Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

One thing that is really noticeable these days in China is the degree of non-propagandistic political underpinning that goes into literary works. In a country where even the news still contains plenty of brain-washing tactics on respecting and loving the Party, the (limited) freedoms of thoughts shown by even highly censored publishing business here in China has been quite amazing. From democracy to human rights, the usual suspects of government censorship abound, leading the usual reader to wonder whether the book s/he is reading somehow managed to slip through the censors. Obviously, the answer is no. Government censorship is as systematic as it has always been, reviewing every book that can possibly pack a slight tinge of political ideas for dissidence. There can only be two explanations for how "open" (relatively speaking, of course) the publishing industry in China has become. The first is growing skill of Chinese literati to hide "progressive" political i

Finishing the same book that I wrote about in the two previous posts, I was surprised how there could be an optimistic conclusion to such a depressing storyline. Amid a growing increase in the number of farming migrants to the Inner Mongolian grasslands, concerted efforts to eradicate wolves and introduce farmlands into the area are undertaken. While wolves no longer harm livestock and herders become settled residents with regular services and amenities enjoyed by other citizens, the grasslands slowly turned into a vast desert spewing sand toward Beijing to the south. It seems that under modern pressures, the grassland and its masters budged, abandoning the principles that kept the grasslands healthy and sustainable for centuries. A shallow perspective would feel that this is but another typical Chinese phenomenon of trading wealth for environment, but the author has pointed out the final and ultimate demise of the nomadic-herding tribes are the greatest loss. For generations, thro

In the last post, I talked about the inevitability of nomadic-herders to be assimilated by agriculture-based civilizations despite greater strength and understanding of military strategies. Surely enough, no country in this modern world is completely based on animal husbandry, and all of the major powers all have strong agricultural backgrounds and production capabilities. A Han Chinese or any other members of agriculture-based civilizations should be happily considering this point as a matter of fact. The strength of human capability to produce resources not naturally allotted by Mother Earth may be the most basic quality that distinguish it from mere beasts. But having such a self-righteous attitude belies one of the greatest faults of agriculture-based civilizations. In their quests to continue expansion, in population, societal organization, technology, industry, etc., it does not and refuses to believe that there could be a limit to such forward progress. Technology, so far at

Out of absolute boredom of staying at home and doing virtually nothing productive, I have been reading a Chinese book on the lives of Mongolian herders on the vast steppes of the Inner Mongolian Grasslands. Written as a personal narrative of a Han Chinese youngster escaping the violence of Cultural Revolution, it explores, from the perspective of the Han Chinese, the lifestyles, values, and beliefs of the "untamed" (i.e. not converted into permanent settled communities) Mongolians in an effort to understand the ethnic differences and the spectacular military history of Mongols and their ancestors. From the very beginning, the author establishes the bipolarity of "nomadic-herding civilization" (such as that of the Mongolians) vs. "agriculture-based civilization" (such as that of the Han Chinese). As a visitor from the agriculture-based civilization, the author immediately notices the respect the herders hold for the the wolf, a creature so hated and widely

With the increased global influence China holds, studying Chinese really has become a trend among foreigners keen on tapping the economic opportunities in China. Multinationals are seeking employees with knowledge of Chinese culture, language, and society to further expand in the Chinese market, making Chinese the desired foreign language when competing for employment in the corporate sector. Of course, for China, such a trend is also economically helpful by itself. Rich foreigners, taking advantage of low costs in China, come to study in Chinese universities and in the process, spend freely on local services and products. Yet, amid a generally positive environment for developing a profitable Chinese education industry, the methods with which Chinese are taught to foreigners here, at least from the perspective of a Chinese raised abroad, seem quite discomforting. With universities completely controlled by the government, the Chinese education curriculum here continues to hold stron

Finished talking about tourists in the last post, I would like to take the development of individualism in China to a more positive note. With intense control of public opinion and what is considered "moral, non-corrupting forms of entertainment" by the government, the concept of entertainment programs did not even exist on Chinese TV until very very recently. Just a decade ago, Chinese TV consisted of news, propagandistic drama series (involving such favorite topics as anti-Japanese war stories and communist greatness...topics that still are popular to this day because of guaranteed popularity with the older generations), and little else... Then, with increased reforms and commercializations of the local TV stations, entertainment programs, often involving pop musicians and celebrities, came into being as means of attracting younger audience groups. The programs, emulating similar ones in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, requires the hosts and guests to think on