Does ambassador Michael Clauss read Dr. Pattberg's essays?

BEIJING - I don't think that Mr Michael Clauss has read my two recent articles on Sino-Western relations here, and here while in Hong Kong last week. But I surely have another bold and thought-provoking piece about the casus 'Zhang Miao and Angela Köckritz' up my sleeves for Beijing. Should be good in a week or so. Stay tuned in...

"I think I see it better now after some reflection. Mr Clauss pressed Beijing on that poor Zhang Miao and Beijing lost its temper, reached out for the first biddable German and dictated a stream of hate and spite that we had to endure in yesterday's paper under the byline of Thorsten Pattberg, knowing Mr Clauss would be in Hong Kong to read it. This, despite revolting us as ordinary readers, succeeded in its main goal of destabilizing German foreign policy and extracting this craven interview. Western diplomats and leaders are going to need to learn to be stronger than that." 

Comment by ehoprice on South China Morning Post: 

Settle wartime grievances German ambassador to China urges Beijing, Tokyo

They did it again (Big Think)

BEIJING - Xi Jinping's Anti-Corruption initiative resembles more and more Mao Zedong's Hundred Flowers campaign. People are encouraged to speak up and against abuses of state power and corruption, only to find themselves facing trial and ending up in prison for subversion of state power or disturbing public order. Looks like Xu Zhiyong joins the ranks of famous dissidents like Liu Xiaobo (Nobel Peace Prize laureate), Ai Weiwei (a world renowned artist), and Dalai Lama (His Holiness). Protest from the US and Europe as usual, but business with China must go on.

Read it at Big Think: They did it again

Cultural Fascism and White Vocabulary Policies in Major US publications

"The west cultivates the dangerous notion that “knowledge only exists if it’s the West that knows it”. The consequences are far-reaching."

"Expats among themselves:Unfortunately, their journalists and editors, all Western educated, seem to have little knowledge and interest in the Chinese tradition (they couldn't tell your author what rujia or a shengren was); they jet in the country from one English-language conference to another (they don't speak Chinese), and are mostly looking out for English-speaking compatriots or Chinese ABCs in China to help them fill their pages. That the Chinese people for the last three thousand years have all kinds of jia, jiao, and xue (schools, practices, and teachings), and their own terms, categories, taxonomies, and archetypes of wisdom that the West might want to learn, understand, letting alone to know about seems to be beyond Science's mission to create a Chinese-free world of knowledge. As the historian Howard Zinn once remarked: "If something is omitted from history, people have no way of knowing that it is omitted." It is rather sad."

Read at Big Think: Cultural Fascism - Science Magazine: No shengren, please!

Pattberg: Translations reduce the world to what we already know

Thorsten Pattberg, Peking University, 2013

This article appeared in Trouw, a Dutch newspaper, on Aug 17, 2013

Excerpt from Hans van der Gaarden's Blog post 'Ver-Taal'

"Translations reduce the world to what we already know" reads a provocative quote in a recent opinion article entitled ‘Learning about China using the correct words’ published by Trouw newspaper on August 17. The quote originates from the German linguist Thorsten Pattberg who works at Peking University. His plea to let some Chinese words untranslated is defended by the Hong Kong-based communications specialist Adrienne Simons. –Hans van der Gaarden

Excerpt from ‘Met woorden leer je China pas écht kennen’, Aug 17, 2013, by Adrienne Simons:

“China is unloved and unknown. This is primarily a communication and language problem. What the West sees in China, it often sees through English language glasses. That obscures the view more than we think.”

“Talking past each other results in a relationship based on misunderstanding, mistrust and removal. It’s no different between countries. But China has become too big and too influential to be kept at a distance.”

“This means that Asian academics, artists and journalists cultural should introduce Chinese concepts using the original terms, instead of thinking about how Americans would call those things. It also means that Western opinion makers should do likewise and make an effort to understand China in the future, and what better way is there than learning Chinese words.”

The original op-ed is written in Dutch. It can be READ HERE.

Thorsten Pattberg and Frank Sieren - Vertrauen Wagen (Peking University Conference)

Thorsten Pattbergwith Frank Sieren, Bestselling Author, Journalist, and Political Commentator

PEKING UNIVERSITY - I have been frequenting Beijing since 2003 –lived, studied, and created here- but never met in person who is possibly the Number One of all German “China-Experts”: Frank Sieren. Mr. Sieren is best known for his close relation to former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt who is a known "Friend of China" and who met many of China’s most influential leaders, including the great dictator Mao Zedong himself. Sieren and Schmidt produced very influential books, articles, and interviews. As a result, Frank Sieren became a superstar in all things related to China in the German-speaking world (his books became bestsellers in Germany and have been translated into Chinese), and a famed public speaker and moderator on Sino-German relations –political and cultural. He lives in China –in Beijing, mainly- for almost two decades now. Not always easy, I guess –the air quality, the traffic jams, the party dictatorship- but as the expat saying goes: Someone’s got to do it! Best of luck! [GO TO FRANK SIEREN'S WEBSITE]

Ramadan ends at Niujie Mosque in Beijing, August 8, 2013

Niujie Mosque in Beijing on August 8, 2013 (Side Entrance)

BEIJING - Niujie Mosque is the oldest in Beijing, dating back to 996 AD during the Liao Dynasty. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting. The end of Ramadan and the beginning of the next lunar month is called Shawwal.

Niujie Mosque in Beijing on August 8, 2013 (Preparation for Shawwal)

There are an estimated 10,000 to 60,000 Muslims living in Beijing, mostly from Hui minority, the largest group of Muslims in Beijing, followed by Uighur.

Niujie Mosque in Beijing on August 8, 2013 (Main Prayer Hall)

The architecture is Chinese with Islamic interior designs. You even get Chinese calligraphy and paintings mixed into the wall paintings. Before the prayer, a Chinese governmental note was read, usually praising the Party and how it successfully manages China's cultural diversity.

Niujie Mosque in Beijing on August 8, 2013 (Imam prays)

It is a fascinating thing to experience the holidays of another culture's tradition, and Chinese Islam is a wonderful journey.

Shanghai Daily - The Chinese dream (by Emily Yao)

Thanks for quoting goes to Emily Yao from Shanghai Daily: "It's not about a definition, but more about universality," Thorsten Pattberg, a doctor of letters and research fellow at Peking University, said of Xi's concept. "You, I and everyone have dreams. The question becomes: Can you fulfill your dreams in China and not elsewhere?" (July 30, 2013)

Thorsten Pattberg and Riccardo Pozzo – Comparing China and the West

In Beijing with Riccardo Pozzo, philosopher, activist, and Director of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage of Centro Nationale de Ricerca in Rome, Italy, recently toured Beijing and promoted ‘The World Digital Library (WDL)’ project and ‘The European Cultural Heritage Online (ECHO)’ initiative. (June 14, 2013)

At Beijing Sihai Confucius Academy

Visiting Beijing Sihai Confucius Academy (from left to right:) Pei Songxian, Feng Zhe, Thorsten Pattberg

Visit to Sihai Confucius Academy in Beijing (June 17, 2013). This academy is a private school that caters for children age 3-13 to learn Chinese classics, and to become experts and practitioners of Chinese culture. The student teacher ratio is 150 to 40, and 20 support staff. The curriculum heavily favors both Chinese and Western classics. Children board Monday to Friday at the academy and return home for the weekends.

The academy lies in the suburbs of Beijing on a mountain slide with forests, gardens, and beautiful mansions with clean and tidy halls, classrooms, playgrounds and student dormitories. Sihai Confucius Academy has successfully established itself as a brand, with its own farm product, a vegetarian restaurant chain, the Ertong education project, etc.

Moreover, Sihai Confucius Academy receives regular media attentionfrom home and abroad, hosts conferences, and publishes its own teaching materials, built from scratch its classical library, offers outdoor programs, organic farming, music classes, and is supported from famous Confucian scholars like Gu Zhengkun, Wang Caigui, Wang Dianqing, Guo Qijia, Roger Ames, He Guangrong, Ling Zi, and Tu Weiming. The list goes on.

And yes, the students here learn to recite the Dao De Jing, for example. Sometimes at the age of three. Really. [SEE WEIBO BLOG] [BACK TO MAIN]

Thorsten Pattberg with Gary Locke, Ambassador of the United States to China

Not the average party that is attended by the distinguished Ambassador of the United States to China, Gary Locke, and his very beautiful wife Mona Locke. The diplomatic relationship between Germany and the United States in China are thankfully as good as ever. We are living in exciting times. [BACK TO MAIN]

Pattberg Cameo on Journey of Civilization, CCTV4

Journey of Civilization 文明之旅 （wenming zhi lv） is a weekly cultural program on CCTV4, moderated by famed TV anchor 刘芳菲 LIU Fangfei, that features various aspects of cultural China. It is broadcast in Chinese language, but nicely subtitled in English, and thus very popular with foreigners in China too. [Click here to watch]. [BACK TO MAIN].

 

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Thorsten Pattberg with multimillionaire Karl Schlecht

Thorsten Pattberg with multimillionaire Karl Schlecht, industrial genius and founding father of the recently established World Ethics Institute Beijing (WEIB) that will help China to leap to the forefront of global business ethics.

Thorsten Pattberg with William McBride

Thorsten Pattberg with William McBride, President of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, FISP. The 23rd World Congress of Philosophy will be held August 4-10, 2013 in Athens.

Pattberg with William McBride in Beijing, March 2013