Chinese Sports by Max and Dustin

Famous Chinese Professional Athletes

Max Harvell and Dustin Lawson

• Yao Ming

(Yao Ming; Feb. 24, 2003;

Basketball-Reference.com)

Yao Ming is considered to some Chinese people a hero, and in a lot of ways he is. Yao is by far the most well-known Chinese basketball player to ever play in the NBA, and arguably the most famous Chinese born athlete. Sure he had a ton of skill but most people know him because of his height. He stands at a marvelous 7’6” tall. At the time of his retirement in 2011, he was the tallest active player in the NBA. Yao had several good seasons in the NBA stretching from (2002-2005), but then the fall of Yao began as he started getting injured a lot especially his ankle and foot. These dreadful years stretched from 2005 all the way to his retirement in 2011. In his rookie season he got so many fan votes for the all-star game that he broke the record for them that was previously held by Michael Jordan. In the same year he became the first rookie to start in the all-star game since Grant Hill did back in 1995. Even though he only had a few good healthy seasons, he still had all kinds of accolades and they were: 8x all-star, 5x all NBA, NBA all-rookie team, and NBA rookie all-star game and those are just the accolades he garnered in the NBA. Internationally he was a 3 time gold-medal winner with team China. So there it is, probably the most well-known Chinese athlete and definitely the most well-known Chinese basketball player in history.

• Michael Chang

 

(Michael Chang; 1989;

Sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Michael Te Pei Chang is the greatest Chinese tennis player to ever play the sport. He turned pro in 1988, and during his young days in the sport he set all sorts of different youngest player records. A couple of these records are in 1987 he became the youngest player to win a main draw match at the US Open and the youngest to reach a tournament semifinal. Then in 1989, he became the youngest player to win a French Open/Grand Slam title. Then he became the youngest player to rank in the top 5 in the world. In fact at one point in his career he was ranked #2, the highest ranking of his career. So it’s safe to say that he had a really good start to his tennis career. When his career was over, he had won a total of 35 tournament titles. The best year of his career was in 1991 when he reached the quarterfinals or better in 13 tournaments. His retirement came at the 2003 US Open after 15 professional seasons. One of the greatest things about Chang is after his retirement he started attending the Talbot School of Theology and now speaks to all sorts of different people. He is also involved in the Christian Sports League. So as you can see he is not only the greatest Chinese tennis player of all time but he is also one of the great guys to ever be involved in Chinese athletics.

Harry Kingman

 

Before becoming a pitcher, Henry Lees Kingman (1892) was 0-3 with 1 BB in four plate appearances during his offensive foray in the Major Leagues.

Henry “Harry” Kingman was a first baseman/ pitcher in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees in 1914 and is the only major league player to have been born in China. Kingman stood at 6′ 1″ and weighed 165 lbs.

Before making his major league debut, Kingman was traded to the New York Yankees. He was originally a first baseman, but manager Frank Chance attempted to convert him into a pitcher. That didn’t work out, and Kingman eventually appeared in only one game in the field and three as a pinch hitter during July and August 1914. He went 0 for 3 at the plate with 2 strikeouts and 1 walk.

Harry Kingman was born in Tientsin, China, an important “inland” port, southeast of Beijing.. He is the first, and still the only Major League Baseball player born in mainland China.

He played ball four years in college, one year in the minor leagues in 1913 and then for the New York Yankees in 1914. He spent the entire year on the New York roster in 1915, but did not play in a game. He was sent back to the minors, but he refused to report and retired from baseball.

Johnny Chan

 

(Johnny Chan winning WSOP Main Event in 2002. http://life.time.com)

Johnny Chan (陳金海) was born in Guangzhou, China in 1957. He is a Chinese American professional poker player. He has won 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, including 1987 and 1988 World Series of Poker main events consecutively.

Chan moved with his family in 1962 from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, then in 1968 to Phoenix, Arizona and later in 1973 to Houston, Texas where his family owned restaurants. He was going to continue in the family business, but when he was 16 he went on a junket to Las Vegas, Nevada. When he was 21, Chan dropped out of the University of Houston, where he was majoring in hotel and restaurant management, and moved to Las Vegas to become a professional gambler.

World Series of Poker

Chan attributes some of his early success to the fact that many players had not previously played against Asian players. He became famous in the late 1980s, winning the championship event of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in two consecutive years (1987 and 1988). A videotape of the 1988 WSOP final heads up match is featured in the movie Rounders, in which Johnny Chan makes a cameo appearance. He almost won a third consecutive title, but finished in 2nd place in 1989 to Phil Hellmuth. He is the last player to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events, a feat many prognosticators think he could hold forever given the increasingly larger fields.

Chan is known for keeping a “lucky” orange in front of him on the table, and after the second consecutive WSOP title other players began bringing fruit to the table in hopes of increasing their luck. Chan says he only had an orange with him because of the pleasant scent, as smoking, which was allowed in many tournaments then, bothered him. Chan was once a smoker, but now he neither smokes nor drinks alcohol.

In 2005, Chan became the first player to win ten World Series of Poker titles, defeating Phil Laak in a Texas hold ’em event. He is currently tied with Doyle Brunson for second place with 10 World Series of Poker bracelets, behind Phil Hellmuth (11). He was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2002.

Chinese Adoption- presented by Anne Schwirtz

Population growth in China has been a very big deal since improved sanitation and medicine in the country. The problem was confronted in 1979 with the 1-child policy. The policy stated that each family could only have one child and those who disobeyed would be charged large fines by the government. The only citizens exempt from the policy were rural couples, ethnic minorities, and married couples that had no siblings. The policy led to forced abortions and sterilization. In China, having a son is extremely important. In older age, boys would take care of their parents, while girls go to live with their husband and assist in his family care. With the development of pre-natal sex screenings, many would abort girls, in hopes that their one child would be a boy. After pre-natal sex screenings were banned 1994, the number of children put up for adoption increased dramatically due to families putting up girls for adoption, in hopes for a boy to be their one child.

 

 

[Image Sourced from Asia for Educators, 1993 http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1950_population.htm%5D

 

 

The picture to the left was taken at a modern Chinese orphanage. The particular pictured orphanage is much nicer than the typical orphanages in China. The children here are very young, as are most children in Chinese orphanages. Typical children range from newborn to three years old and most orphans are girls.  Most orphanages have way to many children compared to workers, which results in neglect and malnourishment. As seen in the picture, babies are placed in walkers or simply sit in their cribs all day because the workers do not have time to work with or hold each baby.

 

[Image sourced from Great Wall China Adoption, 2011 http://www.gwca.org/]

 

There are many similarities between American and Chinese adoption. Both processes include an application process, physical and emotional analysis, careful match up of family and child, financial evaluation, and legal contracts. For an adoption in America, the applicant must be at least 18 years old (can vary state to state), a resident of the state for at least six consecutive months and they can be single or married for at least two years. To adopt a child from China, the guidelines are a bit stricter. Only married couples can adopt and must be married at least two years if it is the first marriage, five years if it is a second or third marriage, and applicants with three or more divorces may not adopt. Each person in the couple must be ages 30-50. In America, the income regulations are that they have enough to support the child, while in China the family must have a net worth of at least 80,000 dollars and must also have 10,000-dollar annual income for each person living in their household. China also states that the adoptive family must have less than five children under age eighteen living in their house in order to adopt.

 

 

I learned so much after researching Chinese adoption. I was amazed at how many orphans there are in not only China but also in America and it made me start to wonder just how many orphans there are in the world. I was also very surprised to read that there are more than 75,000 Chinese orphans placed with American families, like the family shown in the picture. After reading and researching the adoption process, I am so thankful for the people who feel led to adopt from a China because it is a long and tedious process with so much paperwork and also much expense. Many people often ask, why do people adopt from overseas when there are plenty of children without families here in the United States? I think the answer is that there are orphans all over the world that need help and if a family feels called to adopt from overseas, they are listening to God’s plan and still making a difference in the life of that child. James 1:27 states  “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” I think God makes it very clear that as Christians, we are to care for the orphans, whether it is through adopting, relief work, or financial means. 

 
[Image sourced from Partners for Adoption http://www.partnersforadoption.org/china.shtml]

Tibet, China by Granger, Emmie and Brian

Presented by; Granger Hughes, Emmie Bible, and Brian Elrod

Tibet and its people

(Photo sourced from http://www.tibetdiscovery.com)

Tibet is geographically a remote culture in the Himalayas. The Tibetan people value Buddhist traditions. Buddhism is prevalent in their art, customs, family life, music, etc. The families value their elders in the society. They believe in respecting their elders and arranger marriages are still made. They have many customs that they adhere to. Presenting the Hada, which is a long white scarf that is supposed to represent purity and good luck; they entertain their guests with tea, but you can only drink the tea when it is presented to you. Many times, Tibetans take pilgrimages for various reasons, such as illness, newborns, good fortune, etc. They take these pilgrimages to monasteries in the mountains. Their clothes reflect the type of land they live in. it is normally a robe and shirt with colorful scarves. Tibetan girls have a rite of passage ceremony. After she has this ceremony, the girl is able to be married.

 Lhasa, Tibet; the capital.

(Photo sourced from http://www.shanghai-today.com, Potala Palace, the seat of the Dalai Lamas)

Lhasa is Tibet’s capital. Their economy is based on arable land because most of their jobs are created by raising livestock and farming. The main crops are barley, buckwheat, and rye. However, they are ranked lowest among the 31 provinces in china. Most of their income is generated by tourism. Predominately handmade things such as quilts, rugs, carpets, etc. the Chinese government also discovered a mineral deposit in Tibet worth an estimated 128 billion dollars. The minerals consist of zinc, copper, and lead. However, they fear that mining these could be detrimental to the ecosystem.  In comparison to Cleveland’s economy which is driven by textiles, storage batteries, and domestic chemicals, a big difference is in Cleveland relies more on industrial resources and Tibet is more agricultural. A similarity is we both have a railway linked to us for Tibet it is the Qingzang railway and for Cleveland it is the Norfolk southern railway.  I learned that if Tibet did not have tillable land it would make it difficult for its economy to sustain itself because they would not have the resources to generate products to sell to tourists; whereas in Cleveland, we have multiple industries that create profit for the Cleveland area.  Tibet could be very self sufficient if they did not rely on income from tourism. I believe this helps them it increases their GDP and also allows them to have a better life financially. However, it is a positive that if needed they could provide for themselves and live a very peaceful life.

Mount Everest

(image sourced from http://www.beautifulplacestovisit.com, image of Mount Everest with basecamp in the foreground)

Tibet is home to the tallest mountain peak in the work. Located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayan Mountain Range, Mount Everest towers over the world at 8,848 meters (20,029 ft) above sea level. Mount Everest, previously known as Peak XV, was discovered as a result of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India. This survey was started in 1808 by the British in hopes to determine the location and names of the world’s highest mountains. In March of 1856 Peak XV was finally measured and named after George Everest, who was a previous Surveyor General of India. Edmund Hillary, a New Zelander, and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali climber from India were the first pair to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest nearly 100 years after it’s official naming and measurement. They accomplished this feat on May 28 1953; two days after a British pair came 100 meters short of the summit due to oxygen problems. Reinhold Messner, from Italy, was the first to ever reach the summit without oxygen supplementation in 1978 and the first to reach the summit solo with supplementary oxygen on the Northwest Route in 1980. Over the years, there have been over 5,100 ascents to the summit. Most of these expeditions have taken place within the past 10 years. Also, the past 10-15 years has brought an era of commercialization to Mount Everest. More and more people flock to Nepal and Tibet, China to accomplish one of the greatest feats known to man. This feat however, is not cheap by any means. When all the expense numbers come together, total costs average around 75,000 to 100,000 dollars. Permits to climb can cost up to $25,000, equipment costs upwards of $8,000+, Oxygen expenses can be around $3,000, and also the cost of a experienced mountain guide can cost anywhere from $15,000 to $80,000 per ascent. Regardless, you can expect to put more than money on the line when it comes to climbing Everest. Are you willing to risk your life for this incredible feat in Tibet, China?

ling20102

SAMPLE PRESENTATION 1

Recent tensions in the South China Sea over territorial disputes have highlighted China, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United States of America as major players in territorial agreements. Officials and people interested in the matter have used words such as critical, important, urgent, war, force, conflict, and control and so on in reference to the situation. These words thus undoubtedly reveal the great significance and weight of this matter. Besides the words, the recent skirmishes in the region involving Chinese, Vietnamese and Filipino vessels in the region further highlight the potential this tension has in developing into a violent conflict or a mere disaster. Mao Tse-Tung (the first chairman of China’s communist party, leader of the Chinese revolution, and political philosopher) is famously quoted: “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” Therefore, the big question in regards to the South China Sea is…

View original post 616 more words

The Analects of Confucius (Overview of Ch.1 V.1)

SAMPLE PRESENTATION 2

The Analects of confucius:

– A record of the acts and words of Confucius and his disciples.

– Is a representative work of confucianism.

– It is central to aspects of Chinese thinking and philosophy.

– The analects are also recognized as 论语 (Lun Yu).

– It continues to have influence on Chinese and east Asian thought.

– Translations of The Lun Yu have been published in a number of languages.

– The first verse of the Lun Yu reveal some of the values that are important to confucius.

– In three sentences Confucius highlights that learning, friendship, and self-worth are important.

– He notes these by asking “…is pleasure, is it not?”

– One can infer that there are three “pleasures” in this verse that are central or introductory to Confucianism thinking.

(A page from the Rongo Analects) wikipedia

Author: Golden

Sources: (confucius.org) and (wikipedia)

The South China Sea

SAMPLE PRESENTATION 1

Recent tensions in the South China Sea over territorial disputes have highlighted China, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United States of America as major players in territorial agreements. Officials and people interested in the matter have used words such as critical, important, urgent, war, force, conflict, and control and so on in reference to the situation. These words thus undoubtedly reveal the great significance and weight of this matter. Besides the words, the recent skirmishes in the region involving Chinese, Vietnamese and Filipino vessels in the region further highlight the potential this tension has in developing into a violent conflict or a mere disaster. Mao Tse-Tung (the first chairman of China’s communist party, leader of the Chinese revolution, and political philosopher) is famously quoted: “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” Therefore, the big question in regards to the South China Sea is, is there a possibility or potential for political skirmishes to turn into bloodshed? If so can this develop into yet another world war?

 (sample citing: image sourced from the CNN website 07/18/2012)

China’s participation in the tension has led many to suggest that China is being a bully by utilizing forceful measures to state its claim on the South China Sea thereby suggesting that the likes of Vietnam, the Philippines and the rest of South East Asia are the underdogs or victims in this conflict. At the heart of the matter, it seems that China and the other South East Asian nations are battling for claims to the region for its potential of providing vast amount of crude oil that will rival that of the Arabian oil fields and other parts of the world, and for its uninhabited islands and coral atolls. On the other hand, some Chinese officials claim that China is laying claims to the region solely for security purposes. Due to this one cannot help but formulate two perspectives on the issue. Firstly, if these nations are laying claims solely for the financial benefit of the region the motivation for this claim would therefore be greed and will most likely resort to forceful and violent measures that could be very problematic. Secondly, if this was primarily a claim for security purposes, it would seem that this problem with the influence of tools such as the U.N and international maritime law (also known as the Exclusive Economic Zone, which allows nations sole rights to fish and develop resources within 200 nautical miles of a country’s shores.) could be solved amicably and satisfactorily for all the nations involved. On the other hand, if both perspectives combined are the reason for the tension then it is irrefutable that all the nations involved are tainted with greed, selfish ambition and nationalistic sentiment all of which are factors that can compel or place these nations in a situation where they resort to violence regardless of whether they are for or against violence.

 (sample citing: Image sourced from the CNN website 07/18/2012)

Although, peaceful negotiations have been taking place, recent involvement of the United States of America seem to worsen the tension. Kurt Campbell the Assistant Secretary of State, in a conference in Washington stated that “…we discourage resort to violence in these circumstances or threats and we want to see a process of dialogue emerge.” On the other hand, it was reported on June 28 by CNN that the U.S conducted a round of joint Naval exercises with the Philippines during which the U.S Navy provided training for the Filipino military officials against possible threat from without. This as previously mentioned has worsened the tension and will probably create new tension between the U.S and China. Through several summits and trade between U.S and China they have developed a relationship and this relationship is seemingly being tampered with by China’s apparent forceful measures and the U.S commitment to China’s opponents. Although the U.S claims to be aiming for peaceful negotiations and a commitment to its declaration of war against terror since September 11, 2001, should the U.S be involved in this matter? Is there a forecast of doom and gloom for the South East Asia and the rest of the world? Are we on the brink of war?

 (sample citing: Image sourced from the CNN website 07/18/2012)

We may not have all the answers for now but it is important to mention that however this conflict is resolved will affect and influence international relations for a long time to come.

Author: Golden

Sources: News outlets such as CNN and the New York Times

Ni Hao

Ye Su Ai Wo

Ye Su ai wo, wo zhi dao,

Yin you Sheng Jing gao su wo.

Fan xiao hai zi zhu mu yang,

Wo sui ruan ruo zhu qiang zhuang.

Zhu Ye Su ai wo,

Zhu Ye Su ai wo,

Zhu Ye Su ai wo,

You Shen Jing gao su wo.

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