Why Study China

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Why Study China?
Tantasqua/Union 61 District Schools
Professional Day Presentation, 2005-2006
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In 1981 China was not much different from the
North Korea of today, isolated and on the brink
of bankruptcy.
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In 2006, China is a lending nation. The U.S.
government borrows around 2 billion daily from
foreign investors, chiefly China and Japan, to
support deficit spending on its military, Social
Security, and other programs.
Bank of America Bank of China Hong Kong
Harbor, 2005
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While very similar in area and latitude, these
maps illustrate the great difference in
population between the U.S.A. (the worlds third
most populous country) and China.
Population measured at approximately 520 persons
per square mile. Data TravelChinaGuide.com
China 1,306,313,812 India 1,080,264,388 U.
S. A. 295,734,134 Source CIA World
Factbook 2006
Population measured at approximately 250 persons
per square mile. Data U.S. Census Bureau
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After September 11 China surpassed the U.S. in
attracting foreign investments. Billions of
dollars are pouring into China, helping to fuel a
rapid growth and economic transformation, while
the U.S. has instituted anti-terrorist measures
such as fingerprinting and detailed questioning
which have discouraged foreigners from doing
business here.
Grounds of the Summer Palace, Lhasa
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China has the worlds fastest growing
economy. Dali, Yunnan Province, 2005
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Asians, and Chinese, do not like to borrow money
to fund their purchases. Generally speaking, they
are not credit societies. Individual Chinese
typically save 25 to 30 annually.
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China is the only ancient civilization that is,
again, a major world power. Over the past several
thousand years China has both dominated and been
dominated economically and politically.
Window decoration, Terracotta Army Museum, Xian
Click here for Economic Timeline
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In the 1990s, with political conditions relaxed,
oversees Chinese who had fled Maos China
returned with new wealth and entrepreneurial
ideas.
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Bank of China
China is the worlds second largest consumer of
energy, after the U.S. Hong Kong , 2005
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Chinese are very industrious, and are willing to
suffer hardships if they believe their efforts
will result in eventual profit.
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From antiquity to the present, Chinese culture
has exerted a profound influence upon the world.
Mahogany scholars desk, Shanghai Museum,
prepared for the next painting
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At the same time, contemporary world culture is
finding its way to remoter corners of China.
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Both China and the U.S. are heterogeneous
societies struggling to overcome historic
conflicts with their minority populations.
Potala Palace, Lhasa
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These Naxi women, wearing a stage-like version of
their traditional dress, are employed by the
museum of ethnic minorities, in Kunming, a
popular tourist destination for Han Chinese and
foreigners, who are treated to minority singing,
dancing, crafts and other folkways, but little
political history.
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Calling China a communist country is Cold War
rhetoric. A better term is soft
authoritarianism. Private enterprise, large and
small, abounds.
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One of innumerable small shops throughout China
today, this batik store in Yunnan
province conceals a thriving family
industry tucked away in the back.
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Within some limits religious and
Confucian practices are re-emerging. Taoist
and Buddhist temples are re-opening and
children are being taught rites of worship.
Taoist temple on Quingchen Mountain Chengdu, 2005
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Chinese Muslims wear traditional religious
clothing and attend Mosque.
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Children at a Muslim school, Dali
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The Silk Routes carried trade goods, luxury
items, inventions and beliefs from China to the
world and back again. The idea that China
evolved in isolation from the world is but
another myth created to serve political
purposes. Frieze on exterior wall of the Hotel
Royal, Xian
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Map of Chinas ancient trade routes, including
those to Southeast Asia and India. Ancient
Tea-Horse Road Museum, Lijiang
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Chinese and American history have been
intertwined ever since Columbus used navigational
maps derived from those produced by Ming Admiral
Zheng He. New Englands China Trade provided a
great deal of our regions early wealth and
culture.
Inventions in porcelain, like the Yuan Dynasty
vase to the left, were made possible by trade
with the cobalt-rich Islamic lands west of China.
By the 18th century the Dutch were making huge
profits selling their Chinese-inspired blue and
white Delft ware to the finest homes in Europe
and the colonies. By the Ming and Qing periods
Chinese ceramics were famous for their pure white
porcelains, known in the west as blanc de Chine,
or Chinese white, of which the pomegranate-shaped
Qing teapot, above, is such a fine example.
Shanghai Museum Collections
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Indeed, it is said that Benjamin Franklin
rode to the Continental Congress in a Chinese
palanquin.
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The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee is
considering a proposal to allocate 1.3 billion
to improve the study of Chinese language and
culture in Americas public schools. Source
The Associated Press, January, 2006
Massachusetts teachers on a Primary Source China
Study Tour visit the Hongwenguan Art School,
Xian
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This street scene says it all.
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Information Sources Slide 9 Economic Timeline
by Marketplace, National Public Radio, Live From
China, Retrieved 22 January 2006, http//www.marke
tplace.publicradio.org/features/ China2006/map Sl
ide 11 National Public Radio, All Things
Considered, Aired October 6, 2005 Slides 2, 3, 5,
8, 9,10,16 Shiping Zheng, Ph.D., Bentley
College Slide 21 Todd Lewis, Ph.D., College of
the Holy Cross Slide 24 Robert Murowchick,
Ph.D., Boston College Slide 28 The Associated
Press, Retrieved 24 January, 2006
http//www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/01/02/mandarin.
kindergarten.ap/ All other material observed by
Sarah Swift, August, 2005 Chinas Great Diversity
Study Tour Primary Source, Watertown, MA
Photo Credits All photos by Sarah Swift except
photos 14, 17-19, by John Baron Burgess
Elementary School Sturbridge, MA
Locations Dali--Slides 1, 6, 8, 12, 19- 22,
24 25 Hong Kong--Slides 3, 11 Kunming--Slide
17 Lhasa--Slides 5, 16 Lijiang--Slides 2, 10, 15,
18, 27, 31 Shanghai--Slide 7 Suzhou--Slide 13,
29 Xian--Slides 9, 26, 30
Ceramics in Slide 26 from the collections of The
Shanghai Museum Presentation updated 24 January,
2006