Literature and Culture of Yangzhou (Written Report)

CID  Written Report

ZHU ZIQING

Zhu Ziqing (November 22, 1898 – August 12, 1948), born Zhu Zihua, was a renowned Chinese poet and essayist. Zhu studied at Peking University, and during the May Fourth Movement became one of several pioneers of modernism in China during the 1920s. Zhu was a prolific writer of both prose and poetry, but is best known for essays like "Retreating Figure", and "You. Me." His best known work in verse is the long poem "Destruction".

TRADITIONAL DIMINISHING CRAFTS

1. FILIGREE CRAFT

Filigree is a delicate kind of jewellery metalwork, usually of gold and silver, made with tiny beads or twisted threads, or both in combination, soldered together or to the surface of an object of the same metal and arranged in artistic motifs. Most filigree work revolves around images of deities.

The art may be said to consist in curling, twisting and plaiting fine pliable threads of metal, and uniting them at their points of contact with each other, and with the ground, by means of flux such as borax, by the help of the blowpipe.

Due to lack of patronage and modern design ideas, it is a dying art.

2. SUGAR ART

Sugar painting (糖画) is a traditional Chinese form of folk art using hot, liquid sugar to create two dimensional figures. This snack is popular among children. Selecting a figure is normally determined by spinning the arrow on a wheel.

It is disappointing that some of the people who have learned the art care more about making money than the art itself.

诗名：《黄鹤楼送盂浩然之广陵》，是一首送别诗

"故人西辞黄雀楼，烟花三月下扬州"

意思：

老朋友孟浩然，辞别西楚的黄鹤楼； 

阳春三月烟花如海，他去游历扬州。 

公元730年三月，李白的好友孟浩然要去广陵（如今的江苏扬州）， 就约了他在江夏（今武汉武昌区）相会。这天，他们在江夏的黄鹤楼快乐地重逢，各诉思念之情 。几天后，孟浩然要离开时，李白亲自送他到江边。离别后，李白便写了这首《送孟浩然之广陵·故人》。

原文：

故人西辞黄鹤楼，烟花三月下扬州。 

孤帆远影碧空尽，惟见长江天际流。

[注释]：

故人：老朋友

黄鹤楼：中国著名的名胜古迹，建在湖北武昌西边的黄鹤矶上，下面就是长江。 

烟花：暮春浓艳的景色。 

碧空尽：指船消失在水与蓝天相接的地方。

 

Literature and Culture in Yangzhou (PPT slides)

Dilemma between pursuing high economic growth and escalating pollution due to industrialization

Benefits of pursuing high economic growth:

-Improvements in living standards: Growth is an important avenue through which per capita incomes can rise and absolute poverty can be reduced

-More jobs: Growth creates new jobs as there will be more factories and offices etc

-Potential environmental benefits – as countries grow richer, they have more resources available to invest in cleaner technologies. And, as nations develop, energy intensity levels fall.

Causes of escalating pollution

-Fast growth can create negative externalities for example more noise pollution and lower air quality arising from air pollution and road congestion

-Increased consumption of de-merit goods which damage social welfare, result in the huge increase in household and industrial waste.

These externalities reduce social welfare and can lead to market failure.

Pollution may lead to many health effects, such as respiratory problems.

Thus, even though there are benefits of pursuing a high economic growth which may not last long, there will be a long term effect, pollution, caused by it.

Alyssa Chua (1)

Reflection on China's dilemma between pursuing higher economic growth and escalating pollution due to the industrialization

       Environmental degradation in China is now so severe that pollution now poses a major long-term burden on the Chinese public. Cancer has become China's leading cause of death due to the pollution and the air pollution alone is to be blame for hundreds of thousands of death in China every year. The fast growing economy the derives from a staggering expansion of heavy industry and urbanization that requires colossal inputs of energy, almost all from coal, the most readily available, and dirtiest, source. 
        
        For air quality, the major culprit is coal. China has  an abundant supplies of coal and burns more of it than the United States, Europe and Japan combined. 
   
        Heavy traffic and low-grade gasoline have also made vehicles the leading source of air pollution in major Chinese cities. In 2007, only 1 percent of China’s urban population of 560 million breathes air considered safe by the European Union, according to a World Bank study of Chinese pollution published in that year. 

         As China continues along its path of industrialization and urbanization, more and more of the available water will be rendered useless for drinking, irrigation, and hydro-power purposes. More and more water is being allocated to industrial and urban demand than ever before, and that leaves even less water to be used for domestic and agriculture. Also, as more water is being used for industry compared to domestic and agriculture, China’s dwindling water sources will become more heavily polluted as the industrialization is responsible for a great deal of pollution.

-Clarissa 

Sources: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/wbp/global-water-crisis/457

Singapore Nostalgia

What is hot and cool to the youth in Singapore

Family Structure: One Child Policy

In the late 1970s, China introduced its one-child policy to curb rapid population growth. This policy resulted in several problems.

The traditional preference for boys has created a gender imbalence as some couples opt for abortions when they found out that they are expecting a girl. The abortion rate hovers around 1 out of every 100, which is equivalent to more than 13 million abortions annually. In the near future, there would be much more males than females, resulting in many males to be unable to find a wife. As boys are more preferred, it was common to see girl infants abandoned at orphanages. Female infanticide, the act of intentionally killing female infants and fetus, is also an acknowledged problem in China.

This one-child policy also has resulted in a rising ration of elder to wage-earning adults---about 194 million Chinese over the age of 60 will have no or few children to care for them.

However, in 2013, there was a new policy that allows 2 children to couples where either parent is an only child is expected to create a minor population boost of about 1-2 million additional children born per year. This would help to ease the skewed gender ratio as well as the ratio of growing elderly to declining young.

-Clarissa Neo

Research Source: http://people.howstuffworks.com/one-child-policy1.htm