你好，欢迎到我们的 Tumblr！

Hello, welcome to our Tumblr! We are the Chinese Language and Culture Association at @floridastate university. Follow for updates on events at FSU, culture, and more!

[floridastateclca]

#TeamPanda is immensely proud of our Activities Coordinator Richard Wu for winning @fsuaasu's pageant! You deserve it Mr. AASU! #WuClan #CLCATakesTheTitle2ndYearInARow #Royal #WhoWasHisPagaentCoach? 🏆👑🏆🐼

[floridastateclca]

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families of the missing victims. #TeamPanda wants everyone back home safe, and sound. #MalaysiaFlight #MH370 ✈️🐼

[floridastateclca]

Eboard at AASU's Lunar Banquet 🐴🎋🎉

[floridastateclca]

CLCA eboard trying out AsianRox 🐼🇨🇳🍵 #TeamPanda

[floridastateclca]

#TeamPanda eboard celebrating the new year. 新年快乐！🎉🎇🇨🇳🐎🎐

[floridastateclca]

昔年快乐！马年行大运。Happy New Years! Much luck on this year of the horse. 🐎🎐🇨🇳

[floridastateclca]

#TeamPanda presents the first GBM of the year AND the last one under Year of the Snake at SSB201-01.22.2014-7pm 🇨🇳🇺🇸🐼🐎🐍

[blockedonweibo]

李正源李刚 (Li Zhengyuan; Li Gang / Lǐ Zhèngyuán Lǐ Gāng) are the names of two unrelated people named Li who were both involved in scandals involving drunk driving, censorship, and attempted abuses of power. In addition to the similarities in names and other parallels, both cases showed the growing power of social media as a tool for correcting injustices.

Li Zhengyuan, the son of Taiyuan’s city’s police chief Li Yali, beat up a traffic cop in Oct 2012. Zhengyuan had been pulled over by a traffic cop (交警 / jiāojǐng), Xia Kun (夏坤) for drunk driving, at which point he assaulted the officer in front of multiple eyewitnesses, who posted evidence of the beating online. He was not arrested and instead was escorted home by other police officers. A cover-up followed, with surveillance footage deleted and a blackout on reporting of the incident. Zhengyuan’s father, Li Yali, was eventually found to be responsible for the cover-up in addition to selling positions on the police force, and was removed from his post in Dec 2012.

Li Gang is the name of a deputy police chief whose son, Li Qiming, was involved in a hit-and-run. In Oct 2010, Qiming drunkenly drove into and killed a rollerblading college student on Hebei University’s campus grounds. He drove away and when security officers caught up to them, he sought to escape punishment by declaring “My father is Li Gang!”—assuming this gave him immunity. After this was reported, outraged internet users tracked down Qiming, turning him and his brazen declaration into a meme and symbol of injustice in Chinese society. Authorities tried—and failed—to control the increasing outrage by censoring the event, and in the end Qiming was sentenced to six years in prison.

In a break from our usual series of highlighting words blocked from searching on Weibo, for the next two days I’ll be looking more deeply at the keywords on chat messenger app LINE’s “bad words” list. For more about this series, see this introductory post.

[asiasociety]

Will China’s Leaders Announce Major Economic Reforms This Weekend?

Political scientist Barry Naughton explains just what China’s upcoming “Third Plenum” is, and why its outcome could have worldwide significance.

Read the full story here. 

[asiasociety]

Taking the Pulse of the China-Hollywood Relationship With Li Bingbing, Others

"It’s a great moment for Chinese film," said Li, the Chinese star actress, who added that more American actors and producers need to learn to speak Chinese.

Read the full story here.

[blockedonweibo]

64屠城 (June 4 massacre / 64 túchéng) refers to the crackdown on the student-led protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. After months of demonstrations in the heart of Beijing and much internal infighting about how to handle the protesters, authorities decided to send in tanks and troops to quell the “disorder.” Even though according to recent revelations, there wasn’t actually much blood spilled on the square itself, hundreds or thousands were still killed (the exact figure is debated) that night across the city. These victims are commemorated every year on June 4 in Chinese diasporic communities around the world—most notably in Hong Kong which holds an annual memorial in Victoria Park. However, such remembrances are strongly discouraged on the mainland and every year there is a marked increase in censorship around the date.

屠城 is an interesting phrase in that it generally refers to massacres that take place in cities—typically the killing of civilians in a captured city by military forces. The Nanjing Massacre of 1937 (also known as the Rape of Nanking) is perhaps the most notable recent 屠城 in Chinese history; others include the Yangzhou Massacre and the three massacres in Jiading in 1645.

In a break from our usual series of highlighting words blocked from searching on Weibo, for the next two days I’ll be looking more deeply at the keywords on chat messenger app LINE’s “bad words” list. For more about this series, see this introductory post.

[floridastateclca]

Tonight! Come to the Chinese Language and Culture Associations "Let the Good Vibes Roll: A Feng Shui Workshop" at SSB 208 at 6:30PM

Are you ready to make a change in your life for the better?

[blockedonweibo]

打黑 + 薄 (smash the black / dǎhēi + the surname for Bo Xilai / bó) is a reference to Bo Xilai’s 2009-2011 campaign to rid the city of Chongqing of organized crime. In Chinese, it’s known as “重庆打黑除恶专项行动” (literally, Chongqing’s fight against illegal activities and elimination of evil forces special operation) and it’s also referred to as the Chongqing gang trials in English.

Why it is blocked: Chongqing is a sprawling major city in China’s interior, home to nearly 30 million people in an area the size of South Carolina. Before Bo Xilai’s arrival in Chongqing as party secretary (the de facto head of the city), organized crime was endemic in the city, with gangs running illegal underground activity and bribing police and government officials at all levels.

When Bo took office, he vowed to tackle organized crime and corruption and gave his police chief, Wang Lijun great latitude in attacking the problem.Thousands were arrested and Bo was celebrated for his seemingly successful triad busting. However, numerous questions have arisen about the way those arrests and convictions were made, with the most notorious being the case of Li Zhuang. Li, a much respected lawyer, defended some of those arrested in the crackdown, earning the wrath of authorities. One of whose clients was forced to falsely testify against him in an obvious frameup, and Li was convicted and imprisoned.

Since then of course, Bo and his police chief have experienced a spectacular fall from grace and the afterglow of busting the triads has been lost amid stories about tortured witnesses and false confessions. It was claimed that Bo and his associates even extorted rivals by threatening to target them next. Bo was recently convicted and sentenced to life in prison for numerous crimes, including those related to his handling of the crackdown in Chongqing, and Wang Lijun was sentenced to 15 years for abuse of power in his role in the campaign.

Note: Searching for 大黑 or 薄 on its own is ok, but if you have both words in your search query, it will be blocked. (The plus is not necessary.)

[blockedonweibo]

If you’re in New York next week, I’ll be giving a talk for my book at NYU, 20 Cooper Square, 4th floor on Thursday, October 17 at 6:30. Do come by and say hello. If you’d like me to stop by a city near you, feel free to connect me with venues/bookstores/schools in your city that you think might be interested in having me talk. Thanks as always to everyone for the support.

[asiasociety]

Asia Society Remembers Art Historian Michael Sullivan, 1916-2013

Asia Society notes the passing of art historian Michael Sullivan, a major figure in modern Chinese art history and criticism.

Read the full story here.

[floridastateclca]

@fsuaasu & @sigrhofsu present: The Big & Little Tailgate behind Sally Courts! Old and new big/Littles welcome to show each other off before the Maryland game 👬👭👯🏈🏆

[asiasociety]

Photo of the Day: Three Natural Bridges in China

The Tianlong Bridge is just one of three majestic natural bridges in Wulong, China. (llee_wu/Flickr)

Want to see your images in our ‘Photo of the Day’ posts? Find out how.