Watching China Watching (XXII)   The Fourth of May marks China’s annual National Youth Day 五四青年節. It is ostensibly a time to celebrate the enthusiasm and independent spirit of youth. It commemorates the progressive, anti-imperialist student activists who, in 1919, led a national movement to protest against the unfair treatment of the Republic of China at the Versailles Peace Conference.… Read

Wairarapa Readings   白水札記 Wairarapa Readings celebrate the variety and vibrancy of China’s literary heritage, and living culture. They introduce texts of various kinds and translations aimed at students of China interested in the world beyond the narrow confines of contemporary institutional pedagogy.… Read

Citizen’s Investigation (20 March 2009-12 May 2010) was an Internet-based civil action aimed at compiling a list of the names of students who died in shoddily constructed school buildings in the Sichuan Earthquake of 12 May 2008. … Read

Wairarapa Readings 白水札記 Wairarapa Readings celebrate the variety and vibrancy of China’s literary heritage. They introduce literary texts and translations aimed at students of traditional Chinese letters who are interested in the rich cultural world that lies beyond the narrow confines and demands of contemporary institutional pedagogy.… Read

Watching China Watching (XX) Recent negotiations between the Vatican and Beijing on the future of the Catholic church in China have, among other things, focussed international attention on Mindong 閩東, a region in northeast Fujian province.… Read

The Fifth of April 2018 marked the day for ‘sweeping the tombs’ 掃墓, a festival on which respects are paid to loved ones and forebears. Known since ancient times as Qingming 清明, ‘Clear and Bright’, it falls on the Eighth Day of the Third Month of the lunar calendar (depending on the year, according to the Gregoria Calendar, this can be the 4th, 5th or 6th day of April).… Read