Spring Forum 2014: China, 1854 to the Present - Radical Transformations as Seen in Reynolds’s New Book, East Meets East

Steam Locomotive Railway at Yokohama Seaside (横浜海岸鉄道蒸気車図
Yokohama Kaigan Tetsudo Jokisha Zu), drawn by Utagawa Hiroshige III (三代歌川広重), 1874.

Douglas R. Reynolds’s new book - after forty years of research starting with Carol Reynolds’s doctoral dissertation (Columbia, 1986) - has a long and layered title, East Meets East, Chinese Discover the Modern World in Japan, 1854-1898: A Window on the Intellectual and Social Transformation of Modern China (March 2014). At USCPFA’s Spring Forum, Doug will talk about China in four parts: 1) 1854: why 1854? 2) 1868-98: Chinese discover a modern world in Japan – filled with surprises; 3) intellectual and social changes inside China before 1898 – more surprises; and, finally, 4) China today – more surprises yet.

Douglas Reynolds (Ph.D., Columbia University, 1976) is professor of Chinese and Japanese History at Georgia State University, where he has taught since 1980. He is author of China, 1898-1912: The Xinzheng Revolution and Japan (1993), and has lived in China, Taiwan, and Japan for some twenty years. He has been a member of USCPFA since 1974-75.

“Reminiscent of Teng and Fairbank’s classic China’s Response to the West, East Meets East introduces the reader to first-hand accounts of Japan up to the Sino-Japanese War by contemporary Chinese diplomats and other visitors. As such, it will be of interest to students in at least the three fields of Sino-Japanese relations, China’s Self-Strengthening Movement (its achievements and shortcomings), and, not least, the changing social composition of the Chinese scholar-official elite as exemplified by the authors of these accounts. The analysis is detailed, almost encyclopedic, and firmly rooted in current Chinese and Japanese scholarship.”
— Edward Rhoads 路康樂 Emeritus Professor of History, University of Texas at Austin
 

Dr. Doug Reynolds, Yuntai Mountain Park
( 云台山园), Henan ( 河南), China

Sunday, May 18, 2014 4:30PM

Agnes Scott College, Teasley Lecture Hall

 M. Bullock Science Center, E. Dougherty St.

Decatur, GA, 30030

Look for the US-China Special Event Signs on Campus. Parking is available off Dougherty St.

 

For more information email shkkse@yahoo.com or call 770.949.5112 

See the book cover details and come prepared! Purchase the book at this link.

Spring Movie Night Featuring “Life on a String” “边走边唱” Directed by Chen Kaige 陈凯歌

Join us at the Webber Uniplex for a screening of Fifth Generation Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige’s “Life on a String”. This quiet and haunting philosophical exploration of life, devotion, enlightenment and music on will be shown on April the 5th, following a potluck dinner and conversation.

Chen Kaige, who joined the Beijing Film Academy after the Cultural Revolution along with classmates Zhang Yimou and Tian Zhuangzhuang, gained international fame with his first film “Yellow Earth” in 1984. In keeping with the lyrical visual qualities and dialogue scarcity that critics lauded in “Yellow Earth”, Chen’s second film release follows a blind musician searching for his sight and enlightenment with his pupil in the barren Mongolian landscape. 

The plot centers around the “Master”, a blind sanxian musician who has been promised a magic elixir to restore his sight once he breaks the 1000th string on his instrument. Master is joined by his apprentice, Shitou, as they wander through village and countryside. The blind travelers, searching for peace and enlightenment are witness to political upheaval and the interruptions that human emotion can cause in the philosophical seeker’s quest for mystical illumination. 

The film’s slow pace and sparseness of dialogue is mitigated by the stunning cinematography and careful use of music, supplied by the main characters. Lovers of the film style of the Fifth Generation and of Chen’s later works will enjoy this poetic fable of the search for the ultimate truth and meaning in life. 

Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 5:00 p.m.
Webber Uniplex 
1689 Chateau Drive Dunwoody, GA 30338-6047 

Directions to the Webber Uniplex (also known as the Webber family residence) can be found here. 

The usual potluck supper will precede the movie. Please call Pat Webber at 770-396-5690 by Wednesday, April 2nd to let her know what you’ll be bringing. 

For more information e-mail Sylvia Krebs.

Lunar Year of the Horse Banquet and Ida Priutt Scholarship Fundraising Report

Horse Lantern in Yuyuan Gardens, Shanghai - Photo courtesy of The Straits Times

The USCPFA Lunar New Year Banquet for the Year of the Horse was held at Canton House restaurant on February 1, 2014. Although a smaller than usual turn-out, it was a convivial event nonetheless. The restaurant space was ample for attendee tables as well as a containing large area for the annual auction display. To set the stage for the evening, Penny Blackford and her gracious helpers decorated the space beautifully, and Penny also provided unusually striking centerpieces for the tables. Many attendees arrived with lovely items for the annual auction as well, lending to the décor.

During the meal entertainment was provided by Penny Blackford, filling in for Peggy Roney who was absent due to a health issue and sorely missed , giving the Year of the Horse Chinese astrology lecture and year ahead outlook. The main event was the Atlanta Shaolin Dancer's Lion Dance, which delighted USCPFA attendees as well as other patrons of the space. See the live video for the Lion Dance action.

The auction, our annual Ida Pruitt Scholarship effort, was a success due to the wonderful speech on the importance of educating girls, by Chapter member Dr. Phillip Brachman. The auction donation total was $553 and was generously matched by Dr. Brachman as well. With the auction, matching funds and other donations, the total amount of scholarship dollars collected came to $1,816. The funds will be donated in the name of Geoff Webber and the Webber family, in memory of Geoff, a long time and much loved Chapter member who passed earlier in the year.

The major announcement of the evening was that the Atlanta Chapter will be hosting the USCPFA National Convention in 2015. Look for further information and ways to help in upcoming emails and newsletters.