SeligmanOnline          China

My career as a “China hand” began with a summer of Mandarin lessons, followed by two years of English teaching in Taiwan in the 1970s. After the U.S. and PRC established diplomatic relations in 1979, I worked in China in two stints totaling five years. Add my Taiwan and Hong Kong years and that's eight years all together. Tangible evidence of my love affair with the Chinese can be found in the books I've written about them, and I also have a few special interests as well.

 

Books About China and the Chinese. One of the many areas I have found fascinating about the Chinese has been cultural differences and strategies and tactics for effective cross-cultural communication. I've written and lectured extensively on this subject; my most recent book about it is called Chinese Business Etiquette. Read all about my China books on the page on this site about writing.

Books About Mandarin. Together with my friend and former colleague I-Chuan Chen, I have also written several editions of a Mandarin language phrase book over a 20-year period that provides basic vocabulary for travelers to China in Chinese characters, pinyin spelling and, of course, English. For more about this book, see the page on this website about writing.

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. This was an unmitigated disaster for China, and my interest in it implies no support for its ideology or those who espoused it, often violently. But as a PR professional, I have to marvel at the propaganda developed to fuel this mass movement that mobilized millions to build socialism. My collection includes books, posters, art, porcelain Mao busts and badges bearing his image. Among the most valued pieces is a gun with rubber-tipped darts and four targets emblazoned with caricatures of the "Gang of Four." Plus, I've teamed up on an upcoming book about cooking - yes, cooking - during the Cultural Revolution. You can read about it here.

Western Architecture in China. I also enjoy China's old Western architecture, of which vestiges remain if you know where to look. I have a collection of images of Beijing's historic Legation Quarter and the foreign concessions in several of the early treaty ports. I am also fascinated by the Jewish experience in China, notably that of Russian Jews who lived there from the late 19th century through World War II.

The Chinese in America. This is a more recent interest of mine. I have been doing research on the experience of the early Chinese immigrants in the United States, primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries, in Chinatowns in the West, Midwest and the East. It is leading to several articles and books. For more about this subject, see the page on this website about writing.