Finished
a wonderful read yesterday. “The
Mind of Empire” by Christopher Ford.
As I recall in my very first entry of DustyBrine, back last September,
I cited an article that Christopher Ford had written. It wasn’t the first thing of his I’d read, as I'd earlier encountered another fascinating article of his analyzing a military conference he'd attended with Chinese brass. He is a fellow at the Hudson Institute
and a former officer, diplomat who has written a truly trenchant look at how the
broad sweep of Chinese history can considered to understand China’s self
perception. http://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=2412#.U1oJ6-aSxCc
The main juxtaposition lies between China’s traditional,
unquestionable centrality and the violent confrontation with the western,
Westphalian rhetorical understanding of equality among nations. China, "imperial mind" could be seen to understand
dominance and subjugation well enough, but have little historical preparation
for coexisting as merely one of many nations, each with an understanding of
relative parity.
China does, of course, operate every day within a system of
international law and frequently sites notions of mutual non-interference that
stem from this European tradition rather than their own. However, this can also be seen to be a
conditional expedient, wherein the philosophical underlays that inform a
Chinese world view, are irrepressible and constantly appear. Chinese in general, in this understanding have
their own 良知良能[1] the quality of which is necessarily exalted in
relation to others.
The frame can be used to explain all manner of national
behavior, such as the notion of “teaching a lesson” to India or Vietnam, through more or less successful incursions in
recent history, or of the importance of being seen to stand for something
larger than merely the nation itself.
It speaks to grave challenges for the future, but also illustrates how
many concerns about Chinese behavior, may be misplaced. A regional power, for example is much
easier to ultimately accommodate, than a global overlord.
I have tried to organize my thoughts about different trains
of Chinese philosophy to craft an explanation of current policy behavior. It is an absolutely daunting
undertaking. For a non-Sinologist
to cover 2500 years of Chinese philosophy and apply it to the last 180 years of
engagement with the west, and do it swiftly and convincingly and entertainingly
is masterful. The end, not unlike
the article I first mentioned last fall ends with a “damned if I know”-like
conclusion on what these filters mean for predicting Chinese behavior going
forward. But perhaps this is about
as committal as one should be. A
highly recommended read, from my vantage.
This morning I participated in the humbling ritual of
parents’ day at my kids school. I
went up to the fourth floor and piled in to the room with the other
parents. We were asked to sit and
view the classes for the morning.
It is an important event for me to attend, because it gives me so much
respect for my kids, among other things.
I can understand most of the teachers’ instructions at a high
level. But process in real time the
specifics of fourth grade math calculation, word problems, decimal comparisons
etc., in a foreign language? I
would have been rather lost if I’d have had to actually stand and respond to a
question.
It’s often how it is with foreign languages. We have areas that are turn-key. The travel vocabulary, the dining
vocabulary, the business meeting vocabulary, the “I’m not happy”
vocabulary. But when it concerns
math problems, the words for diameter and radius and complex fraction have not
really come up much. Chinese quote
larger numbers in tens of thousands rather than thousands, so a figure is
“twenty-ten-thousands”, rather than “two hundred thousand” and so you need to
adjust those figures in real time, if you want to answer, calculate quickly and
correctly. My nine year-old rose
and answered a question about comparing decimals without blinking. I was doubly proud; one with her being
able to provide the correct answer.
But second because the question was, in the end, completely
indecipherable for me.
I followed on from the Menahan Street Band of yesterday to
another New York group that has captured that remarkable West African 70’s sound
in a way that is genuine and contemporary. The Budos Band appears to be from Staten Island. They were
the pick of the litter of a few of these other contemporary Afro-funk-soul
bands I checked after the Menahan sound.
As I was poking around it seems like there is a profusion of Afro-beat,
soul revival bands all producing, playing and cross fertilizing there in my
home city of New York. Glad to
know the soil is still aerated and sprouting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Budos_Band
[1] liángzhīliángnéng:
instinctive understanding, esp. of ethical issues (idiom); untrained, but with
an inborn sense of right and wrong / innate moral sense
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