Special Features

James Fallows on China, America, and the Future

James Fallows, former speechwriter for US President Jimmy Carter, former editor of the U.S. News & World Report and writer for The Atlantic for the past 25 years visited Centre College this month. He spoke about the problems facing China, the issues that the bilateral Sino-American relationship needs to focus on and why that relationship is so important to Americans in our generation and what our country should do to take advantage of that. He started his talk by describing several pictures from the many years he lived in China and from the travelling he did while he was there. The scenes ranged from downtown Shanghai to Shenzhen’s Apple factories where the iconic MacBook’s and iPhones are produced. As each picture passed, he shared insights into what was going on as he took the photo, and what the photograph showed about Chinese culture, industry, or day-to-day life.

The first part of his speech focused on what he thought the biggest problems were in China. He said that despite the progress China has made in the past few years, they still had much more serious problems than Americans did at the moment. He pointed out that all of the arable land in China was equal to the amount of arable land east of the Mississippi River, and that there were much more people in China to feed. That caused economic strain on the workforce, even in the booming manufacturing sector. On the political front, he said that at the moment they had a very repressive society, with heavy-handed control in some areas and a complete lack of control in others.

Mr. Fallows also had some positive things to say on the current state of China. This is evident in the vast generation gaps in Chinese society. Anyone over 30 years old had been born before the sweeping modernization and the end of the cultural revolution, and thus experienced much more hardship than a 20-year old who had been doted on his whole life because of the one-child policy and its effects on Chinese family structure. As for their government, he said the Chinese are satisfied with their leadership because it has progressed enough to keep the general populace content. He pointed out that the Chinese had a different definition of liberty and democracy than most Americans. The Chinese wanted as much liberty as possible, however they did not want democracy because they see it as too slow and inefficient. He said that the Chinese culture was a very permeable one, and that they were easy to laugh with and eager to make connections with foreigners. His highest praise, however, was that even though he was able to point out vast flaws in the current state of China, he had faith that they would be able to deal with all of them given time.

The first challenge to the Sino-American relationship that Mr. Fallows mentioned is the artificial currency manipulation. To some, that is the gravest challenge the bilateral relationship faces. In fact, Congress is set to debate this issue this week. He also stated that the Chinese won’t act like a super power outside of the economic realm, and that they are hesitant to do anything about international issues like the North Korean sanctions. He said that the common misconception that the American public holds is that they will “overtake” us at some point. Mr. Fallows pointed out that the United States receives a disproportionate share of the world’s talent each year, and that the Chinese don’t have the multi-faceted strengths this affords us. Also, our university system brings students to the US to learn about American culture. He said that the biggest problem to the US right now is the political structure, which he claimed is almost better at blocking things from being done than enacting things.

The biggest message he had for Centre though, was that the generation that the students belonged to was going to be able to benefit the most from the rise of China. He told us to start learning about China early in our lives so that we can be better prepared to take China seriously and use it to better our understanding of the way the world works. He said that most things were optimistic for us, but reaffirmed that we should try to make politics better through our actions.

As I sat in the auditorium listening to James Fallows share his insights, I was amazed to find that his ideas about China were some of the same ones I had observed while living there myself. China really does face some enormous problems at the moment, but their government is set up to act rapidly to change and to make progress in the areas it needs to improve upon. Their culture is very easy to get along with at a person-to-person level and a little knowledge of the country goes a long way in their eyes. After he finished speaking, he signed copies of his new book Postcards from Tomorrow Square: China’s Economic Lives. I made sure to tell him how much I enjoyed reading his articles in The Atlantic, seeing as how it was one of the few news outlets that were consistently uncensored while I lived there.

James Fallows Visits Centre
Issue 3

The Atlantic for me was always one of those magazines everybody was supposed to read, and seemed to, but that I only glanced at once or twice a year (I have the same relationship with the New Yorker).  So, when James Fallows first came up in one of our East Asian Studies Committee meetings, I was unsurprisingly the one with a blank look on his face.  Barbara Hall was effusive about Fallows and his 2009 publication on China, Postcards from Tomorrow Square.  Our committee agreed to read the book as part of our general program development, and I carried the paperback home committed to find out who this famous correspondent was, and to save a little face. 

The book was fabulous!  Fallows has an uncanny ability to weave thorough research and captivating case studies into clear and entertaining prose, making sense of precise data in terms of intangibles and the quirky human element.  But his book on China didn’t quite strike me as the entire reason for his significance as a writer.  China books are a dime a dozen now and hardly the sole grounds to rocket a writer to stardom.   

So, I looked further into Fallow’s past and discovered that his career had begun decades earlier.  Since the early eighties, Fallows has been reporting on nearly every major national and international event.  When I discovered he had won the American Book Award for National Defense, a 1981 study on the weaknesses of US military policy and development, I bought that too and began reading it.  I also took some time to read his 2002 article on the implications of invading Iraq, “The Fifty-First State,” which won him the National Magazine Award in 2003.  While much more serious work in tone than Postcards, National Defense and the “Fifty-First State” already demonstrate Fallow’s keen ability to perceive the weight of personalities and the unforeseeable in the increasingly complex machinations of economies, governments, and militaries.  His insistence on reevaluating the role of the human element in politicized movements and debates is very much alive in Postcards.  In the hubbub of rising fears surrounding China’s mounting prosperity and military might, Fallows invites us again to reconsider how the Chinese people fit into our perceptions.  The result, like always, is enlightening and entertaining.      

As the local Chinese professor, I’m obviously overjoyed to have Fallows come to Centre and talk about his experiences in China and his projections for the future.  His visit lends force to Centre’s commitment to make the study of Asia a larger part of the college curriculum, and will help directly promote some of the college’s new courses in East Asian Studies, Global Commerce, Chinese and Japanese.  Fallows is a giant of his generation and industry and we are extremely lucky he has flown here from DC to join us at Centre on Sept. 21 and 22, 2011.    

Centre's Chinese Club 

Issue 2

Centre has really been stepping up the pace in recent years in terms of encouraging students to become “global citizens,” including the addition of a Centre-in-China semester program at Shanghai University and courses in Mandarin Chinese and East Asian Studies back home at Centre. With so much emphasis being placed on China, how can students interested in learning more about Chinese culture and lifestyle pursue these interests without having gone abroad (or even after returning from Shanghai)?

The Centre College Chinese Club hosts many events throughout the school year, offering students an opportunity to be introduced to Chinese culture in a fun, relaxing atmosphere. Two highlights of the year are the Moon Festival celebrated in the fall, and the Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year Festival) which the club recently celebrated in February. Both of these events celebrate important Chinese festivals and the club provides traditional foods, music, and activities such as lantern-decorating as well as information about how the festivals are celebrated in China. During the Moon Festival celebration last fall, the Chinese Club also partnered with Centre’s Japanese Club to provide a more pan-Asian view on this shared tradition, which originated in China. Food offerings included both Chinese moon cakes (月饼) and Japanese dango, a sweet dumpling made with rice flour.

moon cakes

This semester, aside from the Spring Festival, the Chinese Club has several more events planned, including participation in the ISA’s International Week during the first week of April, a panel discussion about life abroad in China, a movie night, and a cookout. Anyone interested in China and the international world is encouraged to come, and the club welcomes all members of the Centre community, even if they have never studied China or Chinese language. In the words of club member Qian Xie, “We are always happy to see new faces!”

结束

The Orchid Ensemble: Ancient traditions, modern tastes
Issue 1

When you think of Chinese music, you might think of soothing, flowing melodies played on exotic instruments, or you might think of more contemporary Chinese pop music. You probably do not think of fast-paced Turkish dance tunes, classical Hindustani music, or Jazz-inspired rhythms.

Yet all of these and more can be found in the repertoire of the Orchid Ensemble, a trio of musicians who use traditional Chinese instruments to recreate musical styles from across the globe. The group performed for students and faculty in the Norton Center for the Arts earlier this month, in a show that incorporated music from Inner Mongolia, the Uyghur people of western China (an Islamic ethnic group), India, and Arab cultures, as well as traditional Chinese folk songs.

“All of these pieces bring with them a story and a history,” said Jonathan Bernard, the ensemble’s percussionist. Bernard’s background is in Western percussion but like the other members of the Orchid Ensemble, he is well-versed in various international styles of music.

“We play mainly in North America, but each of us has studied extensively in other countries, including India,” said Haiqiong Deng, who plays the zheng, a Chinese zither with twenty-one strings. One of the challenges in blending music from around the world is that, because the music is played in many different scales, Deng’s instrument must be drastically retuned between each piece. She does this with remarkable efficiency, however, a reflection of the seamless ease with which the Orchid Ensemble combines different music traditions into works that feel completely natural, as if Indian dance tunes were always meant to be played on zheng, erhu, and xylophone.



A native of northwestern China, Deng is familiar with both ancient and contemporary musical styles. However, after living and playing for ten years in North America, she finds herself favoring the ancient, traditional style of Chinese music. “The more I am away [from China], the more I miss it,” Deng said.

What is the difference between Chinese and Western traditional music? “In Chinese music, there is no meter – you just feel how it should be played,” Deng said. She compared this feature of music to Chinese culture, which from ancient times has promoted natural and harmonious relationships. By contrast, Western music typically relies very strictly on following a set meter.

“Music is like a vehicle for understanding different aspects of different cultures,” said Bernard. The trio’s passion for promoting cross-cultural understanding is certainly made clear in their music, which preserves the traditional feel of each culture it is drawn from to create masterfully balanced compositions.

The Orchid Ensemble performed at Centre College during common hour on October 7th, 2010 in Grant Hall. The performance marked the ensemble’s second-ever venue in Kentucky. Centre offers multicultural experiences such as this one throughout the year in an effort to advance cultural awareness and diversity among students.