October 2011
27 posts
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“Like his biographical subject, Henry Kissinger, [Niall Ferguson] is mesmerised...”
– From CC contributor Pankaj Mishra’s wide-ranging and erudite London Review of Books skewering of Niall Ferguson’s latest book, Civilisation: the West and the Rest.
China boosts security after self-immolations in... →
By CC contributor Ananth Krishnan in The Hindu.
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Tibetan plateau's glaciers melting rapidly →
Chinese Characters contributor Ananth Krishnan reports in The Hindu.
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“The deteriorating condition of the rural poor and urban workers go largely...”
– China, India Protesters Are the Real ‘99 Percent’ (Bloomberg) — good reminder from Pankaj Mishra, who wrote the foreword for Chinese Characters.
A New Breed of Independent Candidates - TIME →
Hannah Beech reports from Beijing on a side of China’s politics that might just surprise you.
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“enthusiasm for a new western empire seems a strange hallucination today as...”
– New piece for the Financial Times by Chinese Characters contributor Pankaj Mishra (he’s author of the Foreword that opens it), which is mostly a look at how recent books deal with formal and informal empires of the past, but ends with an astute allusion to China’s past and a...
“China’s Communist party has a difficult relationship with history. The party...”
– The centenary of the 1911 Revolution is triggering lots of interesting commentary, such as this excerpt from a smart piece by David Pilling of the Financial Times, on links between “Past and Present” (the title of one of Chinese Characters sections).
“Zhou Youguang should be a Chinese hero after making what some call the...”
– Chinese Characters, despite its punning title, is not about language, but as becomes clear in NPR reporter Louisa Lim’s wonderful profile of Zhou Youguang (one of the few centenarian bloggers), this inventor of Pinyin not only did work relating to Chinese characters but is, well, a true Chinese...
“While much of China’s recent environmental news is bleak, from water...”
– Chinese Characters contributor Christina Larson, who continues to work on the environment and environmentalism, the theme of her chapter, recently went to Shenyang in northern China and wrote a piece with this upbeat ending. It was done as part of a Yale Environment 360 and Guardian joint project.
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““For a mature ruling political party, it’s more important to study and...”
– From “Political rivalry reflects a split within China’s Communist Party” (Mark Mackinnon at The Globe and Mail) The CCP might be more nuanced than you think. Xujun Eberlein and Evan Osnos’ chapters in Chinese Characters explores the past and future of China’s politics.
Los Angeles Review of Books: on shifting rhythms... →
Chinese Characters emerged partly from connections between academics and freelance writers forged via the “China Beat” blog, whose founding editor (Kate Merkel-Hess) and current editor (Maura Elizabeth Cunningham) wrote the two nicely turned essays paired at the LARB site today. (Both editors of and many of the contributors to CC have written CB blog posts or been involved in CB...
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The Hindu : China plans new economic zones near... →
Contributor Ananth Krishnan regularly reports on Xinjiang, the far west province of China and locale of his chapter.
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“The rhythms of life in the village were slow — revealingly, the big clock...”
– This comes from a commentary on changes in rural life on the other side of the Himalayas from China, but that commentary has a strong link to Chinese Characters due to its author: Pankaj Mishra. An Indian writer with a strong interest in China (see, for example, his profile of novelist Yu Hua),...
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Europe's Underestimated Islamists :: Middle East... →
Contributor Ian Johnson’s last book took a turn away from China, into a little-known, significant part of history.
Kevin Spacey's 'Inseparable' Opens at Busan Film... →
“Taiwan-born director Dayyan Eng (伍仕賢) said he wanted to dive into the topic of a fast-changing, urban China and look at the pressures facing young people.”
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Shanghai Palimpsest: Shadows in the 21st Century... →
Conference taking place in Shanghai soon, co-organized by contributor Anna Greenspan, whose chapter for the book explores changes in that city through the prism of local schools.
Fear of Dragons →
Essay by Yu Hua on the 100th anniversary of the People’s Republic if China. Hat tip to Chinese Characters contributor Ian Johnson
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“Chinese fans who could not afford the real thing resorted to the highest form of...”
– From contributor Evan Osnos’s blog post on the mourning of Steve Jobs in China. 