A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

Curiosity. Diversity. Excellence.

Last semester, Rice Magazine proposed a challenge for the readers to more actively pursue these three qualities to appreciate the diverse opportunities waiting to be found throughout Cornell campus. Have you personally pursued curiosity, diversity, and excellence past semester? Here at Rice Magazine, we also strive to improve and grow continuously to make lasting changes in our community – to aid your pursuit of diversity.

As such, this semester marked a period of innovation and experimentation for Rice Magazine. Students with real, breathing backgrounds in cultures around the world outside of the Rice team submitted articles for publication. Student organizations with years of experience in spreading cultures on campus shared advices and consultations. Rice Magazine is headed on a path of becoming more than just a “cultural mag-azine on Asia.” Rice Magazine is becoming a vibrant and relevant hub of cultural awareness of Asia on Cornell campus.

In the coming years, Rice seeks to expand its role as a valuable hub of Asian culture in Cornell community. More geographical regions will be targeted, more minority countries of Asia will be represented, and more breathtaking cultures of Asia relevant to Cornell campus will be delivered to the readers. It has been a pleasure to share all we have shared, and thank you for your continued support for Rice Magazine.

Byong Han Kim Editor in Chief

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editor in chief Byong Han Kim

Co-Managing kushagra aniket editors yasmin fouladi

Vice President kaiwen zhong of finance

vice president celena huo of ext affairs

Layout Designs chiaki soejima Byong han kim lucy he Fay Gulotta Jennifer Mizhquiri Barbecho Bill Snyder

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Co-Sponsorship Partners

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Bartels Family - Bartels Co-sponsorship

Rice Magazine Extends A Warm Thank You

for the Support Provided by All the Following Organizations

African Latino Asian Native American Students Programming Board

Southeast Asia Program

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

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8 Could Korean Food Solve Our Obesity Problem? Jennifer Park

12Is Chinese the Next World Language? Bill Snyder

15Incredible !ndia Ankur Bajaj

19Going Abroad to Japan? Here’s How to Stay Fay Gulotta

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22Painting Socialism Danielle Shen

27“Pubic Hair” - That’s What we Call Ourselves Jim Li

30The Weavers Stories Amanda Aragon

32The Twitter of China Sherry Li

South Korea has only a 3.5 percent incidence of obesity as compared with 34.5 percent in the United States. Ko-reans also have longer life expectan-cy than Americans. Consequently, the Korean diet has gained popularity in the United States as an answer to the fight against obesity and for lon-ger life. Chang Tae-Pyong, Minister of food, agriculture, forestry and fisheries of South Korea, announced a culinary globalization plan at a ceremony of the inaugural Korea Food Expo 2008 (KFE). As a first step to globalize “Han-sik,” or Korean cuisine, campaigns both at the government and private lev-el will look to increase the number of Korean restaurants overseas to 40,000 by 2017, and promote the uniqueness and healthy nature of Korean food. Fur-thermore the actors of a Korean show, “Infinity Challenge,” worked to spread international awareness about Korean cuisine and created an advertisement that was displayed in Times Square. Korean cuisine centers on vegeta-bles as the main dish; vegetables are often served along with a dish of rice, noodles, beef or fish. For example,

The healthy Korean

diet could help solve the West’s

obesity crisis.

Could Korean Food Solve Our Obesity Problem?{

{By Jennifer Park

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Dwenjang jjigae, an ev-eryday Korean soup, is made from fer-mented soybean paste and vegeta-bles spiced with gar-lic, chili peppers and dwenjang according to taste. Vegetables are low in calories and high in critically import-ant nutrients. Plant-based diets are naturally rich in fiber, help reduce cholesterol levels and contain antioxidants that have many health benefits. They fill you up and help you control your food cravings and thus help lose weight. According to the Korean Spiri-tual and Culture Promotion Proj-ect, “Health” magazine, Korean kimchi, a mixture of fermented vegetables spiced with flavors of garlic, ginger, scallions and chilies, is one of the five best health foods in the world.

Kimchi is a fermented food that is believed to have special nutri-tional value for promoting health and preventing disease, because it encourages the growth of a beneficial bacterium, called lac-tobacilli. Kimchi accompanies all Korean meals and approximate-ly 200 kinds of Korean dishes contain Kimchi. The low-fat dish provides vitamins A and C and fi-ber, which aids in digestion and weight maintenance by helping you feel full. Chili, a major component of the Korean diet, also boosts metabolic rate and helps burn fat. Koreans commonly serve a side dish of chili paste or sauce along with most of their dishes. The Korean ginseng is another ingredient of the diet, which aids in weight loss and has medicinal properties. Traditional eastern doctors have been prescribing ginseng to aid weight loss for centuries. Its continued use to-day only serves as a testament of its efficacy. A study examining the aspects of the Korean traditional diet, in-cluding trends in food consump-tion, obesity, morbidity and

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mortality, found that the low-fat intake of the traditional Korean diet is due to a higher propor-tion of vegetables and fruit. The traditional Korean diet is promi-nent in low-fat fish and shellfish, while rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which may reduce heart disease risk. Other meats include small amounts of red meat and chick-en. In addition to the healthy food content of the Korean diet, another key to its low-fat nature may be portion control. For ex-ample, traditionally, Korean food is served in moderation with small, portioned plates of various dishes. In contrast to South Korea, during the past several decades, obesity rates for all population groups in the United States—re-gardless of age, sex, race, eth-nicity, socioeconomic status, education level, or geographic region—have increased marked-ly. Recent studies show that 32%

percent of adult men and over 35% of adult women are obese. Among children aged two through nineteen, approx-imately 17% are obese and almost 32% are overweight. As more Americans become obese, they are becoming in-creasingly vulnerable to a num-ber of health problems, putting a great strain on the country’s economy and healthcare sys-tems. Obesity has been recog-nized as a leading cause of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion. Luckily, obesity is curable. The most effective way of fighting obesity is to change eating habits. As mentioned previously, the Korean diet has gained popularity in the U.S., and many health experts are looking to Korean food for an-swers, due to its healthy and

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low-fat content. The Chair of the American Obesity Association is said to frequently enjoy eating Kimchi and Dwenjang (citation?). Since South Koreans have consistently shown trends of lower obe-sity rates than the citizens of most other developed countries, a range of government nutrition specialists and private organiza-tions are initiating efforts to export the healthy elements of the Korean diet to the West, hoping to alleviate the obesity crisis in America.

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Is Chinese the Next World Language?

China’s recent and dramatic economic growth has sparked controversy over its future role in the world. Although this predicament has no easy answer, it suggests a simple truth that China has become a more important ac-tor on the global stage. And given China’s seemingly unceasing economic growth, the country may eventually rise to become the next world power. This possibility has numer-ous potential consequences on the current global status quo, which are already becoming visible. One of the less considered indications of China’s growing influence is the expansion of the Mandarin language. In conjunction with China’s startling political and economic growth on the international stage, the rise of Mandarin speakers across the world poses an important question: Is China the next world language? There has been a record growth in the num-ber Mandarin Chinese speakers across the nation. In 2005, the Asia Society found that “There’s an estimated 200% growth in Chinese language programs in the United States in just four years” (Chinese: an Expanding Field). These are not simply States that have higher Chinese populations, but rather a homoge-nous growth in Mandarin speakers across the country. For example, Indiana, which has a rel-atively small Asian population, has created for-ty-five additional public and private schools that offer Chinese as a credited language course. Therefore, despite the fact that the number of Americans speaking Mandarin has been lower in comparison to other foreign lan-guages, this recent growth indicates the possi-ble beginning of a dramatic positive trend in Mandarin speakers. In addition, the increase in Mandarin speakers has grown international-ly. Schools in India have increased the Chinese language programs in response to the grow-ing importance of China. As such, the growth

By Bill Snyder

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in the Mandarin language has become a global phenomenon in response to the rising influ-ence of the Chinese State. What does this trend suggest about China? Although the in-crease in international Manda-rin speakers is relatively recent, it suggests a growing influence that China has on the world. In the past decade, China’s econ-omy has had an average GDP growth of about 7 to 9 percent each year. This phenomenal growth rate has placed China’s GDP as second only to the Unit-ed States, making it one of the largest economic powerhouses of this century. However, China has also grown politically and culturally. Major international is-sues revolve around the Chinese government, such as the Tibet and Taiwan issue, the Diaoyu is-land conflict, and human rights crises. As such, China has es-tablished a holistic sense of im-portance that grows ever more present in international politics. As a result, citizens across the world have developed an in-creasing interest in the Chinese language. Because both nations

and individuals have recognized China’s substantial influence, the incentive to capitalize on strong Chinese language skills has also grown. This is not an unknown phe-nomenon, but a natural indica-tion of a shift in power. When Russia, then the Soviet Union, challenged the dominance of the capitalist Americans, more individuals began learning Rus-sian. A more drastic example is the adoption of French during the Napoleonic Era, during which French became the com-mon language of Europe. What is unknown, however, is wheth-er or not the shift towards Chi-nese will become a permanent transition or merely a tempo-rary acknowledgement of Chi-na’s growth in power. In other words, will Chinese become the new dominant international language, or will more speakers simply learn Chinese? This has yet to be determined, but is cer-tainly worth considering in the years to come. This increase in language

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learners has not only affected the nation-al and international realm, but also Cor-nell University. In an interview with Li Xu, a Cornell Mandarin teaching associate and a Head Instructor of Chinese language

programs to attract more students, but also states that the Chinese economy is a major factor for students wanting to learn Chinese. Like the rest of the United States and many oth-er countries, Chinese language learners are motivated by China’s economic growth because China holds substantial opportu-nities for students in the future. As such, Cornell University’s academic programs and student interests have been directly affected by the grow-ing influence of the Chinese economy. While the growth in Chinese language learners seems to support China’s po-tential for becoming a global superpower and the major lead-ing economic nation, one must remember that all of this is still uncertain. More peo-

ple learn Chinese be-cause China has been growing, but this progress is not iron-clad and thus could drastically change over time. Therefore, the marginal increase in Mandarin speak-ers could merely be a fad in response to the boom of the Chi-nese economy, at which point, the Chi-nese language would lose its potential in becoming the next world language. As Li Xu stated, “I hope [the future of the Chinese language] is bright. But it de-pends on how China develops in the fu-ture. If the country is getting stronger and stronger, then the language will also be more and more pop-ular.”

in Cornell’s CAPS pro-gram at Peking Uni-versity in Beijing, she stated that more and more students seem to be learning Chi-nese. “People around me keep saying there are more and more Chinese people here in Ithaca… I think now it is easier for our students to find a lan-guage exchange part-ner or hang out with Chinese native speak-ers.” According to Li Xu, Cornell continues to try and improve its Chinese language

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Incredible !ndiaI saw a slum when I was seven. Though my parents were wealthy, given my dad’s en-dowed professorship at a uni-versity, we lived modestly when I was young—our house was mid-sized, we drove fuel effi-cient, sensible cars, and when I grew older, my birthday parties were never extravagant. Instead of flaunting their wealth, my par-ents saved for the summer trips that ultimately defined import-ant bookends of my childhood. We traveled to Bangkok and Lon-don, Madrid and Paris, Beijing and Singapore. We saw things that most children at my age only read about or saw on television. The Sagrada Familia, the London eye, Buddhist temples, and the Pantheon. Our top travel desti-nation was India because of my mother. She immigrated to the United States when she already twenty-seven, bringing with her a set of traditions, value systems and expectations of the life that she was going to lead abroad. She left behind, however, her cul-ture, her servants and her family. For those things she has left be-hind, every two years my moth-er and we three kids returned to India to visit for a period of ten weeks, to a country wrought with economic strife, poor gover-nance, and sad living conditions. We visited the slum during one of our trips to India. We used to pack eight suitcases for our voyages there, suitcases stuffed

full with American shampoos, cheap electronics and clothes—gifts for my Indian cousins. It’s funny how jealous I used to get. I remember the polaroid camera that my younger cousin got for his birthday when he was nine. He lived in the Himalayas, so the shots he could take would have been spectacular. I spent the night crying that my mom hated me. Why hadn’t she gotten ME one? The trip began deceptively inno-cently. We left our house around 6 am. I had barely slept the night in anticipation. There I was, rub-bing my eyes, helping my mother load the suitcases into the mini-van. It’s nice to begin your travel before the sun rises. It’s almost like you’re sneaking out of town without a whisper. It makes peo-ple miss you much more that way. But then you get to the airport, and on the busier days, it feels al-most as if the entire world is there to greet you. It was in such a busy day that we arrived, parked the car and went to check in. Then we joined the line for security. I was so tired; I remember how cranky and annoyed I was that my mother wouldn’t let me listen to my Wal-kman until we were planeside. My parent’s frugality was not only confined to when we were home—we also traveled on a budget. We never stayed at the nicest hotels, never flew first class, rarely ordered appetizers with dinner. Though our parents raised us to value experiences more than possessions, their

By Ankur Bajaj

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instruction didn’t prevent my siblings and me from being influenced by our interactions with our schoolmates. We lived in a wealthy neighborhood where all of our friends had brand name clothes, the nicest backpacks and the newest music players. We saw what they had and wanted it for ourselves. I demanded a PlayStation videogame system for Christmas, my little sister wanted juicy couture sweatpants and my little brother really wanted a tuxedo, although I can’t quite understand the last one. When my siblings and I traveled we acted similarly. Who cared about the Louvre or the Great Wall, we wanted to go to Disney World Paris or buy knockoff Gucci apparel. Going to India was even more difficult. For ten weeks we had to give up central air-conditioning, American television shows, access to any non-Indian cui-sine, and even Internet connection. The day I visited the slum was one of the hottest of the summer. You know a hot day in India by the reaction of the natives. They’re usually adorned in mismatching, flamboyant plumes, whatever they can get their hands on. But when it’s really hot many choose to wear light white rags that cover just their privates or even go naked. In the moment, heat trumps shame. Then again, shame cuts far deeper. The tourists, though, are completely

unaware and unprepared. They carry around Nalgene bottles, fanny packs stuffed full with red thousand note rupees and those hand-held fans that you often get at amusement parks. They luck out because un-like the natives, they’re allowed into the air-con-ditioned high-end restau-rants and jewelry stores.

Because of our frequent visits, a part of me grew up in India, which gives me a completely different per-spective than those who come as tourists. Without an extended visit, it’s difficult to get to know the “real” India. Now more than ever, due to the country’s status as a global travel destination, the government focus-es on making tourist destinations very commercialized and thus prof-itable. New Delhi has even invested in a marketing campaign, branded “Incredible !ndia.” The campaign showcases the newly built infrastruc-ture, the lush flora and fauna of the subcontinent and the rich culture of the many faiths present. In order to better present the country, the gov-ernment has gone to great lengths. They have publicly condemned the caste system, but have done little else to dismantle it. Thus the system still plays a central role in socioethnic issues, includ-ing education, employment and marriage. They have erected fiber-glass barriers around the slums show-ing images of smiling stock actors. Instead

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of spending money effectively to improve the quality of life of the poorest, they spend money to hide them. Ashamed of the country’s poverty, the Indian government seeks to distance itself from its roots. We walked through a dense market, greeted by people peddling all sorts of silver and gold chains and pendants, hand-woven rugs and pillowcases and Indian sweets made of cashews and carrots. The aromas were spec-tacular. Rich, pungent, ancient spices like bright yellow turmeric, dull brown cumin and sharp red chili power were made more potent by the hot tempera-ture. A stray breeze that grazed one of those huge piles could make your mouth pucker or send you into a coughing fit. Entire empires had ris-en and fallen on those seasonings. And some families made their liv-ings on them. But the best was the street food. Things like gol gappa (deep fried bread), rus malai (cream and cardamom dessert), lassi (yo-gurt smoothie) and chat (Indian trail mix) used to cause my pudgy frame to quiver with excitement. They were so good that their very names mean lick (chat) or eat (gappa). Alongside those little restaurant gems were the beggars. Each suffered from an idiosyncratic malformation or condition. But they all had the same eyes—open, full of longing, and hun-

ger. Of course the owners of the restaurants wouldn’t help these people—the owners in fact drove them away by the backs of their hands and the strength of their voices. “Bad for

business,” they’d say. “Please forgive us for the interruption,” they’d add af-ter. They’d try to obfuscate the fact that their restaurants were located in the midst of some of the world’s poor-est. They wanted you to forget that while you sat and enjoyed your meal, you were taunting those around you, some of whom probably hadn’t had anything substantive to eat in weeks. But then again, though they owned restaurants, they weren’t much better off financially than the beggars, and so they needed to dress up the pover-ty. Otherwise, people wouldn’t come to eat. Who can eat on a guilty stomach?

The Indian government hides its problems almost as a child does to a broken vase: they try really hard but fail to conceal very well. The difficul-ty in modernizing steps from how deep the culture runs—tracing itself back to one of the oldest civiliza-tions at Harappa in the Indus valley. Bringing together influences from the Eurasian Aryan people, the na-tive Dravidians, the Mughal invaders, and the British Raj, Indian society is broad yet profoundly conservative. At its core, the society is a patriarchy. In some places, new widows are still forced to commit suicide in a ritu-al called sati, which consists of their throwing themselves on the funeral

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pyres of their husbands. Without their spouses, the widows are viewed as a drain on society. The mothers-in-law relish the smell of the burning flesh of their deceased sons’ wives. The practice is of course condemned by the central government, but to what avail? The gov-ernment tries to make the country more like the west, yet the country’s history and culture is grounded in the east. The government agents remain determined, motivated by how noble they perceive their cause of westernization, unaware of the consequences of their actions . While trying to advance social caus-es like the prohibition of sati and the caste system by encouraging economic growth and business development, they develop a hunger in the Indian people for western standards of consumption, production and global political power. The government should tread carefully. We finally entered the slum. The stench hit me first. People wallowing in their own filth, babies suckling on the dry breasts of hungry mothers, children no more than eight or nine walking around with distend-ed bellies. These children looked immense, almost like my friends from back home in the suburbs. Cheetoes and video games had done us in. But there was something off with these children. They had the beg-gar-eyes. Extreme malnutrition. I was sick to my stomach. The children followed mothers in bright purple and orange rags.

They did rounds in the slums and neighboring areas with their children in tow, rattling empty tin cups, be-seeching tourists and Indians alike for money to buy food. The women of course would be willing suffer hun-ger if their children could be fed. I later learned that many of them would be-come prostitutes to feed their families. A few years later after the visit to the slum, everything really came into sharp focus on a visit to New York City that our family took around Christmas. I was still young at the time, probably around eleven or twelve. We had plans to do all of the touristy things—the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and the Empire State building. Rockefeller center was my favorite. Though I really didn’t have the figure for figure skat-ing and can only skate clumsily, there was still something thrilling about being able to slide over the ice, espe-cially during the holidays. I was walk-ing out of the rink when I noticed my shoelaces were undone. I dropped my ice skates and kneeled to tie my shoes when I saw a ten year old yelling at his mother. “Why the fuck didn’t you get me a Gameboy—do you hate me?” he said. “You don’t care about me. You’re the worst mom ever!” he added. He, pink with rage, stormed off. I could see the shame in her eyes. I went and buried myself in my mother’s bosom.

As a Japanese language stu-dent, I am often asked “Why?”, “Why are you studying Japa-nese?”, “Why Japanese and not another language?”, “Why do you like Japanese culture?” Af-ter being asked these ques-tions so many times, and after a little bit of soul-searching, I have settled on a two-part an-swer: one, I have been to Japan and it is an amazing place filled with fascinating people and a captivating culture; two, I have a small dream of living in Ja-pan in the future and possibly working there. The latter goal is definitely influenced by the for-mer, and a bit harder to achieve.

With this goal in mind, I have started looking into opportuni-ties to go to Japan. I realize that finding employment in Japan can be difficult, especially at a large company with a good sal-ary, so even spending a single semester studying abroad in Ja-pan would be satisfying for me. For those of you who share my interests, here are some options: Studying abroad is a good segue into further opportunities. Cornell University offers a num-ber of study abroad options that range from spending a summer in Japan to a full year. The Japa-nese academic terms begin and end on different months than the ones in the U.S., so be care-ful when picking a program in terms of timing. Fall semester is usually from late September to February, and spring from March to August. However, some Jap-anese colleges are starting to cater to international students, and offer separate programs that follow the American school schedule. These programs vary in location, from Osaka to Tokyo and beyond, and in their selec-tion of courses. Many schools of-fer language or culture intensive programs, but some also offer a variety of courses in English, in-creasing opportunities for peo-

Going Abroad to Japan? Here’s How to Stay

By Fay Gulotta

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ple with multiple interests and varying majors to study abroad.If you are truly interested in going to Japan to study, look into it, but be careful about the timing and class availability. Also note that sometimes you can piggyback off of oth-er schools’ programs and still get cred-it, but this requires extra work and at-tention to forms and Cornell’s credit transfer policy. You will also need a stu-dent visa, and note that foreign students are unable to work in Japan without special permissions.

Working in Japan usually con-sists of three types of jobs: teach-ing English, working as a transla-tor/interpreter, or working for an international company. Note that each requires a distinct working visa that needs to be applied for ahead of time. Proficiency in each language can also determine

the type of job and salary. Te a c h i n g English is the simplest and most avail-able type of job for West-ern foreigners. It can consist

of teaching in a classroom, pri-vate tutoring, aiding a teacher, or recording tapes with proper pronunciation. The nature of the job will vary depending on in-

dividual skill and knowledge of grammar in each language. This type of work is readily available because English is an appealing language to learn in Japan and because of the purportedly faulty

teaching practices in Japanese schools. There are a number of programs that facilitate obtain-ing a teaching position in Japan. Translating or interpreting is also a popular line of work. This is usually done in smaller firms. Depending on one’s ability and experience as a translator, this type of work will vary in terms of the firm’s size, the importance of the work, and the salary. Rep-utation is important in Japan. With longer relationships valued over shorter ones, beginners who plan on making a career of translating may have a long road ahead. This type of work can of-ten follow a teaching position.A job at a large global company is the most difficult to obtain. This career path usually requires a high level of knowledge of Jap-anese language and culture and the ability to travel often. Cor-

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nell students may start work-ing in the U.S. and then come across job opportunities lo-cated in Japan either through business trips or transferring to offices in Japan. Of course, this requires that the company have a branch in Japan or a need to interact with Japanese firms. A Cornell student told me that he was learning Japanese solely for the opportunity to transfer to a Japanese branch of Sony, which is based in Tokyo. However, he has to be proficient before be-ing considered for the position. Business culture in Japan is also very different than that in the U.S. Top management de-cides the direction of the firm, and the decision is transferred downwards, with lower employ-ees simply carrying out orders. There is less room for innovation or idea input from junior employ-

ees in a traditional Japanese firm. Global companies may follow different standards, but this strict culture should be anticipated. For Japanese language stu-dents who plan on becoming fluent, I recommend going for the higher paying job in a firm. For others, it would be in your interest to pick a teaching or translating position. Remem-ber to get the correct visa, be open to cultural differences and seek advice if you have questions about this process.

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Painting Socialism

By Danielle Shen This article is a statement regarding artwork Socialism with Chinese Characteristics displayed in Olive Tjaden Gallery. Close up photos of the artwork can be found in the next page.

This piece speaks to many of the topics surrounding the People’s Republic of China, including the reign of the country’s communist cen-tral government and economy, controlled by the capitalist and often corrupt tendencies of individuals-what is a system of “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” The People’s Republic is the largest consumer-ist economy, and has even been referred to as a capitalist dictatorship. The left image- Most significantly, this is the old version of the Chinese RMB, and features imagery of “the people”, each value is as-sociated with a different class, or ethnic minority (pre-1999). These depict a generic Chinese propaganda print aesthetic as well as ref-erence to the off printing of cheap traditional Chinese products.

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Middle image-The middle arrangement unifies the composition in its allusion to the flag, the icon of national identity. One red star floats in the left corner, a Communist party; supporting classes void. The significance of the white print on newsprint implies a gradual de-terioration of the image, as well as references to both white as a sig-nal of surrender and its association to death within Chinese culture.

Right image-inverted imagery. China is one of the top (cen-sored) black money markets with over 261 billion dollars worth in fake currency in circulation. This new version of the Chinese curren-cy centralizes the lone and supreme Mao portrait on every value, replacing the individuality of the old currency imagery. The manip-ulation of the Mao figure suggests a disfiguration and devaluation

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of money as well as communist leadership. Currency, when viewed as a material object, is merely a piece of printed paper. The “money” thus plays on the materiality of print itself. Money is only given value through social constructs and its function within systems of econo-my. Objectively, it is worthless, yet influences a majority of what hap-pens throughout the world. At the same time, this piece of paper, is a beautiful and loaded imagery. They are intricate and so visually complex so that they cannot be replicated, and speaks to a country’s history and culture. This piece is ultimately a dialogue on the changes that occurred from the beginnings of communism and the cultural revolution, to contemporary issues in the People’s Republic that have stemmed di-rectly and indirectly from that not too long ago history.

Art and Criticality in China: Ironically, the Chinese art market today is one of the most corrupt markets in the world - and the most lucrative. Art as commodity, art as investment, and art as money. The Chinese art scene itself, like most realms of public expression, is under the constant surveillance of the government, where cen-sorship is regularly implement-ed and freedom of expression is suppressed and censored. Cornell Cinema recently (2/05/2013) screened Ai Wei-wei: Never Sorry directed by Al-ison Klayman and introduced to the university by Ellen Avril, Curator of Asian Art, Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell Univer-sity. The documentary received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Ai Wei Wei is China’s most outspoken artist critic of the country’s communist govern-

ment, as well as its widespread corruption throughout the sys-tem- from police brutality, cheap construction, censorship, to even the Chinese art world itself, etc. His work spans all media and greatly utilizes the internet for mass and instant communication with his followers worldwide (e.g. Twitter). Ai Wei Wei’s art is seen as danger-ous and dissident by the Chinese government, as his most import-ant “work” has been in the form of directly antagonizing the police in his attempt to expose the truth. In this way, Wei Wei’s work has a very performative quality; art is the fight for freedom of expression. An-other important aspect of his work is the large-scale production be-hind some of his pieces. Although his work is not entirely free from economic influences (as his exhi-bitions currently tour all over the world), Wei Wei is not a sell-out. All of his profits go back into making his work and exposing the truth. For his 100 million sunflower seed

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installation at the Tate, he em-ployed entire villages to hand make the porcelain seeds and hand paint every single one. The production thus very much be-comes a part of the conceptual in his work.

Due to his attempts to expose the corruption of the Chinese government to the public, Ai Wei Wei has been actively pursued by the government. He was placed under house arrest in 2010, and then prevented from leaving the country due to reasons of “nation-al security.” In 2011, his Shanghai studio was demolished in a sur-prise move, and the government demanded $12 million for sup-posed tax evasions. However, Wei Wei turned the demolition into a mock ceremony, where his followers gathered as an act of

protest to official censorship. On April 3rd, 2011, Ai Wei Wei was de-tained at the Beijing Airport and arrested on accounts of “economic crimes.” He went missing until June 2011, during the time, internation-al protests and petitions broke out for his release. He was also named most powerful artist by ArtReview. Participants in the demonstration for his release included the San Diego MOCA, and the NY Gug-genheim. Months after his return, Ai Wei Wei returned to his work, perhaps more critical than ever. In his article which he wrote for the The Guardian titled ‘Chi-na’s Art World Does Not Exist’, he states that, although the Chinese scene has become internation-al news, the Chinese art world does not have its own identity or a clear orientation. He questions the 2012 contemporary Chinese

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Art Show-Art of Change: New Directions from China, asking “how can you have a show of ‘contemporary Chinese art’ that doesn’t address a single one of the country’s most pressing con-temporary issues?” While the art is ambiguously charming, Wei Wei firmly believes it lacks any kind of criticality and is a mere product. This contemporary work is “just another attempt to introduce western audienc-es to so-called ‘contemporary Chinese art’.” He says the art is “certainly Chinese but, overall, the show casts no critical eye. It is like a restaurant in Chinatown that sells all the standard dishes, such as kung pao chicken and sweet and sour pork. People will eat it and say it is Chinese, but it is simply a consumerist offer-ing, providing little in the way of a genuine experience of life.” He further states that “contem-porary Chinese art” is merely the government “desperately

promoting cultural exchanges with the West, with the goal of pre-senting itself as a civilised nation. These are superficial gestures, no different from the ping-pong di-plomacy practised in the 1970s by Chairman Mao. Anything that calls itself a cultural exchange is artifi-cial when it lacks any critical con-tent. What’s needed is open dis-cussion, a platform for argument. Art needs to stand for something.” China is a country notorious for active censorship [especially on the internet-the great firewall], the most “internet criminals”, a history of violent suppression, illegitimate jailing of individuals [Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo], and gen-eral oppression of anyone with a dissident opinion. According to Ai Wei Wei, art is first and foremost the freedom of expression, thus it is important for work to be critical in China of China. Wei Wei says of himself, “my work has always been political, because the choice of be-ing an artist is political in China.

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Pubic Hair - That’s What We Call

OurselvesBy Jim Zhuoheng Li

Friends like to talk dirty sometimes, just for fun.

Last winter break, I went back to China, after my first experience in a different surrounding. Same old same old, my friends from high school told me when we saw each other again. We started chatting, talking about our first semester college lives. But one phrase appeared a lot in our conversation. My friends kept calling themselves Diao Si, which literally means pubic hair. That was fun. But what followed are their complaints about their college lives, that they could not find a girlfriend and that schoolwork was too heavy.

Then what’s with this dirty phrase?

Diao Si? Underprivileged Losers? Diao Si, or underprivileged losers, is used to describe underprivi-leged people who lack many societal “gifts” that society recognize. For example, a person who is short, not good-looking, with-

out a girlfriend/boyfriend, earning low salaries, wearing cheap clothes, or using low-tech phone is usually called Diao Si. However, many young people are beginning to use this phrase in China, among them, includ-ing my friends from high school.

Despite the fact that they all go to great colleges in China, why do they describe themselves as such? By calling themselves underprivileged losers, are my friends too pessimistic about their future?

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According to Lifeweek, a Chinese magazine, such negative emotion and lack of motivation can be attributed to the rapid economic and the subsequent societal transition in China. In the past ten years, with a more open and competitive market, it is reasonable that Chinese youth feel more pressure than before. Low employment rates after college grad-uation, low starting salaries, and the inability to afford the high-priced apartments create an unsatisfactory future outlook that encroaches students’ self-esteem and interfere with their future self-development.

But maybe some people, though they call themselves Diao Si, are just trying to release all these pressures through self-depreciation. Vivienne Wang, a writer of Flamingo Shanghai, regarded it as a reflec-tion of youth taking themselves and their situation less seriously. By calling out this phrase, the youth are admitting their triviality and in-significance. This mindset may be different from what we are taught in the U.S., where people emphasize more on individuality and the magic of confidence. Nevertheless, the humbleness shown in calling oneself Diao Si can be very effective in releasing negative energy and pessimistic emotions. Besides, some celebrities call themselves Diao Si, too. The main vocal in a Taiwanese band Mayday, A Xin, mocked

himself one time, saying, “back on the stage, I’m a star; down from the stage, I’m just a Diao Si.” Appar-ently, he does not lack any socially recognized gifts; he appreciates all the ordinary moments he has instead of celebrating all those extraor-dinary performances on the stage because at times, like everyone, what he wants is living an ordinary life.

What About Us?

After all, maybe my friends do not really lack self-es-teem; instead they may be simply releasing stress.

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Thinking in my friends’ shoes, maybe I am the tensed person who does not know how to relax or what to complain. Our life is filled with papers, programming, and presentation. Occupied with so many opportunities and challenges at Cornell, I gradually feel numb to entertainments. This is true to me, and this could also be true to some of us. Sometimes we are just so ambitious. Sometimes we just feel we have not studied enough. Sometimes we think if we pause, we lose. But if we keep working like this, there will be no life. Why are we striving so hard for our goals? Certainly, it is to gain certain reputation and to earn enough money. But where do these “cer-tain” and “enough” end? The answer could be infinity. Think about it. What we are actually pursuing eventually is an ordinary life, a life that is not special but gives us comfort and satisfaction. Why don’t we give us some breaks and try to call ourselves Diao Si sometimes?

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The Weavers StoriesWritten by Amanda Aragon

Edited by Yasmin Fouladi

With neither paintings nor sculptures, the Weavers’ Stories from Island Southeast Asia exhi-bition is not the typical Johnson Museum art exhibit. A televi-sion playing in the center of the room leads one to wonder its purpose—Maybe it explains the history of the pieces on display? Maybe it is an in-depth analysis of the works on display? Howev-er, the television does not answer any of these questions. It instead airs short clips of women living in different parts of Southeast Asia. Each short video offers a unique insight into the nuanc-es of weaving explained by the weavers themselves, which is a helpful prelude to examining the multiple cloths on display. There are sarongs, carrying clothes, and even a loom-length cloth that reaches from the ceiling to the floor. Not only are the cloths divided by country, but also by weaver. Even more interesting is the fact that the women speaking

in the video clips are the actual weavers of the cloths on display. One of the videos features a woman named Siti Samsiyah who lives in Tanjungbumi, Madura, In-donesia. In the video, she explains that most women take up batik (the making of these cloths) as a way to alleviate their loneliness when their husbands are away at

sea for long periods of time. She notes that this is why many of the cloths made by her giat mandiri (loosely translated to self-reli-ance) company have sea motifs. Indeed, looking around at Siti’s work, the influences of the sea are clear. Her cloths span entire walls and are composed of deep blues punctuated by subtle reds and greens that work together to

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create a single flowing and fluid pattern. One of her cloths fea-tures a pattern of roosters with wave-like tails that swirl down into the deep sea-blue area of the cloth,. Looking at these in-tricate pieces, it is easy to forget that each one was done by hand. In the room next to the one displaying Siti’s work are com-pletely different cloths weaved by Margareta Taub Kapitan from Insana, West Timor, Indonesia. Margareta’s cloths are nothing like Siti’s and the difference is due to her weaving process, which is explained in her video clip. Unlike Siti, who dyes the cloth in certain ways to achieve an aesthetic ef-fect, Margareta individually wraps each string of cloth on the loom. Looking closely at her works, ev-ery single stitch is visible to the naked eye. The different colored stitches form large geometric patterns that are beautiful with their vibrant colors. Margareta further explains that weaving is a way of life in her village. It pro-vides a much-needed income to the women of her village, and Margareta has become the first to teach her style of weaving as part of a family welfare movement. Looking around the exhib-

it, it becomes clear that these are more than simply cloths on dis-play. Each cloth represents some-one’s story, someone’s strug-gle, or someone’s triumph. The exhibit provides first-hand and unique stories from the weavers, which adds greater depth to the cloths on display. It’s an atten-tion-grabber down to the last video clip and last cloth. This dis-tinct exhibition is open until May 5, 2013 at the Johnson Museum of Art, so be sure not to miss it!

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“The Twitter of China”? Weibo!

by Sherry Xueying Li

In August of 2009, Sina Corporation launched a test version of a website called Weibo and instantly drew immense attention. Ever since, Weibo became increasingly competitive in the media market and, with the blockage of Facebook and Twitter in China, it became the “Big Boss” in the micro-blogging market. Today, Weibo, the “Twit-ter of China,” has over 368 million registered users, which amounts to almost 30% of the Internet users and 56% of micro-bloggers in China.

High accessibility, timeliness of news, originality, and interactivity define Weibo’s main features. Similar to Twitter and Facebook, Weibo is accessible through phones and computers; users can post anything on Weibo, comment on the posts, chat with friends, and follow oth-er users and topics. Due to its huge amount of users and unique fea-tures, Weibo has become the most influential social network in China.

So who uses Weibo and for what?

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A Medium for Celebrities On Weibo, you can find almost any celebrity that you are inter-ested in, ranging from singers to entrepreneurs, who use Weibo to interact with their fans and gain more attention. A popular and active actor – like @Wu Qilong – on Weibo may have over 20 million followers, most of whom gradually become faithful fans. Similarly, entrepreneurs in indus-tries such as catering and media often propagate their businesses on Weibo. In fact, a recent trend has been observed in which for-eign celebrities such as Kobe Bryant and Avril Lavigne are registering on the social media.

A Medium for Civics While existing celebrities gain attention and money on Weibo, some active users actually be-come celebrities through Weibo. For example, user @Weidadean-nie posted a series of her daily life in a cartoon format, which grabbed Weibo citizens’ atten-tion, gained immense popularity, and, ultimately, allowed @Wei-dadeanni to publish her comics.

Sometimes, the rise to fame is not about the users, but the is-sues they bring to appeal to the Weibo citizens. Once an issue arises, millions of people aggre-gate on Weibo, bring out their own opinions, and argue for jus-tice. A recent example concerns a controversial legal case in which a celebrity’s son raped a young girl with several other males, and then reached a settlement with

the victim’s family without severe legal consequences. People criti-cized this conflict between legis-lative justice and morality on Wei-bo and brought more attention to this case. After pressures from the public for a legal action built up on Weibo, the police at last sued the criminal for a proper case.

Ranging from cartoon post-ings to calls for legal actions, Weibo is a vibrant environment where people of numerous back-grounds gather with diverse in-terests. Weibo users look for gos-sip, justice, money, and help on Weibo while sharing their lives and speaking out their thoughts. The “Twitter of China,” thus, has become an incredibly important platform for China. For a quick, instant immersion in the life and culture of China, Weibo just may be the perfect place to be.

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Chinese New Year 2013 by Lucy He

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Want us to feature you? Are you a student group? event cooridnator? Professor or staff?

We’d love to hear from you! For any questions or comments, please email Byong Han Kim at bk292@cornell.edu

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