Laszlo Montgomery’s other life in Chinese manufacturing

In my China History Podcast series I have touched on China trade going all the way back to the times of the Han Dynasty adventurer Zhang Qian. Trade with China has always been exotic and unique. Silk, tea, lacquerware and other valuables ware sold along the fabled trade routes to all points between Rome and Asia. Zhang Qian, Marco Polo, the Silk Road, the Tea Horse Road, Zheng He, Macao, the Canton System, the Noble House. For an old China hand, what isn’t there to love about this world of China trade?

But when I first started out as a China watcher, back in the day, I didn’t realise that in my professional life I would become part of it myself.

滴水穿石 dīshuǐchuānshí – perserverance yields success

滴水穿石 (dīshuǐchuānshí) literally means “dripping water cuts through stone”, and is a common chengyu meaning that persistent effort can overcome any obstacle, a bit like “little strokes fell great oaks”. It’s a clear image, and is the sort of thing a mum will say when her kid is studying for the gaokao. The story behind it, meanwhile, is rather more criminal:

Ed: This is a poem by Xu Lizhi, a 24 year old worker at a Foxconn factory in Shenzhen who killed himself last September. It was translated at the Nao blog, who are happy with other sites republishing the poems. Over at Beijing Cream, Anthony Tao has also posted another couple.

For context, also check out this interview Alec Ash did a while back with Li Liao, an artist who went undercover at a Foxconn factory. He said of the suicides: "I think it was mostly out of despair ... If they leave they are unemployed, and can only go back to their old homes and start a small business. They feel they have no way out."

Coming to terms with a stigmatic linguistic identity – by William Poy Lee

AN EDITED EXTRACT FROM THE EIGHTH PROMISE

Suey Wan is an innocuous farmer’s village nestled among remote hills in the backwater heart of the fertile Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province. My people’s six counties are collectively known as Toisan. Toisan’s origins are more legendary than historically established, but the first Chinese settlers are said to have arrived here during the chaotic last days of the Tang Dynasty, hoping to find peace in this then far-off corner of the expansive Chinese empire.

三人成虎 sānrénchénghǔ – repeated rumour becomes fact

三人成虎 (sānrénchénghǔ) literally means “three people [talking] makes a tiger”, and is an idiom used to warn that if you repeat a lie often enough, it will be believed. Here’s the story behind it:

In the Warring States Period, Pang Cong, a minister of the State of Wei, was going to the State of Zhao as a hostage. Before he left, he said to the ruler of Wei: 

"Someone said there is a tiger in the market. Do you believe it?"

"No, I don't believe it,” the King replied.

Later, Pang Cong said:

"Now two people have said there is a tiger in the market. Do you believe it?" 

“I am beginning to wonder.”