Extra Credit Responses
Please write a two-paragraph response to any of the extra credit events that you went to throughout the semester. Summarize the content of the event in the first paragraph from you point of view and write a reflection of your experience in relation to our class in the second paragraph. Post your response as a comment to my post here. I hope to read many of your reflective responses throughout the semester!
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ReplyDeleteAfter hearing about Jon Huntsman’s political background as a staff assistant to President Reagan, former US Ambassador to China, and current Governor of Utah I was looking forward to hear his opinion on Sino-American relations. However, the majority of his lecture was about his involvement in politics and his experience as a Presidential Candidate. He expressed his concern about the way political campaigns are currently financed, cynical attitudes toward government and public service, as well as the lack of competition outside of the two main political parties. He then shifted to talk about the current Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and his campaigns and economic transition from an investment to consumption model. The campaigns he mentioned included the anti-corruption campaign and mass line campaign.
ReplyDeleteWhile studying abroad in China last semester I took a Sino-American relations class taught by a Chinese professor. The class taught me a lot about the history of the relationship, which has molded it into the very fragile and complicated relationship that exists today. I had not learned about the role Henry Kissinger until this class and I found Jon Huntsman’s interactions with Kissinger very intriguing. I also enjoyed hearing his advice to the younger generation in dealing with the political issues facing the country that we will have to deal with. The population ratio between Europe, America, Africa, and China, which is currently 1:1:1:4 respectively, he predicts will shift to 1:1:4:5 changing how we will interact with the world drastically.
On March 23rd, I attended a Shen Yun performance in Louisville at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts. The Shen Yun performing troupe and orchestra represent a religious group that travels around the world, performing classical Chinese dance. Their stated aim is to "revive" Chinese history that has been lost due to the Communist regime in China. As such, and because of their religious affiliation (they are members of the Falun Gong/Falun Dafa), they do not perform in the Chinese Mainland.
ReplyDeleteThe performance changes every year and, this year, featured a live orchestra (instead of accompaniment). The performance was lively and entertaining, featuring familiar tales from Chinese literature (Journey to the West) and different historical periods (there were traditional Tang, Manchu/Qing, and other dynasties/periods represented). The group also seems to feature one minority group per year. This year they performed a dance that is traditional to the Yao people. In addition, there were several performances that spoke to their religious beliefs and the persecution they face in China as practitioners of Falun Gong/Falun Dafa (I'm not 100% clear on the difference since their English narration seemed to use the terms interchangeably and I couldn't translate all of the Chinese that was spoken alongside it, though I could tell that some of the Chinese was different from the English). They emphasize a kind of peaceful resistance. All of the performances that were based in a modern day time period featured followers of Falun Gong/Dafa practicing peacefully and adopting a policy of non-resistance when confronted by Communist police or other aggressive figures. It did feel a little overly politicized at points (the final sequence features a giant wave destroying "secular" Shanghai) and there was certainly an element of propaganda to it.
However, it was also interesting and entertaining and there is absolutely no doubting the skill of each performer. I found myself intrigued by some of the similarities to ballet and other dance styles I'm familiar with already. The music was exceptional and I deeply enjoyed the wide variety of styles and moods that the different performances created. I would love to see it next year to compare the performances and see what different historical periods and people groups are highlighted in 2015. Overall, the performance as a piece of art was very enjoyable.
I attended an oral session titled “Protestant Christianity in Urban China: Thriving in Social and Political Uncertainty” by Natalie Greene of Long Island University. She took a qualitative approach to her research paper while studying at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. She examined why Christianity seems to be surging in China currently. Through multiple interviews, she discovered four patterns. First, she noticed a crisis of faith among the Chinese people following the decline of straight-line Communism. The Communist Party does not seem to attract the devotion it did during the Mao and Deng Xiaoping periods. Second, she noticed a sentiment among new Chinese Christians that is also consistent within the American Church. Many new Chinese believers mentioned feeling an emotional and personal change.
ReplyDeleteThird, many of those she interviewed noted that becoming a Christian provided community support that had been lacking due to a variety of factors. The rising of costs of living and the effects of the One Child Policy mean that many families have grandchildren living with grandparents while parents away working to provide a livable income. Greene hypothesized that the Church then provides a community that many Chinese feel they lacked as children. Lastly, Chinese people also felt a new global connection by converting to Christianity.
I enjoyed listening to Greene’s presentation because her paper moved past simply bibliographic work by conducting multiple interviews with Chinese Christians who still live in China and by attending an underground house church.
On April 11th, I attended Dr. Luo, Adam, and Ben's presentation at the KFLC. The subject of their research is the White Snake legend and they titled their presentation on Friday "The Modernity of the Pre-Modern," which was highlighted through their discussion of the Green Snake character in pre-modern Chinese texts, "Cold War" era films from areas throughout East Asia (Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China), and finally 'post-modern' interpretations, such as the play that Dr. Luo saw in March of this year.
ReplyDeleteThe presentation discussed several elements of the Green Snake character that the group found important, including the idea of Green Snake as an embodiment of transgression in the story, compared to the virtuous White Snake. Green Snake is mischievous and playful, as well as cunning. She negotiates on behalf of Xu Xian and White Snake and serves White Snake in a role that actually affords her more freedom than her master. She changes forms more than once in some of the legends and representations, from a snake, to a man, to a woman. In this way, she represents some of the gender transgression seen in other Chinese legends and stories that are familiar to both students of Chinese and Western audiences (I'm thinking primarily of Mulan, since it's popularity is so pervasive in the West).
The presentation ran for half an hour, including time for questions and discussion. Having sat with Dr. Luo, Adam, and Ben throughout the semester, I was familiar with their content, but it was interesting to see what others had to say about the work they had done. I thought the comment about the clarification between "transgender" and "gender-fluidity" was very insightful and an important differentiation to highlight. Also, I like the idea of interrogating the idea of "universal values" through these texts. In all, the presentation was very well executed and I look forward to hearing more about this research.
I attended the Jon Hunstman's speech. It was interesting to hear about his 2012 presidential campaign. However, it seems that he spent the majority of his time talking about American politics. While that was fascinating for someone like me, he was supposed to talk about China. Furthermore, most of the points I remember from the speech have to do with American politics, mostly because he spent the majority of his time discussing that. Perhaps he is gearing up for another Presidential bid.
ReplyDeleteI was really interested in his message to the future generation about getting involved in politics. Furthermore, it seemed as if he supported campaign finance reform, which is something that many Republicans do not focus on. In regards to China, he mentioned the new President. He also mentioned that the country was now moving towards industrialization which left some 600 million (I think) farmers out of a job. It was fascinating to learn that he knew Henry Kissinger, the man often known as the best diplomat of the 20th century. The stories Huntsman told about his interactions with Kissinger were comical.
Also, I remember Luo Laoshi saying that Jon Huntsman had gotten some facts about China incorrect during his speech, which was funny. To be honest, he did not say much regarding gender politics. He mentioned the new Chinese President and the sort of power he had but did not touch on gender inequality. In a sense, I think he did not touch on the subject because it would be too controversial.
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