A Long Ride Toward A New China

Repost from New York Times.

Every summer, the 59-year-old Chinese blogger Zhang Shihe rides his bicycle thousands of miles to the plateaus, deserts and hinterlands of North Central China. In this Op-Doc video, we meet Mr. Zhang, known to his many followers online as “Tiger Temple,” as he goes to great lengths to document the stories of struggling rural villagers whose voices are seldom heard in China’s state-monitored media.

In a country with one of the most sophisticated media and Internet censorship systems, Mr. Zhang and other bloggers must exercise great caution when writing about politically sensitive content — often skirting the label “citizen reporter.” But as Mr. Zhang told me during filming: “If they want to get you, they can find a way. Not even a wise man can be wise all the time.”

In 2010, he was taken by the police and put under house arrest for 10 days, during the country’s annual parliamentary meetings. News spread quickly. That day he received more than 2,000 text messages — good wishes poured in from concerned friends and readers who supported his efforts to help flooded villagers, defrauded farmers and the Beijing homeless. On this day, he said, he “felt the true power of the Internet.”

Read the complete article from New York Times.

10 Inspiring Chinese Proverbs about Life

1. [与其]临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网。《汉书·董仲书传》

[yǔ qí] lín yuān xiàn yú，bù rú tuì ér jié wǎng。《hàn shū · dǒng zhòng shū zhuàn 》

Rather than approaching the edge [of the waters] admiring the fish, it’s better to take a step back, and prepare to cast a net over the waters [and catch the fish].

This proverb was used as a parable from 董仲舒, a politician and a philosopher, who warned the emperor of his time that if he wanted to manage the country well, it was important to do so in a principled and institutional way.

An interpretation of this warning comes to us in two parts: the objective and the means. Important as it is to have a clear objective in mind, it is equally important to have the means to go about achieving that objective, lest it become a mere delusion. It reminds us to sometimes take a step back from fixating too much on our goals, and revise our approaches to reach our most immediate objective.

2. 君子之心不胜其小，而气量涵盖一世。《格言联璧》

jūn zǐ zhī xīn bú shèng qí xiǎo，ér qì liàng hán gài yī shì。《gé yán lián bì》

The heart of a 君子 cares not about his own (selfish) desires, but of all that it encompasses from his breadth of heart.

This proverb talks about two very important ideals that Chinese people deem significant: “君子” and “气量”. If you look up the dictionary, you will see that the translation is “gentleman” and “tolerance” respectively, though I argue these are only loose approximations of their Chinese counterparts.

君子 is someone who is more than a gentleman. By the norm, we often consider a person to be a gentleman if he (and I don’t discriminate between genders here, “he” is just a convenient placeholder for a person, and an appropriate one, I think, in the male-dominant ancient China) demeans himself gracefully and treats women courteously.

君子, however, represents neither of these things. While these traits might be included in a person who is considered a “君子”, having these traits don’t necessarily make one a “君子”.

In essence, someone who can be called a 君子 (and it’s as big a deal in the past as I’m making it here!) is someone who is highly virtuous and of noble character, and he represents the ideal personality a man should have in Confucius’ teachings.

The term “气量” has the translation “tolerance”. While tolerance represents the mechanism for someone to have 气量, it’s a bit broad, because it can be an umbrella for different types of tolerances, such as a tolerance to pain, which isn’t 气量。

A Chinese synonym is the term “胸襟”, and I mention it because it can be better translated as “breadth of heart”.

In my opinion, a person’s “胸襟” is the ability for a person to is one’s ability to tolerate others’ small misdeeds, to not exact revenge over someone’s wrongdoings to you, to be generous and accepting of others’ flaws and shortcomings, and to forgive others even when they are undeserving of such forgiveness.

A person who has a large breadth of heart (胸襟广阔的人) is undoubtedly a 君子, in contrast, a person who has a narrow breadth of heart (胸襟狭窄的人) is undoubtedly a 小人。

With this in mind, let’s go back to the original proverb and see what it means:

君子之心不胜其小，而气量涵盖一世。《格言联璧》

The heart of a 君子 cares not about his own (selfish) desires, but of all that it encompasses from his breadth of heart.

It reminds us that we should aim to serve the greater good, and not act for our own selfish desires, as befitting of a 君子.

3. 君子之行，静以修身，俭以养德，非澹泊无以明志，非宁静无以致远。《诫子书》

jūn zǐ zhī xíng，jìng yǐ xiū shēn，jiǎn yǐ yǎng dé，fēi dàn bó wú yǐ míng zhì，fēi níng jìng wú yǐ zhì yuǎn。《jiè zi shū》

The demeanour of a 君子 who is both noble of character and proficient in [his] trade relies on one’s centre of calm to train one’s mind and body, and one’s ability to be frugal to train one’s character. It is not possible to clearly establish one’s goals without letting go of such notions of fame and glory; nor is it possible to achieve grand aspirations without firstly possessing a calm mind and body.

This reminds us of the importance to need to focus, albeit in an indirect way.

In order for us to achieve our goals, 诸葛亮, the author of this book from which this proverb is quoted, writes of the importance of being calm in order to make well thought out decisions to steadily inch towards our long term goals.

And in order for us to establish a clear direction, it is important to be able to focus by clearing our minds of the unnecessary distractions in our lives, notably the notions of fame and glory, vanity measures which are nothing but fancy trinkets to be had on our journeys.

4. 三军可夺帅也，匹夫不可夺志也。《论语》

sān jūn kě duó shuài yě，pǐ fū bù kě duó zhì yě。《lùn yǔ》

An army can conquer a general, but no man can rob one of his ambition.

Confucius writes this as a firm reminder of the importance of having ambition in one’s life. The word “志” means “志气” in the above sentence, and the Chinese term is roughly equivalent to a combination of “ambition”, “spirit” and “morale” in English.

I think that another way to interpret this is the importance of having free spirit. It’s similar to saying that “You can rob me of all my earthly possessions, but you will never own my last sanctuary – my spirit.”

As a person, it is important to have independent thought, which comes across as strange in this day and age, but in the empirical set up of ancient China, it wasn’t uncommon for people to have a subservient mindset, hence the importance of this proverb.

5. 疾风知劲草，板荡识诚臣。《赐萧蠫》

jí fēng zhī jìn cǎo，bǎn dàng shí chéng chén。《cì xiāo lí》

The strength of a blade of grass is seen only in tempests; the loyalty of an official is seen only in times of turbulence.

This reminds me of a lengthy discussion I had with one of my friends – she thinks that friends should be in frequent contact, and one should have many friends; I think that it’s not as important to talk a lot to friends, nor is it as important to have a great number of friends.

My perspective is that it’s only when facing difficulty can you truly distinguish who is a true friend, and who isn’t. This and the proverb’s meaning are probably 异曲同工, an idiom which means different ways of expressing the same thing, a sentiment that’s better expressed in Chinese.

6.子曰：“吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。”《论语》

zǐ yuē：“wú shí yǒu wǔ ér zhì yú xué，sān shí ér lì，sì shí ér bú huò，wǔ shí ér zhī tiān mìng，liù shí ér ěr shùn，qī shí ér cóng xīn suǒ yù，bù yú jǔ。”《lùn yǔ》

Confucius says, “When I was fifteen, I was focused on my studies; when I was thirty, my understanding of life [as it stands] was set firmly; when I was forty, I no longer hesitated about making my life decisions; when I was fifty, I understood the origins of all; when I was sixty, I could hear all – the positive and the negative – and not be upset; when I was seventy, I had the freedom to do whatever my heart desires, within the rules of this world [that I have observed throughout all of my life].”

In a short statement, Confucius summarised his entire life and the enlightened state he reached at each stage in his life. Nowadays, it serves as a guiding principle for us to know what we should be doing at different stages in life, and what to expect henceforth.

7. 老吾老，以及人之老；幼吾幼，以及人之幼。《孟子》

lǎo wú lǎo，yǐ jí rén zhī lǎo；yòu wú yòu，yǐ jí rén zhī yòu。《mèng zǐ》

In supporting and showing deference to our elderly’s, it is important not to neglect the elderly’s not within our family; in nurturing and educating our children, it is important not to neglect children with whom we are not related to by blood.

This quote reminds me of one of Jesus’ parables when he taught his disciples to “love thy neighbour as thyself”. Even if we are not related, even by the mere fact that we are neighbours, friends, or just people who happen to pass by each other, is it not equally as important to respect the elderly’s and look after children equally as we do our own?

8. 祸兮福之所倚，福兮祸之所伏。《老子》

huò xī fú zhī suǒ yǐ，fú xī huò zhī suǒ fú。《lǎo zǐ》

In our last proverb, it states: “Calamity has its roots in prosperity, prosperity has its roots in calamity.”

老子 observes the co-existence of these two opposing beings – that calamity and prosperity cannot exist without another, and that they share almost an interdependent relationship with each other.

It tells us that because of this relationship, good and bad things can be exchanged, and under the right conditions, even prosperity can turn into calamity, and calamity into prosperity.

I personally think that what 老子 was referring to is the fact that one should not take things too seriously – the good and the bad.

Don’t overestimate the value of the good “fortune” you’re experiencing in life, because it’s just as easy to lose the fortune you’ve gained.

In a similar way, don’t overestimate the effects of the bad “luck” you’re experiencing, because it’s just as easy to go away as it came.

9. 博学之，审问之，慎思之，明辨之，笃行之。《礼记·中庸》

bó xué zhī，shěn wèn zhī，shèn sī zhī，míng biàn zhī，dǔ xíng zhī。《lǐ jì · zhōng yōng》

To learn [from a variety of places], To ask [until you satisfy your desire to learn], To reflect [meticulously], To distinguish [clearly between truth and lies], To manifest [that which you have learnt].

These five stages represent the various places in learning, not unlike that of Bloom’s taxonomy, who advocated an hierarchy of learning in this order: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Evaluation, Synthesis.

10. 但愿人长久，千里共蝉娟。《水调歌头》

dàn yuàn rén cháng jiǔ，qiān lǐ gòng chán juān。《shuǐ diào gē tóu》

That [the person I’m thinking of] be healthy and live a life of longevity; that no distance shall separate our thoughts of each other.

This is actually a portion of the entire poetic verse, which reads “人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全。但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。” the former phrase which means, “People will experience sadness and joy; as the moon will appear round and sometimes incomplete (referring to crescents of the moon) – things like these have been prone to imperfection since the days of the old.”

In my opinion, the author is simply expressing his world views through his observations of people and the moon as metaphors. The philosophical component aside, the phrases are beautifully worded in Chinese.

Well, these are the 10 proverbs I’ve come to like over the years – what do you think? Would you have a different interpretation of these Chinese proverbs?

Lupita Nyong’o Delivers Moving ‘Black Women in Hollywood’ Acceptance Speech

Newcomer Lupita Nyong’o was honored with the Best Breakthrough Performance Award at the 7th annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon for her work in critically acclaimed film, 12 Years a Slave, presented by fellow actress, Alfre Woodard. The following is her acceptance speech in full (and below that is the video of the majority of the speech):

I wrote down this speech that I had no time to practice so this will be the practicing session. Thank you Alfre, for such an amazing, amazing introduction and celebration of my work. And thank you very much for inviting me to be a part of such an extraordinary community. I am surrounded by people who have inspired me, women in particular whose presence on screen made me feel a little more seen and heard and understood. That it is ESSENCE that holds this event celebrating our professional gains of the year is significant, a beauty magazine that recognizes the beauty that we not just possess but also produce.

I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty. Black beauty. Dark beauty. I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: “Dear Lupita,” it reads, “I think you’re really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me.”

My heart bled a little when I read those words. I could never have guessed that my first job out of school would be so powerful in and of itself and that it would propel me to be such an image of hope in the same way that the women of The Color Purple were to me.

I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin. I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned. The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I had been the day before. I tried to negotiate with God: I told him I would stop stealing sugar cubes at night if he gave me what I wanted; I would listen to my mother’s every word and never lose my school sweater again if he just made me a little lighter. But I guess God was unimpressed with my bargaining chips because He never listened.

And when I was a teenager my self-hate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no consolation: She’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful. And then Alek Wek came on the international scene. A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was. Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden, Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me. When I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty, but around me the preference for light skin prevailed. To the beholders that I thought mattered, I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me, “You can’t eat beauty. It doesn’t feed you.” And these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.

And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What does sustain us… what is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul. It is what got Patsey in so much trouble with her master, but it is also what has kept her story alive to this day. We remember the beauty of her spirit even after the beauty of her body has faded away.

And so I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shade in that beauty.

Oscars 2014: Watch Lupita Nyong’o’s Emotional Acceptance Speech

Reposted from Times
A year ago, most of the world hadn’t heard of Lupita Nyong’o — but in her acceptance speech for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar she just took home for her work in 12 Years a Slave, she reminded viewers that there’s a long history behind how she got to that stage.

“It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else’s,” she said in reference to Patsey, the slave she portrayed in the acclaimed film, which was based on a real-life memoir.

In addition to thanking the usual Academy Awards suspects — castmates, her drama school, the Academy — she drew attention to the real people whose stories she helped bring to the big screen: Speaking to director Steve McQueen, she noted that the dead are watching, and that she believes “they are grateful” that he brought their history back to life.

But her speech didn’t just stick to the past. In a tear-jerking conclusion, she expressed her wish that her unknown-to-Oscars trajectory would inspire someone watching at home to go for it — because, as she explained: “No matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”

Watch her speech above.

PAASSC blog Traffic Increased 2194% in 2 years!

First, I want to thank all of the amazing families that turned out for our First Annual Back to School BBQ. My only regret is that I didn’t take enough pictures. The kids loved the jumpy house. The parents enjoyed the food and great conversations. Most importantly no one felt like a stranger. The conversations were amazing. It is amazing to look back on the organization’s growth as we start our third year.

A Personal Best

PAASSC.com was launched May 2011 with 59 unique visitors a month and an average of 5 visitors a day. I checked the stats every day the first four months. When visitors soared to 15 in one day I excitedly called girlfriends and went on and on about PAASSC’s recent achievement.

I haven’t looked at the stats for close to a year. PAASSC.com had 1295 unique visitors with an average of 77 visits per day in August 2013 – which has been a steady and consistent increase over time. That’s an increase of 2194% in a little over two years. Who Knew!!!! Full-time bloggers expect to reach these numbers within the first 12 months but juggling a full-time job, two young children and a husband with a blog that targets such a small niche I am super excited with our numbers.

Community

We have attempted many programs ideas as we are looking to define ourselves. This year we are going to focus our time and energy increasing parent participation in our phone conferences and Parent Ed Nights, as well as, increased student participation at growing our membership and increasing participation at our monthly play dates and Parent Ed Nights.

Finding Balance for my Black girls in a Chinese Heritage Program!

One of the many things that I have enjoyed about my daugthers’ participation in a Chinese Immersion program has been the strong heritage component. It’s hard to have your child in a Chinese Immersion program in San Francisco and not be immersed in the culture and folklore of Chinese traditions. Our school barely celebrates Valentine’s Day in February due to their focus on Chinese New Year so there is no celebration of Black History Month at all. We have really embraced and enjoy our daughters having exposure to Chinese culture and on our own have tried to add in spoonfuls of Black history here and there. But our school does not provide our girls with enough around their culture and history. I knew that going in and that was one of the reasons that I started PAASSC. But I did not major in African studies and I am not well versed in African History so that component has been missing for my girls.

My oldest daughter was recently invited to join Young, Gifted and Black and I am so excited I’m practically doing cartwheels at home. My husband is a little reserved. Young, Gifted and Black is a national program and I am so excited that they have a flagship program here in Oakland, CA. The “application” process is amazing. They first invite your child to observe the program, your child is interviewed by another youth in the program, and your child is then asked to recite a poem by an African American author. Kiah is learning The Blues by Langston Hughes. My daughter came home and said “Mommy, they were all brown!” My younger daughter is a constant performer at heart and seemed to really enjoy the spoken word aspect of the program. She said “Mommy it was really loud but that was good. It was really good!”

Her dad took her for her interview. He said that they were discussing the importance of Assata Shakur. Thank God my husband has known me since undergrad because let’s just say it is no mistake that he did not find the YGB program. We had a long talk last night about Black history, Black pride, and the idea of raising a “militant” child. Because yes, most mainstream Black families struggle with consciousness. We touched and agreed and determined that Young, Gifted and Black is the right next step for our daughters. We love that the program encourages an internal strength for our child. We like that it will develop a strong sense of identity, history and pride for our daughters. Additionally, I want my daughters to love themselves but I also want my daughters to love and appreciate Black boys. With a society that so viciously attacks them I am so excited that she will have such beautiful and intelligent group of young Black men as mentors and role models. Our initial interest in Chinese was solely the language we were not even thinking about the implications of introducing our child into a Chinese Heritage program. We are excited that our daughter is learning so much about Chinese culture but want to make sure that there is a balance.

With the strong education YGB will provide my children in Black history, Black consciousness and social justice I am less concerned about what their Chinese Immersion school is unable to provide.

Inspiration

A Long Ride Toward A New China