print | close

Heart of the Dragon

Contents

Introduction
Remembering
Eating
Living
Believing
Caring
Marrying
Mediating
Working
Correcting
Creating
Understanding
Trading

This series is available for loan from
many public libraries (over 2000 nationally)
through the generosity of the John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Library Video Classic Project.

Introduction

"The truth is that if I have written anything useful about China it has been merely because I listened to what I thought I heard the Chinese people saying about themselves. I wrote it down, as honestly and frankly as I could - considering my own belief that it was all in the homily - that I belonged to the same homily as the Chinese - the human family." - Edgar Snow

"The Heart of the Dragon" is a series of twelve one-hour films about life in the People's Republic of China. Funded by a grant from General Electric, the series is co-produced for American television by MacNeill-Lehrer-Gannett Productions and South Carolina ETV. Robert MacNeill and Jim Lehrer, co-anchors of public television's "MacNeill/Lehrer NewsHour" host the programs, providing introductions, background and interviews with China experts.

"The Heart of the Dragon" offers American viewers a rare and to a great extent unprecedented look inside China today. Winner of an International Emmy Award for Best Documentary of 1984, it was filmed on location over an 18-month period during 1981-1983. The Chinese government granted the British producers autonomy and access to areas of the country previously off-limits to foreign journalists, including rural villages, factory towns, a coal mine, a locomotive plant, a prison, a psychiatric hospital, and a porcelain plant. Throughout the films, the real subject of the camera is the Chinese people: rice farmers and bamboo cutters, welders and lathe operators, students and teachers, Communist Party leaders and Daoist priests, a bride and groom, an estranged couple and their mothers-in-law, a truck driver and a railway policeman, a thief and a judge, a painter and a composer, a scientist and a millionaire.

In the spirit of veteran China watcher Edgar Snow, this film series lets the Chinese speak for themselves about the everyday human activities which form the warp and woof of their existence. "The Heart of the Dragon" puts a human face on the contrasts, contradictions and consistencies of China. Rare archival film footage and still photographs highlight the historical roots of Chinese thought and daily routines.

The executive producer of "The Heart of the Dragon" is Peter Montagnon, who was the co-producer of Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation" and producer of "The Long Search" an exploration of religious experience around the world. Writers and directors of the individual films include Montagnon, producer Nigel Houghton, David Kennard and Mischa Scorer. Patrick Lui is the producer, and the late Alasdair Clayre, author of the companion book, served as producer and script editor.

This Viewer's Guide is designed for learners of all ages who would like to take advantage of the opportunities created by the series to expand their knowledge and understanding of contemporary China.

The Chinese have an expression about the typical tourist's view of their country - it is like "gazing at flowers from horseback." These twelve beautifully photographed and highly personal films enable television viewers to see China face to face in exquisite detail.

| back to top |

Remembering

Questions & Exercises

"For thousands of years the dragon has symbolized the power that can bring ordinary people prosperity or disaster, life or death. And that is the power that their rulers have also had over them."

A nation is shaped by its memories. The Chinese feel a profound sense of continuity with the past. In some areas of daily life, the routine has not changed for generations. For China, the oldest centralized state in the world, the presence of an all-powerful and all-wise leader is another constant.

"Remembering" examines the significance of several great rulers in Chinese history. Qin Shihuangdi, the first emperor of China, united the country in 221 B.C. and began construction of the Great Wall. His militaristic style - invoked by the vast army of terracotta figures of men and horses which archaeologists have found guarding his tomb - was contrary to the form of government proposed by the sage Confucius, whose ideas the Qin Emperor tried to suppress.

Later emperors more closely conformed to the Confucian ideal of a benevolent ruler heading a harmonious and ordered society. During the Tang Dynasty (618-906), the arts flourished and the civil service was invented. Qianlong (1736- 1795) epitomized the wealth and power of the Chinese emperor. He demanded and received unquestioned obedience from his court in the Forbidden City.

In the twentieth century, a new leader emerged amidst turbulent political, social and economic events: famine in the 30s and 40s, invasion by the Japanese and the atrocities committed during the occupation, civil war between the Chinese Nationalists and the Communists. When the People's Republic of China was established in 1949, the charismatic revolutionary leader Mao Zedong was in control. China quickly experienced reconstruction in the 50s, the Great Leap Forward begun in 1958, and the failure of the collectives and famine in the early 60s.

In 1966, Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution during which young followers, the Red Guards, were encouraged to revere their leader and destroy all remnants of the old traditions. Large numbers of China's intellectuals and managers were arrested, tortured or murdered. By Mao's death in 1976, the country had come to a virtual standstill. In the subsequent trial of the Gang of Four, who had spearheaded the Cultural Revolution, extremism was repudiated, and the old values reemerged. Mao had created a new order, but he had failed to obliterate China's memories.

Discussion Questions and Exercises

"A study of Confucius" writes George Anastaplo, a professor of law at Loyola University of Chicago, "may be the best introduction to the character of the Chinese people today just as the study of Dostoyevsky may be the best introduction to the Russian people today." What are the basic premises of Confucian thought? As you watch "The Heart of the Dragon" note instances which prove or disprove Anastaplo's statement.
The Great Wall of China is one of the most popular tourist sites in China. What does it symbolize to the Chinese people and to the rest of the world?
The Forbidden City in Beijing, home of China's emperors, has been described as China's architectural masterpiece. What aspect of the Forbidden City do you find most impressive? How does its architecture reflect the position of the emperor and the Chinese understanding of their place in the universe?
What historical and cultural factors explain China's "longing for a godlike ruler"? How was Mao similar to both Qin Shihuangdi and Qianlong?
The 27-year rule of Mao Zedong was marked by shifting experiments to modernize China, leadership feuds, and political turmoil. What was the Great Helmsman's vision of the ideal Communist society? Why did the mass mobilization of peasant labor (the Great Leap Forward) fail? What was Mao's goal during the Cultural Revolution?
Collect articles or books written during the 60s and 70s about the Cultural Revolution. How was it reported in the United States? Share your impressions of the archival footage of the mass parades in 1966 and the activities of the Red Guards.
In his memoir titled Son of the Revolution, Liang Heng, who was born in 1954, reveals what China was like under the different stages of Mao's political experiment. In the end he asks: "Why had the Revolution given us all so little when we had sacrificed everything for it?" How would you answer him? Do you think Maoism will return to China?
In a 1981 article on China and Mao, A. M. Rosenthal, executive editor of The New York Times, posed the following questions: "Was there a good Mao and then a bad Mao? Or did the bad Mao grow out of the 'good' Mao? Was China's problem Mao or the Communist system he installed?" State your opinions on these points.
Discuss the following thought from "Remembering": "For the Chinese, history is not an objective account of the past - it's a lesson for the future, a morality tale. And it's the state that always points the moral" What moral has been learned from the past two decades in China?
China is the oldest enduring civilization on earth. Chinese-American author Maxine Hong Kingston calls it "the old planet" Another writer, Annie Dillard, observes: "China is the only one of the world's great early civilizations that still exists - this, in spite of its crippling geography, its beautiful, mostly barren and famishing land. The Chinese have done what the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Persians, and the Romans were unable to do. By their own efforts, they have kept their country going; they have kept it whole" If you had to choose one character trait that has enabled the Chinese to endure the changes and ideological jolts of their long history. What would you select?

In his book The Third Wave, Alvin Toffler asks: "By what criteria do you judge an entire civilization? By the standard of living it provided for the masses who lived in it? By its influence on those who lived outside its perimeter? By its impact on the biosphere? By the excellence of its arts? By the lengthened life span of its people? By its scientific achievements? By the freedom of the individual?"

"Remembering" helps viewers begin thinking about the variety, vitality and durability of Chinese civilization. What other criteria would you add to Toffler's list?
One of the major challenges to understanding other people is to see them as they see themselves. What have you learned about the Chinese people's understanding of themselves from the opening episode of "The Heart of the Dragon"?

| back to top |

Eating

Questions & Exercises

"Over the last 6,000 years, the Chinese have learned a great deal about cultivating food. The Chinese believe that everything you eat profoundly affects you, and so does the way you grow and harvest it."

In China, cooking the family meal is the most important ritual of the day. No nation is more obsessive about food than the Chinese. "Eating" explores the roots of this preoccupation with food, the links between diet and health, and the complex rituals which have sprung up over the centuries around the cultivation, preparation and enjoyment of Chinese cuisine.

In visits to four regions of the country, fishermen and farmers demonstrate an efficient use of food and fuel resources. A booming carryout chicken business in busy Canton exemplifies the profits to be made satisfying Chinese appetites. The variety of food is celebrated during a stop at a market offering everything from anteaters to sea slugs and at a restaurant which serves 10,000 customers a day in 20 separate dining areas. The scarcity of food is evident in Henan province and the Yellow River Valley, where droughts and floods often limit the population's food choices. The exact opposite is true in Sichuan province. Here the world's oldest irrigation and flood control system has created topsoil over six feet deep, making the province the rice-bowl of China.

Questions & Exercises

According to this program, "feeding the family is an honorable occupation, a skill worth learning." What are some of the unwritten rules of Chinese cooking? Were you surprised by the scenes of young men and boys preparing the family meal? What does this indicate about the significance of cooking in Chinese culture? What priority do you give to time spent cooking?
Lucretius once stated: "What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others." React to the scenes of foodstuffs at the Canton market. Do you have an open mind toward the eating tastes and preferences of others?
The Chinese regard food and health as inseparable. How is this viewpoint illustrated in the program?
How is an understanding of ecology reflected by these scenes: (a) fish farming, (b) cormorant fishing in Guilin. c) the Ho family's use of pigs, (d) weeding rice with the feet?
How have droughts and floods influenced Chinese attitudes toward food production and eating?
Banquets are revealed to be "symbols of family prosperity and togetherness." What role does the social side of eating play in your life?
What function does the traditional Chinese teahouse serve in China? Name a comparable place in your community.
In his book China: Alive in the Bitter Sea, Fox Butterfield writes: "For the Chinese, food is an obsession. When the Chinese greet each other, they don't say 'Hello, how are you?' but 'Have you eaten or not?' When the Chinese measure population, they don't count heads, but mouths" How do you explain this fascination with eating? What new insights have you gained from this program about Chinese cuisine?

Animals feed. Humans eat. And the process of eating defines cultures and personalities. Anthropologists Peter Farb and George Armelagos have written: "To know what, where, how, when and with whom you eat is to know the character of a society."

What could a person learn about you from what you eat? From when and how and where you eat? From with whom you eat?
How do you think a visitor from China would react to your diet?

| back to top |

Living

Questions & Exercises

"The work is extraordinarily hard. The routine is inexorable. There's nowhere to go and little to do except work. Every day is just like any other. And yet perhaps it's this very sense of routine and rhythm and the unchanging pattern of existence that gives such underlying strength to Chinese peasant life."

Eighty percent of the people in China are peasants - Farm People - who live off the land. This program focuses on day-to-day existence in the rural mountain village of Maoping in southeast China. It is an area usually closed to visitors and was chosen by the filmmakers because the villagers' per capita income approximates the national average.

Peasant life revolves around manual labor. Under the new Responsibility System, only a year old in Maoping, each family has been given some land on which to cultivate rice and a plot to grow vegetables. Formerly, farming was collectivized, and there was no incentive to work hard; now the family can keep the crop or its profits. Similarly, the men who harvest bamboo in the mountains, another source of income, are rewarded for extra labor.

"Living" captures other aspects of peasant life through a tour of a 30-member, four-generation household; visits to a school, a clinic, and a small factory; and scenes of work on construction sites and in the rice fields. Women describe a typical day and the Party Secretary and other leaders meet to assess the village's progress. There are signs of change as well - a new department store and community gatherings to watch television.

Questions & Exercises

What are the basic building blocks of village society? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of having four generations living under the same roof?
In what ways is Fang Benren, the Communist Party Secretary in the village, less "a political commissar" than a "benevolent father-figure"? What are his responsibilities?
For these peasants, the meal is "almost a religious ritual" since it "encapsulates the three most important things in their lives: the home, the family, and food." What are the three most important things in your life?
Mao Zedong's dictum that incentives should not be used to promote productivity has now been replaced by the principle "he who works more, earns more" Describe some of the changes in the lives of the villagers brought about by the Responsibility System. Do you think there is a future for small-scale industrialization in the rural areas? Explain.
Some might say the Responsibility System encourages the peasants to have more children since the larger the family, the greater the profits to be made in domestic sideline production. How would you respond to this argument if you were the local brigade leader?
Compare the lifestyle of the peasants to city life in China. How would you answer the program's final question about the peasants: "Will the recent changes make them long for new horizons, or will they want to settle even deeper into the life they've always known?"
Most visitors to China never see the countryside. What insights into the lives and work of the Chinese peasants did you find most startling?

In an essay titled "The Long-Legged House" American naturalist Wendell Berry has written: "It is only in a country that is well-known, full of familiar names and places, full of life that is always changing, that the mind goes free of abstractions, and renews itself in the presence of the creation that so persistently eludes human comprehension and human law. It is only in the place that one belongs to, intimate and familiar, long watched over, that the details rise up out of the whole and become visible."

What can we learn from Chinese peasants about belonging to a place? How well do you know the place - the land - where you live?
In China, it is said that the land links the generations, and it is a great misfortune not to be buried close to your birthplace. What has the same significance in contemporary America?

| back to top |

Believing

Questions & Exercises

"You must obey with respect and rule with kindness, The cardinal Confucian virtue is this sense of humanity and benevolence. It is not an egalitarian vision of society, but it is one which has always fitted naturally into the ancient Chinese pattern of close family ties and absolute rule."

The Chinese are a very pragmatic people, and they have adopted a tolerant attitude toward different religions and ethical systems. "Believing" explores the importance of Confucian thought in China; the ways in which the lessons of Buddhism and Daoism have been incorporated into daily life; and the persistence of a popular religion characterized by ancestor worship and rituals designed to appease supernatural powers.

For the past 30 years, Communism has tried to overshadow these ancient cultural and religious systems. This program profiles Mr. Zhao Kuisheng, leader of a brigade in Yantai on the east coast of China. He has lived through years of hunger, poverty, war and revolution and is a firm believer in the ideals and principles of the Communist Party. The younger generation, however, is another story.

Half of the present Chinese population is under the age of 26. Many watched the Cultural Revolution start with religious fervor and end in anarchy. In the Party-run schools, young children are taught the basic values of respecting authority, doing good deeds, and putting the Party and country above self. Still, Mr. Zhao worries that the "self-sacrificing revolutionary spirit" of the Communist Party will be replaced by a growing consumer mentality among the young.

Questions & Exercises

What does Mr. Zhao mean by "the truth of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong thought"? Why does he find the Communist vision more substantial than religious beliefs?
Discuss the basic tenets of Buddhism. Which of its teachings appeal to the Chinese? Which interest you?
Outline the Daoist view of nature, the body, and human existence. Which Daoist attitudes have been adopted by the Chinese? Are any Daoist principles part of your philosophy of life? Explain.
Why are some mountain tops in China considered holy? What is the purpose of the ritual performed on the holy mountain of Taishan at the Temple of the Princess of the Colored Clouds? In the years ahead, what significance might be attached to the presence of a television transmitter on this holy mountain?
Explain the Confucian code of behavior. How is it evident in Chinese daily life? What virtues are emphasized? This Chinese philosopher is said to have had a greater influence on China than any other human being. Who is his counterpart in American history?
Donald J. Cohen, a child psychologist at Yale University who has surveyed Chinese education, wrote recently: "The Chinese educator does not see the child as a developing, unique person with conflicting desires. . . Instead, the Chinese view of feelings is that they are 'evaluative' and that personal growth is public - the cultivation of an explicit morality" Talk about the moral education given in the state-run-run Chinese schools. Who was Lei Feng, and why are children encouraged to emulate him? By comparison, how are American children taught civic responsibility?
What is the purpose of the Young Pioneers movement? What does their hand salute symbolize?
In 1985, Chinese authorities began to sponsor dances and rock music concerts in urban areas. Speculate about the possible consequences of exposing Chinese youth to this and other aspects of Western life. Do you think social change in China will reinforce or undermine Communist beliefs? Give an example to explain your position.

Christian theologian Harvey Cox has stated that twentieth century Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims must be able to move in and out of other religious traditions without losing their own faith in the process: "I'm really looking for a consciousness which allows me to participate as fully as possible in the worldview, piety and feelings of people with markedly different religions from mine. We may be moving toward a kind of religious consciousness where the most salient characteristic is a capacity for multiple religious symbol systems."

Does such an openness to other ways of believing appeal to you?
What do you find most valuable in the religious perspectives presented in "Believing"?

| back to top |

Caring

Questions & Exercises

"There seems a very thin dividing line drawn between criminals, the mentally ill, and in some instances, even the physically ill. Humans in all three categories are seen as having problems that stem in large part from incorrect attitudes, behavior or thought. Acceptance of authority, of the majority view of the group, is seen as one of the first steps back toward health."

"Caring" visits Minus Eighteen Street, a row of modest homes in the industrial town of Harbin in northern China. The importance of the group in daily life emerges as Chinese families celebrate New Year's Eve. Mr. Ma, a railway policeman, explains the values he lives by - respect for his parents, equality with his wife, an obligation to properly educate his children. Scenes of neighborhood committee meetings and a policeman on his rounds reveal how order is maintained in the tight-knit community.

When someone strays from the norm on Minus Eighteen Street, he or she may end up at the prison or the mental hospital. "Caring" includes rare footage shot inside these institutions where a prisoner affirms that Communist morals mean "one for all, all for one" and a mental patient admits that falling in love with the wrong boy was incorrect thinking. At the hospital, a woman undergoes an operation with acupuncture anesthesia, demonstrating total confidence in those in charge.

Questions & Exercises

What is the attitude toward the long-lived in Harbin? When are men and women able to get a pension? Why are "geriatric homes" not needed? How and why is the situation for China's elderly likely to change in the future?
The children in this program appear well behaved, obedient and respectful. The point is made that the young are usually included in adult activities. What are the positive sides to this arrangement?
Mr. Ma relates a Chinese maxim: "leaves fall to the root of the tree." What does this saying reveal about relationships within the Chinese family? Do Americans have a parallel saying?
What are some of the functions and responsibilities of neighborhood committees in urban China? Who takes care of such matters in your neighborhood?
Describe differences between police duties in China and the United States.
The average age of the prisoners in the Harbin jail is 24. The governor who runs the institution notes that many of the troublemakers grew up during the Cultural Revolution. What went wrong with this generation of youth?
How does the Harbin prison compare with American prisons? What is the major goal of the prison?
Share your reaction to the scene in which a woman undergoes throat surgery with acupuncture anesthesia. How are doctors viewed in China?
The major task of the staff in the mental hospital is to change the attitudes of deviant persons. Do you think that to be psychologically healthy is to conform to the standards of society?
Could you find self-fulfillment in a community like Harbin where individual satisfaction must come from group approval and conformity to the constituted authorities? Give a reason for your answer.

To many Chinese, the kind of liberty enjoyed by Americans comes across as license. Peter Montagnon, the writer of "Caring" observes: "In modern Chinese, the very written characters that stand for 'individuality' and 'freedom' have overtones of selfishness, even a lack of regard for others."

How important is your individuality to you?
How important is your relationship to a group?

| back to top |

Marrying

Questions & Exercises

"In the past, marriage had very little to do with love. The feelings of the couple were unimportant compared with the needs of their families. A wedding was something like the conclusion of a business deal between two companies."

A young man from Maoping and a woman from a village three miles away are soon to be married. Her boss at the factory serves as the "go-between" It is his duty to negotiate between the two families on the terms: the presents for the bride the food and drink to be provided by the groom to both households for the wedding festivities, and the furniture the bride's family will give the young couple.

The Communist Party has denounced large and expensive traditional marriages and tried to convince the Chinese people that couples should celebrate simply with tea, sweets and peanuts. In Maoping, Wang Zhiqing and Lu Yun opt instead for a marriage celebration involving 50 guests and culminating with an 18-course banquet.

"Marrying" provides an informative and entertaining look behind the scenes at a wedding in a community where the citizens still turn out to watch a touring opera troupe and are skeptical about the government's new one child per family policy. Tradition is important; it provides a sense of belonging and a link with the past.

Questions & Exercises

The Chinese in this rural community believe marriage is a carefully orchestrated arrangement between two families: "Marriage in China was always seen as something far more than a personal matter between two people." How does this differ from the American view of marriage?
Share your responses to the role of the go-between in the negotiations between the families. Which family derives the best economic outcome from the wedding?
The New China News Agency revealed that during 1980 newlyweds in Peking spent an average of $1,036 on purchases connected with their marriages. That is the equivalent of more than a year's salary for both the bride and groom. Why have many Chinese couples, especially in rural areas, disregarded the Communist ideal of simple and cheap marriages?
While some American women are still trying to get the Equal Rights Amendment into the Constitution, China's Constitution in Article 53 states: "Women enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of political, economic, cultural, social and family life. Men and women enjoy equal pay for equal work." What is the status of women in Maoping? What will be Lu Yun's role in her new family?
The ways in which marriages are made differ considerably around the world. Some cultures have no ceremonies, some have relatively minor ones, and others have highly elaborate rituals covering a succession of events occurring over a number of days or months. Which of the many colorful marriage rituals featured in this film are the most interesting to you? Why?
In a traditional Chinese marriage, there is a symbolic reason for the number of guests, the kinds of dishes served, and the sequence of events, such as carrying the furniture from the bride's village to the grooms. What lies behind the following American marriage customs: June as the month for weddings, brides wearing white, couples exchanging rings, the newlyweds being showered with rice, the cutting of the cake, the tossing of the bouquet and garter?

Journalist Lance Morrow has written: "A wedding is a public business. That is the point of it. The couple are not merely marrying one another. They are, at least in part, submitting themselves to the larger logic of life, to the survival of the community, to life itself. They enter into a contract with processes deeper than they can know"

Why would the Chinese identify with this view of marriage? How communal was your wedding or would you like it to be? Do you think more emphasis should be placed on the social ramifications of the ceremony? Explain your reply.
Why do you think marriage is back in style in America after two decades during which many couples explored alternative lifestyles?

| back to top |

Mediating

Questions & Exercises

"In China, It's traditional to solve disputes through local mediators. The tradition's an ancient one. In the past, If you could, you would avoid contact with a potentially corrupt, venal and dangerous magistrate. Nowadays, the civil courts are not corrupt but they are few, and the mediators deal with so many cases that the courts would be overwhelmed If they had to cope with them all."

In Nanjing, a young couple's marriage has failed, and both have moved back with their mothers. Cai Xuanzhi, the husband, is a lathe operator in a small factory. He responded very cruelly to his wife, Gu Lingping, after her Caesarean delivery of a baby girl. China's one child per family policy means he will never have a son to carry on the family name and take care of him in his old age. Fearing for the baby's life, Gu has demanded a divorce.

A mediation committee from the couple's neighborhood takes up the challenge of effecting a reconciliation. In an emotion-charged session, Gu and Cai are encouraged to air their differences. Later the committee schedules meetings with each family and with all the parties together.

"Mediating" points out the importance of compromise and saving face to the Chinese. It also reveals the dynamics of male/female relationships, the pressures created by extended families, and the continuing significance of social harmony.

Questions & Exercises

Divorce is allowed under Chinese marriage law, but it is frowned upon. Why is that so? What is the American attitude toward divorce? Has it changed in the past decade? If so, in what ways?
"There is no behavior more unfilial than to have no male descendant" stated Confucius centuries ago. Why is having a son so important to Chinese families?
According to this program, there are 800,000 mediating committees in China, and they process 15 times as many cases as the civil courts do. Who comprises the mediation committee helping Gu and Cai? What skills do the mediators possess?
What does "Mediating" reveal about the relationship between the sexes in China?
"The Chinese people love compromise" said Lu Hsun, a satirist who died in 1936. "If you say to them, 'This room is too dark, we must have a window made: they will oppose you. But if you say, 'Let's take off the roof: they will compromise with you and say 'Let's have a window.' " Why is compromise a popular virtue in China? Is compromise promoted in America?
Share reactions within your group as you answer the following questions: With whom do you sympathize in this case, the wife or the husband? Which family is most helpful? Most at fault? How do you feel about the resolution of the case? Do you think this marriage will last? How do you think this couple's problems would be handled by a marriage counselor in the United States?
Despite the strides made in slowing down its birthrate, China has been the target of criticism from abroad for the way its stringent family planning measures have been enforced. How does the one child policy work? Do you approve or disapprove of this approach to population control? Do you think it would work in other countries? Explain your answer.
One-quarter of the world's population lives in China. "Mediating" points out that "there are more than a thousand million Chinese, and if every family had three children, by the year 2000, the population would have increased 40%, and in a hundred years it would equal the present entire world population: four thousand million people." How will your children's children be affected by the success or failure of China's family planning policies?

In the companion volume to this television series, Alasdair Clayre writes: "The Chinese have a favorite term, banfa, meaning any strategem for getting round an obstacle; and the chief skill of a mediator often lies in his capacity to think of a solution that will get people out of a conflict while saving everyone's 'face': avoiding a quarrel and achieving a reconciliation by making people see things differently, preferably in such a way that no one's dignity is lost".

How important to you on a scale of 1 to 5 is "saving face"?
What groups in your community practice mediation techniques to resolve conflicts?

| back to top |

Working

Questions & Exercises

"For most of the past thirty years, miners - indeed, all state employees - have been protected. They couldn't be fired. They had a contract for life. They used to call It 'The Iron Rice-Bowl' - guaranteed food, subsidized accommodation, enough pocket money for cigarettes and drink. If you played by the rules, you couldn't go far wrong. No longer."

Datong is a remote industrial city on the Mongolian border about 180 miles northwest of Beijing. It is the last place on earth where steam locomotives are built - at the rate of one a day to meet the government quota. Datong also sits on one of China's richest coal fields. Both industries, the locomotive factory and the coal mines, are run by the state.

"Working" looks at the carefully structured and secure existence of China's industrial laborers. There is little room for choice in their lives. For example, 23-year-old Gong Peihua wanted to be a poet and still studies at night, but she inherited her father's job and is now apprenticed as a welder in the locomotive factory. The state provides jobs, housing, education and other services.

Given China's large population, those who have regular jobs and receive such cradle to grave care consider themselves fortunate, even those with dangerous jobs in the mines. Their situation may be changing, however, as a result of the new Responsibility System.

Questions & Exercises

In industrial China, a person's identity is wrapped up in the work unit. The operative philosophy is you are what you do. Complete the following sentence: "My identity is wrapped up in ______.
For the employees of state industries, membership in the Communist Party is a road to promotion and high regard in the community. Only 13% of the work force belong to the Party, and one must apply for membership. What character attributes for Party members are sought by leaders at branch meeting depicted in the film? How are these qualifications similar to or different from those used by Western managers to determine promotions?
Share your responses to the May Day group marriage orchestrated by the Mining Bureau. What does this ritual imply about the interplay between work and private life?
In Datong, the work unit provides day care for the children of its employees. Why have U. S. companies been so slow to accommodate working mothers? Would you support a national child care policy in America? Why or why not?
Cite examples from the film which illustrate the state's tight control over the daily lives of the industrial workers.
The Japanese occupation of China in the 30s and 40s has been compared to the Nazi Holocaust in Europe. What was the impact of the Japanese occupation in Datong? Share your reactions to the scene in which workers visit a memorial to Chinese who were buried alive in pits. Why do you think the Party encourages visits to this site?
Identify the challenges facing Chinese industry today. Do you think the Responsibility System, which has worked so well in the agricultural sector, can be applied in factories? How well have the Chinese dealt with problems of unemployment? What has been their record on industrial safety?

In his book Working, Studs Terkel concludes that workers in America look for "daily meanings as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying"

What is your work ethic? What do you hope to gain from your work?
How would you describe the work ethic of the laborers shown in this program?

| back to top |

Correcting

Questions & Exercises

"It seems to be part of the Chinese tradition to be suspicious of the law and of lawyers, just as they both respect and fear authority. People look on the court as a last resort."

Nie Chengying, a 28-year-old wife and mother of a three-year-old girl, is awaiting trial in Nanjing. She confessed shortly after her arrest to cat-burglary: she broke into a neighbor's apartment by crawling over a plank into a window: she then stole a television set, a tape recorder and a quilt. She also stole money, food tickets and clothes from another neighbor. At the brewery where she works, she sold a stolen coat to a coworker. This is not the first time Nie has been in trouble with the law; previously, the brewery took disciplinary action against her for minor fraud.

"Correcting" traces the workings of China's legal system as the cameras follow Nie's case over a seven-day period from the reading of the indictment to the investigation by the court, interviews with the neighbors, family and witnesses, the trial, and the sentencing. Along the way, the film reveals in very human terms how the law in China is concerned with the values of social harmony and stability and is enforced by inducing guilt and shame.

Questions & Exercises

As you watch "Correcting" make a list of similarities and differences between the legal systems of China and the United States. What, for example, are the functions of the Chinese procurator, the judge, the lay assessors, and the defense attorney? Who are their American counterparts?
How many lawyers are available to help China's thousand million people? How does this figure compare with the ratio of lawyers to population in the United States?
How do you explain Chinese suspicion of the law and lawyers? Share your own feelings about lawyers.
What do you learn about attitudes toward crime and criminals in China from the interviews with Nie's relatives and neighbors?
Discuss the role of shame in these legal proceedings and comment on this thought by Confucius: "Lead the people by laws and regulate them by penalties, and the people will try to keep themselves out of jail, but will have no sense of shame; lead the people by virtue and restrain them by rules of decorum, and the people will have a sense of shame. and moreover will become good"
Analyze Nie's various statements as she moves through the legal system. How does she describe her crime? What attitude does she project?
Are you surprised by the sentence awarded in her case? What factors worked in her favor? Do you think she will stay out of trouble in the future? Why or why not?
Is there reason to believe that changes occurring in contemporary China will cause an increase in crime? Explain your opinion.

Alasdair Clayre in The Heart of the Dragon observes: "The purpose of the legal system in China has never been merely to prevent crime by locking up prisoners, or even merely to deter: it has always included the aim of reforming criminals. This has been seen as necessary for the restoration of the harmony of the social order. In China the individual has always been judged according to his frictionless functioning within society...Both traditional and modern legal philosophies are more concerned with society than with the individual:

How important is concern with the harmony of the social order in the deliberations of American courts?
How would the Chinese regard the assumption of innocence until guilt is proven? How important is that assumption to you?

| back to top |

Creating

Questions & Exercises

"Like their paintings and their poetry, music for the Chinese seems to be more about mood than about technique: more about inner feelings than any imagined objective reality."

Contemporary Chinese painters, poets, writers and musicians, many of whom were forced to give up their art during the Cultural Revolution, are once again engaged in the act of creating. This program shows how their work reflects both traditional and Western influences yet retains a distinctly Chinese approach to reality.

A composer for the Shanghai ladies' String Quartet talks about the expression of subjective sentiment: an eight-year-old prodigy, a painter of bamboo in the classical style, illustrates the necessary balance between line and white space: a painter from Phoenix in the beautiful countryside of Hunan province creates an impressionistic painting of his hometown using old and new techniques: an elderly writer of more than 100 novels explains that the creative process can remain independent from politics and social pressures; an artist who came of age painting propaganda posters during the 70s reveals the influences behind his series of representational paintings of a Sichuan village; a film director discusses the attempt to recreate reality through concrete images; and a young Chinese painter studying in London articulates excitement about his new work dealing with the unconscious, a concept frowned upon by Communist intellectuals.

Questions & Exercises

What does the composer mean when he talks about the "soul" of Chinese music? Can you hear it in the music used on the soundtrack of this film?
How is Chinese poetry different from Western poetry? What added dimensions does it possess?
What criteria does the young boy profiled in the film use to distinguish between a good and a bad bamboo painting? What makes this art genre unique?
How does Chinese landscape painting reflect Buddhist and Daoist thought?
Wang Qiaowen, a writer, observes: "Artists are not magicians, but they can feel things in empty spaces" Have you found this to be true? Do you agree with art critics who claim that Chinese art is as much about what is not said or shown as it is about what is?
The Chinese philosopher Mencius said that "the ideal man is one whom riches and honor cannot seduce, power and force cannot bend, and poverty and obscurity cannot alter" In what sense is the novelist Shen Congwen an "ideal man". Do you respect his decision not to write novels if he could not express himself freely? Do you think artists can be apolitical?
React to Huang Yongyu's impressionistic painting of the town of Phoenix and Luo Zhongli's representational paintings of a Sichuan village. What do they convey to you about Chinese life? What emotions are evoked?
Playwright Arthur Miller has written: "In China, art traditionally means style rather than any kind of crude verisimilitude; it has always worked to transmute rather than report the visible and audible reality." Which works of art in "Creating" most vividly illustrate this emphasis?
"Any musical innovation is full of danger to the whole state and ought to be prohibited" Plato wrote centuries ago. Even the present regime in China, which is tolerant of many Western influences, worries that artistic innovation may bring spiritual pollution. State your opinion on the proper relationship between government and the arts.
The goal of the arts and the media in China is to serve the people. Do you get a sense from "Creating" of limits placed on artistic freedom? How do the artists interviewed in the film explain their role in society?

Peter Montagnon, the writer of "Creating" characterizes the function of the artist in society as follows: "The artist, like some piece of social litmus paper, can signal changes in the moods, aspirations and hopes of ordinary people long before the message can be detected by more conventional means. They're a sort of early warning system."

How do you think the Chinese will receive Tang Muli if he returns to China and displays his paintings of nudes and explorations of the unconscious mind?
Which writers, filmmakers, musicians and painters in America have flagged changes in our society before they happened? How has the public responded to their messages?

| back to top |

Understanding

Questions & Exercises

"Traditionally, the Chinese believe that the energy you feel in your body is the same energy that drives all of nature and powers the heavens above - It's the pulsing rhythm of the whole universe. Ideally, the heavens, the earth, and man are all in balance, in perfect harmony. If something gets out of balance, then the flow of energy is blocked; your body gets tired, a plant doesn't grow.... Most of the Chinese people throughout history have understood the universe this way."

The Chinese were the first to use a magnetic compass and a seismoscope, make paper and gunpowder, and print with movable type. About the time of Marco Polo, however, the torch of scientific innovation passed to the West. Now the Chinese are trying to regain a leadership position in science and technology.

"Understanding" vividly demonstrates the roots of Chinese science in ancient philosophies. The Daoist idea that harmony is achieved in the universe by a balance of Yin and Yang applies to traditional holistic medicine. The concept of energy flowing through the body and the cosmos translates into such areas as acupuncture and earthquake prediction.

This ecological perspective combined with a gift for detail and the long-standing respect for teachers bodes well for the future of science in China. Already in laser technology and bioengineering, the Chinese are on a par with the West. Bureaucracies and research procedures may need to be simplified, however, before China becomes a center of scientific and technological innovation.

Questions & Exercises

A restaurant in Chengdu lists dishes on the menu according to what illnesses they can help cure or avoid. Do you take seriously the connection between health and eating the right foods? Do you seek out "health foods"? Why or why not?
Have you ever been treated with herbal medicines? What happened?
Do the demonstration of how acupuncture acts as a painkiller in a rabbit and the scenes of an old woman undergoing eye surgery with acupuncture anesthesia convince you of the viability of this traditional practice? If you know anyone who has undergone acupuncture, share the story.
What are the implications of the Chinese view that the earth is like a human body? Give examples.
The Chinese have a great respect for the web of connection linking the mind and the body, the individual and the universe. Discuss their system of monitoring natural phenomenon, such as the behavior of a herd of deer, to predict earthquakes. Would such a system work in the United States? Explain your opinion.
The eight scientific areas given special priority since 1978 by the Chinese government are: lasers, agriculture, energy computers, space, new materials, high enemy physics, and genetic engineering. Where do the Chinese stand in relations to other world powers in terms of scientific sophistication? What areas seem especially promising? What are some of the roadblocks facing China in the attempt to catch up to the rest of the world in these fields?
More than 10,000 students from China are currently enrolled in American schools and universities. Most of them are studying science and technology. What impact will they have on China's future?

Cultural analyst George Leonard has written: '"The word health goes back to an old Anglo-Saxon root meaning whole. Heal comes from the same root, as does holy. The notion of health as wholeness, as the harmonious functioning of mind, body and spirit, is not new . . . But it is new for our times . . . It aims toward long, full lives, not just for the few, but for the many. Best of all, for a nation based on the frontier, it offers a frontier-sized challenge:

Whereas to a large extent, American medicine stresses medication and crisis intervention (combat of disease after it has occurred), holistic medicine emphasizes wellness and prevention via regular monitoring of mind, body and environment. Do you think this approach has a future in America? Do Americans devote enough attention to self care and preventive medicine?
What steps have you taken recently to assume more responsibility for your health? What insights into health and healing have you gained from "Understanding"?

| back to top |

Trading

Questions & Exercises

"The Chinese are faced with a dilemma: they want Western know-how, technology and investment. But they're not sure whether they want all the values that seem to go with them. In the past, the Chinese have absorbed foreign influences while preserving their essential Chineseness. Today, they fear this may not be possible."

China's contact with the rest of the world has always been under the control of the central government and, for long periods, was completely suppressed. The emperors decided when and where trading would be allowed, then gave merchants low social status so they could not become too powerful. "Trading" sketches the history of China's business contacts with the West, from its beginnings along the overland Silk Route through the opening of China's ports after its defeat in the Opium Wars with Britain. For a century, trading flourished out of such strongholds of foreign influence as Shanghai. After the revolution and throughout Mao Zedong's regime, Chinese doors were firmly closed again.

Now China sees trade as necessary to the achievement of its goal of modernization by the year 2000. This film profiles four individuals who represent different aspects of this business renewal. Liu Jinji is a self-made Shanghai millionaire who, despite having been made to sweep floors during the Cultural Revolution, has remained in China and is financing a building project to attract foreign investors. New Yorker Mildred Mottahedeh is using a Party-run pottery factory in China to make replicas of ancient Chinese porcelain. George Ling, one of the overseas Chinese seen as a business link between the West and China, has invested in a container factory at an agricultural commune. Li Ziaoyan is 22 and a Chinese entrepreneur: previously unemployed, she has found success by sewing and selling clothes in a Canton free market.

Questions & Exercises

What was the impetus for foreign trade in ancient China? How was it controlled? What were China's chief exports? What products and influences entered the country via trade?
Outline the history of Chinese trade through its seaports. What was at issue during the Opium Wars? What were the terms of the Treaty of Nanking signed in 1842?
What attitudes and historical events have shaped China's repeated closed door policies toward the West and its persistent suspicion of foreigners?
Describe some of the difficulties foreign business firms and entrepreneurs have discovered in their dealings with the Chinese. If you were a management consultant in China, what specific steps would you recommend to solve these problems?
What economic incentives are being used by the Chinese to lure foreign investments and technology into the "Special Economic Zones"? What would you find most attractive about doing business in China?
How would you describe the lifestyle and political attitudes of the young woman who runs her own clothing business in the free market? Brainstorm about the future of the free enterprise system in China.

In his latest book on China, Orville Schell writes about how throughout history the West has held unreal images of China, whether seeing the nation as a hot spot for converts to Christianity or as an implacable foe. Now with the economic reforms taking place, there is more "dreaming of China as an endless sinkhole for Western capital and goods: a trading partner par excellence, a billion customers just waiting to drink our Cokes, wear our jeans, buy our factories, power plants, and weapons"

Identify some reasonable expectations about the future relationship between China and the United States.
What can we learn from the Chinese? What can they learn from us?

| back to top |

Asia for Educators | afe.easia.columbia.edu

print | close