EAST SUMMER 2017
YURTS, FERMENTED MARE'S MILK AND GEnGHIS KHAN
Mongolia A DRAGON IS STIRRING
&
China
CULTURAL REVOLUTION THE FASHION AND BEAUTY INFLUENCE OF THE ASIAN TIGER
Korea
1
Meet the Team yASMINE rAHEMTULLA aLEX KING laURA pRIETO aMY SHARP
radhiyyah phillips
welcome We’re excited to introduce you to the summer edition of EAST: the University of Leeds’ East Asian Studies Department magazine. This is the biggest ever edition of EAST, with some fantastic content provided by UoL students! We’re privileged to include the recollections of Ruru Li, a university lecturer, whose account of the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76 is our featured article. In this edition we also have some fascinating articles on Malaysian politics, Chinese wine, and the ‘Korean Boom’, as well as some stunning photography from students’ trips around Asia. We would like to once again thank everyone who has contributed to the magazine, including the continued support of the Business Confucius Institute, who have all made this publication possible. To all the students graduating this summer, we at EAST wish you the all the best for the future. For those staying in Leeds, if you would like to be involved in the next edition, whether on the committee or by contributing content, don’t hesitate to get in touch. See you again in the next edition,
Alex King, Editor team. The EAST Magazine
Some2017 info 2 EAST • SUMMER
here maybe relevant experience?
@lueastmagazine More at: www.lueastmagazine.com
Contents
4 28 8 34 14 42 22 IN BRIEF
feature
culture
travel
business
language
cuisine
3 PHOTO: Alex king
In Brief
in brief
In order to prevent cheating, the Chinese Athletics Association has introduced face recognition software at the Beijing marathon. As a new fitness craze sweeps China, some people will do anything to get a great time – including not running the race and switching bibs with other competitors. In the Beijing half marathon, which took place on Sunday 16th April, 20,000 runners were required to undergo pre-race face-scanning.
70
Years King Bhumibol Adulyadej reigned over Thailiand. Before his death in October, he was the world’s longest-serving head of state.
'we must again declare a major war against drugs' Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo announces a new offensive against his country’s ‘dangerous’ drug traffickers. 44 EAST EAST •• SUMMER SUMMER 2017 2017
Japan’s Self-Defence Forces have lifted limitations on female participation, now allowing women to apply for more active roles in the SDF. While limitations on women’s participation have been gradually lifted since 1993, in the latest change the SDF is able to hire women in all positions in the Ground, Air and Maritime Self-Defence forces. This is a move by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to boost women’s participation in society.
Singapore clinches the title of ‘Maritime Capital’ for 2017, according to Menon Economics
no.1
5
A Personal Memoir by Dom Rimmington
DELIA DAVIN
I first met Delia in the spring of 1965. Liz and I had managed to get to China after a long wait for a visa. Delia knew we were coming and she turned up at our hotel on her bicycle. We were quite young and had not visited China before; Delia was even younger, but she was already an old hand, and she set about educating us in the intricacies of life in Beijing. She spoke about her experiences in China with a calm confidence and she put us at our ease. All those qualities of authority and generosity of spirit, which were to become so apparent the more we got to know her, could already be seen. We were mightily impressed. She was always someone who wanted to share. I remember she took us to meet her students at the Beijing Broadcasting Institute. They clearly held her in the greatest respect and affection, and I know she was deeply moved by the fact that many of them kept in touch with her over the years. Through her and Bill we also met the wonderful translators, Gladys Yang and Yang Xianyi, with whom they were close friends and who became our friends too. Evenings at the Yang flat were exhilarating and extraordinarily informative. Later that year she came to Leeds to do our Chinese Studies degree. She brought with her her Chinese experience and her already considerable
Chinese language skills, but she never paraded any of this. Instead she integrated naturally into her year group and was always a positive presence in class. Not surprisingly, she graduated with a first. She then went on to complete a PhD on Women in China. She subsequently built on this initial research project and went on to produce a sequence of impressive publications on modern Chinese society and history. After a number of years abroad and a period at York University she returned to Leeds in 1988 to a lectureship in Chinese Studies. We knew we were not only welcoming an old friend, but also a scholar of increasing stature, and she proved to be an excellent appointment. Her teaching on history, society and documentary texts was immaculate. She took immense care with her students, who would regularly seek her out for advice and support, and she spent much time and energy sorting out problems for them.
She took immense care with her students, who would regularly seek her out for advice and support, and she spent much time and energy sorting out problems 6 EAST • SUMMER 2017
for them.
Delia did not hesitate to share this burden with me, and I could not have coped without her She tried to solve problems, not create them. In the face of authority, she could, when necessary, be forthright and persuasive, but, when dealing with uncertain and hesitant people, she always tried to be encouraging and bolster confidence. In short she was the complete allround academic and a totally positive and supportive member of staff. She was particularly good in a crisis. When the Tiananmen upheavals in June 1989 occurred, we suddenly had to organise the evacuation of over 50 Leeds students from China. This took over a week of endless telephone calls to Beijing, to London, to the press and to all the parents of the students concerned. A few months later, Delia was in Taiwan and she singlehandedly negotiated an agreement with
the National Chengchi University in Taipei to provide Chinese language teaching for all our students for the following academic year. This contact still exists to this day. She went on to be Head of Department herself and served on a range of University committees. Outside the University, she contributed widely to Chinese Studies at the national level and beyond. This included being President of the British Association for Chinese Studies, assessing research projects for the ESRC, membership of the Universities China Committee, and the writing of endless book reviews. Delia was brilliant. Delia was a star. As we know, in the last few years of her life she battled with illness, but despite this she went on working right up to the end. In her last few months we spoke regularly on the phone, and I was deeply moved by her honesty, her plain good sense and her humour. In one of the last conversations I had with her she mused on her capacity to defy medical predictions and said “I don’t think I am very good at dying”. On this for once she was wrong. The attitude she displayed to what was happening was amazingly courageous and realistic. She was an example to us all.
TOP: DELIA, WITH DAUGHTER LUCY ON HER BACK, FLEES TOKYO RIOT POLICE IN ANTI-VIETNAM WAR DEMONSTRATION, CIRCA 1968. MIDDLE: AGED 19, WITH STUDENTS AT BEIJING BROADCASTING INSTITUE, 1963. BOTTOM: DELIA AT THE DEPARTMENT’S 5OTH ANIVERSARY
OBITUARY
7
8 EAST • SUMMER 2017
CULTURE 文化
9
M A L A MULTICULTURALISM When I think of Malaysia, I think of two things: multiculturalism and one-party rule. Multiculturalism because of Malaysia’s truly diverse blend of cultures, forged by the resettlement of migrants across hundreds of years; and a democratic yet one-party ruled country, a result of no transfer of power to its name since independence from the British in 1957. A contrasting mix to say the least, Malaysia’s uniqueness as a country stems from this unlikely pair. The only way to accurately describe Malaysia’s diversity is through my own experience. My heritage is of British and Malaysian descent, with a little touch of simple Canadian upbringing. I moved to the bustling, built up, and hawker stall-laden capital city of Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) when I was twelve – a sure culture shock after living in a small suburb nestled beneath forest-covered mountains on Canada’s west coast! I quickly became immersed in the lifestyle: I met relatives I had only ever seen in photo albums; I ate food I never would have eaten otherwise; and enjoyed the almost weekly national holidays celebrating all Islamic, Hindu, and Buddhist festivities. At first, I remember asking: what was it to be Malay? There were so many crossovers of cultures that I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Was it solely those considered to be Bumiputra (‘son of the land’) and those that practice Islam? And if so, what did that mean for the Malay-Chinese or 10 EAST • SUMMER 2017
Malay-Indians whose families have resided in the country for generations? Being mixed-race, I had frequently been referred to as 'campur-campur’, a word you would often associate with mixed rice dishes (‘nasi campur’). How I came to be seen as a monstrous plate of steamed rice, a side of curry and sautéed vegetables, all for the equivalent of one pound sterling, beats me, but as the saying goes, ‘c’est la.. Wait no, ‘same same, but different’. All joking aside, ‘campur-campur’ is truly what Malaysia is - a beautiful blend, a haven of multiculturalism, a sanctuary of differences. Contrary to that which is stated in the Malaysian constitution, being Malay does not pertain to a single group of people, but to many, regardless of background or religion. But, this haven is not as picture perfect as I describe it. The truth is, beyond the splendours of being able to eat a different cuisine every night for two weeks straight, or to marvel at the elaborate Hindu temples and listen to the beautiful sound of the call to prayers throughout the day, Malaysia holds the same issues that plague many countries, that of corruption and oppression.
an
Y S I A :
nd
ONE-PARTY rule To the outside world or even to the average tourist, Malaysia doesn’t seem that ‘bad’ politically. In fact, you probably wouldn’t even know something was wrong if you visited the country. It’s rarely ever in the sort of mainstream news you see on television, Malaysia boasts the second largest economy in Southeast Asia, and it is not one to meddle in other countries affairs. Façade alone, Malaysia seems to be a fairly stable democracy. You may ask then, what is the problem? Under this mask of a stable democracy lies a semi-authoritarian state. One that censors dissent, is prone to manipulation, and riddled with deception. Malaysian democracy seems to go more hand in hand with authoritarianism, rigged elections, and control in the hands of a few. This isn’t necessarily a secret either. The country has witnessed crackdowns on freedoms, frequent corruption scandals,and government-wide oppression against opposition parties. Protests against the government have lacked success, and opposition parties have been held down by the lack of resources. Media outlets have acted more like over-complimentary best friends to the government, and certainly not as their intended role of the political watchdogs that are so vital to democracy. For a long period of time, 50 years to be exact, Malaysia seemed it would stay on this track of one-party rule. That is, until now. What has stirred Malaysian political culture to go from quiet subject
to full-blown Almond and Verba participatory style is all thanks to the current Prime Minister, Najib. But from where I see it, he probably doesn’t want recognition for this. PM Najib has recently been accused of transferring over $1 billion USD to his personal bank accounts, on top of previous accusations of gerrymandering at both the 2008 and 2013 elections. However, on the positive side, these bad events seem to have finally stirred historic change in the country. Since 2007, we have seen five mass demonstrations take place under the Bersih (‘clean’) movement, demonstrations never seen before in Malaysian history since its independence. Brandishing bright yellow t-shirts as a symbol of strength, hope, and unity, similar to that of Hong Kong’s Umbrella movement, protestors from all walks of life have joined together to call for clean elections and for PM Najib to step down. If that wasn’t awe-inspiring enough, alternative media outlets such as Malaysiakini have taken the heroic role of political watchdog, allowing citizens to gain access to perspectives other than those controlled by the government. Whist I do fear that outside of the capital the same mobilisation of people isn’t happening elsewhere in the country, it is safe to say that great change is on the horizon for Malaysia.
Aisha North CULTURE • 文化 11
The Business Confucius Institute Presents...
from shore to shore piao yang guo hai
漂洋过海
“
three stories, three lives, three journeys, to find a place called home 一部震撼人心的新戏，观看之余， 您还可以品尝美食，聆听现场音乐
“
Tour information
Leeds Tour Dates - Tuesday 16th May 6:30pm – SOLD OUT - Wednesday 17th May, 12:30pm & 7:30pm - Thursday 18th May, 7:30pm Venue Oriental City Restaurant, 30-36 Cross Stamford Street, Leeds, LS7 1BA Tickets Tickets: £17.50 (£12.50 Concessions) Buy online at: www.wyp.org.uk Or call the venue: 0113 213 7700 Then touring nationwide; performances in Manchester, Oxford, London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and York.
“
a powerful new drama with great food and live music 三个故事，三种人生， 三段旅程，只为找到家。
“
12 EAST • SUMMER 2017
photos from the work-in-progress performance in leeds in october 2015
W
e all can identify with the experience of migration and moving home; whether that is moving away for the first time to attend University, or coming to the UK from abroad. From Shore to Shore is a powerful play that draws on real life tales of love and loss, struggle and survival, to create a moving and unique theatrical experience that is based on the stories of the local Chinese community, but speaks to us all. From Shore to Shore has developed from a simple idea into a nationwide tour that begins in Leeds on May 16th 2017. The Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds is proud to have supported the project right from the start, helping to bring this exploration of Chinese culture to the wide audience it deserves. After talking to a wide variety of Chinese people currently living in Leeds and West Yorkshire, writer Mary Cooper combined the stories she heard into a narrative covering three generations of migrants. With the help of multilingual collaborator, MW Sun, Mandarin and Cantonese were artfully woven into the script, yet the play is fully accessible to non-Chinese speakers. The use of language is not the only unconventional aspect of this project. In order to create a truly inclusive and welcoming experience, the performance takes place in restaurants and includes a two-course meal. Working in these unusual spaces means that director David K S Tse has a challenge on his hands, but is worth it to get the play in front of audiences that might not usually go to the theatre. Giving food a central role in the event reflects the reality of our daily lives, and creates a sense of ‘home’ even when sitting at a table with strangers. In her quest to tell the stories of the Chinese community in Leeds, Mary has discovered that there are many Chinese communities, and many individuals with their own stories to tell. When asked to give advice to other people working on similar projects she said “Be open to being surprised. Always assume that you don’t know, and really listen.” These words of wisdom are relevant to all of us. We hope that the space for sharing, listening, and learning created by From Shore to Shore will spread into the community and enhance our understanding of the different cultures and individuals around us. The Business Confucius Institute at the University of Leeds works to promote the understanding of Chinese language and culture, and build business links between China and the UK. Facebook: @BCIUL Twitter: @LeedsConfucius
From Shore to Shore (Piao Yang Guo Hai / 漂洋过海) tells the stories of the Chinese community in Leeds and West Yorkshire in performance, print, and online. Facebook: @fromshoretoshoreuk Twitter: @on_the_wire_
13 from shore to shore tours nationwide in may and june 2017, opening in leeds on 16th may
PHOTO: MARK MCPhillips
BUSINESS 商业
14 EAST • SUMMER 2017
15
THE FASHION AND BEAUTY INFLUENCE OF THE ASIAN TIGER
BY BISI EMERUWA
I
n recent years, South Korea has become a great source of influence for local and international fashion and beauty brands; a country where most people, young and old, are doing their best to look impeccable by staying on trend, whilst also using fashion and beauty as tools to express their conservative yet modern aesthetic. Designer brands like KYE, as well as street brands like Stylenanda, have made an international name for themselves. Korean fashion is not only 'young' but also has a certain appeal to it that combines Western inspirations with Eastern innovation. During the turn of the
16 EAST • SUMMER 2017
“ The Korean wave
refers to the huge phenomenon of Korean pop culture and entertainment
”
20th century, 'K-fashion' used to be second to 'J-fashion' (Japanese fashion). Nevertheless, it has gained attention from high fashion Vogue to subculture informer Highsnobiety. Since 2011, South Korea has hosted their bi-annual Seoul Fashion Week, held in the Dongdaemun Plaza designed by notable architect, Zaha Hadid. The event regularly hosts the Seoul Collection, boasting top Korean designers, and ‘Generation Next’, a selection of up and coming South Korean designers. The event hopes to become “one of the most prominent fashion weeks of the world, following after New York, Paris, London and Milan.” The huge attention to Korean fashion and beauty styles is most
Credit: Youtube
A perfect example of this can be likely indebted to it spreading to audiences both in Asia and world- seen in Korean star Kwon Ji-yong, wide. South Korean pop (K-pop) known most well as G-dragon. The has become a huge trend. In 2012, 28 year-old topped Forbes 2016 ‘30 Psy’s ‘Gangnam style’ hit the web, under 30s Asia’, and his whole boy group placed 13th and for many inexplicable reasons went MORE AND MORE in the worldwide list, above Drake, viral worldwide, givPEOPLE ARE Sebastian Vettel and ing millions of people FALLING FOR Usain Bolt. Not only a glimpse into the huge THE CHARMS OF is he regularly honworld of South Korean GRACEFUL oured as a star guest entertainment. Many KOREAN at Chanel Fashtop fashion influencers picked up the impact CELEBRITIES AND ion shows, he has launched his own that this had, and Vogue. PERFECTLY com even chose to dub POLISHED IDOLS street fashion project ‘Peaceminuthis as the “Psy Effect”. sone’. Additionally, In addition to this, Korean ‘idols’ are the popularity of Korean dramas at always spotted dressed in immacu- home and abroad has also contriblate brands and constantly caught uted to the growing popularity of sporting the latest trends, a practice Korean fashion. For example, The that fashion labels quickly latched Telegraph reported that the 2013 on to in order to boost advertising Korean Drama “My Love from the Star’ caused a boost in sales of a pair exposure in the Asian region.
President Park Geun-hye promises a “new cultural renaissance” and allocates at least 2% of the national budget to further develop South Korea’s cultural industry.
The Korean Wave 1994 President Kim Young-Sam begins subsidies of Korean culture industry
Korean Film Shiri grosses $11m
2002 BoA’s Listen to my Heart becomes first Korean album to sell 1m copies in Japan
PSY’s Gangnam Style goes viral
2013 BIGBANG earn $44m in 2016
17
of Jimmy Choos in China, Hong Kong and London after the lead actress Jun Ji-hyun’s character was seen wearing them. Meanwhile, rather than just being influential, South Korean beauty trends are gaining a foothold and making huge gains in the international market. Youtube and other global social media platforms such as Instagram have helped give Korean beauty bloggers and cosmetic products an immense amount of exposure.
It is undeniable that Korean pop culture has done a lot to push all forms of Korean soft power, elevating the country’s fashion and beauty influence to what it is now. More and more people are falling for the charms of graceful Korean celebrities and perfectly polished idols, vALUE OF SOUTH KOREAN eventually becoming BEAUTY MARKET followers of the Korean wave.
$10bn of which
1 in 10
products are bought by men
Up until now, the Korean entertainment industry has done a great deal to allow Korean fashion and beauty culture to make huge leaps into the international market, however there is a potential for the trend to fall flat. People might be attracted to the concept because of its new and fresh perspective, which is different from other styles frequently seen elsewhere. But just like how Japanese soft power used to be on top, as the source for fashion and beauty trends, South Korea’s prevailing soft power could eventually come to demise, and a new market may be open for more powerful neighbours like China.
Even online cosmetics stores and large 'The Gangnam effect' pharmacies in the UK Value of k-pop industry have a whole section Before Psy dedicated to Korean beauty products. South Korean consumers are After Psy extremely savvy when it comes to cosmetics, a sentiment that is felt among neighbouring Asian countries like China and Singapore. According to Reuters, Korean cosmetic exports to China Women in S. Korea came to $2.59 billion have undergone in 2015 making it the plastic surgery nation’s top market. Highest per capita Furthermore, Korean in the world products, such as the ‘beauty cushion’ have inspired copycats in international brands like L’Oreal and Lancôme. Even high-fashStill, with the combination of Korean ion magazines and top beauty webinnovation and an easy access to matesites such as Vogue and Stylecaster rial and labour, it is hard to see how the regularly cover the current Korean country’s youth, who are so in-tune beauty trend, giving the phenomewith global culture, will stop churning non even more global coverage. out unique and accessible creations.
$100m
$326m
20%
18 EAST • SUMMER 2017
PHOTO: JINGHUANG CAI
wtt
19
China's Entrepreneur alism Infectious
I
n elementary economics, entrepreneurship is often categorised as one of the four factors of production. In basic terms, it is the essence behind the production process necessary to combine land, labour and capital into goods and services. It serves as the force that drives the economy towards development and locates those gaps in the markets that allow free-market mechanisms to allocate goods and services. In modern history China was starved of this ability to innovate and breed entrepreneurship. The Chinese Communist Party’s long and relentless drive for power, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, finally led to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. What followed was a subsequent era of strict Communist ideology, severe economic reform and dramatic social restructure.
PHOTO: Isabel clifford
20 EAST • SUMMER 2017 20 EAST • SUMMER 2017
The nation was gripped in the vice of a complex anti-Revisionist model of a Marxist-Leninist socio-political framework that sought to end any capitalist and right-wing free market elements – ultimately quashing entrepreneurialism in China. These constrictions were enforced fiercely until the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, and largely overturned as a result of China’s ‘opening up’ in 1978 under the guidance of Deng Xioaping. Whilst the heads of the CCP fostered the old Communist-style rhetoric, the new generation of economic reform was stimulated by the market model, to
I
Geoff Rayner
the extent that by the end of the 1990s China was essentially a market economy and, in 2001, had even joined the World Trade Organisation. Deng Xiaoping’s famous slogan, “we should let some people get rich first”, rejects the proletariat sentiment and seemingly encourages the bourgeois – directly contradicting the Maoist mode of thinking. With the seeds of a new China having been planted, would entrepreneurialism be allowed to flourish in China? The next 40 years saw the birth and rapid advancement of an immense
global economy. The appearance of colossal global firms seeking to maximise profits perhaps reflected a liberalisation of Chinese policy. Whilst many of the youth in China today still face a huge amount of pressure from their parents to achieve very high academic standards, and to achieve roles in favoured occupations, the success stories of many Chinese entrepreneurs have quilted the nation with an infectious entrepreneurialism. Jack Ma’s tale of rising to the top, through the founding of Alibaba, serves as an example of the spoils attainable through successful entrepreneurship in China. Having had first-hand experience with two Chinese startup companies based in the UK, it is apparent that there is an overwhelming determination for young Chinese nationals to create their own companies, and it is spreading far and fast.
This drive is supported and encouraged by the Chinese government, as they look to create an economy safe for start-ups and new companies. Forbes magazine places Beijing as one of the top 10 cities in the world for start-ups, and China even has its own ‘Silicon Valley’ in the form of Dream Town. This town is based in the northwest corner of Hangzhou, covers an area of almost 3.5km2, and is the main incubator for Chinese start-ups. Furthermore, the government has a strong desire for this talent to be homegrown. Whilst the riches of China have already been enjoyed by many foreigners, now the lion’s share is for the Chinese innovators, and so the Chinese government is offering huge support. China has a tax relief program for start-ups with annual tax deductions of up to RMB9,600 (US$1,500) which are awarded to businesses established by previously unemployed workers and recent college graduates. The government has also set up a USD 6.5B VC fund for startups, with the focus on seed stage startups. The country now runs at least 1,500 incubators under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s
27-year-old Torch Program, a nationwide initiative that provides policy, financing and consulting services for hi-tech firms (Guttman, 2015). The global tech industry’s failed attempt to live the ‘Chinese Dream’, and to successfully breach the Chinese socialist market economy (that currently boasts a staggering value of US$11.4 trillion) sheds light on the successful protectionist policies implemented by the Chinese Communist Party. Google ‘quit’ China in 2010, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are all blocked by government censors, and Amazon is struggling to compete with Chinese E-commerce giant Alibaba. Similarly, in recent times Uber, which was operating at a gross loss of $1bn per annum in China, sold its market share to Chinese company Didi. China is developing a hunger for internal innovation. The government is looking to create growth from within, to keep the financial gains within China, thus creating a positive multiplier effect. Whilst the Chinese state is still maintaining a strict control over many industries, what will be interesting to observe in the coming years is whether the government adopts an even more liberal stance towards a capitalist agenda, and whether this will propel China to even greater levels of growth and global dominance.
References: 1. Guttman, A. (2015) 10 top cities around the world to launch your startup. 2. France-Presse, A. (2016) Chinas debt is 250% of GDP and could be fatal, says government expert.
BUSINESS • 商业
21
21
PHOTO: Vicky kiwak
22 EAST • SUMMER 2017
cUISINE 美食
23
BRADFORD // LEEDS CITY CENTRE // LEEDS
SHOP ONLINE!
WWW.ORIENTALTREASURE.COM
THE LARGEST CHINESE SUPERMARKET IN YORKSHIRE!
LEEDS STORE: 01132 468 838 BRADFORD STORE: 01274 304 288 24 EAST • SUMMER 2017
26-28 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, LS6 8LX Tel: 0113 246 0388
BRADFORD // LEEDS CITY CENTRE
FRESHLY MADE SUSHI EVERY DAY!
@BubbleTeaLeeds @BubbleTeaLeeds
WWW.BUBBLETEALEEDS.CO.UK
25
A
DRAGON is
Stirring
Driving forces behind the rapid
growth of wine consumption in China
Although there have been grapes growing in China for over 2000 years, it wasn’t until very recently that a shift was seen from grapes being produced for the table to being used in the production of wine. The first winery was established in China in 1882: the Changyu Winery in Yantai. This winery remains one of the largest producers in China today. While this was a start in terms of establishing a wine industry in China, it would take nearly 100 years before the production of wine fully began to intensify. By the end of the 20th century there were over 250 wineries in China, and the area of land covered by vineyards began to grow rapidly. Today, China has the second highest vineyard acreage in the world, second only to Spain. Accompanying this growth in infrastructure was a marked increase in the consumption of wine in China. Annual consumption has consistently risen by over 10% for the past 15 years, to the point that China is now the 5th largest consumer of wine in the world.
So why has there been such a significant uptake of wine drinkers in China? The reasons are numerous, but the strongest driving force has certainly been the growing disposable income of China’s burgeoning middle class. The middle-class in China has been growing at a fast pace since the economic reforms of the 1980s, and they now have access to a far greater disposable income than had been possible in previous years. This, in tandem with the effects that have followed rapid globalisation, such as increased exposure to new cultures (exposure to Western culture in the case of China), have meant that a vast amount of the Chinese population are now turning to wine as their drink of choice, seeing it as a sophisticated Western drink. On top of this, the numerous health benefits of moderate wine consumption (particularly red wine) are now common knowledge in China, with many Chinese wine drinkers citing the positive health connotations as the main reason for consuming wine.
26 EAST • SUMMER 2017
3,000
Sq Miles of Chinese vinyards
$21bn Predicted size of chinese wine market in
2020
which accounts for
>10%
of the worlds total vineyards
china
France
Reflecting a
15% increase in year on year wine imports
18/20
155.4M 150 M
wines reviewed average or better produced in china
cases of wine consumed per Year
(ROBERT PARKER, LEADING WINE CRITIC)
The government of China has also had a role to play. In 1987 they issued an encouragement to the people to adjust their drinking habits. They made clear the dangers of drinking the traditional and potent baijiu (literally: white alcohol), and urged those who drank to switch to drinks with a lower alcohol content, such as wine. The government’s message also came at a time when the country’s food rations were running low and wine production was encouraged in order to preserve these rations. Not only this, but a new generation of financially independent women are seeking to demonstrate their equality among men by drinking more alcohol. This in turn has led to a sharp increase in the consumption of wine in China. Finally, gender equality has also been instrumental in increasing wine consumption. Gender roles in China are finally becoming more and more blurred, which has resulted in women being far more able to participate in drinking when it comes to social occasions than they had been before. Charlie Dixon
Looking to the future, it appears inevitable that wine consumption, and in turn the Chinese wine industry, will continue to grow: in years to come it could rival both the New World producers of wine such as Chile and Australia, as well as the Old World producers such as France. In fact, in a blind wine-tasting competition in 2011, five Chinese wines from Ningxia were put up against five fine wines from Bordeaux. The results were astonishing; the top four wines as agreed upon by the judges were all Chinese. This has sparked concern among the Old World wine producers about China’s future role in the global wine industry: can China take over as the world’s leading wine superpower? Only time will tell...
Charlie Dixon
CUISINE • 美食
27 27
FEATURE 专刊
"
Many people had endured more tragedy than me, their families were broken apart, their relatives died. Many were pushed to the very bottom
" recovered
of society and have never
28 EAST EAST• •SUMMER SUMMER2017 2017 28
WHY I TEACH
‘POST-CULTURAL REVOLUTION LITERATURE’ AT A BRITISH UNIVERSITY
- LI RURU TRANSLATED BY THOMAS MARKHAM This article has been edited for EAST magazine. For the full translation of Li Ruru’s original article please see https://lueastmagazine.com
50 years ago, the May 16 Circular saw the whole of China sink into chaos. That period of history made me who I am today - along with the people of my generation and even China itself. I think everyone who grew up during that period has not forgotten, and will never forget, those ten years. Yet for all kinds of reasons, many people are not willing to, or are not able to, reflect upon those days. Since 1988 I have taught at the University of Leeds in Britain, and I have had the opportunity to put my ideas into my teaching and pass this on to my British students who previously had no knowledge about the Cultural Revolution.
The Finalist Reading Course: ‘PostCultural Revolution Chinese Literature’ Chinese Studies students at Leeds University learn written and spoken Chinese from scratch. It is, therefore, no small feat to ask these Western students who have only studied around three years of Chinese to read these short stories which I have chosen for this ‘Post-Cultural Revolution Chinese Literature’ module. And yet, those who choose to do the module all devote themselves to this notoriously difficult class. Studying the Cultural Revolution is important for Chinese Studies students because it has had a deep impact on today’s prominent political, cultural and scientific leaders, as well as people who have caused all sorts of social problems. After having tried nearly 20 different works, I finally decided on using the following three: Liu Xinwu’s Class Counsellor, Feng Jicai’s Ah! and Wang Meng’s The Wind on the Plateau. These works concretely and vividly demonstrate the rapid development of China’s ‘new period’ (i.e. post-Cultural Revolution) literature. Since he was writing at an early stage, the author of Class Counsellor can’t help but express himself using Cultural Revolution-style language. However, despite being published just a few years later, Ah! and The Wind on the Plateau present completely different styles. Ah! was written from a realistic angle and puts the students right into the midst of the Cultural Revolution – immersing them in this truly frightening period where the normal order of things was upturned – when political campaigns claimed to be able to touch one’s very soul. The Wind on the Plateau, however, adopts the new ‘stream of consciousness’ method. In 1986 the writer presents to the readers his feelings on the impact of the economic reforms that had just started. The protagonists of these three stories are all Chinese intellectuals, a group which went through all kinds of experiences in the course of the 20th century. Indeed, it is these people’s stories which truly bring to life the turbulent upheavals and countless political campaigns which China underwent after the 1950s.
the author as a child with her mother li yuru
FEATURE • 专刊
29
FEATURE However, when one considers that these students are around 21 years old, and the majority have been brought up in well-off middle class families, it begs the question - how can one help them to truly experience the reality of these three stories? It’s very difficult. What does ‘touching one’s soul’ mean? Is it physical or mental? ‘Why would it be regarded as a bad thing if you could articulate well and if you could think logically in 1950s China? What does this even have to do with bourgeois ideas or class exploitation?’
My Experiences
专刊
My mother was a celebrated Beijing opera performer called Li Yuru. Of course, this meant that she was declared to be one of the ‘cows, ghosts, snakes and spirits’ during the Cultural Revolution. At the beginning, I truly believed my mother was a leading reactionary and bourgeois artist who opposed socialism and the Communist Party. I was determined to put a clear line between her and me, and to devote myself to the Red Guards and to the Party. However, as a ‘child of dogs’ (a term for the children of Indeed, how can we let these students understand perceived class enemies) I was excluded from the ‘revthis distortion of human nature? I chose these three olution’. stories because I was deeply touched by them and because they echo my personal experiences. I At Shanghai No. 2 Girls High School where I studied, decided that I should try to be a bridge between these of the 52 students in my class, only three were from young British students and post-Cultural Revolution bad families – besides me, the other two were daughChinese literature. After all, is it not one of the ters of a businessman and a petty proprietor. In their objectives of a Chinese Studies degree to explore how revolution, the communists sought equality – the ultiChina was led to this strange and grotesque phenome- mate aim of their ideology was the unity of the whole non?
In 1972 the Cultural Revolution was beginning to wind down; the author's mother had already been 'liberated', elder sister Li Li had graduated from the Central Academy of Drama and the author herself had left the countryside of 30 EAST • SUMMER 2017 northern Anhui province, becoming a worker at a pharmaceutical factory and performing revolutionary operas.
world – and yet, the Cultural Revolution actually brought about the most severe hierarchical system imaginable. Some of my classmates were first of all identified as being from the so-called Five Red Categories: ‘workers, poor peasants, lower-middle peasants, revolutionary soldiers and revolutionary cadres’. These children became red guards and were allowed to sit at desks. Classmates from ordinary families could sit on chairs, but we three were made to sit on the ground. We would go to school and every day we would be made to read out a self-criticism for having come from a ‘black family’. This hierarchical concept and the oppression of those at the bottom by those on the top is exactly what the author of Class Counsellor, Liu Xinwu, attacks in his story. This was no kind of proletarian revolution! Before too long, my mother was not allowed to come home. Instead, she was locked away in a ‘cow-shed’ – a room where Red Guards would put supposed counter-revolutionaries together to study Communist ideology or to confess their supposed
"
By living on 9 yuan (about 1 pound sterling) per month,
"
I really learned how to lead life thriftily
crimes. Here she was ‘quarantined’ and interrogated. At this time, my elder sister was a student in the Directing Department at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. Our housekeeper was driven away, so there I was in Shanghai entirely on my own at 14 years old. I had once been a completely spoiled girl – I was not even allowed to strike a match. Now I had to teach myself how to make the bed, to wash clothes, to do the shopping and how to cook for myself. My mother’s monthly salary used to be nearly 300 yuan until it was reduced to 95 yuan. After paying the rent of 40 yuan we would be left with 55 yuan for the living expenses of our family of three. Every month when I would go to fetch the salary, provided I got permission from the Red Guards, I would be allowed to see my mother, and I vaguely remember having a few big arguments with them. I would always leave 20 yuan behind for my mother because at that time she smoked two packets of cigarettes a day. I would post 18 yuan to my sister, leaving me with just 17 yuan. Once I had paid gas, electricity and water bills, I was left with 8 to 9 yuan per month to pay for food. By living on 9 yuan (about 1 pound sterling) per month, I really learned how to lead life thriftily. There were many frightening things in my life at that time, almost exactly the same as Feng Jicai described in Ah! I think that three things had the greatest impact on me when I was 14 years old. 31
FEATURE 专刊 First Story: My Teacher Ms. Wang and My Classmate Guan We had a biology teacher named Ms. Wang. Her son Guan was my classmate, and we were in the same class together for five years in primary school. In our class, Guan was always the best at everything. However after taking the exams to move up to high school, we were shocked to discover that none of the good schools, both in our district and in the whole city, had accepted him. Instead, he went to a comparatively bad school. Later on, the rumour spread among the students that he didn’t get into a good school because his family background was bad. His father used to be a squad commander (or perhaps a platoon commander) in the Nationalist Party’s army, so he was regarded as a counterrevolutionary and was sent to a labour camp in Qinghai province. He had many siblings and all of them lived in a room rebuilt from a garage of an old Western-style house in Shanghai. On one summer morning in 1966, there was a peculiar atmosphere as I arrived at school. Later, I heard that Ms. Wang committed suicide by hanging herself in the toilets. Then, a big-character poster was hung up saying that she had been a member of the Nationalist Party’s youth league and therefore even death would not be sufficient punishment for her crimes. I liked Ms. Wang, not because she was Guan’s mother, but because she was the very picture of a ‘people’s teacher’ – she was short-haired, wore glasses, spoke quietly and calmly, and yet she had the ability to captivate us teenage girls with what would otherwise be the most uninteresting world of microorganisms. Gradually, we heard more about her suicide. As well as being ‘struggled against’ (that is, publicly denounced) in school, when she went home, her son Guan would lead his younger brothers and sisters in criticising her. The night before her suicide, Guan and his younger siblings wrote their criticisms on a big character poster and stuck it on the ceiling above their mother’s bed. They obviously wanted their criticisms to penetrate the very soul of this ‘anti-party element’, so that she would have to remember them even in her dreams. In 1968 I was sent to the countryside in northern Jiangsu province to be ‘re-educated by peasants’, 32 EAST • SUMMER 2017
I heard Guan had been assigned to the Shanghai Yimin Confectionary Factory, as he was the only one in the family who could earn money to bring up his siblings. In 1969 there was a big fire in Wenhua Square in Shanghai, after which I read in the newspaper that my classmate Guan had become a martyr. In order to save the famous oil painting ‘Chairman Mao goes to Anyuan’ from the flames, he held it and jumped from the top floor of the building – both he and the portrait were shattered on the ground below. However, my classmate had made his statement to the people and to the party: he was an outstanding revolutionary young person who loved the party and loved Chairman Mao – regardless of the fact that he was the ‘child of a dog’ from a black family! Guan’s sacrifice made me understand why he put up the big character poster criticising his mother. I also deeply understood why he jumped from the building. This story helps my students understand the relationships between people described in Ah! – such unfathomable complexity, beyond explanation. [Please read the following stories ‘My maternal grandmother’ and ‘I want to live’, and the rest of the article on https://lueastmagazine.com]
E
刊 The Nightmare of Ten Years and Myself
A Few Words from Ruru Before She Steps into a New Phase of Life
I must point out, my experiences during the Cultural Revolution were not any worse than other people from ‘bad’ family backgrounds. Many people had endured more tragedy than me, their families were broken apart, their relatives died. Many were pushed to the very bottom of society and have never recovered. There was not just turmoil at the start of the Cultural Revolution with the ‘destroy the four olds’ campaign. The movement to send urban youths down to the countryside, which began in 1968 (and the subsequent tide of these people returning to the cities after the Cultural Revolution) led to countless broken families and numerous social issues. All of these things have had a great impact on today’s China. Regardless of whether you are Chinese or not, as long as you want to be associated with China (or simply want to make money there), you must understand the Cultural Revolution. Otherwise you will not be able to understand Chinese society, and will therefore not be able to truly succeed.
EAST Magazine has kindly invited me to write a few words; your invitation made me think of my own past three decades.
Of course I wish we had never had this ten-yearlong nightmare. My health would definitely be better, and I wish that I could be ten years younger than I am. That way, I would be able to experience many more of life’s wonderful things, but one can never turn the clock back. At the same time, I also ask myself – without those ten years, would I still be who I am today? I love life, respect culture and I respect human beings, I love people, and also I am quite empathetic. I am tough. I am fussy. I always do things very carefully, as though I’m walking on egg shells. Sometimes I make myself unwelcome. I think all these features, good and bad, have all come from my experiences during the ten years of the Cultural Revolution. It is these experiences which have formed who I am now. I use my own methods to commemorate this important period of the history of contemporary China. This is why I decided to teach ‘Post-Cultural Revolution Chinese literature’. I have sought to let my students understand what truly went on during that period. More importantly, I wanted them to think, where is the root of those nightmarish ten years? How should we live and how should we think today?
By 30 April this year I will have been in this country for 29 years and by the time I’ll retire on 31 August, I will have taught in Chinese Studies for 28 years and 334 days. Britain was the very first foreign country that I had ever been to – when I first arrived, I didn’t know how to use a bank machine, nor did I understand what ‘do the door’ meant when the person was actually asking me to open it! Leeds has now become the place I have lived longest in my life. I regard Chinese Studies as my parent in this country, because it taught me how to teach Chinese as a foreign language and how to live and work in Britain. I certainly enjoy working with students because you lot have often surprised me with your tremendous creativity. Recently I’ve been reading Qu Yuan (屈原c.340278BC)’s long poem Lisao (离骚On Encountering Sorrow). May I use two couplets from the poem as a motto for all of us to remember? For the ideal I hold dearly to my heart, though I died nine times I should not regret it. (亦余心之所善兮， 虽九死其犹未悔。) The road is boundless - cultivation so distant, I shall explore it from the beginning to the end. (路漫漫其修远 兮; 吾將上下而求索。) I know I’ve been regarded as someone ‘notoriously strict’ in teaching - am I? Indeed the words ‘ideal’ and ‘explore’ in the couplets above link with the ideas of ‘curiosity’ (好奇) and ‘a child’s mind’ (童心) with which I’ve bothered your ears on so many times. I truly believe they together will keep me young and will bring all of you a very bright future. Let’s enjoy our lives! [This is an abridged translation of the BBC article 《我为何 在英国大学教“文革后的中国文学”?》available at http:// www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/indepth/2016/06/160606_ views_teaching_chinese_literature] 33 FEATURE • 专刊 33
Travel 旅行
34 EAST • SUMMER 2017
PHOTO: ALEX KING
Travel 旅行
PHOTO: katharine missin
35
YURTS, FERMENTED MARE’S MILK
AND GENGHIS KHAN I’d heard a lot about Mongolia; wide open spaces, wild horses and of course Genghis Khan, but when I arrived in Ulaanbaatar last summer on the Trans-Siberian Express, Mongolia was a lot more than I was expecting.... After a forty-eight-hour stint on an overnight train from Beijing and a lengthy midnight border crossing, I woke up to get my first glimpse of the frozen Mongolian Steppe. The famous grasslands looked lunar, covered in dirty white snow, with only the occasional farm dotted across the landscape indicating any sign of life. The train continued to chug across one of the world’s largest and most sparsely populated countries...
A few hours later the vast expanses of empty land began to fade and buildings appeared on the horizon. The train was approaching Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city, and colourful buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. The densely packed structures were a mixture of small farms made up of two or three yurts, surrounded by tall wooden fences enclosing livestock, and colourfully painted western style houses.
I was beginning to wonder where everybody was
The city seemed to go on for miles in all directions and when the train arrived at the platform I quickly saw why. More than one million of Mongolia’s three million residents call Ulaanbaatar home and this is quickly evident upon disembarking the train. The platform is covered in travellers arriving and departing, as well as stalls peddling
36 EAST • SUMMER 2017
interesting wares including dumplings, yak fur-lined boots and even bows and arrows. I said goodbye to the relative comfort of the Trans-Siberian and made my way out into the hustle and bustle of Ulaanbaatar. The first thing I noticed was how clean the air was. After five days in Beijing where you could feel the oppressive pollution, the fresh clean air of Mongolia was very refreshing. After perusing some of the stalls and making a purchase of some buuz, Mongolian lamb dumplings, I made my way out of the station and started walking into the city. But first things first, I needed to buy some warmer clothes. It was absolutely freezing! I made my way towards a supermarket, and it was interesting to say the least. Much of the shop was filled with meat, it was more of a butcher’s
shop, with giant joints of meat in the large freezers. I spotted one customer with an entire trolley full of huge legs of mutton. Finally, I found a small section dedicated to items other than meat and bought a new winter coat and some yak wool socks. Finally, I was beginning to warm up! Upon checking into the hostel, I found it completely empty. I was the only guest booked in for the next week! Apparently, it was off season, although that wasn’t a bad thing. Nemo, the owner, quickly invited me to dinner with his family that night and I was treated to such Mongolian culinary delights as fermented mare’s milk, it tasted good - just like fizzy sherbet - and some real Mongolian barbeque. Probably the best barbeque I’ve ever eaten. As we ate, we got chatting and I learnt that Nemo used to be a surgeon, a specialist in urology, but he gave it up because he could earn more money through running a hostel. With three daughters, aged 22, 15 and 4, he wanted to earn enough to send them all through school.
Genghis Khan is everywhere in Mongolia: on the currency, on bottles of water - but most prominenty, immortalised within statues.
Genghis Khan was one of the world’s most powerful military leaders and the father of the Mongol empire, stretching across China, Russia, the middle East and Eastern Europe. The western world often view Genghis Khan as a ruthless military ruler but he united the Mongolian tribes and brought much prosperity to the empire.
We moved onto what my plans were for the next couple of days. I didn’t really have any. Then Nemo made a suggestion. The hostel wasn’t booked for the next couple of days. Why not go out to the Gorkhi Terelj National Park and spend a few days there with Nemo and his family? It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. The next morning, we bundled into Nemo’s van and headed out of the city. The buildings quickly disappeared and soon we were back into vast, empty grasslands. Driving along the well paved roads, with Nemo’s youngest daughters singing along to songs I couldn’t comprehend, I couldn’t help but smile. The landscape was empty and mostly flat, but soon we encountered something that broke up the skyline.
Genghis Khan is everywhere in Mongolia: on the currency, on bottles of water - but most prominenty, immortalised within statues. The bright stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan in the middle of the desolate grasslands sparkled in the shining sun and it was spectacular. Nemo proudly exclaimed; “This is the father of Mongolia!”, and gave me a brief rundown of Mongolian history. Soon we were back in the van and trundling along dirt tracks. Suddenly huge volcanic rock outcrops appeared on the horizon, remnants of ancient eruptions that covered much of Russia and Mongolia. Eventually we arrived. TRAVEL • 旅行
37
Nemo jumped out and began to assemble the team to set up the campsite. Tasks were divided up and I was sent with Nemo’s oldest daughter, Gerel, to collect firewood. Gerel was just a year older than me and we talked about university and plans for the future. Gerel studies accountancy and hopes to move to Canada when she graduates. When we arrived back the yurt was assembled and it was time to start cooking. The small wood burner in the middle of the yurt released a huge amount of heat. The sun was setting and it was beginning to get cold again. Nemo made the rounds with more fermented mare’s milk, to warm us up of course, and soon dinner was ready.
traditional lifestyle is becoming much harder to sustain. Nemo told me stories about when he was young, visiting his uncles and grandfather in the countryside. They would drive for days looking for a familiar yurt before finally finding their relatives. He recalled tales of horseracing and wrestling with his cousins before finally returning to the city where he would attend school. He longed to return to the summers of moving around the countryside, herding goats and racing horses. After a few cups of mare’s milk, Nemo began to sing. I’d heard of Mongolian throat singing, but it really is something special.
As he sung and the fire burned away, smoke streaming into the sky, I thought of how different Mongolia is; Nemo’s daughters wear Adidas shoes and Casio watches, and dream of jobs in faraway countries, and Nemo dreams of returning to the nomadic lifestyle of his ancestors. Mongolia is a unique country. It allows you to be connected to the past and the present simultaneously. The city is packed with Toyota Prius’ and shops selling the latest Nike runners. But as soon as you head out of Ulaanbaatar you are transported to the past, where horses are used for transport and food is hunted with bow and arrow. It’s hard to know what path Mongoila will take in the future.
Lucy Graham
The meal was made up of dumplings, potatoes and four types of meat; beef, mutton, yak and horse, and dessert was Suutei tsai (a very milky tea with millet and copious amounts of salt). Nemo began to tell me of his hopes to retire and return to the nomadic lifestyle his grandfather led. Only recently have nomadic herders moved into the city, with harsher winters decreasing herd numbers the
38 EAST • SUMMER 2017
Nemo dreams of returning to the nomadic lifestyle of his ancestors
through the lens: shanghai sichuan yunnan & Guanxi by ruby weatherall
guanxi
This restaurant owner was incredibly cheeky, when we complained about a piece of melted plastic in our food he just ate it himself and told us to carry on with our meal
leshan, sichuan
39
tiger leaping gorge, yunnan
Walking the gorge was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It was three days of all-consuming dramatic scenery, a walk I will never forget.
Leshan, sichuan
congregating at the feet of the leshan buddha
40 EAST • SUMMER 2017
For me, this repetitive shot captures the monotony of China's megacities. Each set of fans represents a home, a family and the utility of the city's surrounding architecture.
shanghai
the bigger the dog, the bigger you are in society
shanghai
shanghai
this was an incredible statue, carved outof the mountain facing the river.
Leshan, sichuan
its big toe was 8m long
41 Leshan, sichuan
Leshan, sichuan
LANGUAGE
42 EAST • SUMMER 2017
E 语言
PHOTO: Daniel Hughes
43
A Beginner’s Guide to Chinese With over a billion speakers worldwide, why wouldn’t you want to study Chinese? Gaining the ability to speak to so many people was the first thing that drew me to Chinese. However, Chinese isn’t known as one of the hardest languages to learn for nothing! With no alphabet, it is completely different from the European languages that many of us studied in school. Instead, the Chinese written language uses characters, with each character, or group of characters, creating a word. Learning each individual character is something which people frequently find very difficult, but often the meaning of the character is hinted at within the character itself. Like with English, where there is a set way that children are taught to write letters, Chinese also has a set way to write each character, called stroke order. Each line of a Chinese character is called a stroke, as originally each character would have been written with brush strokes. The stroke order is normally the simplest and easiest way of writing characters; taking the English letter ‘w’ as an example, it would be very clumsy and even difficult to write it from right-to-left, going backwards. This is the same principle in Chinese. I have found that once the stroke order is learnt, it becomes easier to remember the character. I have also found that Chinese people are very impressed when someone learning Chinese writes a character with the correct stroke order! Most people look at Chinese characters and immediately think that it is not possible to work out the meaning from it. However, this is not the case. Most characters have a radical contained within them, which gives readers a clue as to the meaning of the character as a whole. For example, the character for mountain 山 is often contained within other characters which have some attachment to mountains: the second character in 山岭 contains the mountain radical, and so from this we know that it has something to do with mountains. Indeed, it means the ridge of a mountain. This is also the case for many other characters. For example, the water radical is 氵which means that the characters with this radical in them have something to do with water. 河,海,and 湖 (meaning river, sea and lake respectively) all have the water radical in them, and so they all have something to do with water. Given that 目 means eye, it should be easy to work out what 泪 means. Water from the eye is evidently a tear. Similarly, Chinese characters often have a pronunciation contained within them. This means that you can guess the meaning from the radical, and the pronunciation from the other part. It is a common misconception that there is no correlation between written Chinese and spoken Chinese, as learners often do not realise that this pronunciation is contained within the character. With the character 湖 (lake), the character is pronounced hú, which is the pronunciation of the right hand side with 胡 being a character of its own. Whilst this pronunciation is not always part of the character, if the pronunciation of the character is not known, it is a good starting point. Breaking the characters down like this means that it becomes easier to learn them, as you are able to guess the meanings of characters within a certain context. Even though there are thousands of characters in the Chinese language, most of the common ones have radicals, which makes it slightly easier to learn. While the pronunciation is not always so clear cut, it provides a means to guess the pronunciation. This has been a short introduction to learning Chinese, but I have found the hardest part of learning Chinese is getting started! Once those first few characters are learnt, it becomes much easier to remember them. Happy learning!
Amy Sharp 2017 44 EAST • SUMMER
玛莎究竟怎么了？ Mark s & Sp e nc e r s （ 玛 莎 百 货 ） 是 英 国 著 名 的 百 货 公 司 之 一 。 在 英 国 ， 玛 莎 百 货 可 以 说是居家购物的必去之地之一。2008年玛莎宣布进军国际市场，而国际投资的主战 场，就是中国。伴随着经济的飞速发展，中国市场已经变成了海内外投资的首选之 一。自从2008年以来，玛莎相继在中国一线城市，例如北京，上海，设立了15家门 店，立志将玛莎做成国际化的百货公司。然而，事情断然不像是玛莎所预计的那样， 将近十年来，玛莎在中国亏损严重，销量连年下滑，跟英国本土的玛莎销量大相径 庭。2017年，玛莎总部宣布，将撤掉在中国的全部门店。换言之，退出整个中国市场。 笔者是一位玛莎的忠实爱好者，因为有着英国留学的经历，所以对玛莎里高质量 的食品，与酒类产品情有独钟。更重要的是，在笔者看来，玛莎更是代表了一种 英伦情结，也是本人可能在中国的精神寄托之一吧。而当小编得知“玛莎退出中 国市场”的新闻，顿时唏嘘不已。但仔细想想，玛莎的退出，其实事出有因。 首先，玛莎对于中国市场的认知真的是不敢恭维，笔者不知是英国总部的市场部对于中 国消费者欠缺细致的调查，还是根本就没有进行，总之真是差强人意。例如，中国中产 阶级的消费者对于产品的认知跟英国中产有很大的差异。玛莎的产品质量非常好，这点 毋庸置疑，但是对于中国年轻一代，产品的实用性并不是他们购买以及选择的必备条 件。相反，中国消费者更注重对于产品品牌的需求，更露骨一点，可以说中国消费者更 加“庸俗”以及“资本主义”。进入玛莎，令笔者感到高兴地是，里面的布置，衣服的 尺寸，以及装饰，和笔者留英期间所见的玛莎完全相同，这样的景象对于笔者这样有过 留英经历的人来讲，当然是好的，可是对于当地人群，玛莎衣服之“老气”“实用”“ 单调”，在中国消费者看来，于H&M，Zara等快消品相比，实在没有什么竞争力。 其次，玛莎对于品牌的定位也有一定的问题。例如，对于门店翻译的生硬。笔者在逛上 海的玛莎期间，不止一次有改掉中文翻译的冲动。另外，也是笔者实在不能理解的其 中一个问题是，玛莎在内地的推广程度，远远不及在英国。举个例子，每年圣诞节， 以及大小节日期间，笔者都可以在英国的大街小巷看到玛莎的身影。而在内地，一些 当地人甚至不知道有“玛莎”百货这一百货公司，真是令人感叹玛莎的宣传失败。 如果“玛莎”真的对于中国市场有所研究，其实现实情况也不至于这样“凄惨”。
James Ma LANGUAGE • 语言
45 45
HOW TO SAY... THAI
Hello สวัสดีครับ/ค่ะ ‘Sawut dee krup’ (male) ‘Sawut dee ka’ (female) Goodbye สวัสดีครับ/ค่ะ (same as hello) Please กรุณา ‘ga-roo-nah’ Thank you ขอบคุณ ‘korp-koon’ Yes ใช่ ‘chai’ No ไม่ ‘mai’ Do you speak English? คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษเป็นไหม ‘koon poot pah-sah ung-grit bpen mai’
CHINESE
Hello 你好 ‘Ni Hao’ Goodbye 再见 ‘Zàijiàn’ Please 请 ‘Qīng’ Thank you 谢谢 ‘Xièxiè’
KOREAN
Hello 안녕하십니까 ‘annyeong-hasimnikka’ Excuse me 실례하겠습니다! ‘shillehagessumnida’ Please 부탁합니다 ‘butakamnida’
JAPANESE
Hello 今日は‘konnichiwa’ How are you? お元気ですか？ ‘o genki desu ka’ Goodbye さようなら‘sayōnara’ Please ください‘kudasai’ Thank you ありがとう‘arigatō’ Do you speak English? 英語はできますか? ‘Eigo wa dekimasu ka?’
VIETNAMESE
Hello ‘Chào anh’ (male) ‘Chào chị’ (female) Goodbye ‘Tạm biệt’ Thank you ‘Xin cảm ơn’
46 EAST 46 EAST••SUMMER SUMMER2017 2017
EAST Connecting MAGAZINE asia to you @lueastmagazine @lueastmagazine lueastmagazine@gmail.com
We're looking for a new team to create the next EAST Magazine, starting Autumn 2017! If you would like to become part of one of the University of Leeds' most prestigious magazines, please get in touch via our email address. Or, if you would like to contribute to the next issue, submissions open in September 2017.
More at www.lueastmagazine.com
47
PHOTO: lily rimmer PHOTO: Jinghuang Cai
university of leeds east asian studies department magazine
48 EAST • SUMMER 2017