The Ji Village News

季庄新闻–Haidong Ji’s Blog

Before The Man On Mao’s Right, I just finished Barbara Tuchman’s excellent Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45, based on great recommendation from Prince Roy, first published in 1971. Toward the end of Tuchman’s book, she wrote about the Dixie Mission from US Army to Yan’an between July 1944 to March 1947. If you can, zoom into the scanned image of John Service’s report on the wikipedia page and read it, very poignant observations, in my view. Now how come a clean, efficient, and truly inspiring movement at the time in Yan’an turned into persecutions, personality cult, and mass hysteria up to the middle to late 1970s, I refer you to George Orwell’s most excellent Animal Farm, an allegory that is true in so many countries on so many levels. I have to say, like Prince Roy, I am now an admirer of Vinegar Joe, General Stilwell 史迪威. It is heartening to know that today’s 西南政法大学 / Southwest University of Political Science and Law honors this real friend of China, and a true American hero in every sense of the word, by naming its international school the Stilwell International School (SIS). The translated Chinese version of Tuchman’s book is here. Anyway, the fight between 蒋介石 and 史迪威(Stilwell), the Dixie Mission, the China Lobby by Henry Luce and company, the subsequent McCarthyism, all have had a lasting impact on Sino-US relations. And it made the “lost chance” of a constructive sino-US relationship in mid to late 1940s discussion very interesting.

So it was with that background in mind that I started reading Ji Chaozhu’s (冀朝铸) The Man On Mao’s Right. It could use some better editing, but nonetheless some information I got was interesting. And Ji, in his account, underscored the “lost chance” theory.

Ji mentioned that Zhou Enlai summoned a group of diplomats in the Foreign Ministry to discuss some history of US China relationships, before Kissinger’s secret visit. He said that Zhou told them that in 1945, Zhou and Mao sent a message to US Ambassador Patrick Hurley that they would love to meet Roosevelt at any time and place of his choosing. Hurley didn’t deliver the message. Ji also says that Zhou mentioned that Leighton Stuart was ready to provide some financial support to China in 1949, and asked a mediator to deliver the message to Beijing, but once again the message was not delivered.

Another thing that interests me was the palace power drama in Mao’s Zhongnanhai. I’ve read 章含之’s “走进厚厚的大红门”, and it was interesting to compare notes of what they had to say on different things. The letter in Zhang Hanzhi’s book, a reprint that 章士钊 sent to Mao recommending a reconciliation with 刘少奇 Liu Shaoqi, and Mao’s refusal was particularly illuminating. Personally, I am not a big fan of Zhang Hanzhi. I am not a big fan of Wang Hairong and Nancy Tang either. It looked Ji and Qiao Guanhua/Zhang Haizhi were allies against Wang Hairong (王海容) and Nancy Tang (唐闻生).

And, Ji underscored the theory that after CKS fled to Taiwan, the invasion to the island was forthcoming but interrupted by the Korean War was also interesting. I suppose that was fairly widely accepted theory. Korean War suddenly made Taiwan more important, and the 7th fleet altered the balance.

Ji also mentioned that the chief of Red Cross, Henrik Beer, was in China when Kennedy was assassinated. Henrik was shocked, because, according to Ji’s wife, who was the interpreter at China Red Cross at the time, Henrik met Kennedy before his trip to China, and was to deliver a personal message from JFK to Xi Zhongxun (习仲勋). Ji was trying to suggest that warming up Sino-US relationship might have been on Kennedy’s mind. I am not sure how solid that speculation stands in history books, though.

In addition, overall, I liked his chapter on 1989. He recounted his discussion with Jiang Zemin, who thought Ji was naive on that matter, and Jiang’s seriousness about it. Ji also mentioned Bette Bao Lord’s presence at the square, who was then Ambassador Winston Lord’s wife. I am not too sure what to make of those accounts. By the way, Paul Theroux’s account of Bette Bao Lord in his Riding the Iron Rooster was pretty funny.

Ji obviously is a patriotic Chinese, but he mentioned many times in the book of his gratitude and love towards America and the American people he came to contact with during his stay in Manhattan and Harvard University, including his encounter with Eleanor Roosevelt. That really struck a cord with me and is something I appreciate, as a person who loves both China and the United States.

History is fascinating, isn’t it?

刚结束一个客户的业务，修整了两个星期，就开始了另一个客户的工作。

总结这一年多来的自由职业者路程，随便写写。

1. 做得越多越感到自己的无知。感觉打好基本功最重要，要用一些时间把基本东西重温一下。不光是读书，更要动手。先从数据库方面的东西做起；
2. 一开始到华盛顿、纽约、波士顿和其它城市搞培训，会有新鲜感，可飞多了也就那么回事儿。可能在五六十岁时做培训会好一些，现在孩子小，经常飞来飞去不是办法。如果没其它生意那当然要另当别论:独立职业者，不干就没钱。不像打工者，时不早晚地可以混天聊日偷懒一下。不过时间安排允许的话，倒挺想到泛华语区做培训，开会演讲，或其它项目，因为那样会有机会到我眷恋的故国看看，慰籍一下思乡之情；
4. 有本地的、本人感兴趣的、稳定的中长期项目是目前看来最好的选择。和本地的业界人士及本地的咨询公司甚至猎头公司拉好关系很重要；
5. 做生产数据库管理员真得很辛苦，对生活的影响还是很大的。呼机、大哥大不离手会很烦，当然钱可能会比做研发好一些。生产数据库出问题时，优化，函数调试和比较，索引和统计的分析，数据的分化，并行处理，等等等等，有那么多的方方面面要考虑和协调，大家都会很紧张。墨菲定律，出问题都是晚上、周末，搞得人精疲力竭。遇上通情达理的客户和经理还好说，遇到脑残的很可能会有麻烦。话又说回来，要吃饭，想买房子，照顾家人，不工作挣钱怎么行？什么事情，都是利弊的权衡；
6. 现在帮客户做研发挺好的，因为有一段时间没鼓捣过了，兴致盎然。本身就有兴趣，再加上.Net开发和Sql Server的关联又大，岂不是一箭双雕？Linux，MySQL，Oracle等还是要搞一搞的，那玩意儿也有意思呀！
7. 看来有买无线游动上网服务的必要。大部分的客户把网上电邮封掉，但现在的手机合约到明年四月左右才到期：要自由，不交一些钱是不行地。有点儿舍不得，和老婆商量商量再说；
8. 要给家人写信和寄照片。

I like tab completion in Linux shell, and I have occasionally used Ctrl-n while in insert mode in Vim. However, Ctrl-n requires 2 fingers, which makes it clumsy.

Today I stumbled a script, inside Vim’s help file, that enables Tab completion while in insert mode. It is pretty smart in that it will insert a Tab if you are at a whitespace while pressing the key. Otherwise it will present you with words already exist inside your document. Keep pressing Tab to toggle through them if there are more than one candidates.

Just put the script below in your _vimrc file and enjoy. You can do :helpgrep CleverTab to find it in your help file. Not sure if it is present in versions prior to 7.1:

function! CleverTab()
if strpart( getline(‘.’), 0, col(‘.’)-1 ) =~ ‘^\s*$’
return “\”
else
return “\”
endfunction
inoremap =CleverTab()

Enjoy! Note: Get it from the help file. The brackets and back slashes are not displayed properly here.

回国了，当然要带家人见识一下我的老家季庄，虽然父母现在住在县城里。

我算是70后，虽然有时会讨厌这种笼统的归类。我1971年出生于季庄。1984年，做民办教师的母亲转正，我们开始吃公粮，成了我从懂事起就羡慕的“非农业”。好像是1985年，我们搬到了镇上的四中去住，真正地离开了季庄这块土地。所以我的童年和部分少年是在季庄度过的。

季庄的变化真大。在2003年回去时，和故乡一别已是八年了。我小时候住的草屋，已经被翻盖成了平房，爷爷奶奶的草屋变成了大瓦屋。村子里的不少草屋，由于主人出去打工，都闲置或荒废掉。父母还告诉我，如果建新京沪高速铁路的话，会经过我的村庄。

感觉季庄变小了很多。小时候到家北的小店打酱油或到菜园里揪菜，到西南湖（注：湖在这儿是家乡话，地的意思）割草，记得好像要走一段时间的。现在好，一抬脚的功夫就到了。后来我和几个朋友同事谈起这个问题，不少人有同感。来自美国南方的黑人朋友卡尔说小时候个子矮，走路慢，当然觉得远，另外，一些相对于我的新盖的房子也会造成距离感的错觉。一个西班牙的同事深有同感，他的观点是：去的地方多了，见的人多了，无形中就会觉得家乡小了，尤其是自己的家乡本来就不大。

到家后，父母带着我一家三口到东北湖祖父的坟地去烧纸。

Grandma died in May this year. She was cremated and buried here as well. My dad erected a tablet stone here, so it is easier for later to identify, instead of the earth mounds here and there.

由于这次是老婆和儿子第一次来中国，所以我们把我的五个姑妈都叫到了季庄，一起吃顿饭，见见面。庄里的老乡大都是第一次见到白人，感到很好奇。他们都说儿子长得英俊，但很遗憾，不像妈妈那样白，黑铁蛋一样的皮肤，和我一样。我哈哈一笑了事。老婆不是哗众取宠之人，微笑着供别人观赏评论。有的乡亲走到很近看。孩娘过后跟我和孩子自嘲说她是荷里活的大腕，过了把星瘾。

我奶奶听说老婆家只有姐妹二人，无后，那怎么行？就让我翻译给太座，交待我要做岳父的儿子，并邀请岳父到季庄来安度晚年。她说：“你看看，咱家里有吃有住，多好！”

我奶奶是个有点奇怪的女人，1909年左右出生，小脚，好像十四岁左右过门，生了五个闺女两个儿子，大儿子不到十岁夭折。她和剩下的唯一的儿子，也就是我父亲，的关系不好，也不疼孙子。和那一代的大部分人一样，她是文盲，但喜欢学识字，开荒种地。我出生时，由方圆几十公里的唯一的接生婆接生。我是老小，有两个哥哥，出娘胎后，我趴在席上，奶奶走来，给我翻了个身，看了一眼生殖器：“哼，又是个小子！”，悻悻地走开了。她做的烤辣椒子调咸菜非常好吃。奶奶在2008年5月去世。想想奶奶这一代人的历史和经历，不胜唏嘘。奶奶比邓小平只小五岁左右，是一代人。

我奶奶：

奶奶的卧室：

奶奶的堂屋：

左上角的那个五斗橱好像是我爸在农校工作时学校给打的。

我和奶奶在过同里啦呱：

这个我和我奶奶啦呱的过同，就是以前我爸妈和我们兄弟三个住的三间草屋。过同是家乡话，门房的意思。不过当时不是过同，因为我们和爷爷奶奶是分家过的。当时爷爷奶奶的院门儿在东边儿。

那天我们在集上买了不少菜，自己做。靠墙的小棚子是厨房。我坐在那儿烧锅。要说烧锅 我算是老手了。因为用的是柴禾，所以不用拉风箱。很遗憾，忘了给风箱拍个照。

我在烧锅：

我们做的饭菜很丰盛，味道也好。但第二天，至少是我们夫妻俩口子开始拉肚子。据小孩娘和我的推断，这个病情是菜刀造成的。那天吃完饭，我们重新修盖被最近雨水冲毁的鸡窝。盖鸡窝的砖头有点大，需要把一些敲成小块才能码齐，但我们又没有工具。家人就用菜刀的刀背来敲砖。鸡窝垒完了，那刀随便被冲一冲就用来切西瓜，就这样病从口入了。

鸡窝：

靠，到了我对自己说不的时候了！

近一段时间以来，我不务正业，吊儿郎当，丢三落(la)四，晕晕乎乎，心情浮漂。整天上网打发时间，在一群博客上逛来逛去，有时心里会暗暗埋怨这宋以郎的东南西北、王博、王子等人的博客怎么这么久不更新？这样一天到晚下来，感觉如行尸走肉，头晕眼花，但第二天又外甥打灯笼，照旧（找舅）。

够了，我大声说。从现在起，我立地成佛，继续办我的正事儿，为中国人民、美国人民及世界各国人民的事业做贡献：
1. 早睡早起。如想躺着多看会儿书，9点半左右就得上床
2. 起床后第一件事就是锻炼身体，骑健身自行车至少一刻钟，然后弄点俯卧撑、仰卧起坐、哑铃之类。我发现早晨锻炼一下，那一整天的感觉都好。如早晨起来觉得饿得慌，先吃点东西垫垫肚子再说
3. 洗漱完毕的第一件事就是做计划。拿张草稿纸，写下要做的事情，越详细越好，按轻重缓急排序，然后就去执行。如奇迹发生，竟然能在一天内做完，那就再计划一次。或许要给自己留下少许游手好闲的时间来

欢迎各位领导、来宾、同志、网友的监督和建议。现在就立马行动去鸟！

In my previous post, Fareed Zakaria and Wen Jiabao talked about the financial crisis and the fact that China holds so much of US Treasury Bills, and Wen’s belief that the United States is a credible country, and that this crisis could have global impact and major countries should work together. That’s all good, fine and dandy.

With this 700 billion dollars bailout plan, however, my personal opinion is that the American public and other major world economic players like China, Japan, the UK, Germany, and such, should know more before deciding to go along with it. I am glad that the first version was rejected at the House of Representatives. And if I could cast a vote, the second version should be rejected also, because I don’t think I have a good understanding of all the important details.

I am not saying that the situation is not serious and we should not do anything, but I believe we have been hoodwinked too many times by the fear-mongering tactics in the last eight years to give Bush, Cheney, and the people they are in bed with another easy pass. I certainly don’t want them to screw us up badly, with repercussions for decades to come, one more time before they go out of office in January. Yes, something needs to be done, and fairly quickly, but it needs to be done in a transparent manner, explaining pros and cons so people understand.

I thought Glenn Greenwald laid it out very nicely in these posts here:

Wash Post’s Pearlstein: Anyone opposing the bailout is ignorant
Bailout follows the 10 normal principles for how our government functions

Huh, when did Fareed Zakaria get his own TV show? I know the guy is a Newsweek columnist but never realized he is on TV nowadays.

Anyway, I read his interview with Premier Wen Jiabao, which triggered a search on the web that led to the Youtube footage. Really impressive. Premier Wen is a person that I respect, admire, and love. And I really love the message he delivered in the interview. He also got me interested in Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, a book that the Premier read many times. Got to see if my library has a copy.

Here is the transcript.

Update: Fareed can be a good Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator with his voice.

Here is the interview in 3 parts on Youtube. Most of Wen’s talk was voiced over by the interpreter, but one can still hear quite a bit. In addition, about half of the interview is subtitled in Chinese:

Fareed Zakaria’s interview of Premier Wen Jiabao part 1

Fareed Zakaria’s interview of Premier Wen Jiabao part 2

Fareed Zakaria’s interview of Premier Wen Jiabao part 3