Slow slicing

:''For the Chinese medicinal mushroom, see Lingzhi.''

Slow slicing , also translated as the ''slow process'', the ''lingering death'', or ''death by a thousand cuts'', was a form of execution used in China from roughly AD 900 to its abolition in 1905. In this form of execution, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time. The term língchí derives from a classical description of ascending a mountain slowly.

Lingchi was reserved for crimes viewed as especially severe, such as treason and killing one's parents. The process involved tying the person to be executed to a wooden frame, usually in a public place. The flesh was then cut from the body in multiple slices in a process that was not specified in detail in Chinese law and therefore most likely varied. In later times, opium was sometimes administered either as an act of mercy or as a way of preventing fainting. The punishment worked on three levels: as a form of public humiliation, as a slow and lingering death, and as a punishment after death.

According to the Confucian principle of filial piety or ''xiao'' to alter one's body or to cut the body is a form of unfilial practice. Lingchi therefore contravenes the demands of ''xiao''. In addition, to be cut to pieces meant that the body of the victim would not be 'whole' in a spiritual life after death.

This method of execution became a fixture in the image of China among some Westerners. It appears in various accounts of Chinese cruelty, such as Harold Lamb's 1930s biography of Genghis Khan.

Description

''Lingchi'' could be used for the torture and execution of a living person, or applied as an act of humiliation after death. It was meted out for offenses such as acts of treason, murder, or assault on one's parents. There are problems in obtaining accurate details of how the executions took place, but the executions consisted of cuts to the arms, legs, and chest leading to amputation of limbs and followed by decapitation or a stab to the heart.

Art historian James Elkins argues that extant photos of the execution make obvious that the "death by division" involved some degree of dismemberment while the subject was living. However, Elkins also argues that, contrary to the apocryphal version of "death by a thousand cuts", the actual process could not have lasted long, the condemned could likely not have remained conscious and aware after one or two severe wounds, and the entire process could not have included more than a "few dozen" wounds. Reliable eyewitnesses, like Meadows , describe a fast process lasting no longer than 15 to 20 minutes. Available photographic records seem to prove the speed of the event as the crowd remains consistent across the series of photographs. Moreover, these photographs show a striking contrast between the stream of blood that soaks the left flank of the victim and the lack of blood on the right side, possibly showing that the first or the second cut has reached the heart. . The ''coup de gr?ce'' was all the more certain when the family could afford a bribe.

Western perceptions of ''lingchi''

The western perception of ''língchí'' has often differed considerably from the actual practice, and some misconceptions persist to the present. The distinction between the sensationalized Western myth and the Chinese reality was noted by Westerners as early as 1895. That year, Australian traveler , who claimed to have witnessed an execution by slicing, wrote that "Ling Chi commonly, and quite wrongly, translated as 'death by slicing into 10,000 pieces' — a truly awful description of a punishment whose cruelty has been extraordinarily misrepresented ... The mutilation is ghastly and excites our horror as an example of barbarian cruelty; but it is not cruel, and need not excite our horror, since the mutilation is done, not before death, but after."

According to apocryphal lore, ''língchí'' began when the torturer, wielding an extremely sharp knife, began by putting out the eyes, rendering the condemned incapable of seeing the remainder of the torture and, presumably, adding considerably to the psychological terror of the procedure. Successive rather minor cuts chopped off ears, nose, tongue, fingers, toes, and such before proceeding to grosser cuts that removed large portions of flesh from more sizable parts, e.g., thighs and shoulders. The entire process was said to last three days, and to total 3,600 cuts. The heavily carved bodies of the deceased were then put on a parade for a show in the public. Some victims were reportedly given doses of opium, but accounts differ as to whether the drug was said to amplify or alleviate suffering. There are discrepancies between descriptions and evaluations according to the authors' moral and religious background: Protestants tend to understate the physical ordeal of the condemned, while Catholics tended to exaggerate.

Some modern writers suggest that ''língchí'' — as a genuine adjunct to execution — was exaggerated in some retellings to become the more sensationalistic "death by a thousand cuts." This apparent confusion might be due to the novelty of slicing to Western observers, or attributed to mistranslation, cultural differences, racism or other factors. This idea is perhaps supported by at least one source: J. M. Roberts, in ''Twentieth Century: The History of the World, 1901 to 2000'' , writes "the traditional punishment of death by slicing ... became part of the western stereotype of Chinese backwardness as the 'death of a thousand cuts.'" Roberts then notes that slicing "was ordered, in fact, for K'ang Yu-Wei, a man termed the ' of China', and a major advocate of intellectual and government reform in the 1890s."

Although officially outlawed by the in 1905, língchí became a widespread Western symbol of the Chinese penal system from the 1910s on. Three sets of photographs shot by French soldiers in 1904-1905 were the basis for later mythification. The abolition was immediately enforced, and definite: no língchí was performed in China after April 1905; the reported cases are all based on mistaken dating of the last executions.

Regarding the use of opium, as related in the introduction to Morrison's book, Sir Meyrick Hewlett insisted that "most Chinese people sentenced to death were given large quantities of opium before execution, and Morrison avers that a charitable person would be permitted to push opium into the mouth of someone dying in agony, thus hastening the moment of decease." At the very least, such tales were deemed credible to British officials in China and other Western observers.

History

Língchí is known from the Five Dynasties period and became very widespread in the Song Dynasty . It first appeared in a Chinese code of laws for the non-Chinese Liao Dynasty .

The punishment remained in the Qing Dynasty code of laws for persons convicted of high treason and other serious crimes. Língchí was abolished as a result of the 1905 revision of the Chinese penal code by Shen Jiaben (沈家本, 1840-1913; . Reports from Qing dynasty jurists such as Shen Jiaben show that executioners' customs varied, as the regular way to perform this penalty was not specified in detail in the Penal code.

It should be pointed out that the Chinese were not alone in carrying out punishments regarded as . However, as Western countries moved to abolish similar punishments, some Westerners began to focus attention on the methods of execution used in China. As early as 1866, the year after the last recorded case of Hanging, drawing, and quartering, Thomas Francis Wade, then serving with the British diplomatic mission in China, unsuccessfully urged the abolition of língchí.

It is worthy of notice that the first proposal for abolishing lingchi was submitted by Lu You 陸游 in a memorial to the Emperor under the Southern Song dynasty. Lu You's elaborated argumentation against lingchi was piously copied and transmitted by generations of scholars, among them influential jurists of all dynasties, till the late Qing reformer Shen Jiaben introduced it in his 1905 memorial that obtained the abolition, eventually. This anti-lingchi trend met a more general attitude opposed to "cruel and unusual punishments' which the Tang had not included in the canonic table of "Five Punishments," and defined the plainly legal ways of punishing crime. Hence the abolitionist trend is deeply ingrained in the Chinese legal tradition, rather than
being purely derived from Western influences.

Published accounts

* , ''The People and Politics of the Far East'', . Norman was a widely travelled writer and photographer whose collection is now owned by the University of Cambridge. Norman claimed to have witnessed such an execution, and gave a graphic account in his book. " grasping handfuls from the fleshy parts of the body such as the thighs and breasts slices them away... the limbs are cut off piecemeal at the wrists and ankles, the elbows and knees, shoulders and hips. Finally the condemned is stabbed to the heart and the head is cut off".

*, ''An Australian in China'', differs from some other reports in stating that most ''Ling Chi'' mutilations are in fact made ''post mortem''. Morrison wrote his description based on an account related by a claimed eyewitness: "The prisoner is tied to a rude cross: he is invariably deeply under the influence of opium. The executioner, standing before him, with a sharp sword makes two quick incisions above the eyebrows, and draws down the portion of skin over each eye, then he makes two more quick incisions across the breast, and in the next moment he pierces the heart, and death is instantaneous. Then he cuts the body in pieces; and the degradation consists in the fragmentary shape in which the prisoner has to appear in heaven. "

* Tienstin , ''The China Year Book'' , p 1401, contains contemporary reports from fighting in Guangzhou between the Nanjing Government and Communist forces. Stories of various atrocities are related, including accounts of ''língchí''. There is no mention of opium, and these cases appear to be government propaganda.

* ''The Times'', , A ''Times'' journalist reported from the city of Canton that the communists were targeting Christians priests and that "It was announced that Father Wong was to be publicly executed by the slicing process."

*George Roerich, Trails to Inmost Asia , p119, relates the story of the assassination of Yang Tseng-hsin, Governor of Sinkiang in July 1928, by the bodyguard of his foreign minister Fan Yao-han. Fan Yao-han was seized, and he and his daughter were both executed by ''ling-chi'', the minister made to watch his daughter's execution first. However Roerich was not an eyewitness to this event, having already returned to India by the date of the execution.

*George Riley Scott, ''History of Torture'', claims that many were executed this way by the Chinese communist insurgents; he cites claims made by the Nanking government in 1927. It is perhaps uncertain whether these claims were anti-communist propaganda. Scott also calls the it "the slicing process" and differentiates between the different types of execution in different parts of the country. There is no mention of opium. Riley's book contains a picture of a sliced corpse that was killed in Guangzhou in 1927. It gives no indication of whether the slicing was done post-mortem. Scott claims it was common for the relatives of the condemned to bribe the executioner to kill the condemned before the slicing procedure began.

*Sterling Seagrave's ''Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China'' —a semi-fictionalised biography of Empress Dowager Cixi—reports that "the Death of a Thousand Cuts ... is a classic form of execution practiced by every in China's history ... it was not at all exceptional in cases of high treason."

*Louise Levathes, ''When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433'' : "Huang was condemned to a particularly gruesome execution for high treason known as ''ling chi'', or 'death by one thousand cuts.' Cuts were made on his chest, abdomen, arms, legs, and back, so that he very slowly bled to death over a period of time, perhaps as long as three days."

*Mark Costanzo, ''Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty'' : "'Death by a thousand cuts'—where small bits of flesh were carved away over a period of days—was sometimes used in ancient China."

* Academia Sinica resources website: 1. /1912-1925 /1915──中華民國四年乙卯/七月 - 190 - 7,17 革 命 黨 人 鍾 明 光 炸 傷 廣 東 將 軍 龍 濟 光 。This means that Zhong Mingguang, from the Revolutionnary Party Geming dang, would have been executed by língchí for an attempt at bombing General Long Jiguang. But on this event, the most reliable Boorman Biographical dictionaary, II, 456 , reads: “Lung Chi-kuang, who had become one of Yuan’s most trusted henchmen, further enraged the Kwangtung populace when he ordered a lanter procession in Canton to celebrate Yuan’s diplomatic “success.” When Lung went to visit his brother on 17 July, during a flood in Canton, Chung Ming-kuang, a member of the worker’s assassination group, seized the opportunity to throw a bomb at him. It killed 17 members of Lung Chi-kuang’s bodyguard and the assassin, but Long received only a foot wound”. So, Zhong Mingguang did not suffer língchí as a form of execution, for he died from his own bombing. It is not known whether he was mutilated after death.

U.S. military accounts

One account reports that United States Marine Corps members stationed in and around Shanghai between 1927 and 1941 brought evidence of human rights abuses to the United States: "The prevalence of executions and torture is evidenced by the scrapbooks brought back from China by the Marines. There are photographs of firing squads, beheadings, disembowelments, rape and such torture as 'the death of a thousand cuts.'"

As the online Marine history notes, "Apparently these photographs were commercially available , because there are exact duplicates in many scrapbooks with the name of a commercial studio stamped on the backs of the photographs." It is possible that photos from the 1910s were mistakenly associated with the ongoing atrocities of China in the 1920s, and the ''língchí'' photos were sold as curios.

Photographs from this same period, including lines of beheaded corpses, non-Chinese diplomats killed by gunfire, and a ''língchí'' victim, can be found in George Ryley Scott's ''A History of Torture.''

Photographs

1890

The first Western photographs of língchí were taken in 1890 in Guangzhou .

1905

French soldiers stationed in Beijing had the opportunity to photograph three different língchí executions in 1905:

*Wang Weiqin 王維勤, a former Official who killed two families, executed on the 31 October 1904:

*Unknown, reason unknown, possibly a young deranged boy who killed his mother, and was executed in January 1905. Photographs were published by Dumas in 1934 ''Nouveau traité de psychologie '' , and again namely by Bataille, in fact by Lo Duca, who mistakenly appended abstracts of Fou-tchou-li's executions as related by Carpeaux .

*Fou-tchou-li , a Mongol guard who killed his master, the prince of Inner Mongolian Aohan Banner, and who was executed on the 10 April 1905; as ''língchí'' was to be abolished two weeks later, this was presumably the last attested case of it in Chinese history . Photographs appeared in books by Matignon , and Carpeaux , the latter claiming that he was present. Carpeaux's narrative was mistakenly, but persistently, associated to photographs published by Dumas and Bataille. Even related to the correct set of photos, Carpeaux's narrative is highly dubious; for instance, an examination of the Chinese judicial archives show that Carpeaux bluntly invented the execution decree below:
The execution proclamation is reported to state "'The Mongolian Princes demand that the aforesaid Fou-Tchou-Le, guilty of the murder of Prince Ao-Han-Ouan, be burned alive, but the Emperor finds this torture too cruel and condemns Fou-Tchou-Li to slow death by Leng-Tch-e . Respect this!"

Photographic material and other sources are available online at the Chinese Torture Database hosted by the Institut d'Asie Orientale

Other uses or citations of the 1905 photographs include:

*Georges Bataille

:Adrien Borel, Georges Bataille's analyst, introduced Bataille to the photographs. Bataille became fascinated by the photographs, reportedly gazing at them daily. He included the photos in his ''The Tears of Eros''.
This book has been criticized for allegedly dubious content

*Julio Cortázar

:Julio Cortázar in his 1963 novel Rayuela apparently refers to Língchí in chapter 14, where Oliveira is looking at a set of Chinese execution pictures owned by Wong.

*''Hannibal''

:The 1905 incident inspired a brief reference in Thomas Harris's novel '''' : "...police photographs of his outrages were ged to collectors of hideous arcana. They were second in popularity only to the execution of Fou-Tchou-Li."

*Susan Sontag

:Susan Sontag mentions the 1905 case in ''Regarding the Pain of Others'' . One reviewer wrote that though Sontag includes no photographs in her book—a volume about photography—"she does tantalisingly describe a photograph that obsessed the philosopher Georges Bataille, in which a criminal, while being chopped up and slowly by executioners, rolls his eyes heavenwards in bliss."

*John Zorn

:Saxophonist and composer John Zorn used at least one of the 1905 photos with his 1992 album, ''''.

*Chen Chien-jen

:Inspired by the 1905 photos, Chinese artist Chen Chien-jen created a 25-minute motion picture called ''Lingchi'', which has generated some controversy.

Uses in fiction

In his novel ''The Journeyer'', author Gary Jennings demonstrates the distinction between Western myth and Chinese reality by referring to the "Death of a Thousand" as a torture procedure he explains thus: One thousand pieces of paper are placed in a container, and a paper is drawn out by the Fondler to determine where the cut will be made. Having determined that there are 333 body parts, each of these parts is represented three times . For example, the pinky finger - when the first paper is drawn denoting the pinkie finger, perhaps the digit will be removed to the first joint. The second time the pinky finger paper is drawn, another section to the next joint is amputated. The third time the pinky finger paper is drawn, the rest of the finger is amputated. Jennings also fictionalizes in the book that, in an extended form of the torture, the body parts and blood are fed to the condemned as his only nourishment.

In the novel Flashman and the Dragon by George MacDonald Fraser, reference is made to a prisoner being bound tightly in a thin wire mesh through which nubs of flesh protrude. These are then cut off by the torturer with a sharp razor. In order to kill the prisoner, the razor is run quickly over many nubs of flesh at once.

In Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee novels, The sagacious Judge Dee is sometimes required to oversee the execution of criminals sentenced to die this way. When he deems it merciful, he orders the executioner to make the final cut first.

In Malcolm Bosse's novel "The Examination", Hong, the brother of Chen, is subjected to this torture, although he is not killed.

In the film , Jane Fonda plays the lead role who is sentenced to death by being placed in a container of budgerigars, where the multitude of cuts from the birds' claws and beaks are intended to kill her.

In Amy Tan's novel "The Joy Luck Club", the first story told by Lena St. Clair, "The Voice from the Wall", features the death of a thousand cuts.

In Mercedes Lackey's book "The Serpent's Shadow", an evil priestess of Kali uses the "Death of a Thousand Cuts" as a method of sacrifice. The intent is to increase the amount of magical power produced by prolonging the sacrifice's pain, suffering and eventual death.

In the 1966 film The Conqueror, this execution was called the "Slow Death." Three of the main characters threaten to see the punishment inflicted at different points in the story. The "Slow Death" as described in the Conqueror accords with the more sensationalistic depictions of Slow Slicing described above, but with the added refinement that the victim's severed parts are to be fed to animals before his very eyes.

In the film , US Navy machinist's mate Jake Holman witnesses a friend, engine room coolie Po-Han being punished in this manner by an angry mob. He then proceeds to shoot him in the head to spare him further suffering*.

In the film Rush Hour 3, the Death by 1000 Cuts is mentioned. Inspector Lee receives his first cut, but defeats his enemy before receiving further wounds.

Other uses of the term

The phrase "death of a thousand cuts" is often used metaphorically to describe the gradual or destruction of something, such as an institution or program, by repeated minor attacks. The term is also used in business management to describe a product or idea that is damaged or destroyed by too many minor changes.

Leng Tch'e is also the name of a Belgium Grindcore supergroup. It features members of Aborted, Permanent Death and Dark Ages.

In the 1960s British comedy film Carry On up the Khyber, the Qazi of Kalabar orders the punishment of 'death by a thousand cuts' to his British hostages. When the Qazi's daughter objects, he retorts, 'Nonsense, the British are used to cuts!'

Famous people being executed by slow slicing

*Liu Jin — a eunuch during the Ming Dynasty.
*Yuan Chonghuan — a famous military leader.

Sinosphere

Sinosphere, also known as Chinese world, Chinese cultural sphere or Chinese-character cultural sphere , a term coined by linguist James Matisoff, is a grouping of countries and regions that are currently inhabited with a majority population or were historically under heavy influence. It is commonly used in areal linguistics to contrast with Indosphere, which refers to the cultures and languages influenced by proximity to India. James C. Bennett, founder of , sees it as a network commonwealth between Chinese people around the world. Bennett envisages the Sinosphere as consisting of Greater China, and to some extent, its overseas Chinese population in Southeast Asia, notable countries like Malaysia and Singapore. One of the main unifying links is based on the Chinese language.

In East Asian commentator circles, the term Chinese cultural sphere or Chinese character cultural sphere is used interchangeably for Sinosphere but covering a broader definition. Chinese cultural sphere denotes a grouping of countries, regions, and people with . This includes the Sinosphere under the Bennett definition plus countries that have extensive Chinese cultural heritage including Japan, Korea , Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. In French, the term '''' is used for this concept.

Modern Origins: 1990s

The concept of Sinosphere, as a network commonwealth, predated the popularization of the modern idea of Anglosphere in the English-speaking world, and developed largely independent of the Anglosphere. In the early post-Cold War period of the 1990s, economic reforms in the People's Republic of China, coupled with its recognition as a potent rival government of the Republic of China , increased economic and cultural exchanges between China and overseas Chinese itself, led to emergence of the concept of a network of Chinese people that transcend traditional national borders, political differences, and geographical distances.

Later on, this definition was broadened to include East Asian countries that had historical heritage influenced by China, countries such as Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Vietnam have increased their economic and cultural contacts with the Chinese-speaking communities in both breadth and scope.

Sometimes in East Asia the term Sinosphere is used to imply the concept of East Asian integration.

Defining characteristics

Bennett considers the Sinosphere is unified by first language ability in . Asian commentators define the unifying factor as influence of traditional Chinese cultural beliefs, marked by Confucianist social and moralethics; Taoist with Mahayana Buddhist religious beliefs, and the use of Chinese characters as a major part of writing system .

Another indicator is the everyday use of chopsticks, which also originate in China.

Current Developments

The concept of Sinosphere seemed to undergo a setback with the Asian financial crisis and the advent of the dotcom economies in 1997 and 1998. However, with China's membership in the WTO and continuing economic development there are some repopularizations of the use of the term ''Sinosphere''.

The development of the Anglosphere provides an interesting contrast. The idea of a network commonwealth is common to both Sinosphere and Anglosphere, but the two visions were developed independently from each other. As of the first decade of the 21st century, the concept of the Anglosphere remains at large invisible among Asian commentators supportive of the Sinosphere. Among the few who have heard the concept, the common response is either derision or fear. Those who regard the Anglosphere with scorn take the route that regionalist consolidations will triumph over cultural affinities that are separated by geographical distances, and the Sinosphere is more consolidated on a geographical sense than the more dispersed Anglosphere, and also because they regard China's economic might will overtake the Anglosphere in the not too distant future. Detractors who see the Anglosphere as a threat to the Sinosphere regard the Anglosphere as a concept of Anglo-Saxon imperialism and hegemony, and translate the term into Chinese as in an attempt to evoke the memory over the historical Japanese concept of a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere during the World War II. Some other commentators point out India is an Anglosphere member and it has the potential to overtake China in economic developments. Some also see the Anglosphere's flexible nature and civil society base as points of strengths that the Sinosphere lacks and which will guarantee it will pose a serious competition against the Sinosphere.

Currently Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan are contested by both Anglosphere and Sinosphere proponents as under each respective sphere of influence. Singapore has a 76% Chinese majority, but its governmental, legal and business practice are more akin to English-speaking countries courtesy of its British colonial past. Hong Kong's position is similar to Singapore but its population is 98% Chinese and in Hong Kong, Chinese rather than English is commonly used as the daily communication medium. Japan has had ancient Chinese influence ever since the Taika Reform period; however, the Anglosphere has displaced China in influence from the time of Commodore Matthew Perry's visit in 1853. Post-World War II, Japanese political and military interests are more often aligned with the United States than with China.

Sinophile

A Sinophile is a non- person who demonstrates a strong interest in aspects of or who shows a specific interest in the Greater China region. It is also commonly used to describe those knowledgeable of Chinese history and culture , non-native Chinese language speakers, pro-Chinese politicians, and people perceived as having an obsessive interest in any of the above.

Typical interests of Sinophiles

* Chinese languages
* Martial Arts, such as variants of Kung fu
* Chinese calligraphy and art
* Chinese horoscopes
* Ancient art of feng shui - Daoism
* Zen Buddhism
* Traditional cultural Chinese clothing Hanfu and modern cultural Chinese clothing Qipao
* On occasion, Sinophiles can also denote a sexual preference for Chinese or Asian partners. The term can be used to describe men or women but is more frequently used to describe men occasionally being used as a synonym for those displaying a real or perceived Asian fetish. The term is not inherently offensive as "yellow fever."

Notable Sinophiles

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*Matteo Ricci , Jesuit priest; fluent in

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*Gottfried Leibniz, polymath who was fascinated with Confucius and I Ching

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*Pearl S. Buck , who wrote many novels about China.
*Anson Burlingame, ex-U.S. Congressman, who was appointed in 1861 to be the United States minister in China. He was an unabashed Sinophile, who was a voice of conciliation and moderation within the Western diplomatic community.

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*Right Honourable Kevin Rudd , the Prime Minister of Australia, who majored in Chinese language and Chinese history in university and speaks fluent . He also adopted a Chinese name.

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*Joseph Needham , a biochemist best known for his works on the history of Chinese science; learned Classical Chinese
*Matthew Pankhurst, a world renowned scholar infamous for his studies of the Chinese language, cullture, and woman.
*David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn (, British diplomat and former Governor of Hong Kong; learned
* , missionary; fluent in
*Sir Cecil Clementi , British colonial administrator and former Governor of Hong Kong; fluent in Cantonese and Pekingnese
*Sir John Francis Davis , Sinologist, diplomat and former Governor of Hong Kong
*Sir Edward Youde , diplomat, Sinologist and former Governor of Hong Kong; fluent in Mandarin
*Sir David Akers-Jones , former administrator of Hong Kong and advisor to the government

Shenzhen (comic)

Shenzhen is a black-and-white graphic novel by the Canadian Quebecois author Guy Delisle published in .

It documents Delisle's three-month deployment in December 1997 to Shenzhen, a big city developed by the People's Republic of China near Hong Kong, where he is acting as the liaison between Dupuis, a French animation producing company and a Chinese studio, where Chinese animators draw child-oriented films from the phase taking the French storyboards as a guide.

He struggles with boredom, the difficulties of and the culture shock of a Westerner in this profit-oriented Chinese city.

The book has 145 pages.

Some of the frames are drawn by Chinese artists and by a friend of Delisle's.

Plot

Delisle had already been to China in Nanjing.
He is deployed to Shenzhen as part of an outsourcing project, where he will spend three months in the Great Wall Hotel.

Unlike in Hong Kong, there are not many bilingual Chinese so he has language problems during his stay, including with the interpreters at work. Often he has to recourse to drawing or pointing to communicate.

Among his experiences of life in Shenzhen include a visit to a Chinese dentist to cure a toothache, but after seeing the unhygienic conditions of the clinic, he is relieved to find out it is just a case of mesialization.

Since the main leisure activity in Shenzhen is shopping, Delisle tries to read books, works for L'Association's '''' magazine, and buys Chinese artbooks .

He realizes that the ''Spirou'' that he liked as a child is no longer funny.

An allegory he applies to the Chinese rural exodus is the Divine Comedy with the Chinese countryside as the '''', the USA as the '''' and the big Chinese cities, Shenzhen, and Hongkong as intermediate rings.
He finds a copy of ''Théodore Poussin''.

His Chinese-speaking acquaintances bring him to try .
He finds and Hong Kong more interesting than Shenzhen.
The only tourist attraction he visits in the new city is the , since his Chinese friends are not interested in Splendid China.

He spends a Christmas dinner with a Chinese animator who, while a fan of Rembrandt has only a black-and-white photo of ''Bathsheba at Her Bath''.

There is less political commentary than in his later '''' comic.

Shen (clam-monster)

In Chinese mythology, the shen or chen is a shapeshifting or sea monster believed to create mirages.

Meanings

Chinese classic texts use the word ''shen'' to mean "a large shellfish" that was associated with funerals and "an aquatic monster" that could change its shape, which was later associated with "mirages".

Large shellfish

The word used to mean a shellfish, or mollusk, identified as an oyster, mussel, or giant clam such as the Pearl of Lao Tzu. While early Chinese dictionaries treat ''shen'' as a general term for "mollusca", the ''Erya'' defines it as a large ''yao'' which means shellfish, clam, scallop, or mother-of-pearl. According to ''Shuowen Jiezi'', an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary of the Han Dynasty defines it a large ''ge'' , meaning clam, oyster, shellfish, or bivalve.

Chinese classics variously record that ''shen'' was salted as a food , named a "lacquered wine barrel" used in sacrifices to earth spirits , and its shells were used to make hoes and receptacles . They also record two ''shen-'' related with funerals: ''shenche'' "hearse" and ''shentan'' 蜃炭 "oyster-lime; white clay", which was especially used as mortar for mausoleum walls .

Wolfram Eberhard describes the ''shen'' mussel as "a strange animal", and mentions the ''Zhouli'''s Zhangshen 掌蜃 "Manager of ''Shen''", who was a special government official in charge of acquiring them for royal sacrifices and funerals. "It is not clear why these mussels were placed into the tombs," he admits, possibly either as a sacrifice to the earth god or "the shell lime was used simply for a purifying and protective effect."

Edward H. Schafer, who aptly translates ''shen'' or ''chen'' as "clam-monster", traces its linguistic evolution from originally designating a "large bivalve mollusc",
Beginning as an unassuming marine invertebrate, the ch'en was later imagined as a gaping, pearl-producing clam, possibly to be identified with the giant clams of tropical seas, for instance ''Tridacna''. Finally, by early medieval times, it had become a monster lurking in submarine grottoes, and was sometimes endowed with the attributes of a dragon – or, more likely, under influence, a nāga. It expressed its artistic nature by belching up bubbles and frothy clots. These foamy structures were sometimes worked into buildings. …The plastic exhalations of the clam-monster sometimes burst the film of surface tension and appeared to astonished mariners as stunning mansions adrift on the surface of the deep.

Aquatic dragon

Second, ''shen'' 蜃 meant the "clam-monster" that miraculously transformed shapes. The ''Shuowen jiezi'' defines ''ge'' 蛤 as the "category of ''shen''", which includes three creatures that transform within the sea. A ''que'' "sparrow" transforms into a ''ge'' 蛤, or ''muli'' 牡厲 "oyster" in dialect, after 1000 years; a ''yan'' "swallow" transforms into a ''haige'' 海蛤 after 100 years; and a ''fulei'' 復絫, or ''fuyi'' 服翼 "bat", transforms into a ''kuige'' 魁蛤 after it gets old. These kinds of legendary animal "transformations" – ''hua'' "transform, change, convert, turn into; metamorphose; take the form of" – are a common theme in Chinese folklore, particularly for dragons like the ''shen''. The "dragon's transformations are unlimited", writes Visser , and "it is no wonder that Chinese literature abounds with stories about dragons which had assumed the shape of men, animals, or objects.

The ''Yueling'' 月令 "Monthly Commands" chapter of the ''Liji'' lists sparrows and pheasants transforming into shellfish during the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. In the last month of autumn, " Small birds enter the great water and become mollusks", and in the first month of winter, " Pheasants enter the great water and become large mollusks." While many other classical texts repeat this seasonal legend about pheasants that transform in ''dashui'' 大水 "great water; flood", the ''Da Dai Liji'' and '''' say they transform in the ''huai'' 淮 "Huai River." According to Chinese folklore swallows are a favorite food of both Chinese ''long'' and ''shen'' 蜃 dragons. Read explains, "Hence if people eat swallow's flesh they should not go out and cross a river ."

Eberhard equates the ''shen'' 蜃 with the ''jiaolong'' 蛟龍 "flood dragon; crocodile" and compares tales of both these dragons attacking cattle in rivers. The 1596 CE ''Bencao gangmu'' Chinese materia medica describes the ''shen'' or ''chen'' 蜃 under the ''jiaolong'' entry, with quotes from the ''Yueling'' and Lu Dian's ''Piya''.
A kind of crocodile shaped like a huge serpent. Horned like a dragon, with a red mane. Below the middle of the back it has scales inversely arranged. It lives on swallows. It spurts forth clouds of vapour in huge rings. It appears when it is going to rain. The fat and wax is made into candles which have a fragrant smoke noticeable 100 steps away, and ascend in layers in the air. The ''Yueh-Ling'' says the pheasant metamorphoses into a ''Ch'un'' when it enters the water. Lu Tien says that serpents and tortoises together produce tortoises but cohabitation of tortoises and pheasants produce ''Ch'un'', although they are different animals they are moved by the same influences. Other records refer to its relationship to the clam.

Mirage

The shape-changing ''shen'' is believed to cause a mirage or . ''Shen-'' synonyms meaning "mirage" include ''shenlou'' 蜃樓 , ''shenqi'' 蜃氣 , ''shenqilou'' 蜃氣樓, ''haishishenlou'' 海市蜃樓 , and ''shenjing'' 蜃景 . In vocabulary, ''shinkirō'' 蜃気楼 is the usual word for "mirage". Compare the association between the ''long'' 龍 "dragon" and "waterspouts", evident in words like ''longjuan'' 龍卷 "waterspout" and ''longjuanfeng'' 龍卷風 "cyclone; tornado" .

Characters

Most Chinese characters are written with a "phonetic" element that roughly indicates pronunciation with a "" or "signific" that suggests semantic field. ''Shen'''s standard and antiquated characters combine the ''chen'' "dragon , duodecimal 5th of the 12 Earthly Branches; period from 7-9 AM; time period; occasion; star; celestial body" phonetic with the ''chong'' "insect; reptile" radical.

A variety of other characters utilize this phonetic ''chen'' 辰 "5th; dragon", which the ''Wenlin'' says "may have depicted an ancient kind of hoe" in ancient oracle bone script . Some etymologically significant examples include:
*''chen'' 晨 "dragon star"
*''zhen'' 震 "thunder; quake"
*''zhen'' 振 "shake; stimulate"
*''zhen'' 娠 "pregnant"
*''shen'' 脤 "sacrificial meat"
This ''chen'' 晨 or ''chenxing'' 辰星 "dragon star" is an asterism in the traditional Chinese constellations, a morning star within the Azure Dragon that is associated with east and spring. Specifically, the "dragon star" is in the 5th and 6th lunar Twenty-eight mansions, with its ''xin'' 心 "" and ''wei'' 尾 "" corresponding to the Western constellations of Antares and Scorpius.

Etymologies

Carr etymologically hypothesizes that the ''chen'' < *' 辰 phonetic series split between *' "dragon" and *' "thunder". The former words include aquatic ''shen'' < *' 蜃 "large shellfish; sea dragon", celestial ''chen'' < *' 晨 "dragon star", and possibly through dragon-emperor association, ''chen'' < *' 宸 "imperial palace; mansion". The latter ones, reflecting the belief that dragons cause rainfall and thunder, include ''zhen'' < *' 震 "thunder; shake", ''zhen'' < *' 振 "shake; scare", and ''ting'' < *''d'ieng'' 霆 "thunderbolt".

Schuessler provides more refined reconstructions and etymologies:
*''shen'' < *'''' 蜃 "'Clam, oyster' … 'some kind of dragon'."
*''chen'' < *'''' 辰 "The 5th of the Earthly branches, identified with the dragon … cf. 蜃 'some kind of dragon'", which might be an Austro-Asiatic language loan from Vietnamese ''tr?n'' or Mon ''klan'' "python".
*''chen'' < *'''' 晨 or 辰 "Time when life begins to stir: 'early morning' … "start of growing/agricultural season in the 3rd month; heavenly bodies that mark that time' … 'heavenly body', 'time'."
*''zhen'' < *'''' 振 or 震 " 'to shake, rouse, quake' … 'to alarm, fear', 'scared', 'thunder', 'move'".
*''zhen'' < '''' 娠 "'Pregnant', 'become pregnant' … is derived from 'to shake, rouse, excite' , hence lit. 'start stirring, moving' ."

Popular culture

In the present day, the mythical ''shen'' "clam-monster" is best known through the everyday words for "mirage; illusion", typically Chinese ''haishishenlou'' 海市蜃樓, Korean ''shingiru'' ??? 蜃氣樓, and Japanese ''shinkirō'' 蜃気楼.

In the Chinese novel ''Water Margin'', the character Tong Meng is nicknamed Fanzhiang Shen 翻江蜃 "River-churning Shen". In Japanese manga, Shin 蜃 is an illusion-creating weapon of Tomo and an illusion-manifesting technique of Demon Eyes Kyo. The title ''Honō no Mirāju'' 炎の蜃気楼 "Mirage of Blaze" transcribes ''shinkirō'' 蜃気楼 with the English gairaigo loanword ''mirāju''.

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove

The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove were a group of Taoist Qingtan scholars, writers, and musicians who came together in the bloody 3rd century CE. Later it has been determined that the group is mostly fictitious; although the individual members all probably have existed, their interconnection is highly suspect, as is their alleged previous court official career. Careers notwithstanding, key members were linked with the "Taoist" Cao Wei; they found their lives to be in danger when the avowedly "Confucian" came to power. They wrote taoist poems, poems criticizing the court and the administration and manuals on taoist mysticism and alchemy. It would be a mistake to assume that all members had similar views regarding immortality or politics, however, and while some members tried to negotiate their difficult political positions by self-consciously adopting the roles of ale-fueled jokesters and eccentrics, others eventually capitulated and joined the Jin dynasty . Although it is unknown how much they personally engaged in Qingtan, they became the subjects of it themselves in the Shishuo Xinyu .

As is traditionally depicted, the group wished to escape the intrigues, corruption and stifling atmosphere of court life during the politically fraught Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. They gathered in a bamboo grove near the house of Xi Kang in Shanyang where they enjoyed, and praised in their works, the simple, rustic life. This was contrasted with the politics of court. The Seven Sages stressed the enjoyment of ale, personal freedom, spontaneity and a celebration of nature.

Liu Ling, Ruan Ji, Ruan Xian, Xiang Xiu, Wang Rong and were the other six sages who made up the group. Xi Kang was especially close to Ruan Ji; their relationship was described as "stronger than metal and fragrant as orchids". The wife of a fellow sage was said to be impressed by Ruan Ji and Xi Kang's prowess when she spied on them during sex.

It would be Xi Kang's disdain for courtly life which would eventually lead to his execution. The group's rural life became a common theme for art, and they inspired other artists who wished to retreat during times of political upheavals. The myth spread rapidly, and within a few generations the pa ta were so inspired by the supposedly anarchist revelry of the Seven Sages that they sought to copy them fully, while naked.

Another person associated with the Seven Sages is Rong Qiqi , who in fact lived quite earlier. This association is depicted in some apocryphal art from the fourth century CE, in a tomb near Nanjing.

The Seven Sages, or the symbol that they became, have been remarked to be influential in Chinese poetry, music, art, and overall culture.

Scholar-bureaucrats

Scholar-bureaucrats or scholar-officials were civil servants appointed by the emperor of China to perform day-to-day governance from the Sui Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, China's last imperial dynasty. These officials mostly came from the well-educated men known as the . These men had earned academic degrees by passing rigorous . The scholar-bureaucrats were schooled in calligraphy and Confucian texts. They dominated the politics of China at the time.

As a small fraction of them could become officials, the majority of the ''scholar-gentry'' stayed in local villages or cities as social leaders. The ''scholar-gentry'' carried out social welfare measures, taught in private schools, helped decide minor legal disputes, supervised community projects, maintained local law and order, conducted Confucian ceremonies, assisted in the government's collection of taxes, and preached Confucian moral teachings. As a class, these scholars represented morality and virtue. Although they received no official salary and were not government officials, their contributions and cooperation were much needed by the district magistrate in governing local areas, and received contributions from the imperial dynasty as well.

The system of scholar-bureaucrats and Imperial examinations was adopted and adapted by several of China, in particular the Ryūkyū Kingdom , which sent students to China on a regular basis, and maintained a center of Chinese learning at Kumemura from which administrators and officials of the kingdom's government were selected.

Examinations

The examinations consisted of a battery of tests administered at the district, provincial, and metropolitan levels. Tight quotas restricted the number of successful candidates in each test — for example, only three-hundred students could pass the metropolitan examinations. Students often took the examinations several times before earning a degree.

Each student taking the exam arrived at an examination compound with only a few amenities: a water pitcher, a chamber pot, bedding, food, an inkstone, ink, and brushes. Guards would verify the students' identities and search them for hidden printed materials. Each exam taker spent three days and two nights writing "eight-legged essays" — literary compositions with eight distinct sections — in a tiny room with a makeshift bed, desk, and bench. There were no interruptions in those three days, nor were candidates allowed any communication. If someone died during an exam, officials wrapped his body in a straw mat and tossed it over the high walls that ringed the compound.

Civil service exams remained intensely competitive, yet a degree at any level did not ensure government service. Those who only passed the district level exam had a much poorer chance of being a part of the imperial bureaucracy than those who passed the metropolitan level exam. During the Qing dynasty, the empire's one million degree holders competed for only 20,000 official civil service positions. Those who did not get to serve the government spent their careers "plowing with the writing brush" by becoming local teachers or tutors.

Effect

The entire premise of the scholarly meritocracy was based on mastery of the Confucian classics, with important effects on society.

Theoretically, this system resulted in a highly ruling class, with the best students running the country. The examinations gave many people the opportunity to pursue political power and honor — and thus encouraged serious pursuit of formal education. And since the system did not formally discriminate based on social status, it provided an avenue for upward social mobility regardless of age or social class.

However, even though the examination-based bureaucracy's heavy emphasis on Confucian literature ensured that the most eloquent writers and erudite scholars achieved high positions of responsibility for running the country, it contained no formal safeguard against political corruption besides the Confucian moral teachings that the examinations tested on. Once their political futures were secured by success in the examinations, high-ranking officials were often tempted to corruption and abuse of their powers. Furthermore, the relatively lower social status of the military profession in Confucian society discouraged efficiency and meritocracy within the military.

Nonetheless, since the examinations focused on Confucian classics and neo-Confucian commentaries, the entrenchment of the examination system guaranteed that Confucianism would be at the heart of Chinese education and that Confucians would exert a strong influence on the state with little interruption, thus providing remarkable cultural continuity for Chinese civilization through centuries.

Bibliography

*Max Weber, ''The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism''
*Jerry Bentley and Herb Ziegler. ''Traditions and Encounters - A Global Perspective on the Past''.