Ma Sanli (1914-2003) was a famous xiangsheng (‘cross-talk’) performer here in China, and that style of humor (two guys exchanging puns, wordplay, and artfully confusing homonyms) is probably best explained in English by referencing the famous Abbott and Costello bit.

Thanks for stopping by.

What do these characters mean individually ?

“.. humor involving word play (whether it’s 马三立 or “Who’s on First?”..”

Is this the translation or merely a similar usage example in English ?

How do you pronounce the characters? I recognize the second as ‘three’ and the third as ‘standing’ (?) The first seems like ‘horse’, but I know it’s missing some character strokes. I’ve learned a bit of mandarin, but only a few basic characters, having taught ESL in Japan and learned some then. Thanks and Best Wishes on your Research.

I really enjoy your web site. I’ve been studying late Qing history – specifically the court of the Empress Dowager Cixi – for several years now. One result of this study is my biography of Cixi’s most famous (and to some people, infamous) lady in waiting, Princess Der Ling, published in January by Hong Kong University Press. I’m now working on another book for HKUP about the friendship between American diplomat’s wife Sarah Pike Conger and Cixi, before, during and after the Boxer Uprising. Mrs Conger was unusual among foreigners in her sympathy for the Chinese, and tried to educate Americans about them and their country and its history. I’m especially fascinated by the Boxer Uprising and what I see as its connection to the failure of the Hundred Days reforms of the Guangxu emperor, increased missionary activities and the increasing presence of Japan. I’m also fascinated by the foreign/Chinese dynamic toward the end of the Qing dynasty and the nebulous nature of Manchu identity, made the more so after the dynasty fell. Princess Der Ling was not just a proponent of ross-cultural communication but an example of cross-culturalism herself, given the fact she had an American grandfather, an American husband, and was educated in the capital of Europe. Mrs. Conger came to China with no background in the country at all, but soon realized there were many similarities between American and Chinese cultural, familial and religious observances, and reminded foreigners of this as much as the Chinese.

You’re doing great work – keep it up!

All best – Grant

Not a rant at all and thanks for your kind words. I teach in English because most of my students are from US-based universities, though since we are in Beijing a fair amount of Chinese is rolled in.

As to your question about history education at Beijing universities, my sense is that it is much better now than ten or fifteen years ago as more and more professors have had their graduate training abroad and so are more used to an active style of teaching and debate in the classroom and in the curriculum.

That said, it’s still the PRC and, as you know, history has always had a close relationship with politics. One reason why books/lectures/classes can seem so dry and full of dates and obscure figures (The Forbidden City is 960 meters N-S, and 760 meters E-W…) is because that kind of ‘data’ is safer than casting a critical eye at how certain arguments are constructed and then deployed in the standard narrative.

This is especially true in primary/secondary education, but–and again this is only a sense and I welcome correction–it doesn’t get a whole lot better at the post-secondary level.

Anyway, thanks for reading and stopping by. If you ever want to chat about these topics face-to-face drop me an email, I tend to get up to Haidian/Wudaokou at least once a month.

I absolutely love your writing. It is characterised by a thorough understanding of Chinese culture, politics and tempered with what Barme has termed “New Sinology”.

Out of curiosity where are you teaching? I presume you are teaching in Chinese. I have been studying at Tsinghua over the last year and have taken subjects such as 中外文化交流史专题 with the History Department.

This course covered essentially Sino-Foreign engagement from the Han dynasty onwards and touched on the Macartney Mission and indeed a range of issues pertinent to your interests focusing on both ends of the Opium Wars.

What’s your opinion on the instruction of this discipline within China? I was rather frustrated at times in terms of the focus on dates, names and places as opposed to a rigorous engagement with historiography.

To draw an example from our lecture on Buddhism, my lecturer focused entirely on the geographic routes that Buddhism took before it 异军突起’d with a massive following.

The same for Christianity and Islam: I am fascinated by the debate surrounding issues such as the use of language and discourse from Daosim and Confucianism in the transmission of foreign religions to a Chinese context. Yet this crucial component of the debate was ignored by my lecturer.

Anyway, that’s my rant done with. Great respect for your work and I look forward to further engaging with your writing in the future.

Cheers,

Laurie Pearcey

Thanks for asking.