As the next step in the ongoing summer travel extravaganza approaches I've been looking at a lot of maps. The various sources of these maps and what they show and how they show it just keeps pointing out one thing. How small I really am.
If I start from the point of view of my neighborhood, then slowly zoom out, expand the view and begin to "pan" around the globe it is truly just amazing how small I am first on my block, in my neighborhood, in my city, in my state and in my country. (Isn't Google Earth great?)
I'm heading across the globe in a few weeks to a country that couldn't be more of a contrast to the US. Oh, they say that its changed, that its the new China, Welcome to Beijing home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. I have no idea what the new China represents, what it really is or even if it really is New.
If our impressions of China were derived from its history and looking at that moving into where it (The Modern China) has evolved we are led down some pretty slippery slopes. I found myself reading a lot about Chinese history and found it to be somewhat overwhelming to do so just glancing at the mere surface. First of all its broken up into the very very very old, very very old, old, less old and then somewhat newer. Kidding aside its truly fascinating.
(WARNING HISTORICAL CONTENT AHEAD)
If nothing else the mere length of its overall history is daunting. Its first dynasty perhaps the Xia Dynasty if some of the books are to be believed occured over 4000 years ago. There is some controversy regarding the actual establishment or time period of this era however some have suggested that this Xia Dynasty *period, began around 2100 BC to perhaps running up to 1600 BC. The following Dynasties have written history so they are easier to establish beginning with the Shang Dynasty running from 1600 BC to 1300 BC and then successive Dynasties following this (way to many to enumerate here, especialy since I'm doing this from memory more or less). However it is important to note that during most of these eras there were deep divisions in the country, both in size, mass or even in number of people groups. We have to keep in mind that the country as it is now bears little resemblance to what it looked like at various points along its history line, the division of the country into smaller countries or different feudal systems makes it difficult to categorize what we see today as having a unified history. As with any country with over 4000 years of history and the sheer land mass of China there have been a lot of ups and maybe even more downs. One thing that as westerners we have a hard time dealing with is the fact that what we see now is not what has always been. Even if we go back only one hundred years the China of then is very different than the China of today. The country was fragmented as recently as the 1920's. Keep in mind that the Chinese civil war lasted from approximately 1927 through 1950. The result of this internal power struggle were Taiwan (established by the loosing party KMT) and maybe of even more important was the emergence of Mao Zedong and the "new" Peoples Republic of China, its modern name. May of 1966 marks the unofficial beginning of the Cultural Revolution. This led to the purges that went on until 1976 officially but realistically carried through to 1980.
TO ALL OF THOSE HISTORIANS OUT THERE THAT WISH TO CORRECT OR EVEN CONTRADICT ME - FEEL FREE - BUT I JUST DID THIS FROM MEMORY AND IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THE EQUIVALENT OF A DISSERTATION SO SAVE IT
In China, the thousands of years of history, the vastness of the country, the vast number of people groups that exist and the immense quantity of the population mold a very complex society. Glancing at China we see just the tip of this massive ice-berg. I know that what I will see will be an even smaller portion of that ice-berg.
The "New" China I expect to see - I never new the "Old" so will I recognize the the New?
I know, I know, its the up and coming, the "new China" is emerging, the host of the Olympics however, when I read about some of the Chinese history what I see is a country divided from within on so many levels, a country that considering its vastness in size and population and within that history going back a mere 1000 years, was actually a country used as a door mat by its neighbors; the Koreans, Russians, Japanese and for a period of time, the English, French, German and yes, even the US. What do I expect to see considering all of this? What can I see that will affect me as new? The Modern China - new Beijing that I am supposed to be amazed at, and sure I will be, after all they have spent how much to amaze me? 100's of Billions of $?
I want to be amazed - I want to like China - I want to like the Chinese - I want to get to know them. I'm just not sure that I will in 10 days...that frustrates me a little.
There are other things about China that fascinate me other than their convoluted history. Their traditions, their pageantry, the sense of meaning taken from the smallest things in life are in deep contrast to our US sense of the here and now, the here in an instant to change in an instant. Where we make plans for the next 5 minutes if we have any foresight and if we have any kind of future prospects a plan for the next 5 years if we are lucky. In their past the Chinese as a whole plan looking at centuries of history and how it will effect centuries of future. Yea yea, the "new china" lives for the here and now, the up and coming "middle class" the western way, the clamor for goods, for a different life, however the amount of people that this truly affects is such a small percentage of the 1.5 billion population in China that it is somewhat laughable when we are taken in by such gimmicks and outright slight of hand perpetrated by the powers that dictate what is and what is not to be seen by the west.
Here is what I look forward to: Getting to talk to real people. Not hearing an official party line, not having to see what the official press says, just sitting down and talking to an individual that lives and breaths the day to day life in China. Do I think I will get to know what that means in a few minutes, or if I'm lucky an hour? Of course not, there have been people that have lived in China for decades and still do not understand what it means to be from that country. I don't really think they know. If you were to ask me what it means to be an American I'm sure my answer would be different than a great majority of the US population.
I think we in the US live in such a cocoon, that we truly believe the world revolves around what happens here, by here meaning to a certain degree, here in our neighborhood, our city and our state. The world is so huge, the people so diverse, the environment so welcoming in some places and so unforgiving in others.
My greatest hope and expectations are that I will come back having learned something, having made a connection to something so much bigger than myself and hopefully having gained some small understanding of what it is to be Chinese.
Always keeping in mind,
It is what It is......
