Education Chinese Style – Part 3

February 10, 2010

It seems that many of the six-thousand students I taught over thirty years felt the same way—that learning would make them mad like Acts says in the New Testament: 26:24 And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.

Emperor Wudi

In China, during the early Han Dynasty, a different moral standard was set where earning an education was valued. Emperor Wudi from 141-187 BCE (two hundred years before Jesus Christ and five hundred years before Constantine), solidified the ideological framework of official Confucianism with a blending of Confucian, Taoist, and Legalist elements.

It looks like China may be officially returning to Confucianism or some form of it. Confucius taught that a ‘gentleman’ is the ideal figure. Among the traits of this ideal man is continued learning to develop moral character and to gain knowledge that is useful in serving others.

In China, teachers are treated with respect. Not so in the United States. Although a few students were respectful when I was a teacher, many were not. To understand what I mean, read the prologue from my memoir, Crazy Normal.

See Part 1

Lloyd Lofthouse is the author of the award winning novels My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart.

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Power Corrupts

February 9, 2010

The sun never set on the British Empire until endless wars brought that empire to its knees. I’m sure that at one time, a British citizen could easily say with arrogance, “If Russia (or China, or Germany, or Italy, or France or Spain) doesn’t behave, we will spank them.” And Britain did spank these countries and others for centuries until the empire was bankrupt and burdened with debt—sound familiar?  

I read a piece in The Huffington Post recently and was reminded how power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  Then I remembered what an “old” friend said in an e-mail.  This friend is a conservative, born-again Christian. He claims to be guided by scripture. He believes that George W. Bush was the greatest if not one of the greatest American presidents. He also believes in nation building as GWB attempted in Iraq.

He makes part of his living as a handyman. He lives alone in a one-bedroom apartment and drives a very-used car that he keeps running by visiting junk yards for parts and doing the work himself. He also votes Republican and bashes evil liberals at every chance while listening to radio-talk shows like Dennis Prager and reading authors like Ann Coulter.

This friend wrote, “If China doesn’t behave, we will spank them.” He also wrote once that Communism was evil. My reply was that individuals like Mao or Stalin were corrupted by their power and did evil things, but not all communists were evil.

I always thought that ‘power corrupts’ only applied to people in powerful positions like corporate CEOs or elected officials.  I was wrong.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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China’s Heart and Soul

February 9, 2010

The Introduction for China, Heart and Soul by Stephen L. Koss says what I thought when I first went to China in 1999.  “My impressions had formed from decades of Cold War Red scares…” I am sure that most Americans who have never visited China still feel the same. Most of the Western media earns a FAILING grade when it comes to reporting on China. They are usually wrong in so many ways.

Forbidden City, Beijing, China

If you are open minded and want to discover the real China and learn the differences between what you read and hear in the Western media and from American politicians, I suggest you visit Tom Carter’s work and spend two minutes and forty-two seconds to see China through his eyes.  Or, even visit China from the eyes of someone special and precious to Tom Carter. This Blog is written in English and Chinese.

See The First Emperor: The Man Who Made China

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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When China Speaks

February 9, 2010

It may not always be in the interest of the United States when China offers advice, but it would be best to listen carefully. When countries compare histories, China’s light would shine against many Christian and Islamic nations that have often waged wars needlessly. China’s philosophical and religious foundations from Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism have had a large influence over “many” but not all of China’s decisions.

1492 by Gavin Menzies

In  1421, a huge Chinese armada sailed across the Pacific, then the Indian Ocean.  The Chinese did some exploring and trading, then went home to stay. There were no wars—no land grabs or invasions. Seventy years later, Columbus crossed the Atlantic and found the Americas. In a few centuries, many ancient civilizations vanished and millions died.

For more than two thousand years, China was a super power and the leaders of China never used that power to wage wars of conquest like the West. Then in the 19th century, the Chinese became the victims of Western Imperialism.

So, when the Chinese Foreign Minister urges patience in Iran nuclear talks, maybe America, in its endless ” wisdom“, should listen before millions die in more needless wars. I’m sure that China doesn’t want a nuclear Iran any more than the rest of the world. Afer all, Tehran’s future missles are closer to Beijing, and China is no stranger to problems with Islam.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

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Why Tibet?

February 8, 2010

A recent New York Times headline screamed, China Opposed to Obama-Dalai Lama Meeting. “China maintains that Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say the region was functionally independent for much of its history.”

Since Tibetan separatists have claimed that China “never” ruled over Tibet prior to Mao’s reoccupation in 1950, every time the Dali Lama wins another award for humanitarianism or meets a world leader, it is a slap in the face for most Chinese—not just their government. The Chinese are proud of their history, and they don’t like foreigners believing lies about their country.

Tibet was first occupied by China during the Yuan Dynasty (1277-1367), and it was a Mongol emperor or king who made a Dalai Lama the spiritual leader for Tibet. Before that, the Tibetans were a warlike race and were a plague on a peaceful China. Warlike Tibetans, not exactly the image the Western media paints, raided China for centuries from their mountain fortresses.

When the Ming Dynasty drove the Mongols from China in 1368, the emperor sent an army to Tibet. For the next six hundred years, the Tibetans were never easy to rule. Sir Robert Hart, considered the godfather of China’s modernization, said the same thing. He wrote in 1888, “China will regard England as an ally and helper in reducing trouble-some tributaries (meaning Tibet) to a proper sense of position!”

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

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