Urumqi Misfortunes

Before I analyze another song in another post, I wish to offer my condolences to all those that suffered in the recent Urumqi Incident. Predictably, western and Chinese media are on the opposite ends of the bias spectrum despite some attempts (or disguises) to be completely neutral. So in order to give the uninformed a description as impartial as possible, I will now list some raw facts and figures:

1.pretext: On June 25-26, a brawl broke out between migrant Uyghurs and Han Chinese at Xuri Toy Factory in Shaguan, Guangdong, resulting in the death of 2 Uyghurs and 118 others injured. The trigger was officially established as a false rumor saying that some Uyghurs had sexually assaulted Han girls.

2.On July 5 evening, a peaceful protest started demanding a just and proper handling of the above case. The size of the crowd is not consistent across reports, but one can see for himself/herself here

3.The police cleared the crowd, and about 70 protesters were arrested.

4.Some of those that dispersed regrouped.

5.Violence, vandalism, looting, and arson started later. Uyghurs smashed and burnt buses, beat and killed Han Chinese bystanders and in some cases people in their homes

6.Internet was blocked, and cell phone service largely discontinued. The government actively censored anything related to the riots on the internet

7.Police was reinforced and quickly controlled the situation.

8.The official casualty count by Xinhua, China's state news agency, is 156 people killed and 1080 injured. Update: on July 11 Xinjiang time, the toll is raised to 184

9.A curfew was imposed and riot police forces patrolled the city

10.On July 6, the police arrested some 1400 Uyghur men for interrogation

11.On July 7 many Han Chinese came together welding home made weapons, swearing revenge. Riot police stopped their advancing to the Uyghur side of neighborhood using guard rails, tear gas, and persuasion.

12. On Friday July 1o all Mosques were ordered to be closed, but crowds of Uyghurs gathered outside few of the Mosques. The Police at the end opened them for worship.

I hope that was informative as neutrally possible. Now with the above firmly established in your mind, you should be ready for some facts of partial nature

1.This video is perhaps the most demonstrative of the havoc wreaked, but since it does not consider the Uyghur's motives, taken by itself one can argue it's tilted toward the Hans

2.World Uyghur Congress and its president Rebiya Kadeer have said in one way or another the following things:
I.Uyghurs were beaten and shot to death by Chinese Police, confirmed by witnesses
i.counter facts: Among the injured and dead, very few were Uyghur and very few were found with bullet wounds.
II.Kadeer admitted to calling on Uyghurs to rise as charged by the Chinese government
III.Chinese authorities always blame internal problems on external forces such as WUC
IV.demonstrators were not separatists and many carried the Chinese flag
V.10,000 Han Chinese had beat and killed 60 Uyghurs in the June 26 violence listed above as “pretext” (exclusive interview with Kadeer on Channel 4)
i.As the numbers above illustrate, this is quite far from the truth. Also 10000 to 60 seems like overkill; if truly happened, it was mysteriously overlooked by Western media
VI.Kadeer used a photo to illustrate the cruelty imposed by Chinese police, but the photo was actually taken on June 26 at another place.

3.The Chinese government has accused WUC as instigating violence at home and labels it as one of the worst terrorist groups

4.It also insists that the violence was planned by separatists and terrorists

5.International response was generally “both sides must show restraint”

6.Chinese premier Hu Jintao canceled his G8 tour to come back and deal with the situation

7.The western media was surprised by the openness toward western reporters and the speed with which reports went up

8.There is at least one family that was incarcerated alive with their house, and another invaded in their homes and beheaded. Witnesses told about innocent Hans being dragged to back alleys and mutilated, and some 50 of the dead were found in dark backstreets

9.Present-day Xinjiang has a highly diverse population with 45% Uyghurs, 40% Hans, and 15% other minorities. Its capital, Urumqi, contains 75% Han, 12.8% Uyghurs, and 10% other minorities.

Alright, here's my interpretations on the event, and as such, it is absolutely subject to my own biases.

Regarding all the western reports out there and debaters about the evils of Chinese bureaucracy, I want to remind you that this is at its heart still a human tragedy, where friends, relatives, parents and children were lost. Sometimes reading the hyper-politicization of those reports and debates I feel as if the western journalists don't care much about how much people suffered but only what their suffering would mean to the political arenas.

China has done a significantly better job in allowing foreign media greater access. The move can be argued by both sides: Opponents of China can say that it opened up only because the violence was incurred by the Uyghurs, and in doing so it gains the sympathy of the world; supporters can say that this is what the western media wants and the state gave it to them. Nevertheless, the invitation of western reporters and the quickness with which China published the relevant data helped demystify the situation and deconstruct part of the conception of the Chinese tyranny. For example, reporters now can show to the world the excellent policing done by the Chinese in times of turmoil. Contrary to what most westerners would believe, the police did not brutally beat and kill Uyghur protesters even when some of them were committing vandalism, looting, and even murder. In fact, one policeman was killed in reverse. However, the news also showed to the world the savagery of the minority group. While they definitely deserved to vent their anger over the June 25 event and more importantly the inequities between Uyghurs and Hans, the escalating violence only detracted from their cause. This combined with the obvious contradictions of WUC and Rebiya Kadeer may temporarily take away their credibility.

On the other hand, China still does not admit the problems in Xinjiang. These problems include uneven economic growth between Han and the minorities, the minorities' lack of rights, and the Hans' smothering of their culture by flooding their cities with people of Han ethnicity. Though the officially Chinese policies toward minorities have been “reverse discrimination” like in college admissions and police stations and encouragement of multiple children in contrast to the “one-child policy” applied to urban Han Chinese, the locals have quietly and maybe even unconsciously divided along a schism into the 2 camps of Hans and the Uyghurs at Urumqi and other cities. Perhaps this is only natural like how an oil drop behaves in water: like dissolves like, otherwise segregation results. We can find plenty of comparisons in Black histories before the Civil Rights Movement and after WWI in the US, in which the Great Migration pushed millions of southern Blacks toward northern cities, but widespread racism forced them to settle in the cities' innermost where pollutions were the worst. The similarities continue with the low employment rates, social status, and economic prosperity despite favorable laws. Thus, the problems' roots lie not directly in the government, as in both cases, but in the prevailing prejudices deep-seated in the majority group's culture and media; however, the responsibility of fixing the disparities absolutely lies in the government. With great effort from leaders like Kennedy, King, and LBJ and millions of civil right activists, laws were fixed and bigotry was healed over time. Perhaps similar actions might produce similar results? Well, the laws are the easy part for the one-party Chinese government, but the people part is a lot more difficult if the only pushing exerted is by the bureaucracy; and if the people part is not done, no matter how many legislations are enacted, revised, or destroyed, riots like the 7.5 incident will happen again and again in increasing severity --- Heck, even now the US has not seen the end of racial unrest. The people in Xinjiang need to reconcile and reestablish mutual trust and protect the next generation from continuing the feud.

Now let's come back to the present reality. That the violence in a distant city in Shandong can cause the near destruction of the capital of Xinjiang and more importantly of a longlasting stability in its society tells about the volatility of the ethnicities in China which has been exacerbated by the incident. It does not bode well at all for Uyghurs' reputation at home and in the world – the former might incite revenges from the Hans while the latter renders them less international support against true injustices. As it stands now, the future seems uneasy until we forget about this incident.

I have mentioned in my previous post that the recent years in China are its own Era of Good Feelings in which economic prosperity and heartfelt nationalism shadows potential problems in wide areas. This breakout in violence may very well be one of the first rocks that surface when the tide ebbs in the form of global recession. Indeed as I said above, the Uyghurs complained about the unequal economic status between them and the neighboring Hans. But even the industrial setting of the precursor event somewhat suggests the the role of recession in these doings. I wouldn't be surprised if job losses from the economic crisis left quite a few Uyghurs with little to do other than to shift their attentions to previously not-as-conspicuous problems and, riding on the anger generated by the recent June-25 event, organize the march that started it all.

Downloading the Young for You album

I have uploaded the Young for You album by the Gala (The link is at the bottom of this post) if you wish to try the other songs by the band also. I will do the same for all future songs that I take a look at, but if you are the artist of any of these works and wish for me to stop posting them, I will take down the links ASAP. Hope you'll enjoy!

Download: Young for You

"Young for You" by the Gala

Today we'll look at a song quite popular in Chinese college grounds, which can be found here.

Background

The Gala is a Beijing band formed in an underground recording studio 2004 by 3 teenagers with Su Duo on vocals, Prince on Guitar, and M on Bass (Prince and M are the stage names of the guitarist and bassist). Yep, they didn't have a drummer. The drum parts in their first album Young for You (which is completed in half a year since the band's formation), the namesake of this song, were filled by M or Prince. This is probably why you'll hear a bit of rhythmic inconsistencies on the drums in this song (only a tiny bit though). The band is heavily influenced by British bands such as the Beatles, Suede, and Blur, and as a result, what you hear is very similar to britpop.

The album Young for You overwhelms with vitality, for which it received popular acclaim throughout mainland China, especially college campuses. This song, carrying the same name, probably epitomizes the energy carried throughout the album.


The Music

Below you'll find the lyrics for this song. As you'll hear, the English of the singer isn't the best, and so isn't the grammar in the lyrics provided with the song. Thus in parentheses after each line I've rewritten the lyrics for a bit of clarification. Of course, even such "clarification" involves my interpretations, which may or may not be as the singer originally intended.
Sunday's coming i wanna drive my car (Sunday's coming; I wanna drive my car)
to your apartment with present like a star (to your apartment like a star and give you a present)
forecaster said the weather may be rainy hard (The forecaster said that it might pour)
but i know the sun will shine for us (But I know that the sun will shine for us)
oh lazy seagull fly me from the dark (Oh, a seagull lazily flies to me from the dark)
i dress my jeans and feed my monkey banana (I dress my jeans and feed my monkey banana)
then i think my age how old,skyline how far (Then it sudden comes to me that I'm already so old, yet the skyline is so far)
or we need each other in california (Or that we need each other in California)

*you show me your body before night comes down (You show me your body just before night comes down)
i touch your face and promise to stay ever young (I touch your face and promise to stay ever young)
on this ivory beach we kissed so long (On this ivory beach we kissed so long)
it seems that the passion's never gone (It seems that the passion's never gone)
*you sing me your melody and i feel so please (You sing me your melody and I feel so pleased)
i want you to want me to keep your dream (I want you to want me to keep your dream)
together we'll run wild by a summer symphony (Together we'll run wild in a summer symphony)
this is what we enjoyed not a fantasy (This is what we enjoy, not a fantasy)

the tin-man's surfing i wanna try my luck (I wanna try my luck surfing)
to the top of tide rip like just have some drugs (to the top of the tide rip to become intoxicated with adrenaline)
i know you have no blame for my proud moonish heart (I know you have no blame for my proud, moonish heart)
welcome to the golden beatnik park (Welcome to the golden beatnik park!)
oh diamond seashore drag me from the yard (Oh, the diamond seashore drags me out from my yard)
incredible sunward i watch as you're in photograph (As I look sunward it seems as though you're posing)
for camera your smile's so sweet,palm trees' so lush (for a camera. Your smile's so sweet, and the palm trees so lush)
would you believe my honey it's califonia (would you believe it, honey, it's California!)

Just from one listen, you'll probably feel the energizing vibe that fits the title so well. The tone of the lyrics and the singer is frank, direct, and unmitigated and pushes through the entire song with a persistent drive. It starts with the word "Sunday," already connotating relaxation and fun, that's sung with a punctuated start and a vocal not unlike that of Britpop band Suede, and immediately dives into an intimate love story between a couple who revel in beach romance in California. All over the song are words that make you smile (like "like a star," "show me your body," etc) which combined with the weird accent and the bright voice of the singer strangely brings about a euphoria. The innocent, candid description of his girlfriend and their lovemaking can even make you wishful of such an idyllic, romantic experience. California, a state in a far away country, becomes the dreamful symbol of the young vigor and freshness sung by this piece. And the "summer symphony" vivaciously self-references the song itself, for "Young for You" precisely embodies the infinite possibilities and revelry in the summer, when all works are off your shoulders.

However, the gem of the song probably lies not immediately in the lyrics; in fact, it probably does in the lack of clarity in the lyrics due to the singer's accents and vocal style. These qualities blur words into syllables, pure sounds that play along with the guitars in the back and carried forward by the drumset. Yet the pureness of these sounds corresponds with the pureness and innocence of young, and the rawness of these sounds corresponds with the energy and the drives of teenagers. The drum part and the guitar riff (whose sparkling tone highlights the vocal well) are beautifully simple also and are ever so honest-sounding. The penetrating notes and the lively pitch bend of the guitar after the first chorus shades the vocal nicely. Everything in the song is so carefree that it makes you sit back in your chair and drop your shoulders and just listen.


The Implications

Even though the band insists that it's not "fantasy" that it enjoys, the song is nevertheless an escape into wishful romance and blitheness. Thus its popularity likely signifies the pressure of a growing nation weighed down against the Chinese people, and its especial popularity among college students means that this weight is much heavier for them and high schoolers. The reason lies in the harshness of Chinese high schools, whose students must prepare for the college examination at the end of their 12th grade that basically determines their future lives by choosing for them what college to go to. Thus these students must take an enormous amount of pressure, built up over the course of 3 years (the Chinese educational system is 6 years of elementary, 3 years of middle, and 3 years of high school), in learning and reviewing and mock-examining so as to unleash all their strengths and intelligences for the final showdown. As such, high schools denounce, if not prohibits, love affairs, and give workloads so much that relaxation is impossible without delaying your bedtime to after midnight. Thus, these students are under the oppression of necessity that deprives them of much outside of school. But when they finally graduates high school and rise into college they break the rein and gain the freedom to explore themselves and the world through music and art, and this song accurately echoes the woes of their previous lives with a theme of love and buoyancy and win their appreciation just like water is desperately sought after by a dehydrated desert traveler.

This song's popularity in the same vein also reflects the dreams of Chinese people, young and old. As China's economy booms and becomes more capitalistic and offers more opportunity, the parents and grandparents of the "1-child policy" generation see the things they have lacked and wanted so much when they were young, and thus all want to live vicariously through their children to amass the wealth that would have prevented their suffering in the Great Famine and the political upheavals of their ages. This pressure is compounded by the fact that they have only one child. On the other hand, the children are born into an international and artistic world, not the bygone world of their parents and grandparents where domestic problems already posed threats to stable ways of life. They see beauty when the old ones see utility. Such a generational gulf results in a general lack of understanding between those at the two sides of it, and the vicarious pressure exerted by the older ones hardly help. This song thus also mirrors the young's wish for such pressure to cease and follow their own dreams, not their parents'. So much for the Beijing Olympics' slogan "One world, One dream" if the dreams of one fifth of the world population is so divided.


Conclusion

This song is just one example of the internationalization of Chinese Rock, a trend that started long ago but boomed recently after the Beijing Olympics. Its idyllic tunes and the band's penetrating but bright vocal and melody effectively relaxes the listener.

Also, from this song we are already able to see a tiny portion of the effects of "1-child policy" on the Chinese population --- the parents' pressure for wealth and the generational gulf. Nevertheless, the pressure still has its benefits, for without it surely China would not be able to grow as quickly, and the generational gulf allows the new generation to accept new customs and evolve new Chinese cultures, which is definitely healthful considering that the fall of Qing dynasty was largely due to its court stubbornly and strictly following the principles of Confucianism and shutting off western influence. Furthermore, the pressure from parents and that from the schools probably render these future pillars of China more resistant to pressures they cannot fight off, and thus gaining an upper hand when dealing with international contemporaries.

But all these deep analysis aside, this song probably serves the same purpose to Chinese listener as the Killers or the Oasis does to Western listeners --- switching the atmosphere after work or adding on to your chillaxing weekends, letting the sounds drench into your soul.

The Rise of P.R.C. (People's Rock of China)

Hey guys, this is Crock. Considering the vast amounts of "entertaining" blogs out there, you may wonder why so serious? Well, let me introduce a bit about myself:

I'm a full-blooded Chinese who spent his early formative years in China but moved to the United States for Middle School and higher education; therefore I'm one of the fortunate few who has experienced both sides of the tacit antagonism between China and US. However, this is not the only thing I've experienced: I've seen how the 2 countries impact each other positively in sometimes subtle but other times obvious ways. For example, Chinese cuisine has spread across the States, whose popularity is attested by myriads of Americans, and products "made in China" flood supermarkets like Walmart and from there spring into every corner of American homes. On the other hand, US has Americanized China in many visible aspects like Hollywood movies and hit TV shows and fashion. As a result, Chinese people often associate Westernization or Americanization with Modernization and progress. In this blog, however, I will only focus on the rise of Chinese Rock.

The rise of Chinese Rock is often compared to the Hippie's/counterculture movement in US in the 1960s. Both push against tradition and turn to embrace alternative forms of expression and sensation, and both stand up to forces of oppression and counterattacks the government through energetic music and lyrics. Yet, Chinese Rock came to being in a period of prosperity, after Paramount Leader Deng XiaoPing converted China to market economy and opened it up to Western investment, and remained largely a subculture, while US in the 1960s was in a period of decline, after a succession of failures at Vietnam and Middle East and large deficits resulted from massive reform programs, and under such atmosphere the counterculture movement hit a widespread success among the young. Thus, the era of Chinese rock also bears resemblance to The Era of Good Feelings, The Guilded Age, and The Rolling 20s of America when national prosperity directed people's attention from the underlying problems of the period, and hence Chinese rock is a valuable voice of caution, which is proved more so by the underground nature of its torso, unable to be censored by the Chinese government.

However, don't let US media's rampant politicization of Chinese news and issues go to your head. China despite all its opposite views compared to the US is still made up of people, whose traditions still influence their every day and many of whom, just like many Americans, take no heed of politics, and Chinese rock reflects those losses and gains, intricacies and extrication, confusions and enlightenment, chaos and order of their daily lives. In fact, such mundane themes probably permeates most of Chinese rock, and precisely because of this mundaneness we get a clear image of the lives of the Chinese populace and from there extract implications.

Well, in the title of this blog I attached "and the World" after "Implication to China" because I believe that whatever happens in China won't stay in China. This has increasingly become a common theme in the world today, and probably more so when applied to China, due to its massive demographical (you can count on there being a Chinese community of respectable size in every country on the globe) , social, economical, and political influences on the international stage. The rise of contemporary Chinese rock coincides (maybe not so coincidently) with the coming of age of the "one-child policy" generation, which is under the scrutiny of sociologists, economists, psychologists, and other study groups from around the world trying to observe the effects of the policy and to assess its impacts on the globe. Certainly, this generation has shown a distinct individualism which might very well be cultivated by early rock groups and which might just as well be influencing Chinese rock right now, and this reciprocal effect will be magnified by the "one-child policy" generation's gradual replacement of the workforce and morphed into something else and sent to every corner of the globe through Chinese exports.

Alright, that was a long talk. But I hope you get my point: Chinese Rock provides a rare and valuable look at Chinese society but is often ignored by social studies and even Chinese people themselves. So I'm going to be a hero and provide everybody my interpretations of Chinese rock songs and what they tell us about China and the world. Of course, my interpretation isn't the only interpretation, and I can still miss an important point or misinterpret something completely. So you're welcome to point out any such errors or just offer your own comments about the songs. I will once in a while analyze a Chinese rock song that may range from melodic indies to wrathful heavy metal or annotate on a trend in the rock scene. Many such songs are in English (but mostly sung in a very Chinese accent) but a lot more others are in Chinese, so I will provided lyrics either way, and in the latter case do my best to translate the lyrics. I will post the songs for listening but might not for downloading because of copyright issues.

Alright, that's about it for now. Stay tuned for my first analysis!