[:en]A little on the lighter side this week: The most excellent blog China Beat asked a group of scholars, journalists and the like for the four or five books they thought President Obama should read to inform himself on China.

President Obama is more than just a sophisticated politician – he’s also an excellent writer. I doubt he’ll have much patience with some of
the overhyped books on China currently weighing down the shelves at Borders. Instead, I’d recommend readings that will give the president
insight into the people of China while making his long flight to Beijing pass a bit more quickly.

1. It’s hard to accomplish much in China without understanding Chinese tradition. Patricia Ebrey’s Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook is full of excellent, readable snippets from primary sources – everything from the Confucian classics to household handbooks to diaries by pilgrims on the Silk Road. Best of all, each text is only a few pages long, so the president can dip into it in between global crises.

2. If he enjoys Ebrey, the president might be ready to tackle Burton Watson’s translation of the Tso Chuan, an ancient collection of anecdotes about wars and allegiances between Chinese warlords. The Tso Chuan is a little stodgy, but is frequently enlivened with harrowing acts of violence. And it might give the president some useful ideas about how to conduct trade negotiations.

3. President Obama will want some insight into China’s troubled relations with the Uighurs and Tibetans. I’d suggest starting with Stevan Harrell’s wonderful essay, “Civilizing Projects and the Reaction to Them,” from Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers, then moving on to Robbie Barnett’s The Tibetans. (In return, Chinese leaders could spend a useful hour listening to Obama’s famous speech on race.)

4. Minky Worden’s edited volume, China’s Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges, is an excellent overview of human rights issues in China.

5. As a former community activist, President Obama may be curious about the view in China from the bottom up. To help him understand the lives of working people, I suggest spending a few hours on the plane with some of the films at which China excels. One of my favorites is Woman Sesame Oil Maker, which shows China’s tumultuous economic changes through the tragic lives of two rural women. Beijing Bicycle and Not One Less are also tremendous. If President Obama just watches these three films, he’ll know almost everything he needs to know about life in China.[:zh]A little on the lighter side this week: The most excellent blog China Beat asked a group of scholars, journalists and the like for the four or five books they thought President Obama should read to inform himself on China.

President Obama is more than just a sophisticated politician – he’s
also an excellent writer. I doubt he’ll have much patience with some of
the overhyped books on China currently weighing down the shelves at
Borders. Instead, I’d recommend readings that will give the president
insight into the people of China while making his long flight to
Beijing pass a bit more quickly.

1. It’s hard to accomplish much in China without understanding Chinese tradition. Patricia Ebrey’s Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook
is full of excellent, readable snippets from primary sources –
everything from the Confucian classics to household handbooks to
diaries by pilgrims on the Silk Road. Best of all, each text is only a
few pages long, so the president can dip into it in between global
crises.

2. If he enjoys Ebrey, the president might be ready to tackle Burton Watson’s translation of the Tso Chuan, an ancient collection of anecdotes about wars and allegiances between Chinese warlords. The Tso Chuan
is a little stodgy, but is frequently enlivened with harrowing acts of
violence. And it might give the president some useful ideas about how
to conduct trade negotiations.

3. President Obama will want some
insight into China’s troubled relations with the Uighurs and Tibetans.
I’d suggest starting with Stevan Harrell’s wonderful essay, “Civilizing
Projects and the Reaction to Them,” from Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers, then moving on to Robbie Barnett’s The Tibetans. (In return, Chinese leaders could spend a useful hour listening to Obama’s famous speech on race.)

4. Minky Worden’s edited volume, China’s Great Leap: The Beijing Games and Olympian Human Rights Challenges, is an excellent overview of human rights issues in China.

5.
As a former community activist, President Obama may be curious about
the view in China from the bottom up. To help him understand the lives
of working people, I suggest spending a few hours on the plane with
some of the films at which China excels. One of my favorites is Woman Sesame Oil Maker, which shows China’s tumultuous economic changes through the tragic lives of two rural women. Beijing Bicycle and Not One Less
are also tremendous. If President Obama just watches these three films,
he’ll know almost everything he needs to know about life in China.
[:]