For decades, China has coveted the Nobel Peace Prize, in hopes that one day one of their own citizens (while living in China) could claim it as a recipient. To China, winning the Nobel Peace Prize would ultimately prove to the world that China has indeed become a country to reckon with and has finally caught up to, if not surpassed, the Western powers. This year, China's wish was granted, although not in the form they were expecting it. What can I say? You can't always get what you bargain for.
Back in early October, it was announced that the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese dissent currently jailed for subversion of state power, after co-authoring Charter 08, a highly critical political manifesto on the Chinese government. Liu was also a notable figure in the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests.
To say that China wasn't thrilled upon learning Liu Xiaobo was awarded this year's Nobel Prize would be an understatement. As soon as the announcement was made, China quickly called the Norwegian ambassador to express their anger and publicly retorted by calling the decision "blasphemy."
Additionally, the story of that the first Chinese man ever had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize was shushed quiet throughout Chinese media outlets. News story concerning the prize form international news outlets, such as CNN or the BBC were also blacked out (CNN and BBC are only available in apartment complexes catered to foreigners and in nice hotels.). Many western news websites featuring stories about the award and Internet searches on "Liu Xiaobo" and "Nobel Peace Prize" were also blocked by the Great Chinese Firewall. Lastly, and perhaps the most creepily, as the news of the decision spread, the Chinese government erased the characters composing the characters of Liu Xiaobo's name out of the SMS (texting) database so that no text messages containing his name could be sent out. Those who succeeded prior to the big erased found their messages blocked and sometimes SIM cards deactivated.
Not surprisingly, this past weekend as the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was held in Oslo, Norway, many Western news websites were blocked once again.Without using a VPN, I couldn't access CNN.com; although ironically, I could access the NY Times where the "Empty Chair" was one of the leading stories of the weekend. (Since Liu Xiaobo was obviously not allowed to attend the ceremony in Oslo and accept his award, the award was given to an "empty chair," thus all the "Empty Chair" headlines about the Nobel Peace Prize this weekend.)
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communication. Show all posts
Monday, December 13, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
On a horse...
Undoubtedly, one of my favorite Chinese terms is "马上," (mǎshàng) which means immediately or right away. Now the reason why I like this phrase isn't because I'm an impatient person (although I am), it's because when you directly translate the characters 马 (mǎ) and 上 (shàng) it means "horse" and "on," respectively. Meaning, whenever someone tells you something (or someone）is immediately coming (马上来 mǎshàng lái），that speaker is literally saying the thing/person is coming on a horse, i.e. it's coming as quickly as it can. Since for a long time historically horses were the fastest mode of transportation, it makes sense that saying something is coming on a horse would logically mean it's coming right away and as fast as it/he/she can.
The term 马上 (mǎshàng) is hardly the only term in Chinese that have an occasionally humerous, yet logical literal translations that somehow relate to a larger or different term. In fact, most terms in Chinese make some sort of sense when broken down character by character partially in order to make terms more easy to remember (aside from terms that are phonetic translations of foreign things or places). Here are a few additional examples:
1. 马上(mǎshàng)
The term 马上 (mǎshàng) is hardly the only term in Chinese that have an occasionally humerous, yet logical literal translations that somehow relate to a larger or different term. In fact, most terms in Chinese make some sort of sense when broken down character by character partially in order to make terms more easy to remember (aside from terms that are phonetic translations of foreign things or places). Here are a few additional examples:
1. 马上(mǎshàng)
- Character-by-character translation: On a horse
- Actual translation: Immediately, right away
- Character-by-character translation: Rent-out car
- Actual translation: Taxi
- Character-by-character translation: Fire leg
- Actual translation: Ham
- Character-by-character translation: Cowboy pants
- Actual translation: Jeans
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Films, girls and sajiao
While perusing ChinaDaily.com the other day, I came across a column written by Qi Zhai entitled, "Time standing still for Chinese-style love affair," in which she examines the central relationships in two different Chinese movies (Street Angel and Under the Hawthorne Tree) made 70 years apart. In her examination of the two films, Qi Zhai realizes that despite that one was made in the 1930s and the other in 2010, the relationship archetypes both films remains the same.
In both these two films (and many others), Qi Zhai points out that the female character in the story is portrayed as very "childlike", while her male counterpart is more of the "eternally cheerful, silently suffering, unbreakably strong type." She goes on further to write that the relationship between both characters remind her much of a father-daughter relationship rather than a relationship between two people of equal maturity.
This portrayal of the ideal female counterpart in a relationship as being a naive, childlike is a large part of why I've never been drawn to to the Chinese and Korean soap operas (and films) that are very popular in China, Korea and abroad. I often find the female leads annoyingly dependent and difficult to relate to.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm hardly the type of girl who relies on others to take care of things for me. I take pride in the fact that I can (mostly) take care of myself. Consequently, I find other people who are overly needy or dependent very trying and seeing characters with such qualities on film or television, cringe-worthy. However, in Chinese culture, this archetype of a naive female and her strong, silent male counterpart is often portrayed as the ideal relationship.
Nothing demonstrates this more than the idea of sajiao ((撒娇), which the Modern Chinese Dictionary defines as, " to deliberately act like a spoiled child in front of someone because of the awareness of the other person's affection."*
From my understanding of sajiao, it's typically used by the female in relationships in order to invoke the male counterpart to do something for them as a sign of affection. Often times, the girl will act much like a spoiled young girl (as opposed to grown woman) in order to get her male companion to do whatever she wants him to do, even if she can do it perfectly well by herself. The only Western/English equivalent to sajiao that I can think of is the concept of a damsel-in-distress, but even that doesn't seem like an appropriate equailvent.
In both these two films (and many others), Qi Zhai points out that the female character in the story is portrayed as very "childlike", while her male counterpart is more of the "eternally cheerful, silently suffering, unbreakably strong type." She goes on further to write that the relationship between both characters remind her much of a father-daughter relationship rather than a relationship between two people of equal maturity.
This portrayal of the ideal female counterpart in a relationship as being a naive, childlike is a large part of why I've never been drawn to to the Chinese and Korean soap operas (and films) that are very popular in China, Korea and abroad. I often find the female leads annoyingly dependent and difficult to relate to.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm hardly the type of girl who relies on others to take care of things for me. I take pride in the fact that I can (mostly) take care of myself. Consequently, I find other people who are overly needy or dependent very trying and seeing characters with such qualities on film or television, cringe-worthy. However, in Chinese culture, this archetype of a naive female and her strong, silent male counterpart is often portrayed as the ideal relationship.
Nothing demonstrates this more than the idea of sajiao ((撒娇), which the Modern Chinese Dictionary defines as, " to deliberately act like a spoiled child in front of someone because of the awareness of the other person's affection."*
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| Wuzhen |
From my understanding of sajiao, it's typically used by the female in relationships in order to invoke the male counterpart to do something for them as a sign of affection. Often times, the girl will act much like a spoiled young girl (as opposed to grown woman) in order to get her male companion to do whatever she wants him to do, even if she can do it perfectly well by herself. The only Western/English equivalent to sajiao that I can think of is the concept of a damsel-in-distress, but even that doesn't seem like an appropriate equailvent.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tensions on the Korean Pennisula
Just in case you've been living under a rock (or haven't been paying attention to international news), yesterday North Korea shelled a small South Korean island that lies in a disputed marine area off the eastern Korean shoreline. As a result, the tensions between South and North Korea have once again heightened.
Many of the Korean students here are very concerned about the current "crisis status" (as the South Korean government calls it) on the Korean peninsula. Since all of age South Korean males are required by law to serve at least two years in the military, many are afraid that if the situation does escalate, they would all be recalled back to South Korea to resume their military service. (Most, if not all of the Korean male students have already completed their mandatory two, if not more, years of service.)
Personally, I highly doubt that the tensions will escalate to anything further. Every year or every few months, it seems like North Korea launches some sort of "attack" on South Korea and tensions escalate for a while but then die down to their normal level of tension. Also from an international perspective, it would be an unwise move on North Korea's part to try to escalate the tensions considering South Korea has the backing of the western powers, including the United States; while China, who historically has backed North Korea, seems hesitant to back North Korea for fear of hurting it's relations with the United States and other Western countries.
Hopefully, though, I will not live to regret that last paragraph.
For more information about the situation on the Korean pennisula, take a look at some of these links:
'Crisis Status' in South Korea After North Shells Island (NYTimes)
China Faces a Nettlesome Neighbor in N. Korea (NYTimes)
Two Koreas Exchange Fire (China Daily)
China calls for restraint from DPRK and ROK (China Daily)
US and S.Korea to Hold War Games (Al Jazeera English)
World reacts to Korea Clashes (Al Jazeera English)
Sorry for the link overload, but if my classes at NYU taught me nothing else, I did learn that the news source is just as important (or sometimes, even more important) than the news itself.
Many of the Korean students here are very concerned about the current "crisis status" (as the South Korean government calls it) on the Korean peninsula. Since all of age South Korean males are required by law to serve at least two years in the military, many are afraid that if the situation does escalate, they would all be recalled back to South Korea to resume their military service. (Most, if not all of the Korean male students have already completed their mandatory two, if not more, years of service.)
Personally, I highly doubt that the tensions will escalate to anything further. Every year or every few months, it seems like North Korea launches some sort of "attack" on South Korea and tensions escalate for a while but then die down to their normal level of tension. Also from an international perspective, it would be an unwise move on North Korea's part to try to escalate the tensions considering South Korea has the backing of the western powers, including the United States; while China, who historically has backed North Korea, seems hesitant to back North Korea for fear of hurting it's relations with the United States and other Western countries.
Hopefully, though, I will not live to regret that last paragraph.
For more information about the situation on the Korean pennisula, take a look at some of these links:
'Crisis Status' in South Korea After North Shells Island (NYTimes)
China Faces a Nettlesome Neighbor in N. Korea (NYTimes)
Two Koreas Exchange Fire (China Daily)
China calls for restraint from DPRK and ROK (China Daily)
US and S.Korea to Hold War Games (Al Jazeera English)
World reacts to Korea Clashes (Al Jazeera English)
Sorry for the link overload, but if my classes at NYU taught me nothing else, I did learn that the news source is just as important (or sometimes, even more important) than the news itself.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Victory of the day:
being able to hold conversations completely in Mandarin with two train ticket agents, and two front desk people in Mandarin without any of them giving me "What-is-this-crazy-girl-saying-to-me" looks.
And on top of that, today I also called a travel agent to ask her if she could help me book my winter break travels. We actually spoke on the phone for a good two minutes at least and we were able to communicate pretty well. Considering the fact that face-to-face communication in itself can sometimes be tricky with my terrible Mandarin, this phone conversation is pretty impressive. Not to mention the fact that I hate telephones & calling people in general, even if the person I'm calling speaks English.
Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of myself right now.
Now for a completely unrelated photograph from the Wangfujing Night Market:
And on top of that, today I also called a travel agent to ask her if she could help me book my winter break travels. We actually spoke on the phone for a good two minutes at least and we were able to communicate pretty well. Considering the fact that face-to-face communication in itself can sometimes be tricky with my terrible Mandarin, this phone conversation is pretty impressive. Not to mention the fact that I hate telephones & calling people in general, even if the person I'm calling speaks English.
Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of myself right now.
Now for a completely unrelated photograph from the Wangfujing Night Market:
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