while researching a world history timeline I came across some very intriguing little tidbits. I’m sure you all have become well versed in the early brilliance of chinese civilization. however here are a few morsels more perhaps to amuse than enlighten
2850 BC :: China decrees the use of two names for each person
1116 BC :: Imperial Decree :: it’s a requirement of heaven that people drink
650 BC :: China becomes the first civ (on record) to license prostitutes
???? :: I can’t find where I wrote this down and it’s driving me up the wall. for now, from memory: two royal astronomers, H and H, got drunk and missed predicting a solar eclipse. poor boys, executed.
via timelines
while we’re on the subject, here’s a great article discussing the difference between land reform policy and execution. the general gist :
China’s 2002 Rural Land Contracting Law requires the government to issue contracts or certificates to all farmers describing their rights to profit from their land parcels and be mostly sheltered from government intervention or reallocation for 30 years. The law is one of the most significant recent pieces of Chinese legislation to address farmers’ rights to their most important asset, Riedinger says.
The researchers found that less than 40 percent of farm households have received valid contracts or certificates.
via michigan state university
reading this article (it is a bit unclear to me who the article is actually by, as one Minxin Pin is referenced in the opening paragraph, however at the bottom is a blurb of Albert Keidel (not referenced), so presumably the author?) on a glimpse of the world, I was dumbfounded at such bizarre notions from a usually fairly reasonable source of china information.
Can China continue this incredible pace? Five factors suggest it can. First, China is good at investing in things that feed its growth. It gets roughly the same growth bang for its investment buck as India. But China’s financial system mobilizes more money than India’s, and it allocates a much larger share to private-sector-friendly infrastructure such as roads, ports, and sewage systems.
wow. now granted, I’m not an economist, and I’ve not been to India, but I find it very difficult to believe given the absurd sanitation even along the booming east coast, and a taxi or bus ride just about anywhere in the country belies any notions of big spending on that particular stretch of infrastructure. I’ll leave for the time being my personal favorite practice of widening out the potholes (one imagines for repair) then leaving the freshly gaping holes for months.
Second, China has created incentives that reward hard work, knowledge, and risk-taking.
I can’t even formulate a rational counterargument to this. Seriously. Every Chinese person I quoted this to just started uncontrollably sniggering.
Fifty million layoffs eased urban workers out of their cradle-to-grave jobs. Rural workers can now move to towns and compete for urban jobs.
I’m trying very hard to find out where this information came from. Assuming it’s true it could mark a next step in what does appear to be the buddings of a work force actually qualified to do the work its hired to do. Other hints include a current high school population with a much larger ability to use the English Language than similar students four years ago. However the vast majority of the people I know who hold above manual labor jobs still spend all but about four hours of their five days a week sitting in an empty office playing video games.
Compulsory education was extended to nine years, and China’s high literacy rate underpins its increasing worker productivity.
In a country where the average factory worker takes home 500 kuai, and migrant workers often have to struggle to get their paychecks, I’m doubting that extra two years of education will do anything more than piss people off as they read their own constitution and find out how badly their rights are really getting trampled.
Third, China’s daring openness to global commerce has enhanced its economic flexibility and financed new technologies, while judiciously managing key areas such as foreign investment.
This does appear logical. the one Chinese economic concern I have a difficult time getting past is the tendency of large corporations to overspend then get bailed out. this does not, on the surface, seem particularly fiscally sound. but again, not an economist.
Fourth, foundations for a lasting middle class have emerged, thanks to land reforms, improvements in education, and new social safety nets.
Again, unbelievably curious as per what social safety nets the author could be referring to. Health care? Not so much. Insurance? Landd reform? Tax cuts? Wish I knew.
Lastly, China is a relatively low-crime society, where unthreatened physical safety enhances economic opportunities. Corruption exists, but at levels lower than those in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines and it is vigorously prosecuted.
Oh my. Well, you’ve lost me here. Though, not nearly as much as the next bit.
The issue is how to manage that unrest. China’s approach is to compensate displaced people, discipline losers who cause trouble, and punish local governments’ malfeasance.
We have been seeing more and more Chinese reports of jailing of corrupt officials, but to say that this signals a widespread wipeout of corruption and reform might be overstating the case.
As per the compensation of displaced people, I’d love it if those waiting for weeks in major cities across the country hoping to be allowed within a 20 meter radius of someone who might listen to them would be made aware of their sudden new right to be heard.
All this is not to say that this is one possible direction for China in the future. But I believe it’s entirely too premature to say for sure. It could just as easily continue as it is. Or get even worse. Only time will tell.
In my experience it’s very diffficult to look at the actualities, look at what the closed door government might be trying to do vs what it is capable of doing, listen to the people, and come up with some semblance of a rational explination for the chaos that is China. I’ve until now felt Mr. French did quite a good job of this. Could this be a case allowing a bit of the party line in to let people see what it’s thinking? I can only hope yes.
Space Not Available
Sorry, we are required by an order of the
Chinese government to block access to this
Space due to its content.
you know, I really dislike microshack. to put it very, very mildly. but I have to give them credit for one thing. they’re letting people know how extensive internet blocking is.
you’d be amazed at the sheer volume of people I’ve talked to who truly believe it’s only porn being blocked. well, now they’re spreading the word. almost a good thing, however immediately disguised.
running the chinese version of the above through babelfish returned this: “News sex education Some speeches, cannot say; Some speeches, do not want to say… …”
the lost cultural relics recovery program
what I’d like to know is why. when I want peace and quiet in china, when I want away from the buzzing crowds, you know the absolute best place to find it always is? yup, you got it. a museum.
I’d also like to know, if Beijing insists on taking (rather than buying) back items under the premise that ‘they are rightfully ours’ does that mean, following the logic, that tibetans can take back tibet? wouldn’t that be an interesting play on history.
“were looted at a time when China was at its weakest. We feel heartache about the weakness of the government at that time. We feel hatred and anger at that government and the forces that invaded us. It was a humiliation […]. We just want to recover what is rightfully ours.”
Yang Laiyun, Director, Office for relics and history, Old Summer Palace, Beijing
wonder what would happen if these exact words came out of someone else’s mouth.
then again, I wonder that a lot here, and it usually gets me into trouble.
ref: acb
this is why I feel heartbreak every day, because even as it happens the majority of chinese people I know believe it impossible. only it’s not impossible, it’s just very very difficult.
Last year Hao successfully sued China’s state railroad authorities for failing to provide him with proper receipts on trains, ending a long-held privilege under which the railroad ministry had avoided paying tax.
Hao represents a new breed of activists in China who believe their individual actions can bring about institutional change and who have ingenious strategies for exploring the existing space for citizen participation. In pushing for change, they carefully avoid the confrontational stance adopted by political dissidents. Instead, they pick their fights skillfully.
Since March 1 this year, rail travelers have been able to obtain formal receipts printed by the State Administration of Taxation when they purchase goods from onboard shops or buy meals in dining cars. This ends a long-standing practice whereby the Ministry of Railroads had been able to avoid strict taxation of its income.
one man changed china. slightly, perhaps. but change none the less. by knowing his rights and demanding that what is on paper is matched in reality. it isn’t often here. but apparently it’s possible.
in related news, according to bingfeng, the government’s encouraging people to sue the government. hmm. right, so now it sounds a bit too familiar, bit reminiscent of unfortunate history.
but maybe not. hard tellin not knowin.
right, so it’s been a while. echoes had posts almost every day. which is good. until you factor in all the time I could have been spending, you know, outside. so I went full tilt the other direction. blog-city got blocked, I let go.
now I’m shooting for balance. here, but not always. we’ll see how it turns out.
I’ll be attempting to migrate ye old postes. but as I’m notoriously poor with details, the whole migration thing might take a while. until then, go here for old stuff. if you can. blog-city’s still unilaterally blocked on the mainland.