Guanxi Master

Many of you who read our blog here have noticed the break in postings over the last few weeks. We have gone through some transitions here in our office and will be going through a few more over the next couple of weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

Understanding the Chinese sense of humour

One of the big differences between Chinese and Western culture is in humour. Growing up in Australia, I sometimes struggled to understand why my aunts and uncles all thought a joke was so funny. Their particular way of telling the tale, repetitiously laboring the punch lines, irritated me. And they were vastly entertained by stories that I found not even slightly amusing. However, in my English education, I had failed to learn the Chinese sense of humour… and the deep reflection of Chinese society it reveals. Read the rest of this entry »

A Goddess of Mercy becomes a Goddess of Fortune

Last week, I wandered into the Buddhist temple at the famous Shanghai water town of Zhujiajiao. People were charged a 10 yuan admission to enter the main temple grounds, but in the annex, worshippers got a freebie. Before paying the fee, one could kneel on a padded bench before a glass-encased Laughing Buddha (Maitreya Buddha) covered in gold paint, with a mischievous-looking Haibao peeking around the corner of the case. The little blue mascot for the Shanghai World Expo 2010 and the golden Buddha are emblems of the same aspiration among the Chinese: conspicuous wealth and a global showcase of modernization. Read the rest of this entry »

An Omen of the Middle Kingdom’s Rise in Middle America

In the last few years, fishermen in the United States have started to notice that the old bluegill, sunfish, bass, and catfish of the Illinois, Mississippi and the Ohio rivers have been disappearing. In their place a new kind of fish is gobbling up resources, feeding on the other species, and reproducing at an astonishing rate. The problem has become so intense that officials are now afraid that the Great Lakes are doomed to fall in the onslaught. They call these ferocious invaders “Asian carp”. The Chinese call them “Li Yu” (鲤鱼), “Black” or “Silver” carp, and have cultivated these breeds for their amazing reproductive vitality and hardiness for thousands of years. Read the rest of this entry »

Modern Chinese art and the agony of global urbanization

“The new comradeship will be a comradeship in the task of preserving being itself, a comradeship in the work of facing future danger and menace…Without those values another and terrible possibility could emerge; man might succumb to the power of the anonymous” (Romano Guardini, The End of the Modern World).

To understand China today, one sometimes has to take a painful look at what the Chinese are losing while they rise as the next economic force of this century.

In the Spring Showcase of Chinese modern art at the Galerie du Monde of Hong Kong, three famously striking and controversial images by artist Liu Bolin (劉勃麟) show a remarkable state of consciousness among the Chinese today. Read the rest of this entry »