The tea grows cold
Tea rites and wrongs
I don’t know whether it’s because I am still reading the Red Memory on the Cultural Revolution or because tomorrow is 9/11 or the day after the anniversary of my father’s passing but I have a retrospective column to highlight today. I came across it in a daily “dump” of sources on China, though I actually am quite aware of the fellow who created it so I should probably subscribe to the site but just can’t afford everything I come across.
China Analysis Digest is a neat little website that offers a wide array of materials on China. The subscription service offers a much more vast array but I subscribe to so many things these days that I rely on the free listing. If. you are interested in “new China-related analyses”, try neican.org.
One of the links today is entitled “When the Guest Departs, the Tea Goes Cold”, listed under a source called China Heritage. This is an online site by a New Zealand-based scholar of the Middle Kingdom, Geremie Barme’ who I find most refreshing in his willingness to call a spade a spade in China. I can’t say he is always right but his extended experience on the ground in China through the phases of the country’s evolution provides most interesting perspective.
The commentary on Tea gathers the “Chaguan” observations by the outgoing Economist columnist David Rennie as he departs from his post this summer. Using the metaphor of tea in Chinese culture, Rennie’s sophisticated reminders of the changes the country is undergoing—or not—provides Barme’ a tool to peel back layers of the country. It’s a fascinating yet simple read as we struggle outside that nation to understand its objectives, its future, and its deficits. I appreciated the depth of Rennie’s knowledge as if the Xi Jinping period were a single, extended de facto essay Barme’ created by aggregating years into in a single entry.
It is also a reminder of how hard it is to work on the ground in Xi’s China. Imagine what any military attache’ or diplomat faces day in and day out.
The subtitle for the entry is “Xi Jinping’s Empire of Tedium”. What an exquisite reminder of so much in China these days where actions and consequences may not be as immediately obvious as we might desire yet are playing out in western countries as much as they are for the people under Xi and the CCP rule.
You may not find it as useful as I did but Rennie’s work adds to anyone’s knowledge of this country upon which we spill so many electrons. Barme’s comments and reminders of past scholarly views are also most worthwhile. Take a look, if you have time.
Thank you for taking time to consider Actions today. Please feel free to circulate it if you find the discussion of value. I appreciate the subscribers whose financial support is so important for this newsletter. But understand I appreciate each and every one of you so please feel free to drop me a line.
Be well and be safe. FIN
“China Digest”, neican.org
“When the guest departs, the tea goes cold”, chinaheritage.org, https://chinaheritage.net/journal/when-the-guest-departs-the-tea-goes-cold/