Thank you for calling our attention to what's going on in China and how artists are fighting back. The importance of preserving history and the inspiring courage of artists like Badiucao--that's what I take away from this post. And, while it's terrifying to think about the disappearances of people and the attempted suppression of facts, it feels as if disappearing the past has to be a lot more difficult in the modern world. Or maybe I'm just hoping it is.
Sharon thank you for your post. It’s given me food for thought. I believe(ed ?) disappearing the past is a lot easier in the modern world. Too much power is invested and concentrated in one place…. technology - I’m thinking computers smart phones etc- cut the internet and other media platforms off and we really have nothing to remember the past. No more newspapers, mags, certain books, etc they’re on the way out. What we have is controlled radio, tv and social media and other things that can disappear instantly. Where and who are the keepers of our past? I’m thinking?????
I go both ways on this---on the one hand, everyone has a smartphone, on the other hand, who controls what's on that phone? After posting my comment, I've swung back to fearing the worst. When I got yet more books the other day---and my husband made some snarky crack, I told him I was building up my collection for the future---when we'll need them and the rest of the world will, too.
I also heard Rogoff tell Charlie Rose that Xi’s strategy is stronger than Trump’s. I found this paragraph in BROOKINGS
…” Despite China’s daunting economic challenges, the crucial point for the Trump administration is that despite China’s economic woes, China likely has the wherewithal and capacity to weather the pain of a second trade war—and that the United States may have less leverage than the problems in China’s real estate sector might lead Trump to believe. Xi may be reluctant to pull the levers mentioned above, and there are risks to pulling any of them, but they are nonetheless available to him. Moreover, the robustness of China’s “new” economy—the high-tech and manufacturing sectors at the heart of Xi’s vision—means that China is well-positioned to remain a formidable competitor to the United States, even in the face of these economic doldrums. Indeed, one could almost consider the combination of economic malaise and resilience the hallmark of being a great power. After all, since the stagflation and retrenchment of the 1970s, American commentators have prematurely prognosticated U.S. decline—only for its resilience to prove enduring.”
Thank you for stressing China. I am reminded even before the first trump regime of how China disappeared people and how Jared Genser worked so hard to free many. Senator McCain worked to free many dissidents in China and other places like Myanmar.
I can’t think of the one artist's name. I had a Psychology of Sensation and Perception class and the professor wanted people to look at art. I used the art of 1 of the Chinese dissidents at the time who put birdseed into a massive pile. Next to it were pieces of chocolate in a pile, and 1 had to take one.
Conceptual art, could betoken the bird seed as treating people like pet canaries and the chocolate as a desirable alternative, or the chocolate as revisionist decadence and the birdseed as hope for the future of the natural world in a bleak era.
I had two classes on China and Japan, one was East Asian Civilization at Macalester, taught by Jerry Fisher - whose wife was Japanese - and the other Buddhist China, at the U, taught by Romeyn Taylor. Highlight of the first was reading Fan Shen:
Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village is a 1966 book by William H. Hinton that describes the land-reform campaign during the Chinese Civil War conducted from 1945 to 1948 by the Chinese Communist Party in "Long Bow Village" (the name used in the book for the village of Zhangzhuangcun in Shanxi province). Hinton lived in the village in spring and summer of 1948 and witnessed scenes described in the book and recreates earlier events based on local records and interviews with participants. He explains party strategy to present the campaign's successes in building a revolutionary consciousness and a power-base among the poor peasants, but also its errors and excesses, especially the violence toward rich peasants and landlords. Fanshen has been compared to Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China and characterized as "perhaps the book that most changed American cold war perceptions of the Chinese Revolution."[1]
******
Hghlight of the Buddhist China course was engaging with the art and literature of the Sung and T'ang dynasties, and comparing Chinese Buddhism of that era with Tibetan and other forms like Zen. Btw I suppose even mentioning "Tibet" in current Mainland China is enough for an arrest warrant.
Very interesting to find out what the Chinese have been doing for so long. The timing on this was perfect, because just this morning I was thinking about the detention center at Fort Bliss, which is supposed to be tents. Given that I know these detention centers do not provide sanitation, water, air conditioning, or reasonable amounts of food, and given that our summer temp here in El Paso are in the triple digits, our president will be killing a lot of people who don't deserve it, because they've done nothing beyond being in the wrong place at the wrong time when ICE came calling.
Thank you for drawing our attention to the essential, courageous work of Badiucao. I remember following the events of 1989 very closely from Los Angeles, and it's terrible to think that the noble memory of those students is being lost. Ironically, our Museum of Contemporary Art had an exhibit earlier this year that included a piece by American sculptor Duane Hansen honoring the student protests at Tien An Men Square. I found it deeply moving.
Thank you Ruth. The forme fruste of disappearance is the dismissal of concerns and dissents, particularly about disfavored people and identities. We can fight back by caring, thinking, linking, and courage.
When I lived and worked in China in 1994-95, my undergraduate students were hungry for information about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Though I was threatened with deportation if ever reported to be speaking openly about the "Three Ts" -- I had to divine what they were, as even my handlers were frightened to utter the words Tiananmen, Tibet, and Taiwan -- there is an adult generation of Chinese today who know what happened. Their collective curiosity fueled their courage to risk seeking facts they knew were being withheld from them. I aided their curiosity, knowing the risks I suffered were nothing compared to the reprisals they might have faced, even then. It's a personal anecdote, I realize, but one which I believe illustrates the enduring power of protest and resistance. In this era of monsters, when I feel paralyzed by the march of authoritarianism and the silencing and whitewashing of historical truth, I remember my young students. Even now, they give me hope and strength.
I remember the day of Tiananmen Square vividly, like PanAm Flight 103 and 9/11. I was living in ’family’ housing (international housing) with Chinese graduate students (among many other international families) and their families. It was a transition time for families moving in and out; moving back to their home countries and new arrivals. The apartments were repurposed after fewer students who previously attended Syracuse University under the GI Bill had dissipated. It was a ‘magical’ place of learning about other cultures, religions, traditions etc. On June 5th, enormous tension filled the community. My neighbor upstairs, his wife and their 4 y/o were returning to China for the summer. Mostly Chinese men gathered in the courtyard speaking in their native language. I opened my apartment with my TV on and throughout the day they gathered for a few moments to watch. I remember the first reporting of the student on the tank and the first (and probably last) reports of ‘few deaths’. At the end of July (roughly) Chinese students who’d left for the summer, were returning. Something had changed. The couple with the 4 y/o returned, but without their child. Another couple returned with their aging parents. I heard talk of a crackdown with those who protested in the US and students whose family members feared retribution returning to campus with them. Admittedly, I was not a student of history before that and didn’t appreciate world events until then. The Tiananmen Square massacre, the terrorist bombing of PanAm Flight 103 (35 students from Syracuse U and others from CNY were on that flight) and the priceless experience of living alongside Turks, Palestinians, So. Koreans, Chinese, families, So. Africans, Iranians, Pakistani’s and families from many countries triggered a deep sense of importance and appreciation in me for history, current events and our Democracy. I’m so sad that America has become a place where so many have little understanding of autocracy and others actually embrace it.
Our move toward fascism refects what has been done in the past, in places like China. Our far right's need to modify history, especially in our schools is disturbing. The move in Florida to have Prager U be used in schools, as a means to sanitize historical information is a catastrophic trend. They demonize the education system as Marxist as an excuse to implement fascist doctrine. They always use the excuse that the "right" is the victim of "left" oppression while just the opposite is true. If our fascists attain control of the entire nation, the "left" will be oppressed or disappeared.
Your comments on CGTN TV as we receive it here via DISH satellite
Thank you for calling our attention to what's going on in China and how artists are fighting back. The importance of preserving history and the inspiring courage of artists like Badiucao--that's what I take away from this post. And, while it's terrifying to think about the disappearances of people and the attempted suppression of facts, it feels as if disappearing the past has to be a lot more difficult in the modern world. Or maybe I'm just hoping it is.
Sharon thank you for your post. It’s given me food for thought. I believe(ed ?) disappearing the past is a lot easier in the modern world. Too much power is invested and concentrated in one place…. technology - I’m thinking computers smart phones etc- cut the internet and other media platforms off and we really have nothing to remember the past. No more newspapers, mags, certain books, etc they’re on the way out. What we have is controlled radio, tv and social media and other things that can disappear instantly. Where and who are the keepers of our past? I’m thinking?????
I go both ways on this---on the one hand, everyone has a smartphone, on the other hand, who controls what's on that phone? After posting my comment, I've swung back to fearing the worst. When I got yet more books the other day---and my husband made some snarky crack, I told him I was building up my collection for the future---when we'll need them and the rest of the world will, too.
Great response. One comment…maybe it will get ppl to read again… and not just clips and notes of news
I also heard Rogoff tell Charlie Rose that Xi’s strategy is stronger than Trump’s. I found this paragraph in BROOKINGS
…” Despite China’s daunting economic challenges, the crucial point for the Trump administration is that despite China’s economic woes, China likely has the wherewithal and capacity to weather the pain of a second trade war—and that the United States may have less leverage than the problems in China’s real estate sector might lead Trump to believe. Xi may be reluctant to pull the levers mentioned above, and there are risks to pulling any of them, but they are nonetheless available to him. Moreover, the robustness of China’s “new” economy—the high-tech and manufacturing sectors at the heart of Xi’s vision—means that China is well-positioned to remain a formidable competitor to the United States, even in the face of these economic doldrums. Indeed, one could almost consider the combination of economic malaise and resilience the hallmark of being a great power. After all, since the stagflation and retrenchment of the 1970s, American commentators have prematurely prognosticated U.S. decline—only for its resilience to prove enduring.”
Brookings
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-are-the-key-drivers-of-xis-economic-policy-in-2025/
Thank you for stressing China. I am reminded even before the first trump regime of how China disappeared people and how Jared Genser worked so hard to free many. Senator McCain worked to free many dissidents in China and other places like Myanmar.
I can’t think of the one artist's name. I had a Psychology of Sensation and Perception class and the professor wanted people to look at art. I used the art of 1 of the Chinese dissidents at the time who put birdseed into a massive pile. Next to it were pieces of chocolate in a pile, and 1 had to take one.
Conceptual art, could betoken the bird seed as treating people like pet canaries and the chocolate as a desirable alternative, or the chocolate as revisionist decadence and the birdseed as hope for the future of the natural world in a bleak era.
I had two classes on China and Japan, one was East Asian Civilization at Macalester, taught by Jerry Fisher - whose wife was Japanese - and the other Buddhist China, at the U, taught by Romeyn Taylor. Highlight of the first was reading Fan Shen:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanshen
Fanshen: A Documentary of Revolution in a Chinese Village is a 1966 book by William H. Hinton that describes the land-reform campaign during the Chinese Civil War conducted from 1945 to 1948 by the Chinese Communist Party in "Long Bow Village" (the name used in the book for the village of Zhangzhuangcun in Shanxi province). Hinton lived in the village in spring and summer of 1948 and witnessed scenes described in the book and recreates earlier events based on local records and interviews with participants. He explains party strategy to present the campaign's successes in building a revolutionary consciousness and a power-base among the poor peasants, but also its errors and excesses, especially the violence toward rich peasants and landlords. Fanshen has been compared to Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China and characterized as "perhaps the book that most changed American cold war perceptions of the Chinese Revolution."[1]
******
Hghlight of the Buddhist China course was engaging with the art and literature of the Sung and T'ang dynasties, and comparing Chinese Buddhism of that era with Tibetan and other forms like Zen. Btw I suppose even mentioning "Tibet" in current Mainland China is enough for an arrest warrant.
Very interesting to find out what the Chinese have been doing for so long. The timing on this was perfect, because just this morning I was thinking about the detention center at Fort Bliss, which is supposed to be tents. Given that I know these detention centers do not provide sanitation, water, air conditioning, or reasonable amounts of food, and given that our summer temp here in El Paso are in the triple digits, our president will be killing a lot of people who don't deserve it, because they've done nothing beyond being in the wrong place at the wrong time when ICE came calling.
So important to remember. Thank you Ruth.
Betcha other authoritarians and authoritarians in training are keeping a good eye on China’s extensive measures to control the population.
Thank you for drawing our attention to the essential, courageous work of Badiucao. I remember following the events of 1989 very closely from Los Angeles, and it's terrible to think that the noble memory of those students is being lost. Ironically, our Museum of Contemporary Art had an exhibit earlier this year that included a piece by American sculptor Duane Hansen honoring the student protests at Tien An Men Square. I found it deeply moving.
Thank you Ruth. The forme fruste of disappearance is the dismissal of concerns and dissents, particularly about disfavored people and identities. We can fight back by caring, thinking, linking, and courage.
MOSF 20.8: Dismissing Concerns About Migrants Perpetuates Suffering, Erodes Human Dignity, and Emboldens Tyranny https://eastwindezine.com/mosf-20-8-dismissing-concerns-about-migrants-perpetuates-suffering-erodes-human-dignity-and-emboldens-tyranny/
Wow. History is so important.
No matter how tyrants try to erase history, the people find ways to preserve it. Badiucao is a man of great courage, as well as dissidents in China.
When I lived and worked in China in 1994-95, my undergraduate students were hungry for information about the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Though I was threatened with deportation if ever reported to be speaking openly about the "Three Ts" -- I had to divine what they were, as even my handlers were frightened to utter the words Tiananmen, Tibet, and Taiwan -- there is an adult generation of Chinese today who know what happened. Their collective curiosity fueled their courage to risk seeking facts they knew were being withheld from them. I aided their curiosity, knowing the risks I suffered were nothing compared to the reprisals they might have faced, even then. It's a personal anecdote, I realize, but one which I believe illustrates the enduring power of protest and resistance. In this era of monsters, when I feel paralyzed by the march of authoritarianism and the silencing and whitewashing of historical truth, I remember my young students. Even now, they give me hope and strength.
I remember the day of Tiananmen Square vividly, like PanAm Flight 103 and 9/11. I was living in ’family’ housing (international housing) with Chinese graduate students (among many other international families) and their families. It was a transition time for families moving in and out; moving back to their home countries and new arrivals. The apartments were repurposed after fewer students who previously attended Syracuse University under the GI Bill had dissipated. It was a ‘magical’ place of learning about other cultures, religions, traditions etc. On June 5th, enormous tension filled the community. My neighbor upstairs, his wife and their 4 y/o were returning to China for the summer. Mostly Chinese men gathered in the courtyard speaking in their native language. I opened my apartment with my TV on and throughout the day they gathered for a few moments to watch. I remember the first reporting of the student on the tank and the first (and probably last) reports of ‘few deaths’. At the end of July (roughly) Chinese students who’d left for the summer, were returning. Something had changed. The couple with the 4 y/o returned, but without their child. Another couple returned with their aging parents. I heard talk of a crackdown with those who protested in the US and students whose family members feared retribution returning to campus with them. Admittedly, I was not a student of history before that and didn’t appreciate world events until then. The Tiananmen Square massacre, the terrorist bombing of PanAm Flight 103 (35 students from Syracuse U and others from CNY were on that flight) and the priceless experience of living alongside Turks, Palestinians, So. Koreans, Chinese, families, So. Africans, Iranians, Pakistani’s and families from many countries triggered a deep sense of importance and appreciation in me for history, current events and our Democracy. I’m so sad that America has become a place where so many have little understanding of autocracy and others actually embrace it.
Is a coup the only way to take back the US government if tRump rigs the midterm elections?
Well, hopefully other nations will save our history as this regime seeks to erase it, too.
Our move toward fascism refects what has been done in the past, in places like China. Our far right's need to modify history, especially in our schools is disturbing. The move in Florida to have Prager U be used in schools, as a means to sanitize historical information is a catastrophic trend. They demonize the education system as Marxist as an excuse to implement fascist doctrine. They always use the excuse that the "right" is the victim of "left" oppression while just the opposite is true. If our fascists attain control of the entire nation, the "left" will be oppressed or disappeared.