花崗齋雜記

Jottings from the Granite Studio provides commentary, analysis, and opinion on China and Chinese history. It is written by Jeremiah Jenne, a PhD Candidate at a large public research university in Northern California. Currently, Jeremiah is in Beijing teaching history, doing archival research, and working on his dissertation.

From the Granite Studio Archives

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Friday Morning Tea: Free Oiwan Lam…Forbidden City for stat geeks…Slate and Bushisms…PRI and Young China…HtWW and Lu Xun in Japan…Vote for us

Hong Kong-based citizen journalist and Global Voices Online contributor Oiwan Lam is facing charges of indecency in Hong Kong for posting an artsy topless photograph found on Flickr. She is facing a lengthy–and expensive–court battle and needs your help. The case has quickly become a cause célèbre in the China blogosphere. More information available [...]

Visa applications and extensions just got a little more difficult

Since many researchers are here on some cobbled-together amalgam of dodgy Z visas, F visas, and/or multiple extensions of an L visa…the pre-Olympic “harmonization” of the foreign community may have implications for research plans in the PRC beginning this month:

From Today in China:

I received the following notification from the [...]

China Daily: The "debate" over Zheng He

It’s another of those cherished myths–that Ming Dynasty explorer Zheng He made his way as far as the coasts of North America and Europe. It does a lot for Chinese national pride and it has certainly made Gavin Menzies a well-known and wealthy author. He’s become something of a strawman in China history circles, but Menzies’ [...]

This date in history: The bloody fall of the the Taiping capital

On this date in 1864, Zeng Guoquan, the brother of the late-Qing statesman and official, Zeng Guofan, ordered his engineers to blow a section of the wall surrounding the Taiping capital, Tianjing (Nanjing). The wall caved and government troops charged into the city. The Taipings gave some resistance but soon Nanjing was in complete chaos as [...]

Southern flooding threatens 600-year old tomb

A 600-year old tomb (ming zuling 明祖陵) built for the parents and grandparents of Ming dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398, r. 1368-1398) is in danger of being inundated with floodwaters from nearby Hongze Lake.

Via Xinhua:

A 2,700-meter-long cofferdam built in the 1970s separates the tomb from the Hongze Lake, which covers an area of 2,069 square kilometers [...]

China Blog Awards

Jottings from the Granite Studio has been nominated for the 2007 China Blog Awards. First of all kudos to Chinalyst for organizing the voting and to Ryan at Lost Laowai/Life in Suzhou for designing the cool logo/image.

Now: shameless plug time…if you like the blog, give us your vote. As of the last tally, we’re [...]

Lin Biao, rehabilitated?

Mao’s “closest comrade in arms” Lin Biao is finding his way back into Chinese history, 36 years after the former defense minister died fleeing from a failed coup attempt against the Chinese leader.

From the IHT:

A portrait of Lin Biao is included in a display of the “Ten Marshals,” a group lauded as founders of [...]

Urban Hiking Beijing: The Forbidden City

I’m starting at a new gig this autumn. I’ll write more about it as the details get finalized but it looks like one of my responsibilities is to lead field trips.

The problem is that I am very much a book-and-document historian. Buildings and “stuff” have never been my strong points. I tend to get bored in [...]

This is getting ridiculous…50% of water coolers in Beijing have fake water

As the dog days of summer descend on Beijing…word from The China Daily that 50% of the water used in water coolers across the city of Beijing is probably fake or substandard: either straight tap water or water from smaller brands with lower quality standards repackaged with ‘seals of quality’ for sale to Beijing homes and [...]

独立宣言–The Declaration of Independence in Chinese

Today is July 4, American Independence Day. On this date in 1776…not much happened. The document had been completed two days earlier. As John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail:
“July 2nd will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as [...]

"Qingming Shanghe Tu" (Along the River During the Qingming Festival) to be displayed in Hong Kong

One of China’s most famous and priceless paintings, “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” (qingming shanghe tu 清明上河图) is now on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Art. The painting is on loan from the Beijing government as part of the celebration for the tenth anniversary of Hong Kong’s return.

The NYT has a great [...]

Reuters: China’s terracotta tomb site hides mystery building

Reuters reports today that a 30-meter building is buried inside of the vast mausoleum of Qin Shihuangdi.

Duan Qingbo, a researcher with Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, said the building might have been constructed for the soul of the emperor to depart.

Archaeologists have been using remote sensing technology since 2002 to study the internal structure of the unexcavated [...]

Li Datong on the "The root of slave labour in China"

Li Datong, the former editor of Freezing Point (bingdian 冰点) has a post at openDemocracy on the Shanxi slavery case. Li’s point is that the sort of corruption that permits such atrocities to occur cannot be solved without systemic reforms:
If political reform is delayed even further, more serious political crises will emerge. The core aspect [...]

Morning Tea: Taipei Palace Musuem going digital…Lu Xun and decolonization…A brief history of Chinese-Filipino contacts

A few links, some of which might require a quick annotation or gloss on key words:

–Michael Turton reports on The View from Taiwan that The National Palace Museum in Taipei has begun digitizing its immense collection “of loot Chinese Art treasures.”

–EastSouthWestNorth has translated an article by the “Off Track Scholar” (壞軌書生) entitled “Commemorating the Return, Commemorating [...]

Animated Chinese Painting and Calligraphy in 3D

Simply stunning animation of a traditional Chinese painting that’s making the rounds on the Internet. The video was produced by the Shenzhen branch of the Institute of Digital Media Technology (IDMT), which is associated with Global Digital Creations (GDC). (h/t China [...]