Subject: CSS Today #94018, December 26, 1994

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 1994 11:32:00 -0500

Date: Mon, 26 Dec 1994 12:17:51 -0800 (PST)
From: [email-masked] (Yuan Wei)
Subject: CSS Today #94018, December 26, 1994

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              ]]]    ]]]   ]]] ]]]   ]]] ]]]   ]]]    ]]]       No. 94018
              ]]]     ]]]]]]]  ]]]]]]]]  ]]]   ]]]    ]]]    _ 1994.12.25 _

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CSS Today Editorial Board                             <[email-masked]>
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                     I N    T H I S   I S S U E                  No of Lines
============================================================================
Special Topic: Chinese School -----
     o  Heritage Education -- Foundation of Community Building........... 99
     o  Chinese School Association in US Formed ......................... 36
     o  The Hope Chinese School in D.C. Succeeded in Its First Year ..... 23

Open Forum ------------------------
     o  Reflection on Qi-Gong Phenomenon   .............................. 58
     o  IFCSS Should Seek Dialogue and Exchange With China  ............. 48

IFCSS Watch -----------------------
     o  XIN Ku's Letters to LUO Ning .................................... 99
     o  LUO Ning's Reply to XIN Ku ...................................... 46

Humor, Anecdotes, and Puzzles -----
     o  Three Items   ................................................... 39

Between Readers & Editors ---------
     o  Are We Fighting for Justice ? ................................... 16

===========================<<<<< Special Topic >>>>>========================
Heritage Education -- Foundation of Community Building .................. 99
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By LUO Ning

A new wave of Chinese community development has risen from the
horizon, and risen quickly, that is the establishment and growth of the
Chinese schools in towns and cities all over the country by those who came
from China not long ago.  The significance of this development is still far
from fully unfolded.

The first form of community organization encountered by the Chinese
students and scholars came to the United States after China opened its door
in 1978 was the Chinese student and scholar association (CSSA), or Lian Yi
Hui, on campus.  Even today, CSSA is still the center of Chinese community
in many small college towns.  The association beyond the local level
appeared gradually in the 1980's, in the forms of alumni association and
academic societies.

The year of 1989 was a great turning point in the history of Chinese
community development.  The spiritual resonance and solidarity between the
overseas Chinese and the peoples around the globe reached a high point
never achieved before.  The image and self-image of Chinese people have
changed forever since then.  After "6.4", the general awareness and social
bonding formed at levels beyond campus led to the founding of the first
national organization which was not afraid of being openly critical of the
Chinese government --- IFCSS, and the mushrooming of associations in the
first years of 1990s, many driven by the vast business opportunities in
China.

The rise of Chinese schools in recent years symbolizes another new
stage in the development of Chinese community.  We are not only expanding
in spatial scope and variety, but also in depth of time, reaching to the
education of our children.  Education of the young is probably the closest
thing to religion that most Chinese have.  No matter how harsh is the life,
Ahinese parents would always devote their most precious resources and hopes
to the betterment of their children through good education.

Many Chinese parents have tried in the past few decades to find
happiness for their kids by teaching them to forget their heritage and
"live like everybody else".  The question is whether or not can one ever be
truly proud of being himself or herself if his or her parents are ashamed
of their own ethnic identity.  Ironically, it can also be questioned if
this "being like everybody else" mentality is actually a syndrome inherited
from our own traditional human relationship guidelines in our own early
experiences back in China.

The success of Jewish community development has been envied by many
ethnic group.  Chinese and Jews have a lot in common: Long history,
emphasis on education, strong family tie, etc..  The disparities in the
success of these two ethnic communities are, however, out of proportion.
There have been talked of a great number of reasons, but one of the most
important reasons is the differences in attitudes towards one's own ethnic
heritage.  To build a strong Chinese community, we must rebuild the pride
in our own heritage, and Chinese schools are a base to begin such an
endeavor.

In a not so distant future, many Chinese schools will acquire their
own estate and evolve into Chinese community centers, where there are not
only classrooms for teaching Chinese language and cultural heritage, but
also library, gym, swimming pool, conference rooms, auditorium, fitness
facilities, playing ground, athletic field, etc., etc..  People of all ages
can come together to share and learn.  With such community centers as the
nucleation cores of our community, with the identity, confidence and self-
esteem built upon our heritage, the integration into the main society will
no longer be an agonizing process, but a joyful experience which will
enrich both ourselves and the society.  The pioneers of such endeavor
deserve our high respect and full support.

===========================<<<<< Special Topic >>>>>========================
Chinese School Association in the US Established ........................ 36
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By PU Dai/CSS Today

Chinese School Association in the United States (CSAUS), a new organization
aimed at coordinating educational activities of Chinese schools cross the
country, was formed Recently. School principals or coordinators from 16
independent Chinese schools of 14 different states in the United States have
passed the bylaw of the new organization and elected Toni Ni (The Hope
Chinese School, MD) as the first president and HONG Zao-Hui (The Sino-US
Chinese School, GA) the vice-president. The governing body of the
Association, the CSAUS Board of Directors, consists of the president and
the vice-president and three other elected board members: CHIEN Yongwei (The
Chinese School of Oriental Cultural Center, UT), CHEN Xin (The Great Wall
Chinese School, TX), and HE Zhen-yu (Chicago Xilin Chinese School, IL).

Currently, most existing Chinese schools in the US are still teaching the
traditional Chinese characters (Fan-Ti-Zi) with traditional phonetics
(Zhu-Yin). That has created difficulties and confusion for children from
China or born to parents from China wo are used to simplified Chinese
characters (Jian-Ti-Zi) and Pin-Yin. That has become an increasingly serious
concern as more and more people are coming to and settling down in this
country. Teaching Chinese to their children and maintaining their cultural
heritage is a top priority for all the Chinese parents.

To the increasing demand for Chinese schools teaching simplified characters
and Pin-Yin, a new type of Chinese schools and classes, most founded by
volunteer scholars from China, have been booming all over the US in the
past three years. In order to promote information exchange among these
schools and help develop educational programs for Chinese kids, Toni Ni,
HONG Zao-Hui, CHIEN Yongwei, CHEN Xin, and HUANG Rui-He jointly proposed
the establishment of a coordinating organization last June. As a result,
CSAUS, as is called, was formed after six month's preparation.

CSAUS is going to hold its annual conference in the coming year, according
to the newly elected CSAUS president Toni Ni. CSAUS is also planning
several other projects, including the publication of CSAUS newsletter and a
membership directory, teacher training program, coordination of textbook
selection, and some social activities. Reader interested in joining CSAUS
or for more information could contact The Liaison Office, CSAUS,
4349 S. Fortuna Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84124. Phone: (801)278-3643.

===========================<<<<< Special Topic >>>>>========================
The Hope Chinese School in D.C. Succeeds in Its First Year .............. 23
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Toni Ni

It is a successful year for the Hope Chinese Language School in Washington
DC area.  The school established a year ago now has more than 120 students
and 15 teachers with 7 grade Chinese language classes and 6 art classes,
such as drawing, dancing, GO, Chinese martial. It also publishes a newsletter
--STARS OF HOPE each semester.

The school has a board consisting of 9 directors who are volunteers except
the school principal.  All directors are from student parents and teachers
and also elected in annual student parents meeting.

The school has succeeded in its financial independence. The tuition is the
lowest in Washington DC area where there are about 28 Chinese Schools.
The Hope Chinese School is only one teaching "Pin1 Yin1" and simplified
Chinese and run by mainland Chinese community.  The tuition is about $2.25
per hour, an amount less than hiring a baby sitter for many parents.

Mainland Chinese schools are growing very fast in the United States. It has
become an important part of life in the Chinese Community. Every Saturday or
Sunday, no matter what kind of weather, parents or grand parents send their
kids to the school on time, and they themselves participate in some in- or
out-classroom activities.

===========================<<<<< Open Forum >>>>>===========================
Reflection on Qi-Gong Phenomenon   ...................................... 58
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By LAO Jiang

Nowadays, if one gets to-gethering of Chinese students and scholars anywhere
in the U.S., nine out of ten times the topic of practicing Qi-Gong will turn
up. Frequently, an otherwise calm and objective will passionately expound
the virtue of his branch of Qi-Gong, gratefully enumerate the physical and
spiritual benefits he reaped from its practice and fervently praise the
prowess and lofty kindness of his teacher (more often than not, Master YAN
Xin).  The healthy appearance, the serene demeanor and the eagerness to
spread the word of the Qi-Gong practitioners never fail to impress the
multitudes, be it an informed audience or a casual observer.

I have the good fortune to be acquainted with a few committed Qi-Gong
practitioners.  About a year ago, I attended a lecture on YAN Xin Qi-Gong
by an acquaintance of mine.  Showing up in the lecture hall, I was
completely taken aback by the radiant face and alert manner of the lecturer.
After a few months of practicing Qi-Gong, he was thoroughly rejuvenated.  He
told us he has been fasting for over a month and he had never felt better.
He also cited several extraordinary exploits of Master YAN Xin, such as
curing serious illness by his mere appearance, sustaining a life of a girl
without food for several years, and making rainfall to put out a major
forest fire.  How could one describe these deeds by anything but miracles?
When I talked to my Qi-Gong friends, I got the feeling that they had the
mind set of pioneers of a grand and noble mission.  They want to do you
good, and their admiration toward their Grand Masters is just this side of
idolatry.

It always strikes me as odd why the phenomenon of Qi-Gong has taken so
strong a hold among Chinese intelligentsia abroad.  More and more it
appears to me that the Qi-Gong serves as a surrogate religion among Chinese
scholar.

Looking back to our long and intricate history, it is intriguing to note
that China has never had a strong religious heritage.  We, as a people, can
be philosophical but not religious.  This is a most singular thing among all
the great cultures in the world, past and present.  One is compelled to ask:
but how can we forgot so great an aspect of human behavior as religion? The
answer is bound to be that we have had our surrogate.

In Jin Dynasty (about 300AD), the spiritual outlet for literates was to sit
down and have endless discourse (Qing1 Tan2) and to meditate.  To attain
the inner happiness or to simply forget the unpleasant reality (that was a
turbulent period and not a few scholars got mixed up in palace intrigues
and had their heads chopped off), some indulged in drinking binges.  YUAN Ji
was reputed to be drunk for months on end, sometime for pleasure and
sometime for expediency.  TAO Yuan-Ming took a different route by communing
with nature and by meditating.  The period poems and writings reflected the
distinct flavor of this "out-of-the-world" mentality.  After that, for all
these 1600 years, the absolute power of the successive rulers stifled the
inventiveness and creativity of the people and another renaissance was never
affected.

We Chinese have too much individualism in our blood, and for so many years
have had too much collectivism forced upon us, to feel comfortable to
worship an Universal Being.  Instead, we always try to attain enlightenment
through a personal and individualistic approach.  There is nothing better
suited for this purpose than Qi-Gong. It emphasizes on individual efforts
and never forces doctrine of any kind.

The phenomenon is long time in the coming.  And may it flourish in the
fertile minds of descendents of the  noble scholars of the bygone years.

===========================<<<<< Open Forum >>>>>===========================
IFCSS Should Seek Dialogue and Exchange With China  ..................... 48
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Wendy Shen

Since CSS Today reported that Mr. YANG Jie of IFCSS was invited to attend a
reception party in Chinese Embassy as a member of CSSA in University of
Maryland at College Park, there have been hot debate on whether IFCSS should
explore the possibility of dialogue  and exchange with China. I believe
believe that dialogue and exchange between IFCSS and China will not only
benefit ordinary CSS here, but also will help to promote democratization and
modernization in China. Thus I hope IFCSS explore all the possibility to
engage in direct dialogue with China and culture exchange with all level of
people in China.

While all of us will never forget the June 4th massacre of 1989 in Beijing,
we should work in our capacity to prevent this kind of tragedy from
happening again. Having been convinced that isolation and confrontation will
not help our country in its struggle for democracy, freedom and better
living standard, I firmly believe that through direct dialogue and culture
exchange with the outside world, China will have a better chance to improve
its human right record, and Chinese people will have a better chance to be
exposed to western's advanced science and technology as well as democracy.
By working on these fundamentals, oversea CSS will be able to contribute to
the development of our country.

Through the years, we have witnessed that the world has shifted from hostile
confrontation to peaceful cooperation. While Bosnia's war-fire has made
hundreds of thousands of innocent people suffered, the Arab-Israel peace
process will benefit a new generation. This is the time that commands all
of us to be more open-mind, to be more cooperative and to be more
accommodating, just for the benefit of Chinese people. Our country has
changed a lot in the past few years, and the only way to help keeping this
change is to make our voice (no matter it is harsh criticism, strong protest
or constructive suggestion) heard by the Chinese government and engage
ourselves with various exchanges.

IFCSS has the tradition and responsibility to seek dialogue with Chinese
government for the interest of itself and the general CSS population. And
in fact, IFCSS has been actively engaged in this mission in the past.
However, due to various reasons, this term's IFCSS has been very passive in
promoting dialogue and culture exchange with China. While last term we had
seen the IFCSS president Mr. LIN Changsheng went to Beijing to explore the
possibility of cooperation, We have not seen any substantial action this
term IFCSS have taken to continue this effort; while we had also witnessed
that last term's IFCSS had been aggressively contacting Chinese officials
(during the APEC summit) to explore the possibility of establishing seats
for oversea CSS in National People's Congress, we have not seen any moves by
this term's IFCSS officials to explore any possibility in the dialogue and
exchange with China. I hereby call upon IFCSS Council to play an active role
in exploring any possibility of dialogue and exchange with China.

There have been lot of oversea Chinese organization aiming at promoting
democracy and freedom in China. However, this author believe that shouting
big slogans outside China won't help. IFCSS should take the lead in seeking
dialogue with Chinese government and engaging culture exchange with people
in our country.

===========================<<<<< IFCSS Watch  >>>>>========================
XIN Ku's Letters to LUO Ning ........................................... 99
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                   (1)

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994
From: XIN Ku <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]  LUO Ning
Subject: Memo to LUO Ning

Can Mr. LUO Ning, as the President of IFCSS confirm the following news?

        On Nov. 4, IFCSS HQ officer YANG Jie attended a reception in PRC
        embassy in honor of vice premier Li, Lanqing who comes to the US
        for an official visit.

                                   (2)

Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994
From: XIN Ku <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]  LUO Ning
Subject: Memo to LUO Ning#2

LUO Ning, as the President of IFCSS, can you confirm the following news?
Please be specific, i.e. did you authorize YANG Jie, an IFCSS HQ officer,
represent IFCSS went to such an reception in PRC embassy "in honor" of
Li, Lanqing?  I also demand YANG Jie to report his purpose and nature of
his action regarding this matter to council.

My last requestion to whoever claim to represent IFCSS, are you going to
go to a reception "in honor" of LI Peng as well? If so, you are my enemy
and all "June 4" victims' enemy!

===========================<<<<< IFCSS Watch  >>>>>========================
LUO Ning's Reply to XIN Ku ............................................ 46
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

To:   Mr. XIN Ku, Council Member representing the Northeast Region
From: LUO Ning, President, IFCSS
Date: December 16, 1994
Re:   Two memos inquiring Mr. YANG Jie's visit to Chinese Embassy

Dear Mr. XIN Ku:

Thank you for your two memos (attached at the end of this message) which
concern about the operation and position of IFCSS in dealing with the
Chinese government.

Mr. YANG Jie was invited as one of the representatives of the CSSA at
University of Maryland, College Park, to the reception in the Embassy of the
People's Republic of China at Washington, DC, on November 4, 1994, for the
visiting Vice Premier LI Lanqing.  I had been informed about this meeting by
Mr. YANG Jie before he attended the meeting.

It has been a policy of IFCSS since its early years that IFCSS should
explore and make effort to establish channels through which IFCSS could
engage a direct dialogue with the Chinese government.  To promote exchanges
between the Chinese student and scholar community in the US and all sectors
of society of China was adopted by all the presidential candidate and
potential candidates at the Fifth Annual Convention of IFCSS in July of 1993
in Lexington, Kentucky, as one of their major agendas.  It is because of the
inability of the Chinese government officials so far in dealing with any
independent organizations formed by the PRC citizens that no direct channel
has been established between IFCSS and the Chinese government.

It is stated as one of the principles of IFCSS that this organization
promote  liberty, democracy, human rights and rule of law in China.  Little
can be achieve to carry out this mission if we are afraid of even making
contact with Chinese government officials.

I have always been firmly supporting the effort to open up China and promote
free dialogues and exchanges between China and other parts of the world,
because my generation has witnessed that what kind of catastrophe could
isolation bring to China.  I will continue to explore all the opportunities
of establishing contact and dialogue with Chinese government, as well as
other sectors of Chinese society, which was one of the major objectives
stated in my election campaign platform and supported by the majority of the
delegates to the Sixth Annual Convention of IFCSS last July in Chapel Hill,
North Carolina.

Sincerely,

LUO Ning (signed)

=====================<<<<< Humor, Anecdotes, and Puzzles >>>>>=============
Three Items   .......................................................... 39
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
By WANG Yang

                        o    o    o    o

    Eric Drache, a high-roller professional gambler, is currently ranked
as the 6th best poker player in the world. But Drache has been consistently
losing money on poker tables. According to the authoritative magazine
Gambler Times, Drache's problem is that "he only wants to play the world's
top five poker players."

                        o    o    o    o

    When Willy Brandt, the mayor of West Berlin, visited Tel Aviv, his
Israeli host invited him to see the magnificent new Mann auditorium.
    Brandt expressed surprise and appreciation that Israel had named the
auditorium after the great German writer Thomas Mann. His host corrected him.
The hall was actually named for Frederick Mann of Philadelphia.
    "Oh," said Brandt, "what did he write?"
    "A check," his host replied.

                        o    o    o    o

[Puzzle] The Triangular Duel

        Zhang Three, Li Four and Wang Five agree to fight a pistol duel
under the following unusual conditions. After a random draw determine
who fires first, second and third, they take their places at the corners
of an equilateral triangle. It is agreed that they will fire single shots
in turn and continue in the same cyclic order until two of them are dead.
At each turn the man who is firing may aim wherever he pleases. All three
duelists know that Zhang Three always hits his target, Li Four is 80
percent accurate and Wang Five is 50 percent accurate.

        Assuming that all three adopt the best strategy, and that no one
is killed by a wild shot not intended for him, who has the best chance to
survive? A more difficult question: What are the exact survival
probabilities of the three men?

        Please email your answer to [email-masked], or send fax at
(404)-853-9112.

====================<<<<< Between Readers & Editors >>>>>===================
Are We Fighting for Justice ?   ......................................... 16
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From Alex Du

Dear Members of CSS Today Board,

As of Prof. YANG Xiao-feng's case, I do not think we're doing the right
things in the name of "fight for justice in China". For the best, we're
just doing somebody a favor.

There is few disagreement that justice in a society roots in that the
legal system operates INDEPENDENTLY from other interests. What we are
doing now, however, is to try to influence the legal judgement by
influencing some key persons, who are officers in the GOVERNMENT and
POLITICAL PARTY, but may have decisive impact on a legal issue.

Are we fighting for justice, or just taking advantage of the UNJUSTICE
part of the legal system?

It's not wrong that we do somebody a favor. But name it as it is.
Otherwise, it hurts.

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