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Running between classes today, but wanted to call everybody’s attention to an excellent article in today’s Wall Street Journal by Ian Johnson on recent efforts to revive the Manchu language and Manchu identity in today’s PRC. Be sure to check it out. (Ps. The comment section on the accompanying article is also exhibit A for why I can’t be bothered with comments anymore.) I’m back from Hunan and I’ve got some great posts from our trip, but I did want to take a moment and comment on the recent unrest in Urumqi. The violence on both sides has been shocking and horrifying and only threatens to worsen as vigilantism and revenge add fuel to the fires of racial mistrust, economic grievance, and the lingering problems of post-colonialism. In response, the Chinese government is calling the only play they know how to run: Propaganda as Mad Lib. (MINORITY GROUP) and the Han Chinese have long historical ties dating back (ABSURD AHISTORICAL NUMBER) years. Since the opening and reform era began, economic development has brought prosperity to (RESTIVE REGION) including schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. Unfortunately, outside “splittists” led by (ADJECTIVE YOU WOULD USE TO DESCRIBE YOUR FIRST WIFE) + (NAME OF EXILED LEADER FROM MINORITY COMMUNITY) will stop at nothing to destabilize China and spread ethnic discord. We resolutely stand in support of a harmonious stable society, the union of all Chinese nationalities and (ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CCP PABLUM THAT NOBODY REALLY BELIEVES MASQUERADING AS RHETORIC). Try this game at your next party, MUCH more fun than Mafia. There are several problems with this response. Not since Michael Jackson’s combustible hair gel has the shoot for a Pepsi ad been so ill-conceived. At the beginning of the ad, the Chinese fans would be interspersed between the international fans, but losing badly to the foreigners. The roars of the international crowd silenced their cheers for the Chinese national team. Then, the two Chinese pop stars flew in (literally, with the help of two really cool stunt men from Beijing) on cue to rally the Chinese crowd with Pepsi. With the arrival of Pepsi and the very attractive Chinese pop stars (with all the usual fanfare of a recent Zhang Yimou film), the Chinese crowd simultaneously had an epiphany and collectively realized that in order to beat the evil foreigners they needed to rally together behind Pepsi. And it gets better and better. One part anthropological observation, one part David Sedaris essay. All of it a must read. It has been a busy week here. YJ is finally finished covering the 17th Party Congress (she claims to have won the office pool on the leadership selections). Personally, I’ll just be glad when we can get through breakfast and/or dinner without listening to CCTV news droning on with lists of names. Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao….Wu Yi, ‘nuuuuuu’…….Galadan ‘meeennnngg–zzuuu’…… For those not closely tuned to CCTV every morning and night, when the names of women or minority delegates are read, the announcer must demonstrate “diversity now!” by following the name with the appropriate category. How would this work on CNN? Are we really that far off? “Hilary Clinton….woman.”“Barack Obama…black dude.” It’s also customary for the ethnic minority delegates to attend the meetings dressed in traditional, ceremonial garb while Han delegates wear business suits. Could you imagine Ben Nighthorse Campbell‘s first days in Washington if the US Senate played by CCP rules? I’m trying very hard not to.——————————————-Better news still, the Red Sox are in the World Series which, like an autumnal groundhog seeing its shadow, means two more weeks of slowed research productivity and postponed paper grading. It’s strange, I’m really psyched that the Sox are in the playoffs, but Tony Platt of Sac State reviews a new book by historian Jean Pfaelzer on the persecution of Chinese-Americans in 19th-century California. Between 1840 and 1900, more than 2 million Chinese laborers left their homeland to work in plantations and mines around the world. Twenty-five thousand of them joined California‘s Gold Rush. By the 1860s, Chinese immigrants were a vibrant part of the state’s economy, accounting in some rural counties for one of every five residents. But by the turn of the century, more than half of a Chinese American population that once reached 80,000 was gone – deported, exiled or dead — and the survivors herded into urban ghettoes. One particularly disturbing snippet from a review full of disturbing snippets: In 1885, after a night of “exuberant violence,” a gallows was built in Eureka as a warning to any Chinese who stayed in town. “It took barely a century to virtually clear the coast of the redwood forest,” observes Pfaelzer. “It took barely a weekend to clear Eureka of the Chinese.” Haven’t read it yet, but it’s definitely on my list. |
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