Tuesday being the first day of Chinese New Year, I played a few Chinese word games with my Tuesday group students.
One of them was a clue leading to a place name, which in this case was Changsha 长沙 / "long sand".
This then reminded me of a book I'd read in the 80s written by an American (Mark Salzman) who'd done his first degree in Chinese at Yale, no less. He'd taught English in Changsha for two years but was mainly there because of his keen interest in kungfu, Changsha having a kungfu master he admires. (For those who don't know but might be interested, Changsha has a political connection with Mao Zedong.)
I told my students about his run-in with the concierge at the school where he was teaching English, but that will have to be recounted in a separate blog.
Fired up by the memory, I went to YouTube to track down the film he'd subsequently made (and starred in), based on his book (Iron and Silk, also the name of the film).
Fairly soon into the film, there's a scene where his (female) Chinese teacher arrives for his lesson in his room.
(Below is my summary of the scene.)
The teacher sits down. The American is ready to start. The teacher tells him that being the host (and the student in this case), he should begin by offering the teacher some tea.
He fetches some tea, the teacher says no, he takes the tea back to the sideboard. The teacher says that's not the right thing to do. He says, "But you said no." The teacher explains that the Chinese guest has to do that -- it's part of the ritual.
This immediately got a bonus point from me (occupational hazard, teacher mode is never turned off): one doesn't just learn the language, one has to learn about the history and cultural behaviour as well. (In my teaching of the language, I distinguish between grammatical usage and cultural usage: a sentence might be grammatically correct, but it might not really be how the Chinese would say it.)
He then sits down again to start the lesson. The teacher says he should offer her something to eat. He fetches some sweets, the teacher says no, and the same thing happens again: he takes the sweets back to the sideboard. The teacher launches another explanation about the host / guest routine. Another bonus point from me.
At the end of the lesson, the teacher gets up to leave. He says goodbye to her at the door of his dormitory room. The teacher tells him that as the host (and the student), he's supposed to walk her off the premises. Another bonus point.
Part of the way to the main entrance of the university compound, the teacher tells him that he doesn't have to go any further. He starts to leave her there to make his way back to his room. Again, the teacher explains what's expected of him. It's another stage in the host / guest role-playing game. (Reminds me of the oft-heard expression, in my younger days anyway, about women saying no but not really meaning it...)
The above is my summary of the scene. Some of the details might not match the original exactly, but you can watch the film for yourself.
I've found it charming and fun to watch -- not just for the kungfu, which is a passion of mine as well, but more broadly for the social history. It's a China that's not around anymore for the most part: architecturally, people's attitude about foreigners, the way of life, the materialistic quality of life. The teachers he was teaching English to remind me of the staff of China Airlines (the national carrier for the Republic of China) in Taipei that I used to teach on Saturdays: their accents and their cultural behaviour.
A time warp watching this film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOIbalP7dj8 (1:31:53)
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