about “TV fiction” here, not about news, documentary, current affairs, variety, or other more or less non-fiction shows. The split I notice is this: The south (including Taiwan) produces mawkish, melodramatic soap operas depicting some kind of idealised life of the rich. The north (including Dongbei) produces sitcoms or drama, all gritty and down to earth, based in rural or working up to middle class situations, an admittedly airbrushed version of reality for those classes, but still, down to earth, like you can recognise your friends and neighbours in the characters presented.
Some examples of the northern style I can think of are 《乡村爱情》，《家有儿女》 and《东北一家人》. Cop shows also fit into this style.
I won’t even try to name any ‘southern style’ shows, first of all because I don’t know their names, and secondly because I hate them. Those shows are so bad you could be forgiven for thinking they were made in New Zealand (and that’s one thing that I can’t understand about NZ- how can we have such an excellent film industry and such crap TV?). There are two my wife watches reasonably often- one is based mostly in Shanghai in the ’30s and follows the ‘adventures’ of a group of spoilt brat 20-somethings from affluent families in the run up and then outbreak of the war with Japan. I say ‘adventures’ because these losers are so pathetic and soft and coddled that encountering a beggar on the streets of Shanghai would’ve counted as some deeply terrifying adventure. Another, one that lzh watches in between episodes of 《乡村爱情2》, simply reeks of Taiwan, and somehow flits between somewhere presumably somewhere in Greater China and a chateau in France. The lead female character looks to be 20-something but behaves like an extremely spoilt 8-year-old, and the lead male character indulges her. I’m sure this particular show will feature prominently on the line-up of all of Hell’s TV stations.
Well, there you go. If you want me to watch TV here in China, broadcast programmes of that northern style. I still won’t like TV much, but I’ll manage to keep my sanity intact.
à la recherche des livres perdus
Posted by wangbo in Chinese study, random on February 20, 2008
[with apologies to Proust for the awful rip-off of his title]
Not sure I’m going to make it all the way through this, but I like the way Xiao Han starts this off. He’s looking back at the books he read 30 years ago, inspired, in a somewhat oblique way, by friends’ requests for him to recommend “must read” books. He starts with an explanatory note:
雲邊居士按：常有朋友让我给他们或者他 们的孩子推荐必读书，无论网上网下。我很困惑，一则内心里并不觉得有什么必读书——但这不妨碍有“必不读书”；二则，因材施教，还真有一些书可能确是必读 书，不过我觉得自己并没资格开书单。我小时候，父亲给的都是“逼读书”，因为会有一些于小孩可能望而生畏的任务（但也很有乐趣），以我的经验，这些可能是 需要的。好的教育寓教于乐，我觉得家父在这方面的一些经验或许于大家有用，这篇文字也算是给某些朋友一点言不及义的交代。
Writes the scholar residing by the clouds: Friends often ask me to recommend them or their children must-read books, whether online or off. I’m very confused, on the one hand, in my heart I really don’t think there are any must-read books- but this doesn’t prevent the existence of “must-not-read books”; on the other hand, to suit the instruction to the students’ level, their may well be some must-read books. Anyway, I really don’t think I’m qualified to write up a book list. When I was little, what my father gave me was “compelled-to-read books”, because perhaps some had as their mission the inspiration of awe in children (but were still very interesting), perhaps this was necessary for my experience. Good education combines education and entertainment and I think perhaps my father’s experience in this area is useful for us all, and this essay is a frivolous explanation for a few friends.
Then the essay proper, dated 20 February 2008, begins:
哦，那些书，都快三十年了
Wow, those books are nearly thirty years old
萧瀚
Xiao Han
午夜的灯光下，脑子里翻检十年、二十年、以至三十年前读过的一些书，那些留下点印象的，大抵算是所谓对自己有影响的书吧。
Under the midnight lamplight, my brain looks back and checks books that I read 10, 20, up to 30 years ago, those books that left an impression, generally speaking, those books that had what is called an influence on me.
认得几个字的人，从小到大，从生到死，估计难免会受过几本书的影响——许多国人主要受教科书的影响（如果那些玩意儿也叫书的话），老天保佑，无论在我心中还是脑际，教科书≈垃圾，这里说的是书的影响——不是教科书。
Those who can read a few words, from young to old, from their cradles to their graves, probably find it hard to avoid being influenced by a few books- the main influence on many Chinese is textbooks (assuming those things can be called books), and God bless ’em, so long as there’s a brain in my head, textbooks will be rubbish, what we’re talking about here is the influence of books- not textbooks.
《中国古代文学作品选读》（大约是这书 名），共有五册，少年儿童出版社出版，其中含有《诗经》、《山海经》、《唐诗三百首》等历代各种体裁的文学作品，记得小时候大概是三年级九岁，父亲买了这 套书来折磨我，折磨的具体方法是他将书中白话翻译部分用白纸贴上，让我仅仅靠着读注释就读懂，有时候我实在读不懂，就会偷偷地把书拿到灯光下，用强光穿透 贴层，看那些被贴上的部分——呵，作弊，读懂了。其中不少内容是背诵过的，可是我天生记性不好，就是记不住——只有看笑话才能记住，所以至今脑子里尽是些 无用的东西。
A Collection of Chinese Classical Literary Works (the name of the book was something like that), altogether five volumes, published by the Young Children’s Press, and including the Book of Poetry, the Classic of the Mountains and the Seas, and 300 Tang Poems and other examples of every kind of literary work from successive dynasties: I remember, about when I was in the third grade, about nine years old, my father bough this set of books to torment me with, the main form of torture being to cover with white paper the vernacular translations in the books to make me understand the readings relying only on the annotations. Sometimes I really couldn’t understand, and so I would secretly take the book under the lamp and use the strong light to shine through the paper and read the covered up parts- ha, I understood by cheating. Some things I recited, but my natural memory is not good- it’s only by reading jokes I can remember, and so right up till today, all that is in my brain is useless stuff.
Actually, I’m going to stop there. I ran up against a sentence I can make neither head nor tail of. It’s easy enough, for my own reading, to skip over a sentence or two here or there and continue with the rest, but I can’t go leaving a big hole in my translation. The sentence in question is this:
后来之所以动不动就手痒效颦
Well, no, that’s actually only the one clause that’s got me tripped up. I understand the rest of what’s going on in that paragraph (I think): He talks about the 《唐代三大诗人诗选》/Selection of Three Poets of the Tang Dynasty, and how, even though he memorised all the approximately 100 poems in that slim, blue-covered volume probably also published by the Young Children’s Press, he can’t remember any of them today.
He goes on to list other books he read as a child and how. For example, his father wouldn’t let him read the children’s edition of Journey to the West, he had to read the original. But it wasn’t till he’d grown up that he recognised the beauty of the original text.
But wait, scanning ahead (yeah, cheating, I know), all of a sudden a couple of foreign names crop up. Now what kind of foreign books could a Chinese kid have been reading nearly 30 years ago?
《汤姆索亚历险记》、《哈克贝利 芬历险记》，都是马克吐温的作品，也是老爸逼读书，初一那年读的，情节自是记不得了，只记得他们的勇敢、仗义，还记得汤姆这小屁孩居然知道躲在僻静处强吻 小姑娘，算是恋爱。那时候还写过《汤姆索亚历险记》的读后感，算是平生第一次写书评，还得了个县里的什么少年儿童读书奖，至今喜欢写书评，可能就源于那时 候。
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both by Mark Twain, are also books my Dad forced me to read. I read them when I was in Junior 1 [first year of middle school], but I can’t remember the plot myself, I can only remember their bravery, loyalty, and I remember that little brat Tom suddenly knew to steal a kiss from the girl when they were in a secluded spot, which counted as being in love. I also wrote an essay after reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, the first time in my life I wrote a book review and won some prize for young children’s reading in the county. I’ve enjoyed writing book reviews up till this day; perhaps this is why.
I also read those two books as a kid. To be honest, I’m not sure I can remember much more of them than Xiao Han can. It took me several attempts to read Huck Finn, I found the dialect so impenetrable.
And anyway, it’s a good thing I stopped there: skimming is enough for several paragraphs, them being as much lists of authors and/or books, many foreign (and the Chinese versions of foreign names don’t always bear that close a resemblance to the original foreign names- it can be quite a mission figuring out who or what is being referred to sometimes). Still, it is an interesting mix of authors, books and opinions. No, I’m not even going to attempt to translate the whole thing. Some of the foreign books and authors, I just can’t figure out what or who they are. Just going to cut straight to the last paragraph:
虽说转眼过了近三十年，以大学毕业为界 也已16年，可我父亲——那个在我小时候给我确定“逼读书”的托尔斯泰迷、巴尔扎克迷，并未老去——他正在执行去年制定的十年写作计划。这会儿，我环顾书 房四周，灯光下、书柜里，这些老朋友静静地凝视着我，和我父亲一样，他们也没有老去，如此，我也不会老，我想。
Although these thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye, it already being 16 years since I graduated from university, my father- that fan of Tolstoy and Balzac who set me “compelled-to-read books” when I was a child- he is carrying out the ten year reading plan set last year. This time, as I look around the study, under the lamplight, in the book cabinets, these old friends are gazing at me, and just like my father they haven’t aged, and I think, in the same way, I won’t get old.
And I suppose, if I sat down to think about it, I could also compose a long, rambling list of books and authors that have influenced me. But it wasn’t my father who forced me to read; on the contrary, if my parents ever needed to find me, they’d go to my bedroom, and nine times out of ten I’d be happily curled up inside reading a book and dreaming…