Some China Book Notes
Not long after moving back to the US, I indulged in a book buying spree. Unsurprisingly, China-related books was the theme of my new purchases, and after several weeks of grad-school induced fatigue I finally got around to reading the first one of these.
China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know is more a very long FAQ list than a work of non-fiction prose, but for its content this format works well. Jeffrey Wasserstrom has cobbled together a comprehensive list of misconceptions that blur Sino-American mutual understanding, ranging from historical events to issues that dominate contemporary politics.
One would think that this guide book of sorts wouldn't be appropriate for someone who has lived in China, but I found Wasserstrom's writing to be highly informative. In discussing why Westerners and the Chinese have divergent views about Mao Zedong, Wasserstrom writes that the American historical figure most comparable to the Chinese leader was actually Andrew Jackson:
Though admittedly far from perfect, the comparison is based on the fact that Jackson is remembered both as someone who played a significant role in the development of a political organization (the Democratic Party) that still has many partisans, and as someone responsible for brutal policies toward Native Americans that are now referred to as genocidal.
Both men are thought of as having done terrible things yet this does not necessarily prevent them from being used as positive symbols. And Jackson still appears on $20 bills, even though Americans tend to view as heinous the institution of slavery (of which he was a passionate defender) and the early 19th-century military campaigns against Native Americans (in which he took part).
At times Jackson, for all his flaws, is invoked as representing an egalitarian strain within the American democratic tradition, a self-made man of the people who rose to power via straight talk and was not allied with moneyed interests. Mao stands for something roughly similar.
Wasserstrom, whose blog The China Beat is a great resource for learning more about China, devotes much of the last part of the book to explaining why Americans-or Westerners more broadly- do not understand how the Chinese think, and vice versa. I won't spoil more of the book's contents by summarizing his conclusions, but needless to say his take on the issue is interesting and worth reading in full.
If there is one criticism I could make of the book, it'd be that Wasserstrom spends too little time discussing issues such as the rural-urban divide, internal migration, and other economic issues that threaten to become major problems for China in the very near future. Of course, it would take far more than 130 pages to mention every salient factor concerning contemporary China, and Wasserstrom clearly was going for brevity over thoroughness. I bring up the issue because (it's your pet issue, duh- ed.) I think commentators too often neglect it and focus too much on the urban elite.
I'd recommend Wasserstrom's book to anyone, but particularly for people who want to learn more about China but are reluctant to dive straight in without obtaining basic knowledge about the country. Even old China hands would benefit from Wasserstrom's succinct, even-handed writing style.
-------------------------
If James Fallows' work at the Atlantic had a theme, it was to 'explain what you can't learn about a place until you've been there'. Most who followed his reporting from China over the past four years would agree that he succeeded in this regard. Fallows' writing on issues both grave and mundane has garnered significant praise from Sinophiles and laypeople alike.
While Fallows lived in China he was accompanied by his wife, the linguist Deborah Fallows. With the singular task of mastering Mandarin at hand, Fallows learned to use the language as a window into the dynamic, complex, and rich culture and society in China. Her observations now appear in book form, under the title Dreaming in Chinese. I can't wait to find the time to tackle it.
I recently had the opportunity to see both James and Deborah Fallows and the prominent Sinologist Orville Schell appear on Deborah's book tour, which stopped in New York City on Tuesday. Though the event was ostensibly intended to promote Dreaming in Chinese, the format consisted of the two Fallows' describing their China experience with Schell in an easy, conversationalist style. Though the event was held in the auditorium of the Asia Society, it had the cozy feel of sitting in someone's living room. At several points I was tempted to pipe in with my own observation yet thankfully managed to wait until question time to butt in.
From Left: James Fallows, Deborah Fallows, Orville Schell. Couldn't zoom in, sorry.
Much of the conversation revolved around the day-to-day life of the Fallows' in both Shanghai and Beijing, a topic that both recounted with great humor. Yet the conversation also touched upon China as a whole, and mainly China's relationship with the US. Orville Schell mentioned that what some Americans view as the 'menace' of China is truly the country's inexhaustible energy, while James Fallows said that how other Americans perceive China: dynamic, exciting, futuristic- mimic European attitudes about the US a generation or two ago.
The other day I read that the lunatic Republican senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell spoke of a secret Chinese plot to invade and occupy America, a plot made privy to her that she couldn't reveal for national security reasons. Even a cynic like me doubts that most Americans hold similarly acute fears. But there's certainly a tendency in this country to view China in an adversarial way. The efforts of people like Jeffrey Wasserstrom, James and Deborah Fallows, Orville Schell, and countless others to provide a more accurate portrayal of the country cannot be underestimated.
