Posts Tagged ‘China’

Mao Dun and the Cultural Revolution

April 11, 2015

The school I teach at had its’ Spring Trip yesterday, and we got to see the house of Mao Dun, a Chinese writer who lived in the water town of Wuzhen (which was interesting, but fits all the stereotypes of how towns in formerly powerful third world countries (like China) look).

I think I’ve discovered that the Chinese government had “got all Cultural Revolution” on Mao Dun. He’d been the longest serving Minister for Culture in Communist China’s history (16 years), but disappeared off the face of the Earth for the last 17 years of his life. I honestly cannot find anything about him, or his life as minister, here in China, or more generally, once I penetrated the “Great Firewall.”

Anyhow I got talking to the students and local teachers about Mao Dun, and they know literally nothing about him (or seem to). They weren’t sure about when he died (they all seemed to think it was the 1950s, which is about 25 years out), or what he did after 1948 (when the communists took control of the mainland), which I found interesting.

I’m probably going to do some more digging on this, because to me it’s fascinating how Mao Dun is presented. Everyone was able to tell me “Oh yes, he’s one of our most famous writers”, but what happened is something that people either know not to talk about, or has been so effectively whitewashed that people genuinely don’t know about that part of his life.

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Slightly Interesting Read

March 26, 2015

I somehow got on to the Wikipedia page about Mao Dun (the first communist Culture Minister in China), and it made for an interesting read.

As I said, Mao Dun was the first (and still the longest serving) Minister of Culture. And then in 1964, nothing. He drops off the face of the Earth from 1964 to 1978, with absolutely nothing said as to why.

Well being honest, we know why. China got all Cultural Revolution on him, but it still looked such an odd thing to happen. I expected this at work, what with the Great Firewall and all, but the weirdest things though were the obituaries I looked for when I got home, and used a VPN. It is like he literally dropped off the face of the Earth, even in the western press. I mean sure they say “Cultural Revolution”, but beyond that, nothing.

So……. weird

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I had one of those “Wait, what?” moments today.

October 15, 2014

I’m the Head of Science at a school in China. It’s a good school, and the kids are decent, but we still get some staff “churn” because we’re foreigners in a foreign land, and China is very different.

Now we’ve a new Science teacher start this term. At best, at the moment, he’s “just so so” (as our students say when their life is ho-hum), so I was worried about him passing his probationary period. My line manager felt the same, and told me that it’d be a “real feather in [my] cap” if I got him through.

So I met with him weekly, discussed what he would be teaching each week, and gave him pointers about how to structure lessons. The result was that in his most recent observation, he got another solid review. He still has a long way to go, but he’s showing signs of progress.

Anyway, after the lesson, my line manager came to see me, and told me that he’s “learning how to deliver the lessons you give him….” but that I’ve “got to step helping him, and telling him how to teach.” It was at that that I had my “Wait, what?” moment. Call me a dumbass if you will, but if you’re an HoD with failing teacher, don’t you try and give the guy the structure he needs to give him the chance to dig his way out of it?

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A surreal conversation here in China

March 3, 2013

One of the things I’m probably most embarrassed about, when it comes to my life in China, is my lack of language skills. I’ve got maybe 10/20 words, and I get by with that, and a lot of pointing. Given I’ve been here almost 3 years, it’s not good. I could defend myself by saying that I’m a visual learner, and that I have no chance of grasping the script, but let’s face it, that’s bunk.

Anyhow I was in the bank today (yes banks in China are open Sundays) to pay my electricity bill (£6 or $10 for the month for those of you who care). I was queuing up when I had a conversation with what the Americans might call a “greeter” that saved me 10 minutes in line. It went like this (with English translations afterwards):

“No card, no card” (You do know sir that if you have an ATM card, you can pay you bill electronically).

“Yes card, yes card” (Interestingly enough I think I have the card I need).

“Card, Card?” (You have an ATM card?)

“Card, Card” (Is this the card I need?)

“Card, Card.” (Yes that is the right card. If you’ll follow me).

“Card, Card” (Good but I can’r read Chinese).

“Number Number” (Put your card in the slot).

“Number Number?” (Do I put my PIN number in?)

“Number Number.” (Yes then I’ll press some buttons)

“Number Number?” (So I enter my Account Number now?)

“Number Number.” (Yes)

“Green Green.” (That button tells the machine you want to pay your bill if the amount is correct).

“Card Card?” (How do I get my card back now I’ve paid my bill?)

“Card Card.” (Press that button)

“Shi Shi.” (Thank you).

“Bye Bye”

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A question of overly tight leadership control?

January 4, 2013

Ok, so I’m the Head of Science where I work. I wish I could say that makes me important in some way, but it doesn’t. I suspect more that it’s more a matter of being a cheerleader for the subject, supporting staff, doing the paperwork, and knowing that the buck’s going to stop somewhere near me if anything “blows up.”

Anyhow, the firm’s training me up to get some further “management responsibilities” (hopefully I’ll be climbing the greasy pole of management sometime soon), and asked me to research something at my school, which I did. It wasn’t anything serious, I wasn’t plotting villainous world domination, just trying to find out how students are assessed before they arrive at the school.

The Chinese response seems to be mistrust and unwillingness to relinquish any data, fearing it’ll result in a loss of control. I asked one person about the data, and was told one thing. When, in about 30 minutes, I disproved what he’s said, he told me something else.

That is something I’ll never understand about this place. I’m not dangerous, I’m no threat. If you speak to anyone, you’ll find out I’ve got the kids best interests at heart. They might find the students more boisterous than is usual in a Chinese classroom, but my results are good, and when I’m observed, I’m described as “highly effective.” So why keep menial pieces of data from me?

I’m told it’s the “Chinese Way,” that that’s what the Chinese do, that they view data as “means of control,” but it’s actions like that that are almost bound to make me come over all “dog with a bone” if the data seems innocuous.

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An interesting comment from a student

December 30, 2012

One of the things I’ve got to teach at the moment is DNA in my Senior Year class, and I had the students brainstorm what they knew about DNA. It was this that caused the interesting student comments.

First the students in China seem to think they are descended from Homo Erectus, which startled me when I heard it a couple of years ago. I’m not sure if the idea came from a particular bad teacher, or if it’s general across Chinese students, but that idea is there.

This lead to an interesting digression into “reliability of evidence.” They’ve been told the evidence is there by Historians (not necessarily the best explainers of biology), so we had a discussion about the reliability of evidence for a while.

The other thing that surprised me is that Chinese have no idea of their boarders. I was explaining that one route that early man might have gained access to China was through India. They were convinced that China shouldn’t have a boarder with India. Not that the boarder is in the wrong place, but that if India ceded it’s claim, they wouldn’t have a boarder at all. I ended up having to pull up a map to prove them wrong,

No offence to the Chinese, but they can be weird sometimes.

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