China Hope Live » Chinese history

Chinese propaganda poster jackpot!

Joel 大江 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:39 +0000

The International Institute of Social History has a collection of Chinese propaganda posters with translations and explanations in three categories:
1. Early years (1949-1965);
2. Cultural Revolution (1966-1976);
3. Modernization (1977-1997).

“Elect Good People to Do Good Things”

Chinese propaganda poster jackpot!

Joel 大江 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:39 +0000

“Elect Good People to Do Good Things”

Chinese propaganda poster jackpot!

Joel 大江 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:39 +0000

“Elect Good People to Do Good Things”

Chinese propaganda poster jackpot!

Joel 大江 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:39 +0000

“Elect Good People to Do Good Things”

Chinese propaganda poster jackpot!

Joel 大江 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:00:39 +0000

“Elect Good People to Do Good Things”

Political clues in the “Chinese Google” — what a Chinese search engine can tell you

Joel 大江 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:46:41 +0000

Baidu would have been Google’s main competitor in China, if Google had been allowed to compete. Dr. Mary Ann O’Donnell has discovered that a particular very taboo search term is apparently no longer taboo. She perceives a significant power shift, concluding, “it signals the end of the Jiang era. The Two Meetings are churning relentlessly forward and it seems that power has been wrested from Jiang [Zemin]’s hands.” This raises other questions about the possibility that other related and extremely sensitive topics might be opened up in the near future, and what that indicates regarding the character and attitudes toward information of China’s next batch of leaders.

This is especially intriguing given the recent political “Bo-mb” dropped by the authorities last week, and the power struggles that may indicate.

I’d describe her post more clearly if it weren’t loaded with sensitive search terms. So you’ll have to go read it yourself.

Related stuff:

Political clues in the “Chinese Google” — what a Chinese search engine can tell you

Joel 大江 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:46:41 +0000

This is especially intriguing given the recent political “Bo-mb” dropped by the authorities last week, and the power struggles that may indicate.

I’d describe her post more clearly if it weren’t loaded with sensitive search terms. So you’ll have to go read it yourself.

Related stuff:

Political clues in the “Chinese Google” — what a Chinese search engine can tell you

Joel 大江 — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:46:41 +0000

This is especially intriguing given the recent political “Bo-mb” dropped by the authorities last week, and the power struggles that may indicate.

I’d describe her post more clearly if it weren’t loaded with sensitive search terms. So you’ll have to go read it yourself.

Related stuff:

Japanese apologies

Joel 大江 — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:41:36 +0000

Unremarkable at first glance, this is a photo of a Japanese colleague who serves in the charity org we’re connected with in China. She’s placing flowers at the memorial to Eric Liddell (the “Chariots of Fire” guy) in the Japanese internment camp where he died during the brutal Japanese invasion of China during WWII.

Of the Japanese I’ve met in China, it’s been the three Japanese Christians (two more plus the one pictured, all serving in the same NGO) who’ve gone out of their ways to personally and symbolically apologize for the actions of their country during WWII. On another occasion, an older Japanese couple hosted a special dinner for their Chinese colleagues and language teachers at which they personally and formally apologized on behalf of their nation.

Has anyone else seen or heard of individual Japanese making apologetic gestures in China? I assume it’s not just Japanese Christians who do this (though with the three I’ve mentioned, their Christianity has a lot to do with it). But I’m also assuming that these kinds of apologies are exceptional, since, as at least one scholar points out, “in Japan there’s almost a dramatic lack of any sense of responsibility.”

I’d love to know more about the dynamics of apology and forgiveness in honour-oriented, Confucian-heritage cultures like China and Japan. I’m also curious about the ways Mainlanders are likely to perceive these types of gestures.

And I wonder: Should Europeans and Americans do the same for the Opium Wars?

More on Eric Liddell and the Japanese invasion:

Why they hate the Japanese
Eric Liddell: McSaint (biography review)
Marriage market, Eric Liddell, weekend slogan (finding Liddell’s former residence in Tianjin)
Spitting is good for something! (interesting anecdote from Liddell’s Japanese internment camp)

P.S. – For some info about official Japanese acknowledgment of WWII atrocities in China, see this comment.

Japanese apologies

Joel 大江 — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 19:41:36 +0000

And I wonder: Should Europeans and Americans do the same for the Opium Wars?

More on Eric Liddell and the Japanese invasion:

Why they hate the Japanese
Eric Liddell: McSaint (biography review)
Marriage market, Eric Liddell, weekend slogan (finding Liddell’s former residence in Tianjin)
Spitting is good for something! (interesting anecdote from Liddell’s Japanese internment camp)

P.S. – For some info about official Japanese acknowledgment of WWII atrocities in China, see this comment.