Staying in the Far East for a moment, here’s a pretty radical proposition – an article at Wired suggests that not only will “Chinglish” become more prevalent and internationally influential due to the sheer number of people who speak it, but that it may actually and up making English into a more efficient language.
Tag Archives: China
SOLITUDE RIPPLES FROM THE PAST by David Reagan
It’s that time of month again, when we at Futurismic unleash another fine piece of fresh short science fiction on an unsuspecting internet.
This time it’s the turn of Futurismic repeat offender David Reagan, who delivers a story about where the ultimate results of China’s one-child policy might lead her people – “Solitude Ripples From the Past”.
Don’t forget to leave David some feedback in the comments, and then go and check out his saucy Futurismic début, “Only The Neck Down“. But first …
Solitude Ripples From The Past
by David Reagan
1984
Qui Nuoshui finished her breakfast with grim determination, though she suspected her stomach would soon rebel. Her husband read the paper and paid her no heed, so he asked no uncomfortable questions about diminished appetite.
As he did every morning, Qui Changbo looked from the newspaper to his watch and grunted in mock surprise. “Oh, dear, I must hurry or I will miss my train,” he said. He folded the paper and tucked it under his arm, picked up his briefcase and hustled for the door. He made a slight detour to peck Nuoshui on the forehead and then was gone.
Nuoshui knew his bustling nature was hollow — her husband took a later train than he claimed. Every morning, he walked down a narrow alley, knocked on an anonymous door, and spent an hour playing The Game of the White Dove. She resented his unneeded lie most mornings — his gambling was of no concern as long as he continued to provide — but today she relaxed at seeing him leave.
Already her stomach gurgled, and she knew that even this morning’s small meal would soon reappear.
She hurried to the bathroom and made it just in time.
Even after vomiting, her eyes streaming and stomach muscles strained, Nuoshui smiled. Soon she would be a mother. Continue reading SOLITUDE RIPPLES FROM THE PAST by David Reagan
Information wants to be free
As the oft-quoted John Gilmore aphorism goes, the internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. Looks like the Communist government of China is finding that to be a truism.
[tags]internet, censorship, China, freedom[/tags]
China’s One Child Policy has some flaws (surprise, surprise)
If you’re concerned about the environment and reducing your carbon footprint, forget about local food and driving a Prius. One of the biggest reductions you can make is to not have that second kid you were thinking of. It’s worked in China, hasn’t it?
Well, not really. Chinese culture works similar to the West in that the male child retains the family name. But in addition, that male child will be around to take care of the aging parents. Girls, on the other hand, basically become part of their husband’s family and have little to no contact with their birth family. While that may be changing in the cities and more modern areas, the old ways prevail in rural China. And there’s a lot of China that still behaves that way.
So what to do? Well, first off a family hoping for a boy that first time around will abort any females. Demographically, this is a nightmare as it leads to a surplus of males, some of whom will resort to violence to spread their genes, while others might resort to something a bit kinky, like wife-sharing.
If you can’t get your boy the natural way, China’s got a market for that, too. Roughly 190 children a day go missing in China. For comparison, England and Wales combined report less than half that number in an entire year. A boy can fetch several hundred pounds, about six months’ salary for a factory worker.
Something must be done about the population, but trying to make a law about something like this without taking culture into account can lead to big problems. A better way might be providing contraception to those who need it.
(image via September Mourning)
SF writer gets rock star treatment from Chinese
Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer received the Galaxy award, China’s top science fiction prize, from the China International Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival in Chengdu, in Sichuan province.
Sawyer gives his take on the good science fiction can do for Chinese culture – mainly by providing a venue for controversial or taboo topics to be aired in a country not known for its free speech. In addition, Sawyer relates the current situation regarding the genre to its genesis in inter-war years of America, how people reading sci-fi are inspired to careers in science and technology, and how people can actually see the increments in life quality provided by that science.
Sawyer touches on my major reason for enjoying science fiction – social commentary:
"They’re [China’s science fiction authors] ripe for a transition to a much more interesting sociology and social impact in the softer sciences," [Sawyer] said.
That kind of writing will also allow them to write about subjects that might otherwise be too sensitive in a civilization that doesn’t allow open discussion, he said.
It makes you wonder if the transition to democracy might happen based on sci-fi stories.
Before now, I’d never heard of Robert J. Sawyer. I think I’ll go check out some of his books my next trip to a bookstore, it sounds like he’s got some interesting ideas.
(via SciTech Daily Review)