Jottings from the Granite Studio

In our program’s library, I came across a copy of Chinese Views of Childhood edited by Anne Kinney. I remembered reading (or at least skimming) the book a few years ago for a seminar, but since I had a couple of hours to kill proctoring a make-up exam from last semester’s history class, I did […]

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A 2,500-year old Shang era tomb discovered last January in eastern Jiangxi province has once again provided reseachers with some fascinating discoveries including the grisly unearthing of a burial chamber containing 47 bodies, victims of human sacrifice. Human sacrifice was a key part of Shang political and religious culture, with Shang kings acting in a […]

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On this date in 757, An Lushan was assassinated by a group of three conspirators including his own son and heir, An Qingxu. An Lushan was a general of Turkic descent who served in the armies of the Tang Emperor, Xuanzong (r. 712-756). Through his connections, including a rather close relationship with Xuanzong’s favorite […]

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The Chinese government and BOCOG desperately need to start listening to all the really smart, well-paid foreign PR firms they’ve hired if they want to avoid continually getting caught with their pants at ankle-height:
To whit:
January 20
The Sunday Times publishes an article claiming that at least 10 workers had been killed in the construction of […]

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In 1901, following the Boxer debacle, Empress Dowager Cixi and the Qing court felt compelled to offer new reforms to shore up the crumbling dynasty. On January 29, she issued an edict that called on all Qing officials to advise the court on the best course for reform. In particular, she wanted ideas on how […]

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It would be impossible to overstate the importance of Frederic Wakeman to the field of Chinese history. He was simply one of the giants. This month UCTV has posted on Youtube a 3-part lecture series given by Professor Wakeman only months before he passed away in 2006.
Hosted by the Institute of International Cooperation and Area […]

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It looks as though we’ll be hitting the magical 7 RMB/$1 mark sooner rather than later. News from China’s Central bank this afternoon that the the dollar is down to a record low of 7.196 RMB. (For those Europeans gloating out there at the Americans’ misfortune, the Euro also fell to 10.56 RMB.)
Belt-tightening all […]

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I wrote about this last week, but the People’s Daily today weighs in on the significance of the discovery at Xuchang. Researchers at the site located in Henan province uncovered a nearly-complete 100,000 skull that has caused great excitement in the Chinese scientific community.
The discovery at Xuchang supports the theory that modern Chinese man […]

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CCTV reported this morning that over 170,000 passengers had been stranded at the Guangzhou Rail Station due to heavy snow. (Details here.)
For those not blessed to have ever been in China during the Spring Festival travel season (春运), think of the days before the Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations combined and then quadrupled. It’s total bedlam […]

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Historian Chen Yi-shen from the Academica Sinica has an op-ed piece translated in this morning’s Taipei Times.
Chen argues:
As a historian, it is not difficult to see that the source of the problem lies in the handling of the post-war Treaty of Peace with Japan. This theory of indetermination continues to have a proactive side in […]

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