This is one of those books that does exactly what it sets out to do. If you want to understand the logistics and structure of the civil service examinThis is one of those books that does exactly what it sets out to do. If you want to understand the logistics and structure of the civil service examination sequence during the Qing Dynasty (and who doesn't?), this is a strong survey. It's very focused on the mechanics of how these tests were administered, why administrators made the choices they did, and what we can learn from literary representations of them.
One element I hadn't really considered before is how this demonstrates the effects of examination without education. While the tests were funded by the government, there was no public education. So while anyone could sign up for the exam, it was only really possibly to succeed if you had the cultural access to understand the norms and the financial backing to prepare. It balances a surface meritocracy while still reinforcing existing power structures.
It's very easy to point at that and say "Ah, how regressive." But how many examples of this do we have that we ignore? Do high-stakes examinations ever reward merit or do they only perform meritocracy? ...more
This is a good anthropological profile of the test-taking apparatus in modern China. Perhaps the best element is how the author layers perspectives abThis is a good anthropological profile of the test-taking apparatus in modern China. Perhaps the best element is how the author layers perspectives about place-making and social advancement onto the perspectives shared by students, parents, and educators. Howlett does a good job of contextualizing norms and translating them for a Western audience in terms of what's shared and what's unique....more
A good collection made better by an introduction that does well in identifying the biographical and stylistic differences between these three artisticA good collection made better by an introduction that does well in identifying the biographical and stylistic differences between these three artistic contemporaries. I also appreciated the end notes, though they likely should've been numbered in the text itself.
The selection does a good job of drawing out what makes each poet stand out. Your mileage will vary on what you think of the translator's attempt to retain the original rhyme scheme. Does it feel as though it's unnaturally forced into that pattern or that you get a better sense of the original's pace because the rhymes are consistent? I tended toward the former, but it may be that an unrhymed translation would seem more languorous than it ought to.
Anyway, it's a quick read, but don't rush; it's better drunk in sips. ...more
I came into this book having some vague idea that the Nepalese civil war and Shining Path in Peru were both somehow connected to Maoism, but that was I came into this book having some vague idea that the Nepalese civil war and Shining Path in Peru were both somehow connected to Maoism, but that was it. I also didn't really know what Maoism was.
The book does a commendable job of connecting the dots. The way in which Mao's thinking (and more honestly, a perception of his thinking) spread due to or despite Chinese funding is fascinating. It's mostly backwards-facing, but the author does a good job of making explicit connections to the Xi era as well.
If you've ever wondered what Maoism means outside of China (and, frankly, inside it), this is the place to start. ...more
This is a public text about a secretive cult. Or a very open and public religion. It depends who you ask.
And I’m not saying that with a wink and nod.This is a public text about a secretive cult. Or a very open and public religion. It depends who you ask.
And I’m not saying that with a wink and nod. If the book does anything it clarifies just how thin, circumstantial, and political the line between cult and religion really is.
It also sets the record straight on many pieces of propaganda and misinformation about the group that dominate its public perception. The settling of these scores is necessary for the author who wants, among other things, to justify the refugee status of group members fleeing persecution. But for a wildly ignorant reader like myself it went perhaps deeper than I needed.
The author also makes the interesting choice of not starting with a description of what the group is but with firsthand accounts of members being tortured and sometimes killed by the Chinese government for their beliefs. It implies perhaps that the reader should focus on this as a human rights emergency instead of gawking at their obtuse theology first and foremost. But it can be hard to get your bearings as a reader when it feels like you’re starting with the end of the story in some sense.
This is definitely a high 4, and it’s good to have scholarly work out there on groups like this. It’s relatively short so if the group or the description strikes your fancy, you’ll likely be glad to have read it, as I was....more
A bit more narrow than you'd actually expect. The book is more a series of essays than an integrated whole. It treats different manifestations of TibeA bit more narrow than you'd actually expect. The book is more a series of essays than an integrated whole. It treats different manifestations of Tibet in Western discourse, but it suffers sometimes from overquotation and deep diving while lacking a broader apparent thesis. There's plenty of great anecdotal material and it shines at moments, but it's probably best read in sections to answer specific questions than read front to back, especially to the academic outsider. ...more
The only other review of this title on Goodreads begins with the delightful phrase "Of course nobody will read this book."
When I first considered reaThe only other review of this title on Goodreads begins with the delightful phrase "Of course nobody will read this book."
When I first considered reading this, I took that phrase as a challenge. I wanted to be the person to disprove the review's hypothesis. I can read this book too! And I'm going to love it!
Well there's a reason the first reviewer said that, and it's because this volume is designed for the specialist, not the general reader. I read this because after reading the Lao-Tzu, I heard about the Ho-shang Kung commentary and wanted to learn more. This was the only volume in my university library on the subject. The only problem is that this is most certainly not designed to be the second book someone (me) has ever read on Taoism.
Despite the fact that much of it went over my head, there's so much meat here that I still enjoyed many parts of it. The hermenutical comparisons were less resonant than the reconstruction of the historical environments in which the two commentaries were written, but I still found points of interest in all sections.
The biggest thing, and the reason I was curious to read this is the first place, was learning more about the way in which commentary writers have tried to simplify the unsimplifiable, to tame the obtuseness of cornerstone texts. In that respect, the volume is particularly interested when it compares the two commentaries, highlighting the differences between referential and non-referential interpretation. These were analytical divergences thousands of years ago and they are differences today.
We still try to take the timeless texts and make sense of the nonsensical, the texts for which a single definition is impossible must be defined for us to make sense of our spiritual heritage. So we design flying hermits by the river to educate emperors or we store our utensils without acknowledging what the source texts clearly means by "utensils" and we just try to make it work. I can't say I recommend the book because there are so few people for whom it will be even moderately readable. I struggled to get through it myself. But the author writes in such an inviting and collaborative way that one can feel like they understand more than they do, and that's not the worst thing.
So I must repeat, of course nobody will read this book. It would be emotionally draining and overly time consuming to push yourself through this book. Why would you? But if you do, I'll be interested to hear what you think. ...more
An interesting, intense YA novel that focuses on how military life, religious indoctrination, and violence can change a person, for better and for worAn interesting, intense YA novel that focuses on how military life, religious indoctrination, and violence can change a person, for better and for worse. Unique in that its focus in on a little-remembered (in the West anyway) war in China with the protagonists speaking as cultural nobodies who are caught up in it and changed by it. The text is well written and engaging, the ultimate goals of the book unclear until the end. And, much to its credit, the book does not try to hammer home a single, definitive conclusion. Instead, the results are mixed, much like the process of the war the characters fight in. ...more
Perfectly fine as an introduction to important persons and terms for the subject. I know that it's not meant to be deep, and that's fine. My frustratiPerfectly fine as an introduction to important persons and terms for the subject. I know that it's not meant to be deep, and that's fine. My frustration is that the author tries to do so much in so little time, so many italicized terms and tangential persons are referenced that it can be hard to focus on the key points.
Still, a pleasant enough read. I imagine I'll come back to this series again in the future for a primer. For more academic topics it probably beats the "for dummies" series, if only aesthetically. ...more
A great, big-picture view on terrorism as insurgency. It doesn't pretend to give a total solution, but it does give a coherent structure to the connecA great, big-picture view on terrorism as insurgency. It doesn't pretend to give a total solution, but it does give a coherent structure to the connection between global terrorist attacks and the local battles in which Western armies find themselves engaged, though that connection may just be that NATO fights both but that otherwise they are unrelated. This is great for developing the terms of engagement for governments to address insurgency in more than a strictly military fashion. It's written by a British author and engages a British audience, so it's important not to write off those sections that focus on the UK's efforts as irrelevant. It's very interesting to see the ways that British concerns are so different from American and how American policy can come across in Europe. ...more
Like most poetry, it deserves to be read slowly, a few at a time. Not every piece hits home, of course, as I can only relate to an 8th century ChineseLike most poetry, it deserves to be read slowly, a few at a time. Not every piece hits home, of course, as I can only relate to an 8th century Chinese aristocrat surviving a civil war to so certain a degree. That being said, I could relate much better than I'd thought. The volume clearly evokes the simple language of melancholy that bridges the gap in experience. Since poetry is so hard to describe out of context, especially for a novice like me, I'll end by simply giving the author his due and including a quote from the second half of poem 62:
"Here in the mountains a scholar, friend from old times; all our talk is of the past, painful to recall. Ah-ah, song of the seventh-- hush, leave off singing! Look up at the heavens as the bright sun hurries by."...more
One by one, the book tears down the typical misconceptions and anecdotes about China and its function in the second world war. Sympathetic toward the One by one, the book tears down the typical misconceptions and anecdotes about China and its function in the second world war. Sympathetic toward the leading characters and their worldview but unwilling to paper over atrocity where the evidence presents itself. Very important for a right understanding of the time and the foundations of modern China. ...more
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