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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On Memories of Violence, Part 3: Opium and the Education of Patriots

This is the last of an informal three-part series on violence and historical memory in China.  It wasn’t my original intention to write a series, but the past week or so has seen several anniversaries of great significance in Chinese history.  Last week was the 110th anniversary of the Qing government’s tacit declaration of war against [...]

Forbes: Would BP’s CEO have been executed in China?

A brilliant satirical photo essay by Forbes Beijing bureau chief Gady Epstein, simply hilarious. And sad. But mostly hilarious.

Day Four: The oil spill is now officially news. Premier Wen Jiabao, cutting short a trip to a Zambian copper mine, races to the disaster zone. Outfitted in fishing attire, Wen cleans the oil from a seabird and [...]

Comments back online

Had some problems yesterday with the comments function that I’ve managed to untangle. Hopefully the archived comments from years past make a reappearance as well. [...]

Another CIA/NSC Archive Film: “China: The Roots of Madness” (1967)

Another classic attempt to “explain and understand” China from the CIA/NSC archives, this one is like some sort of unholy mash-up of John King Fairbank, Max Weber, Henry Luce, Edward Said, and the KMT propaganda department…but there is some useful archival footage as well as interviews with seminal American “China watchers” such as Theodore White and [...]

A Chinese perspective on crime, race, and the recent demonstrations in Paris

Ed note:  This is a guest post by Zhang Yajun, A.k.a. “YJ”, A.k.a. “Mrs. Granite Studio.”

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On June 20th, over 20,000 overseas Chinese in Paris organized a demonstration to protest against what they call an epidemic of violence and robbery against the ethnic Chinese community. As a Chinese citizen who once studied in France for a [...]

Image of the Week: Prayer Wheels in Sichuan

Prayer wheels outside of a monastery near Daocheng, Sichuan. The monastery belongs to the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism and was almost completely destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. In recent years, the monks have managed to restore many of the original structures and halls. Photo taken in [...]

On Memories of Violence, Part 2: Chinese textbooks and questions about the Korean War 60 years later

A 1950 Chinese propaganda poster showing a caricature of Douglas MacArthur committing wartime atrocities as a US plane bombs a Chinese factory in the background. Used with permission from the Stefan Landsberger/Chinese Posters collection.

Today is the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, a war which six decades later is still surrounded [...]

CIA/NSC Archive Film: “China Leaps Foward” (1958)

Today’s a big dissertation working day so I’ll leave you with this gem, a 1958 film produced by the CIA and the National Security Council: “China Leaps Forward.”   Enjoy.

h/t to fellow [...]

Hutong Hiking

If you heard bedlam this afternoon in the hutongs of Beijing, I’m sorry…it was the day of our semester semi-circumambulation of the 2nd Ring Road.  The idea started many years ago as a full circumambulation of the 2nd Ring, which actually walking along the highway for its entire circumference.  We did this [...]

On memories of violence and the 110th anniversary of the Boxer Uprising

Today is an anniversary of sorts — actually two anniversaries — in the history of violence in China.  June 21 marks the 110th anniversary of Empress Dowager’s fateful proclamation giving tacit support to the various groups known as “The Boxers” in their crusade of destruction and righteous anger against all things foreign.  It is also the [...]

Eighteen: Alice Cooper, The Sons of Anarchy, and China’s national adolescence

It’s summer and that usually means catching up on important things like “dissertation research,” “World Cup,” and, of course, “television.”  One of the undeniable pleasures of Beijing is exchanging a few kuai with the local DVD salesman and walking away with two or three complete seasons of trash television.

Of late, I’ve been really into a show [...]

Image of the week: A mountain sunrise in Sichuan Province

Our campsite during a recent IES student trek near Yading, Sichuan. The site is located on the shoulder of Xiannairi at about 4800 meters in elevation. This was taken during our circumambulation of the mountain, considered to be a physical manifestation of the Goddess of Mercy, in [...]

Seeking to improve agricultural yields, China looks back to the basics of the Columbian Exchange

There’s an article today in The Boston Globe on efforts by Chinese agricultural scientists to encourage farmers to plant potatoes as a way to solve a potential crisis in food production for the world’s largest nation.

From the Boston Globe:

In the land of rice, China is looking at an unlikely tool for maintaining growth and social harmony: [...]

On Kiwis, Kakapos, and the export of Chinese sensitivities…

Down in the antipode this week, an international scuffle broke out and it had nothing to do with the criminally atrocious officiating last night in both the Germany/Serbia and US/Slovenia matches…*

Russel Norman, MP and leader of the New Zealand Green Party, marked the arrival of Chinese heir-to-be-but-we’re-still-not-telling-anybody-officially-yet Xi Jinping to Wellington by waving a Τibetan flag [...]