Learning to be Chinese: Boarding Schools in Tibet

In a recently published research article, Learning to be Chinese: colonial-style boarding schools on the Tibetan plateau, James Leibold and Tenzin Dorjee examine this vast network where "Tibetan children are placed in around-the-clock state care with little access to their home communities." A few factoids they cite help to give an idea of what this really … Continue reading Learning to be Chinese: Boarding Schools in Tibet →

Contemporary Fiction from China: Must it Be Penned in Mandarin?

Aug 23, 2020 Update: Bainuu, the only Mongolian-language social media application available in China, which hosted about 400,000 Southern Mongolians users, reportedly shut down by Chinese authorities. A few years back I posted a piece entitled A Resounding “Yes” to Mother-tongue Literature — but for Whom and about What? In this context, “mother-tongue” … Continue reading Contemporary Fiction from China: Must it Be Penned in Mandarin? →

Xinjiang’s Hotian Education Department Issues Directive Limiting Use of Uyghur in Schools

According to a July 28, 2017 report by Radio Free Asia (Uyhgur Language): In late June, the Education Department in Xinjiang’s Hotan (in Chinese, Hetian) prefecture issued a five-point directive outlawing the use of Uyghur at schools in favor of Mandarin Chinese “in order to strengthen elementary and middle/high school bilingual education.” Under the directive … Continue reading Xinjiang’s Hotian Education Department Issues Directive Limiting Use of Uyghur in Schools →

“阿尔泰古今讲故事” 本周精彩语录: 母语文本的纪录

我国学者数十年来致力于少数民族民间故事、诗歌谣谚、宗教口诵经典等的收集翻译整理，出版了大量翻译作品，取得了举世瞩目的成就，但其中也存在着一些遗憾和失误，这就是忽略了对少数民族民间作品母语文本的记录，有相当多的翻译整理本没有母语原本，没有逐字逐句的直译。这样的直接后果是，丧失了作品多方面的科学价值，而且由于没有母语的承载，这些文本也难以作为相关民族后代传承文化的文本来使用。此外，由于缺乏语音记录和直译，相关民族特有的文化、社会和宗教概念难以在汉文文本中全面正确地反映。鉴于此，今后在搜集整理少数民族民间文学作品时，应保留用国际音标记录或用本民族文字书写的严谨客观的母语文本。 (杨福泉，纳西族学者，中国民族报)

Language Policies Impede Tibetan Literacy in Tibetan Majority Regions

In Tibetans Fight to Salvage Fading Culture in China, Edward Wong explores how recent changes to China's language policy in areas populated mainly by speakers of Tibetan are --- intentionally, it appears --- making it much more difficult for many students to attain basic literacy in their mother tongue: When officials forced an informal school … Continue reading Language Policies Impede Tibetan Literacy in Tibetan Majority Regions →

Profile of Octogenarian Orochen: Folk Song Singer, Folk Tale and Dictionary Compiler

Among one of the first batches of young Orochen (鄂伦春) chosen to receive a formal Chinese-language education in Zhalantun in 1948, E’erdenggua (额尔登挂) was just 17 at the time. She had never been outside her village on the banks of Chuo’er River (绰尔河畔) in Inner Mongolia, and didn’t speak a word of Chinese. Now 84, … Continue reading Profile of Octogenarian Orochen: Folk Song Singer, Folk Tale and Dictionary Compiler →

One-Size-Fits-All Qualification Exam for China Publishing Professionals Militates Against Ethnic Minority Talent

In China, since 2002 all technical staff employed in a publishing enterprise engaged in “editing, publication, proofreading and distribution . . . must obtain a National Publication Professional Qualification Certificate” (国家出版专业职业资格). That sounds fairly reasonable in the China context where media is tightly managed for political correctness. But the reality is that in one sector … Continue reading One-Size-Fits-All Qualification Exam for China Publishing Professionals Militates Against Ethnic Minority Talent →

Qing Dynasty Translations of Han Classics into Various Languages of China

The four classics of Chinese vernacular literature during the Ming and Qing Dynasties — Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West and Dream of the Red Chamber — were all more or less fully translated into Manchu under the Qing, writes Yiming Abula (伊明·阿布拉) in Minority Translators Journal (民族翻译). Translations into … Continue reading Qing Dynasty Translations of Han Classics into Various Languages of China →

Compiling New 150,000-entry Tibetan Dictionary: Any Role for the Tibetan Diaspora?

Xinhua reports that the first 3 volumes of a new all-Tibetan dictionary will be published within 2015, with another 27 to be gradually launched through the end of 2018 (新版《藏文大辞典》). The aim seems to be to create the Tibetan equivalent of the much respected《辞海》(Cihai), the large-scale dictionary and encyclopedia of the Chinese language. Anyone who follows the … Continue reading Compiling New 150,000-entry Tibetan Dictionary: Any Role for the Tibetan Diaspora? →

China’s Ethnic-themed Fiction: Mongolian Author Raises the Bar with Call for Bilingual Skills

Xi Jinping’s recent media blitz reminds China’s propaganda workers that — as Chairman Mao told us back at the 1942 Yan’an Forum — art should serve politics. No ifs, ands or buts, Comrades. To ensure the message gets across to the 55 ethnic minorities that weren’t born Han, “learn from Chairman Xi” study sessions targeting … Continue reading China’s Ethnic-themed Fiction: Mongolian Author Raises the Bar with Call for Bilingual Skills →