Writing Contest

Do U.S. colleges discriminate against Asian Americans?

A complaint filed with the federal government by more than 60 Asian American organizations alleging that Harvard University discriminates against Asian Americans in the college admissions process has created a hot-button issue. Do Asian Am students face unfair treatment -- not only in admissions -- but in other facets of campus life? Where do they stand on the issue?

Asia Times invites interested Asian American college students to share their experiences by writing a 700-800 word essay on the subject. The best essay will receive a cash prize of $300. AT will also publish the top 10 essays on atimes.com. The deadline for submissions is June 28. Please send essays to special@atimes.com with your contact.

Americans in China

Enjoy This American Life on NPR which features Americans living in China.

June Program

A Letter from Some Concerned Congress People

From Whisper To Thunder Art Exhibit

The Practice of Taiji (Aka Tai-chi)

For our April 12 gathering, we were delighted to host Shifu(师父)Justin Eggert as the featured speaker at St. Jude Episcopal Church in Cupertino, CA.  Justin is a 5-time World Silver Medalist in Traditional Wushu.  He talked about the history and practice of taiji, also known as Tai-Chi, and taught 20 some members and guests some of the techniques used by its practitioners, such as the breathing method, silk reeling, and push hands. He also demonstrated one form of Taijiquan太极拳。

Both taiji (using Pinyin) and Tai chi (using Wade-Giles) came from the Chinese characters 太极 (simplified) and 太極 (traditional).  “tai 太” means great or grand,

 and “ji极“ means an extreme difference, as in negative and positive poles in magnetism.

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On the website of the training academy he founded,  Shifu Eggert explains that “Tai Chi is a unique and rather enigmatic art form and philosophy of movement and breathing. Based on simple yet profound principles, tai chi originates from the Chinese martial arts. It has evolved into a true wellness system combining fluid spiral movements, refined breathing techniques, meditation and traditional Chinese medical theory, with martial arts applications.  Tai chi transforms movement by centering its practitioner’s inner power, maintaining natural balance, and teaching the body to adapt to change. The practice of this art will enhance the quality of your life by leaving you refreshed, stress-free, and in a great mood.”  

Taijiquan太极拳 is a Chinese martial art that embodies balance of body position, mind awareness, and balance between you and others who wish to harm you. There are different styles of taijiquan such as Yang style, Chen Style, Sun Style, etc. The study of Taijiquan is a life-long effort, and its practice must be done under the tutelage of a master.   

After Shifu Eggert’s presentation, he welcomed questions from the audience. It was an informative and fun evening.

For more information, visit www.Wu-Academy.com

--submitted by Winny Lin, Southbay Vice President

China Under Mao: A Revolution Derailed, Stanford May 7, 4:15-5:30

Andrew G. Walder, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Denise O'Leary and Kent Thiry Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

Thomas P. Bernstein, Professor Emeritus of Government, Columbia University

“Perspicacious scholarship by the preeminent American historical sociologist working on the People’s Republic of China. A balanced, critical account of events of baffling complexity, and a sophisticated analysis of uniquely solid empirical data. If reading is indeed the basics for all learning, then this is the book to read in order to learn why Mao in the end accomplished so little of what he had hoped to achieve after 1949 and why his legacy remains so controversial.”

—Michael Schoenhals, Lund University

China’s Communist Party seized power in 1949 after a long period of guerrilla insurgency followed by full-scale war, but the Chinese revolution was just beginning. China Under Mao narrates the rise and fall of the Maoist revolutionary state from 1949 to 1976—an epoch of startling accomplishments and disastrous failures, steered by many forces but dominated above all by Mao Zedong.

Mao’s China, Andrew Walder argues, was defined by two distinctive institutions established during the first decade of Communist Party rule: a Party apparatus that exercised firm (sometimes harsh) discipline over its members and cadres; and a socialist economy modeled after the Soviet Union. Although a large national bureaucracy had oversight of this authoritarian system, Mao intervened strongly at every turn. The doctrines and political organization that produced Mao’s greatest achievements—victory in the civil war, the creation of China’s first unified modern state, a historic transformation of urban and rural life—also generated his worst failures: the industrial depression and rural famine of the Great Leap Forward and the violent destruction and stagnation of the Cultural Revolution.

Misdiagnosing China’s problems as capitalist restoration and prescribing continuing class struggle against imaginary enemies as the solution, Mao ruined much of what he had built and created no viable alternative. At the time of his death, he left China backward and deeply divided.

Books will be available for purchase at the event

4:15p.m. – 5:30p.m, RSVP required by May 5

Philippines Conference Room

Encina Hall, 3rd floor, East

For more information contact Ms. Debbie Warren