Contemporary China: Exploring Cultural Dynamics

1. Contemporary ChinaA Faculty Development Institute for Building Chinese StudiesTitle VI Year III Middlesex Community College Priscilla Eng Cathleen McCarron Kevan Murphy Peyton Paxson Dona Cady, Campus Coordinator

7. Contemporary China: New Course under Development Peyton Paxson

8. Course Description As China’s status as a global power continues to rise, it becomes increasingly important to learn more about Chinese culture today. The focus of this course will vary, depending on the dynamics of current social, political, environmental, and economic issues in China. Topics can include Chinese popular media, financial and commercial institutions, concepts of deviance and crime, and a comparison of Chinese perceptions of China and the U.S. with American perceptions of China and the U.S.

9. Course Texts Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom, China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013). Yu Hua, China in Ten Words (New York: Anchor Books, 2011).

10. Course Outline: First Three Weeks Week 1 Why Study China? What Do We Know About China?Reading: Wasserstrom, Chap. 5 Week 2 Chinese History: 2,500 Years in One Week Reading: Wasserstrom, Chaps. 1 - 3 Week 3 Deng’s Reforms and Contemporary China Reading: Yu, Revolution,Wasserstrom, Chap. 4

11. Additional Topics • Food and FoodwaysReading: from Cathy • Migration and EmigrationReading: from PriscillaYu, Disparity • Environmental ConcernsReading: from Kevan • From Illegal Gold Mining to Gold FarmingReading: Yu, Bamboozle • Crime and DevianceReading: Yu, Reading

12. Additional Topics • PropertyReading: Yu, Copycat • Movies • New Media: Entertainment and Activism • IndustryReading: Yu, Grassroots • The Future of China Reading: Wasserstrom, Chapter 6

13. Course Activities • Weekly Reaction Essays • Movie Review • Midterm and Final Exams

14. Other Readings Chang, Leslie T., Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China (New York: Spiegel and Grau, 2008). Fung, Anthony Y.H., ed., Asian Popular Culture; The global (dis)continuity(New York: Routledge, 2013). Sherman, Edward D., America Through the Eyes of China and India; Television, Identity and Intercultural Communication in a Changing World (New York Continuum, 2010). Yan, Yunxiang, The Individualization of Chinese Society (New York: Oxford, 2009). Wasserstrom, Jeffrey N., China’s Brave New World—and Other Tales for Global Times (Bloomington: Indiana University, 2007).

15. Feast & Famine: Food & Power in Contemporary Chinese Fiction & Film Cathy McCarron

16. Module for Contemporary Chinese Culture, The Short Story & World Literature II • Comprises a flexible curriculum unit that can be taught over one to four 75-minute class periods • Draws on the centrality of food in Chinese culture • Looks specifically at 20th Century fiction and contemporary film • Asks students to consider the relationship between food and power in these texts Chinese Outdoor Banquet, Song Dynasty

17. Conceptual Framework • Introduces students to the concept of food as a metaphor from 4th century B.C.E. to the present • Provides brief historical framework of China’s political history, highlighting its feudal, Communist and socialist/capitalist political structures • Addresses the topic of cannibalism raised by Lu Xun and Shen Congwen that informs the work of Ah Cheng, Mo Yan, Fruit Chan • Asks students to reflect on the differences among the relationship between food & power in works produced over the last 30 years

18. Partial List of Works to Be Used • “Diary of a Madman” by Lu Xun • “Chimney Smoke” by Ah Cheng • “In the Kindergarten” and “Saboteur” by Ha Jin • “American Apple” by Li Jingwen • “Can’t Forget about Eating” by Mo Yan • Brothers by Yu Hua • Zhang Yimou films: - Raise the Red Lantern- The Road Home- To Live • Eat, Drink, Man, Woman by Ang Lee • Dumplings by Fruit Chan

19. Sample Classroom Activity: Raise the Red Lantern • Provide brief historical background of the story • Distribute summary of the film and provide context surrounding this scene • Watch film clip • Discuss how Songlian uses the ritual of eating to assert her power

20. List of Sources Related to the Unit Chang, Kwang-chih, and Eugene N. Anderson. Food in Chinese Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. New Haven: Yale UP, 1977. Print. Dikötter, Frank. Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962. New York: Walker &, 2010. Print. Farquhar, Judith. Appetites: Food and Sex in Post-Socialist China. Durham and London: Duke UP, 2002. Print. Knechtges, David R. "A Literary Feast: Food in Early Chinese Literature." Journal of the American Oriental Society 106.1 (1986): 49-63. Print. Lu, Tonglin. "Fruit Chan's Dumplings-New "Diary of a Madman" in Post-Mao Global Capitalism." China Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China 10.2 (2010): 177. Print. Osnos, Evan. "Letter from China: Of Feast and Famine." The New Yorker 7 Sept. 2010: 9.  Rubin, Lawrence C. Food for Thought: Essays on Eating and Culture. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008. Print. Yue, Gang. The Mouth That Begs: Hunger, Cannibalism, and the Politics of Eating in Modern China. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 1999. Print.

21. Understanding China Through the Literature of Migrant Workers Priscilla Eng

22. How does learning about the plight of the migrant workers in China help our students have a better understanding of cultural differences and similarities between the U.S. and China? • Diverse Population • Socioeconomic Disparities • Discrimination in National Policies

23. Migrant Workers U.S. • Estimated 11 million • From Mexico, Central America, Philippines, India, and South Korea • Social welfare issues • Racial and Ethnic prejudices China • Estimated 234 million • From western and central inlands, Sichuan, Henan, Anhui, Hunan, and Jiangxi provinces • Social welfare issues • Racial and Ethnic prejudices

24. Three Withouts 无身份证, 无暂居 证，无用功正明 • A wish for a Boeing jet; a wish for a pair of sneakers • Mao - ten cent piece • Zhe me gui! - Too expensive!

25. Zhe me gui is a constant refrain here at the market, but what, Donghua often asks himself, do these urbanites with their nice clothes and expensive electronics really know about zhe me gui? In recent decades pennies have become increasingly irrelevant, and now the smallest unit of change is the mao, a ten-cent piece. In the last few years, many businesspeople have stopped dealing with that too; it’s simply too small for big-time concerns. But here, for Donghua and Shuanghai, the mao is their lifeblood. Donghua’s Bluetooth-wielding customers may choose not to acknowledge it, but the lifestyles they enjoy are made possible in large part by these mao dependent migrants. Never mind the convenience of having cheap produce available on virtually every block; thanks to them, regular facials and foot massages are within reach for even lower-middle-class urbanites, as are housekeepers, nannies, and tailors. Thanks to them, there’s someone to re-sole shoes, repair zippers, or copy keys hovering in every neighborhood, and eating out is almost as cheap as eating in. Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration.

26. A Collection of Short Stories

27. Novel

28. Film

29. Works Cited • Keung Wong, Daniel Fu, Chang Ying Li, and He Xue Song. "Rural Migrant Workers in Urban China: Living a Marginalised Life." International Journal of Social Welfare 16.1 (2007): 32-40. Print. • Loyalka, Michelle Dammon. Eating Bitterness: Stories from the Front Lines of China's Great Urban Migration. Berkeley: University of California, 2012. Print. • Richwine, Jason "A Population Portrait." N.p., n.d. Web. • Xu, Qingwen, Xinping Guan, and Fangfang Yao. "Welfare Program Participation among Rural-to-urban Migrant Workers in China." International Journal of Social Welfare (2010): n. pag. Print. • Yu, Hua. China in Ten Words, New York: Anchor Books, 2012. Print.

30. Environmental Issues:The Cost of Economic and Social Development Kevan Murphy

31. The Three Gorges Dam

32. Benefits of the Three Gorges Dam • Creation of electricity equivalent to that produced by the burning of 50 million tons of coal a year • Protection for millions of people from floods that have killed 300,000 people in this century • Provision of waters for millions of acres of irrigated land. • Improved navigability of the Yangtze River • Bring jobs and an improved quality of life for tens of millions of people living in the interior of China

33. Problems with the Three Gorges Dam • Flooding of some of the world's most scenic areas • Drowning of farmland • Submergence of over 1,000 cities, villages and towns • Relocation of 1.3 million people to higher ground

34. How Big Is The Reservoir? Distance from Yichang to Chongqing = 296.6 mi.Distance from Boston to New York Border = 138.1 mi

35. Potential Geological Hazards • Soil Erosion downstream • Earthquake zone • Landslides destabilized slopes • Silt accumulation behind dam

36. In Addition to • Algal Blooms • Pollution: submerged factories, garbage, farmland • The recent drought • Explosion of the jellyfish population in the delta • 47 endangered species including: Chinese River Dolphin, Chinese Sturgeon, and Chinese Paddlefish

37. A Poem “Walls of stone will stand upstream to the west, to hold back Wushan’s clouds and rain, until a smooth lake rises in the narrow gorges.” by Mao Zedong

38. Olympic Stadium, Beijing The Bird’s Nest August, 2009

39. The Bird’s Nest Nearing completion (鸟巢 Niǎocháo)

40. At first glance, nothing What does the Three Gorges dam have to do with air quality?

41. Making Connections • Hydroelectric power - demand for electricity • Generation of electricity - to air pollution and air quality • What are other sources of energy for electricity generation? • Pros and cons for each

42. Source Material/Suggested Readings China’s Contemporary Challenges, by Shapiro Judith, Polity Press, Malden, MA. 2012 Where The Dragon Meets The Angry River: Nature And Power In The People’s Republic Of China, by Grumbine R. Edward, Island Press, Washington D.C., 2010 The Struggle For Sustainability in Rural China: Environmental Values And Civil Society, by Tilt Bryan, Columbia University Press, New York, 2010 China And The Environment: The Green Revolution, edited by Geall, Sam, Zed Books Ltd. New York, 2013 The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge To China’s Future, by Economy, Elizabeth C., Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2004

43. The preceding are talking points for discussion of these and other environmental issues facing contemporary China.

44. For an in depth treatment of the science behind the stories enroll in the China specific section of Environmental Science.