Chinese Cultural Group Merton Summer 2013 Issue – Edited by Helen Marti Page 1 Our programme set out in this Newsletter continues our regular series of successful meetings: among these, we had a fascinating tea demonstration organised by Sissi Wong, from a real expert, Mark Nicholls, from the famous Twinings teashop in London, about Chinese tea. There was much more to it than we had realised. We're looking forward to Alex Roney's trip on 16th July to the Brighton Pavilion, which was a grand venture into what's known as Chinoiserie, the imitation of Chinese art styles by the West. That's an important but neglected element in Chinese studies. If you have any ideas for other adventures of this kind, please let our Secretary Helen Marti know. We now have a new Taiji Qigong Shibashi expert, Leonie Tarratt, and we have great hopes that she will decide to stay with us. Taiji Qigong Shibashi has always been our most popular activity, and she can now take us much more deeply into what's involved in these exercises than one can get from a DVD. Please come to our twice-monthly Tuesday meetings if you possibly can, and the AGM on 4 June: let's have your ideas. CHINESE CULTURAL GROUP MERTON SUMMER 2013 2013 ISSUE ISSUE May 2013 Summer is fast approaching after the second coldest March weather on record ever to occur in the British Isles. In this issue, there are fascinating insights into the procurement of Western goods in China in recent years, the Hakka Chinese community by a new contributor, the Chinese propensity for curiosity and love of gossip and a mouth-watering Hakka recipe. Come and celebrate with us at the Dragon Boat Festival in June, and Celebrating Age Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival in September. Congratulations to Paul Hider and his wife, on being proud parents for the first time, JD having arrived. There is a mini baby boom in this neck of the woods as two staff members of the Wimbledon Guild have recently gone on maternity leave. The Wimbledon Guild is going through an exciting transition with the new Ageing Well Programme offering support for older people in Merton, and enabling them to live independently and preventing social isolation. There will be an informal “drop-in cafe” with a variety of activities for a wider audience in the community, and a coaching programme to support older people recovering from a fall or after a close bereavement. The Chinese Cultural Group Merton would like to thank the Wimbledon Guild for supporting the group’s activities and meetings held twice a month at the Guild. New members are welcome to socialise and participate in the Chinese activities and festivals. Word from the Chairman-Eugene Byrne Inside this issue Western Goodies 2 The Hakka Chinese 3 Advice for Non-Chinese 4 Membership Renewal Reminder 4 Steamed Pork with Mustard Greens 5 Poem by Du Fu 5 V & A Museum Chinese Art Exhibition 5 Trip to Royal Pavilion Brighton 6 Quotes from Confucius 6 The Four Gentlemen 6 CCGM Programme May- December 2013 7 Punti Versus Hakka 8 夏
Transcript
Chinese Cultural Group Merton Summer 2013 Issue – Edited by Helen Marti Page 1
Our programme set out in this
Newsletter continues our regular
series of successful meetings:
among these, we had a
fascinating tea demonstration
organised by Sissi Wong, from a
real expert, Mark Nicholls, from
the famous Twinings teashop in
London, about Chinese tea.
There was much more to it than
we had realised. We're looking
forward to Alex Roney's trip on
16th July to the Brighton
Pavilion, which was a grand
venture into what's known as
Chinoiserie, the imitation of
Chinese art styles by the West.
That's an important but
neglected element in Chinese
studies. If you have any ideas for
other adventures of this kind,
please let our Secretary Helen
Marti know.
We now have a new Taiji Qigong
Shibashi expert, Leonie Tarratt,
and we have great hopes that she
will decide to stay with us. Taiji
Qigong Shibashi has always been
our most popular activity, and
she can now take us much more
deeply into what's involved in
these exercises than one can get
from a DVD. Please come to our
twice-monthly Tuesday meetings
if you possibly can, and the AGM
on 4 June: let's have your ideas.
CHINESE CULTURAL GROUP MERTON SUMMER 2013 2013 ISSUEISSUE May 2013
Summer is fast approaching after the second coldest March weather on record ever to occur in the British
Isles. In this issue, there are fascinating insights into the procurement of Western goods in China in recent
years, the Hakka Chinese community by a new contributor, the Chinese propensity for curiosity and love
of gossip and a mouth-watering Hakka recipe. Come and celebrate with us at the Dragon Boat Festival in
June, and Celebrating Age Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival in September. Congratulations to Paul Hider
and his wife, on being proud parents for the first time, JD having arrived.
There is a mini baby boom in this neck of the woods as two staff members of the Wimbledon Guild have
recently gone on maternity leave. The Wimbledon Guild is going through an exciting transition with the
new Ageing Well Programme offering support for older people in Merton, and enabling them to live
independently and preventing social isolation. There will be an informal “drop-in cafe ” with a variety of
activities for a wider audience in the community, and a coaching programme to support older people
recovering from a fall or after a close bereavement. The Chinese Cultural Group Merton would like to
thank the Wimbledon Guild for supporting the group’s activities and meetings held twice a month at the
Guild. New members are welcome to socialise and participate in the Chinese activities and festivals.
Word from the Chairman-Eugene Byrne Inside this issue
Western Goodies 2
The Hakka Chinese 3
Advice for Non-Chinese 4
Membership Renewal Reminder 4
Steamed Pork with Mustard Greens
5
Poem by Du Fu 5
V & A Museum Chinese Art Exhibition
5
Trip to Royal Pavilion Brighton 6
Quotes from Confucius 6
The Four Gentlemen 6
CCGM Programme May-December 2013
7
Punti Versus Hakka 8
夏
Chinese Cultural Group Merton Summer 2013 Issue – Edited by Helen Marti Page 2
Paul Hider 海 德 Life in China
Article #7
For Paul’s news see: www.paulinchina.info
When I first lived in China in 1994, the sleepy town
of Duyun in Guizhou Province offered little or
nothing in the way of “western goodies”. There were
five foreigners amongst the population of 350,000
and anything new or exciting appearing in the shops
was immediately snapped up for fear it would never
be seen again. We once spied, and quickly bought,
five bottles of ketchup. Peanut butter suddenly
appeared one day. Maps of the town (in English)
were spotted in a hotel and purchased. The schedule
of a churn of fresh milk appearing in the street, sold
by the ladle, was whispered around like a state
secret. An occasional 4 hour bus ride to the
Provincial capital, Guiyang, could net you some
pasta, a Mars bar or a tin of baked beans. These
would be eked out, or traded with the other
foreigners. Bakers were “bribed” to sell us small
blocks of sweetened butter or jam. Deodorant,
cheese and chocolate were sent by post from the UK
on special occasions. Mobile phones, computers and
photocopiers were yet to find their way to rural
China. The College where I worked was the nearest
place with an internationally connected phone and
students would run to my flat to find me on my
birthday and at Christmas when my parents phoned.
Fast-forward twenty years. I now live in Kunming - a
“second-tier” city in China, unusually small for a
Provincial capital, but still boasting a population as
large as London. Situated in the Southwest of China,
it is far from the westernization of Beijing or
Shanghai but things are changing fast even here. You
can see American fast-food chains in large shopping
areas and cheese, fresh milk and baked beans are
now available if you know where to look. Mobile
phones (and the shops that sell them) are
everywhere – dying fast are the tiny phone kiosks
where you could pay a few jiao for a local call. Many
restaurants have wi-fi and internet cafes are full of
bleary-eyed youngsters shooting each other (or,
strangely, mastering dance routines). Internet
“Skype” has meant I can show off to my parents my
new-born son “JD” in real time (albeit jerkily!) and
websites like “taobao” can deliver almost every
western foodstuff you might desire (for a price).
My wife loves online shopping and can read the
Chinese characters, so I now find myself well-
stocked with cereals, decent coffee, deodorant – even
Branston pickle and Marmite! Although day to day
food is usually local fare, and one adapts to most
cultural norms, having western goodies now and
again still provides a taste of home and allows you to
Chinese Cultural Group Merton Summer 2013 Issue – Edited by Helen Marti Page 3
Who are the Hakka Chinese? The inhabitants in
north China may not know, and yet that’s where we
originate from: in the northern region of Henan and
Shanxi. The dialect we speak is also known as Hakka
and there are believed to be some 90-100 million
Hakka speakers worldwide.
Today there are Hakka people in most countries
where there are Chinese communities and in Taiwan
we’re so numerous that the television news is even
broadcast in the Hakka language. But can you guess
which is the country where almost 100% oft the
Chinese population are Hakka?
The Hakkas are not strictly a separate ethnic group:
we’re a subgroup of the Han Chinese and in China we
form seven per cent of the total population. But we
appear to be better known outside China. In any
country where there are Chinese, you will hear our
dialect being spoken. We were among the first
Chinese to leave China to go overseas to find work
and we have since had significant influence in the
course of Chinese history, not just at home, but also
among overseas Chinese.
A few prominent Hakkas
are: Sun Yat Sen, the first
President of China; Deng
Xiao Ping, leader of the
People’s Republic of
China; Lee Kuan Yew,
Prime Minister of
Singapore. They were
named as the Most
Influential Asians
(Chinese) of the 20th
century by Time
Magazine. Yap Ah Loy, founder of Kuala Lumpur; Han
Suyin, famous author; Jimmy Choo, renowned
designer; Woon Wing Yip, Chinese tycoon who
founded the chain of Wing Yip supermarkets; Alan
Yau, founder of Wagamama restaurant chain.
After the fall of the Song dynasty (AD960-1280), the
invaders from Manchuria caused the remaining
Hakkas to retreat to the south. This series of
migrations, which first started as far back as the Jin
dynasty (AD265-420), became known as “The long
migration of 2,000 years”. It ended when they
reached the province of Fujian and, eventually,
Guangdong.
This was when we first became known as the Hakka
Chinese. It’s the Cantonese pronunciation of the
Mandarin “Kejia”, sometimes spelt “Ko-Chia”,
meaning “the guest people”, to distinguish them from
the “Punti”, the native southerners. In Roman letters
it was originally written hack-ka. The “guests” were
not exactly welcomed with open arms and had to
occupy the less desirable lands, mainly in the hills.
Their presence there led to several skirmishes in the
Pearl River Delta in the 19th century which became
known as the Punti-Hakka Clan Wars. Many of the
Hakkas who had settled in Fujian used the Tingjiane
river to migrate south to the more prosperous
province of Guangdong. When it became possible
from the 19th century onwards, those who had
settled in Meixian made their way to Hong Kong and
from there to the four corners of the world – and
some ended up in Mauritius.
It was from Mauritius that Chinese people went to
other countries in the region, such as Madagascar and
South Africa, and they were mainly the Cantonese.
Why did they leave? Perhaps they didn’t like being in
a community where the majority were Hakkas. As a
consequence the Chinese in Mauritius are about 95%
Hakka and 5% Cantonese.
Sun Yat-sen (12 Nov 1866
– 12 Mar 1925)
The Hakka Chinese
By Jacques K. Lee
Hakka farmers in Mauritius
Chinese Cultural Group Merton Summer 2013 Issue – Edited by Helen Marti Page 4
For Mandarin learners the best textbook that I know
of is Teach Yourself Chinese (with cassette) in the
Teach Yourself series, by Elizabeth Scurfield. Still
published in revised editions, in my 1991 copy of it
the lessons are interspersed with advice and
comments about life in Mao's China, where she had
lived for some time.
She describes here a characteristic that I believe our
Chinese colleagues will confirm as being enduring, I
hope so anyway, and I think that fortunately the
English are no longer as reticent as they were
formerly.
"The Chinese love to know everybody else's
business and do not feel at all inhibited about
enquiring how much you paid for your house, your
car, your record-player, your television, your clothes
or anything else. They are always particularly
interested in your age, marital status and whether
you have children and if not why not! Although
customs are changing gradually, it is extremely
unusual for a Chinese adult in his or her 30's to be
unmarried or childless. Conversely it is quite in
order for you to ask the same sort of questions.
Being of a 'curious' disposition myself I have always
felt very much at home in China. Of course, as
contact with the outside world increases, many more
Chinese are learning that some foreigners regard
such questions as impolite and may therefore, on
occasions, restrain their natural curiosity (and
genuine openness) on such matters."
A postscript: Elizabeth founded the Chinese
Department at what is now the University of
Westminster, where she was one of my teachers. In
the 1980's I was on a summer course at Renmin
Daxue (the People's University) in Beijing, unaware
that she happened to be in town on a return visit.
She later told me that she had seen me cycling past in
a crowded street, too late to attract my attention.
Advice for Non-Chinese
By Eugene Byrne
Membership Renewal Reminder
Ivy would like to remind members who have not yet
renewed their membership for the year April 2013
to March 2014 that application forms were sent out
with the last newsletter. Renewals would be
welcomed - if application forms have been mislaid,
please phone Ivy on 020 8542 9154 for a
replacement.
Where is your
family? I don’t have a family,
and I don’t want one,
not just yet.
Ivy Salvage on Taiji Qigong teacher
On 16th April Leonie Tarratt led the Taiji Qigong
Shibashi session and it was most enjoyable. Her
relaxed, expert tuition was so thorough that I think
all of us would like to go further with her
instruction and look forward to more sessions. I
think we should also say a big thank-you to all
those members who have led the sessions in the
past and kept us interested.
Chinese Cultural Group Merton Summer 2013 Issue – Edited by Helen Marti Page 5
Steamed Pork With Mustard Greens 梅菜扣肉 - By Sissi Wong
This is a traditional Hakka food which is sometimes
referred to as Chinese soul food. Preserved mustard
greens, if used in this dish, will need to be washed
thoroughly to get rid of the grit. The sweet and salty
flavours with a succulent soft meat and rich, umami-
laden sauce is the ultimate comfort food to die for.
A word of caution to those with a predisposition to
high cholesterol as this delicious dish contains high
saturated fats.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/
Cookbook:Steamed_Pork_With_Mustard_Greens
Ingredients:
About 11 ounces mustard greens
1 teaspoon cornstarch combined with 1 teaspoon
cold water
½ teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine or water
¾ pound pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 tablespoons black bean and garlic sauce
About 2 tablespoons water
Freshly ground black pepper
Method:
Wash greens and discard tough stems. Bring a large
pot of water to the boil, add greens and time 2
minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the
cooking. Drain again, then cut greens into long
diagonal strips.
In a medium bowl, combine cornstarch and water.
Stir in sugar, soy sauce and rice wine. Cut pork into
thin slices and add to the mixture. Marinate for 20
minutes, stirring occasionally.
Heat oil in a preheated wok or large heavy skillet
over medium heat. Add black bean sauce and stir-fry
1 minute, then add pork and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add
mustard greens and water. Mix well and simmer
gently about 4 to 5 minutes, until pork is cooked
through and greens are tender. Season with pepper
and serve.
The path is paved with poplar catkins, a carpet of white grain,
Lotus leaves on the little stream are piled like green coins.
Among the roots of new bamboo, sprouts that no man has seen,
On the sand nearby, a duckling sleeps beside its mother.
http://www.chinese-poems.com/d30t.html
The Path is Paved With Poplar Catkins - Du Fu (AD712- 770)
漫興
糝徑楊花鋪白氈
點溪荷葉疊青錢
筍根稚子無人見
沙上鳧雛傍母眠
V & A Museum to Stage Show of Chinese Art
Some of the earliest surviving paintings in the world will go on show in an unprecedented exhibition of 1,200 years of Chinese painting, one of the world's greatest artistic traditions. The Victoria and Albert Museum is bringing together 70 works dating from 700 to 1900, including a 14-metre scroll.
Master pieces of Chinese painting 700-1900, supported by friends of the V&A, runs from October 26 to January 19, 2014, admission £12.
