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changabula
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Chinese Role Models and Heroes

Who would you pick as your role model or hero?

It could be someone from the past or present?

How did their example influence you?

When people think of the Chinese they just think of a mass of people where no one stands out. Is that true?

2007-1-30 09:58 PM

changabula
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Lin Zexu

- had the guts to dump 20,000 chests of opium into the harbor at Guangzhou. A man of principle and integrity, he was demoted by his own government when the British invaded. Wrote a letter to Queen Victoria saying if someone shipped opium to Britain, how would they feel?

Lin Zexu was a Chinese scholar and official during the Qing dynasty. He is most famous for his fight against opium smuggling in Guangzhou, which is usually considered to be the primary catalyst for the First Opium War 1839 .

Lin was born in Fuzhou, in the Fujian province. In 1811, he received the Jinshi degree, the highest title in the imperial examinations, and the same year, he was appointed to the prestigious Hanlin Academy. He rose rapidly through various grades of provincial service and became Governor-General of Hunan and Hubei in 1837.

A formidable bureaucrat known for his thoroughness and integrity, Lin was sent to Guangdong to halt the importation of opium by the British prior to the First Opium War (1838). He confiscated more than 20,000 chests of opium already at the port and supervised their destruction. He later blockaded the port from European ships. Lin also wrote a letter to Queen Victoria of Britain warning her that China was adopting a stricter policy towards everyone, Chinese or foreign, who brought opium into China. This letter expressed a desire that Victoria would act "in accordance with decent feeling" and support his efforts. The letter was never delivered to the queen, though it was published in The Times. Open hostilities between China and Britain started in 1839.

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http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?showtopic=6527

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-2 01:32 PM ]

Image Attachment: lin zexu.gif (2007-2-1 11:21 PM, 39.98 K)

Image Attachment: Lin-Zexu.jpg (2007-2-1 11:21 PM, 12.04 K)

2007-1-30 10:02 PM

changabula
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Robin Li

He is the man who beat Google to dominate the world's fastest-growing internet market.

Robin Li 's baidu.com is a search engine with a distinctly Chinese character.

To his many domestic admirers, the multimillionaire pin-up is a model internet entrepreneur who has beaten off some of the world's most powerful multinationals.

The 37-year-old founder and chief executive says he does not have much time either for plaudits or criticism. He is too busy trying to keep ahead of the rapid changes in the Chinese internet and building an empire that may one day, he predicts, pose a challenge to Bill Gates' Microsoft.

That may sound ambitious for a company that few people outside China have heard of, but Li has already come a long way in a very short space of time. Since he entered the business four years ago, Baidu has rapidly overtaken Google and Yahoo! as the leading Chinese search engine. It is easily China's most popular navigation site - its directory of a billion web pages is used by 90m people a day out of an online population of 100m.

http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1661905,00.html

Closely followed is Zhou Hongyi:

3721.com's founder and CEO, Zhou Hongyi had this to say about the upcoming dash for cash, "My job in China is to kick Google's ass."

Obviously, a modern Chinese man with attitude!

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Robin Li, CEO and founder of Baidu.com, now worth US$3 billion:

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-1 11:25 PM ]

Image Attachment: robin li.jpeg (2007-2-1 11:23 PM, 193.37 K)

2007-1-30 10:18 PM

changabula
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Hu Jintao

Hu Jintao (born December 21, 1942) is currently the Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China, holding the titles of President of the People's Republic of China, Chairman of the Central Military Commission and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2003.

Since his ascendancy China's global influence has increased greatly since he took office:

Hu has been a vigorous ambassador for China: the pattern was set in 2004, when Hu spent two weeks in South America--more time than George W. Bush had spent on the continent in four years--and pledged billions of dollars in investments in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Cuba. While 888, China's Premier, was visiting 15 countries last year, Hu spent time in the U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. In a three-week period toward the end of 2006, he played host to leaders from 48 African countries in Beijing, went to Vietnam for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, slipped over to Laos for a day and then popped off for a six-day tour of India and Pakistan.

For someone whose comfort zone is supposed to be domestic affairs, that's quite a schedule. "Look at Africa, look at Central America, look at parts of Asia," says Eberhard Sandschneider, a China scholar who is head of the German Council on Foreign Relations. "They are playing a global game now."

Eight Do's and Don'ts

In March 2006, Hu Jintao released the Eight Do's and Don'ts as a set of moral codes to be followed by the Chinese people, and emphasized the need to spread the message to youth. Alternatively known as the Eight Honours and Disgraces, it contained eight poetic lines which summarized what a good citizen should regard as an honour and what to regard as a shame.

Love, do not harm the motherland.
Serve, don't disserve the people.
Uphold science; don't be ignorant and unenlightened.
Work hard; don't be lazy and hate work.
Be united and help each other; don't gain benefits at the expense of others.
Be honest and trustworthy, not profit-mongering at the expense of your values.
Be disciplined and law-abiding instead of chaotic and lawless.
Know plain living and hard struggle, do not wallow in luxuries and pleasures.

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http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/viewthread.php?tid=550347&extra=page%3D1
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-03/16/content_541412.htm

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-1 11:37 PM ]

Image Attachment: hu.jpg (2007-2-1 11:37 PM, 38 K)

2007-1-30 10:27 PM

changabula
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Lang Lang

Born in 1982 in Shen Yang, China, Lang Lang has shown himself to be an artist of maturity and depth well beyond his years. His live performances are so stunning, he frequently brings wildly cheering recital audiences to their feet.

He's such a big star and identifiable role model in China that piano maker Steinway and Co. is partnering with him on a "Lang Lang" piano.

"It's a brand they created with me as a partner to make kids more interested in the piano," said Lang. "The piano allows children to put a Mickey Mouse on it, and it has an area where you can be creative and write poetry."

As a successful Chinese artist who is also a big name in the West, he's rapidly becoming part of a musical equation that includes the likes of cellist Yo-Yo Ma and composer Tan Dun.

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http://www.langlang.com/

Lang Lang iin Shanghai Oriental Art Centre:

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-1 11:16 PM ]

Image Attachment: lang lang.jpg (2007-2-1 11:15 PM, 63.22 K)

2007-2-1 05:26 AM

changabula
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Shing-Tung Yau

For nine months of the year, Yau is a Harvard math professor, best known for inventing the mathematical structures known as Calabi-Yau spaces that underlie string theory, the supposed "theory of everything." In 1982 he won a Fields Medal, the mathematics equivalent of a Nobel Prize.

Yau can be found holding court in the Yenching restaurant in Harvard Square or off the math library in his cramped office, where the blackboard is covered with equations and sketches of artfully chopped-up doughnuts.

But the other three months he is what his friend Andrew Strominger, a Harvard physicist, called "the emperor ascendant of Chinese science," one of the most prominent of the "overseas Chinese" who return home every summer to work, teach, lobby, inspire and feud like warlords in an effort to advance world-class science in China.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/17/news/math.php

The much-honored mathematician Shing-Tung Yau:

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-1 11:35 PM ]

Image Attachment: yau.jpg (2007-2-1 11:34 PM, 17.63 K)

2007-2-1 06:46 AM

eyeofstorm (Sexy Typhoon)
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Foul play

We all know the main reason the Baidu guy had an edge in comparison to Google in terms of Chinese user support and amount is opening a channel to download MP3's. If Google made some sort of way to download free music I am quite sure they will get a even higher amount of users. That is to say, if they were ignorant and turned a blind eye on respecting intellectual property rights such as 'blatantly' stealing music. Though not directly but it created a hub to search and exchange music of all sorts by illegal international standards.

2007-2-1 07:33 AM

renegadedog9
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Yes, although the music available on baidu is fairly limited...

2007-2-1 10:30 AM

wowzers (Andrew)
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changabula, i would just like to thank you.
I first came to this website hoping to learn more about China and Chinese people.
Your various threads over the last while has helped with that.
Again, thank you!

2007-2-1 03:57 PM

changabula
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QUOTE:

Originally posted by wowzers at 2007-2-1 15:57
changabula, i would just like to thank you.
I first came to this website hoping to learn more about China and Chinese people.
Your various threads over the last while has helped with that.
Again ...

Thanks. Glad to help.

2007-2-1 11:05 PM

#10

changabula
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Peter Chan

Peter Chan, or Chan Ho-sun (陳可辛; born in 1962 in Hong Kong) is a film director and producer.

He spent his teens in Bangkok, Thailand and studied in the United States, where he attended film school at UCLA. He returned to Hong Kong in 1983 and started working in the film industry. He served as a second assistant director and producer to John Woo on Heroes Shed No Tears, which was set in Thailand. He also was a location manager on three Jackie Chan films, Wheels on Meals, The Protector and Armour of God.

His directorial debut, Alan and Eric: Between Hello and Goodbye, was crowned best film at the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild in 1991. It also won best actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Eric Tsang, who would become a frequent collaborator with Chan.

Chan was a co-founder of United Filmmakers Organization (UFO) in the early 1990s, which produced a number of box-office and critical hits in Hong Kong, including his own: He Ain't Heavy, He's My Father. Other critical and commercial successes followed, including Tom, Dick And Hairy, He's a Woman, She's a Man and Comrades, Almost a Love Story.

In the late 1990s, Chan worked in Hollywood, directing The Love Letter, which starred Kate Capshaw, Ellen DeGeneres and Tom Selleck.

In 2000, Chan co-founded Applause Pictures with Teddy Chen and Allan Fung. The company's focus was on fostering ties with pan-Asian filmmakers, producing such films as Jan Dara by Thailand's Nonzee Nimibutr, One Fine Spring Day South Korea's Hur Jin-Ho, Samsara by China's Huang Jianxin, The Eye by Danny and Oxide Pang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle.

Chan's 2005 film, the musical Perhaps Love closed the Venice Film Festival and was Hong Kong's entry for an Academy Awards nomination in the best foreign film category.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Chan

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-1 11:39 PM ]

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2007-2-1 11:08 PM

#11

changabula
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Terence Tao

Tao was born July 17, 1975, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. Both Tao's parents are Han Chinese by ethnicity. His parents are first generation immigrants from Hong Kong to Australia.

He works primarily on harmonic analysis, partial differential equations, combinatorics, analytic number theory and representation theory. He is currently a professor of mathematics at the UCLA. He was promoted to a full professor at age 24. In August 2006, he was awarded the Fields Medal.

Terence Tao exhibited extraordinary mathematical abilities from an early age. Tao attended university at the age of nine. He is one of only two children in the history of the Johns Hopkins' Study of Exceptional Talent program to have achieved a score of 700 or greater on the SAT math section while just 8 years old (he scored a 760). In 1986, 1987, and 1988, Tao was the youngest participant to date in the International Mathematical Olympiads, first competing at the age of ten, winning a bronze, silver, and gold medal respectively. He won the gold medal when he just turned thirteen and remains the youngest gold medalist in the tournament's history. At age 14, Tao attended the Research Science Institute. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees (at the age of 17) from Flinders University under Garth Gaudry. In 1992 he won a Fulbright Scholarship to undertake postgraduate study in the United States. From 1992 to 1996, Tao was a graduate student at Princeton University under the direction of Elias Stein, receiving his Ph.D. at the age of 20. He joined UCLA's faculty that year.

Research and awards

He received the Salem Prize in 2000, the Bôcher Prize in 2002, and the Clay Research Award in 2003, for his contributions to analysis including work on the Kakeya conjecture and wave maps. In 2005 he received the American Mathematical Society's Levi L. Conant Prize with Allen Knutson, and in 2006 he was awarded the SASTRA Ramanujan Prize.

In 2004, Ben Green and Terence Tao released a preprint proving the existence of arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions of prime numbers. For this and other work, he was awarded the Australian Mathematical Society Medal.

In 2006, at the 25th International Congress of Mathematicians in Madrid, he became one of the youngest, the first Australian, and the first UCLA faculty member ever to be awarded a Fields Medal.

Terence Tao was a finalist to become Australian of the Year in 2007. In an embarrassing moment during the ceremony for the Australian Prime Minister John Howard, he mistook Tao for an Asian immigrant with a poor understanding of english. This was despite Tao's high achievements and being born in Adelaide, South Australia.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao

Image Attachment: Tao2.jpg (2007-2-2 02:19 AM, 18.71 K)

2007-2-2 02:18 AM

#12

seneca (seneca)
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My girlfriend - but her numerous qualities are not for public debate!

2007-2-2 09:25 AM

#13

changabula
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QUOTE:

Originally posted by seneca at 2007-2-2 09:25
My girlfriend - but her numerous qualities are not for public debate!

We could always create another thread about villains and cast you as one!

2007-2-2 01:28 PM

#14

changabula
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Jiang Suchun

A true story about fight against SARS
( 2003-05-14 15:00 ) (9)

Jiang Suchun, a 74-year-old expert of infectious disease at the 302 Hospital of the PLA in Beijing, contracted Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) when he fought the deadly epidemic, but that did not stop him from continuing with his crusade. Jiang conducted bold SARS treatment experiments on himself, injecting the blood serum of recovered SARS patients into his own body. After 23 days of self-treatment, Jiang miraculously recovered, and a new way of treating SARS patients was found. His unremitting efforts won high praise from Hu Jintao, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

At around 8:00 pm on March 7, Beijing's first SARS patient was sent to the 302 Hospital. Jiang Suchun received a phone call from a hospital official, asking him to go back to hospital. Be fully aware of the danger of the epidemic, Jiang did not hesitate and rushed to the hospital.

Considering Jiang's physical condition, hospital leaders arranged for him to direct the rescue operation outside the emergency room. But Jiang would not comply, saying, "as a serviceperson, how can I not go to the frontline in a war?" He then applied two layers of gauze padding under his mask and entered the emergency room. The rescue operation lasted for 80 minutes, but the patient failed to respond and died.

Determined to find the source of the disease as soon as possible, Jiang proposed a discussion on SARS and prepared for the autopsy immediately. It was not until midnight that Jiang retired for the day. When the second group of patients arrived at the hospital two days later, Jiang went back to the emergency room again.

On the evening of March 14, Jiang suddenly felt a chill. He knew that he had been infected by the disease.

Calmly, Jiang went to the hospital for a check-up, and the result was positive for SARS. The following day his body temperature rose to 39 C.

Seeing that Jiang has devoted the larger part of his life to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, and has saved numerous patients suffering from deadly epidemics, the hospital staff felt very worried and was willing to do anything to save him.

At this crucial moment, Jiang announced calmly: "As a doctor, I cannot serve the patients for the time being, but as a patient, I would like to do experiments on myself to find out cure for SARS."

In spite of high fever, Jiang did not stop his work and proposed to inject the serum of recovered SARS patients into the body of SARS sufferers in order to spur the production of an antibody.

Since there was no precedent for such an idea (injecting blood is extremely dangerous), Jiang volunteered to be the first. After much deliberation, the hospital authority accepted Jiang's proposal and sent several doctors to collect the serum of recovered SARS patients in Guangzhou.

On March 22, the serum was injected into Jiang's body, and he was also treated with other medicines. Jiang was miraculously recovered.

During the period of convalescence, Jiang requested to be discharged from the hospital several times, arguing that, as the SARS situation in Beijing was worsening, he was determined to return to the front immediately. But hospital authorities did not agree. Bed-ridden, Jiang then organized the doctors and nurses to write a thesis on the treatment of SARS.

Based on his personal experience, Jiang helped the physicians to write an article entitled "One example of curing senior SARS patients." After that Jiang himself wrote "The enlightenment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome to infectious disease doctors." In addition, Jiang wrote several articles for the publicity of knowledge on prevention of SARS for several newspapers. During his 23 days in hospital, Jiang wrote nine articles on the prevention and possible cure for SARS.

In early April, a recovered Jiang left the hospital, telling reporters: "The fact that I, a SARS patient, have recovered quickly proves that SARS is not fearsome. It is preventable and curable."

Jiang's high spirits greatly inspired medical workers who vowed to learn from Jiang and make greater contributions to the fight against SARS.

(April 25, PLA Daily)

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http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-05/14/content_165002.htm

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What a fantastic example of selfishness and self-sacrifice for the sake of helping others!

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[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-2 05:23 PM ]

2007-2-2 05:20 PM

#15

changabula
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Li Chuanyun

Babeli (Chuanyun Li) began his violin studies at the age of three under the guidance of his parents and won the first prize at Beijing Youth and Junior Violin Competition at the age of only five.

After settling in Hong Kong with his family in 1986, he joined the Yip Children's Choral and Performing Arts Center, of which he became an active member, participating in their annual concert tours. Through a sponsorship by a music enthusiast, Mr. Li was awarded a scholarship by the Violin Special Training Award Program. Under the auspices of the Yip Children's Choral and Performing Arts Center, he was sent to Beijing to continue his studies under world-renowned professor Yaoji Lin.

In 1991, at age 11, by the unanimous vote of 20 judges from 11 countries,he won the first prize in the Fifth Wieniawski International Youth Violin Competition, making him the youngest prizewinner among 43 competitors in the group of aged-16 or under.

In August 1993 he made his debut at the Hong Kong Cultural Center performing Paganini's 24 Caprices, which he later recorded on his first CD.

In 1998, Mr. Li won the Nakamichi Violin Concerto Competition held in Aspen, Colorado.

Through the generosity of a society dedicated to the discovery and support of extraordinarily gifted international emerging musicians, Mr. Li was awarded the Salon De Virtuosi Fellowship Grant in 1999.

Li studied under Ms. Dorothy DeLay and Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus at the University of Cincinnati College - Conservatory of Music in 1999 and 2000.

The Hong Kong Sinfonietta performed in Paris, France with Babeli(Chuanyun Li) as their solo violinist, representing China's best young musicians in July 2001.

In the summer of 2002, Mr. Li recorded the music soundtrack for the motion picture "Together", directed by China's most renowned director, Kaige Chen. Mr. Li also made a cameo appearance in the movie.

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http://www.hku.hk/artsall/lichuanyun/bio.html

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-2 05:54 PM ]

Image Attachment: li.jpg (2007-2-2 05:54 PM, 7.62 K)

2007-2-2 05:38 PM

#16

changabula
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Guo Shoujing

Guo Shoujing (1231 � 1316) was a Chinese astronomer, engineer, and mathematician.

His grandfather was Guo Yang, a noted scholar.

By the age of fourteen Guo Shoujing designed a water clock and at sixteen he was studying mathematics.

He worked on improving the Chinese gnomon and worked at Kublai Khan's observatory. There he formulated the Shoushi calendar and calculated the year to be 365.2425 days. This is the same as the Gregorian calendar, but almost three centuries earlier. It would be used for the next 364 years. He also did work relating to spherical trigonometry.

He is a famous ancient Chinese hydraulic engineer and mathematician. He improved the calendar and was off by only 50 seconds. He calculated a year was 365 days 5 hours 36 minutes and 11 seconds. Although he did a great deal on the modern calendar, he suggested pi = 3, unlike Zu Chongzhi's 3.14159265 and Zhang Heng's 3.142.

In engineering he is best known for constructing the artificial Kunming Lake in Beijing as a reservoir and part of a new waterway for grain transport.

Asteroid 2012 Guo Shou-Jing named after him.

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-2 10:39 PM ]

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Image Attachment: Guo_Shoujing_3.jpg (2007-2-2 10:39 PM, 17.75 K)

2007-2-2 10:34 PM

#17

changabula
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Guo Shoujing (more info)

Chinese Astronomical Almanacs available to Zheng He:

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http://www.1421.tv/pages/evidence/content.asp?EvidenceID=459

[ Last edited by changabula at 2007-2-2 10:47 PM ]

2007-2-2 10:43 PM

#18

northwest
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http://www.answers.com/topic/sun-li-jen

Sun Li-jen

孫立人
19 November 1899 – 19 November 1990

Sun Li-jen
Nickname "Rommel of the East"

Awards Order of Clouds and Banners 4th Class
KBE (UK)
Legion of Merit (U.S.)

Sun Li-jen (Traditional Chinese: 孫立人; Hanyu Pinyin: Sūn Lìrén) (November 19, 1899–November 19, 1990) was a Kuomintang general, best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His achievements earned him the laudatory nickname "Rommel of the East". His New 1st Army was reputed as the "1st [Best] Army under the heaven" and credited with defeating the most Japanese troops. He was also known as Sun Chung-neng (孫仲能, Sūn Zhòngnéng) and had the courtesy name Sun Fu-min (孫撫民, Sūn Fǔmín).

Early life
Sun Li-jen was born in Jinnu Town, Lujiang County, Anhui province, with ancestry in Shucheng County. During the May Fourth Movement, he was part of the Scouts in the march at Tiananmen Square. In the same year (1919) he married Gong Xitao (龔夕濤) and was admitted in 1920 to Tsinghua University to study civil engineering. He transferred to Purdue University in the United States to complete his senior year in 1923, where he graduated in 1925. But in the United States, ideological zeal motivated him to dramatically change vocations and pursue a military career instead. China was in the middle of civil war, and Soviet and Japanese invaders seemed poised to devour China. Sun decided that he could better serve his divided nation as a soldier rather than an engineer.

He applied to the Virginia Military Institute, also in the United States, lying about his age by four years so that he would appear young enough to meet the school's admissions requirements. He graduated from VMI in 1927 and joined Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the Northern Expedition against the warlord generals of the Beiyang Army. During the Northern Expedition and the latter war against the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, Sun Li-jen became a highly effective field officer and valued subordinate to Chiang Kai-shek.

Second Sino-Japanese War
Sun's New 38th Division was part of the forces Chiang Kai-shek sent into Burma to protect the Burma Road.Although unable to stop the Japanese from cutting the Burma Road, Sun gained the respect of General William Slim, the Commander of the British 14th Army for his competence. Sun and his division retreated into India and became a part of 'X Force', the Chinese forces under the command of Joseph Stilwell, the American commander of all American and Chinese forces deployed in the "China-Burma-Indian Theatre". Sun's division spearheaded Stilwell's 1943 drive to reconquer North Burma and re-establish the land route to China by the Ledo Road.

Image Attachment: 孙立人.jpg (2007-2-2 10:47 PM, 16.61 K)

2007-2-2 10:47 PM

#19

northwest
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Those who fight with Chinese against Japs invaders

http://english.peopledaily.com.c ... 0050804_200266.html

The Flying Tigers

Flying Tigers, or the American Volunteer Group was made up of American volunteer pilots who were drafted by Colonel Claire L. Chennault from 1941 to 1942 to fight with Japanese air force in China and Burma. At that time the harbors and transportation system in China were under control by the Japanese army, isolating the Kuomintang government from outside world.

The small squadron of Flying Tigers, driving old and shabby fighters kept defeating the Japanese air force, which was well equipped and much bigger in scale.

The Flying Tigers transported supplies, provided cover for the Burma highways, and fought with Japanese in most regions in China.

On July 4, 1942, the American Volunteer Group was incorporated into the 10th Air Force and became the backbone of the China Air Task Force of the United States Army Air Forces. In 1943, the 14th Air Force was activated and replaced the China Air Task Force.

During WWII, the Flying Tigers transported ammunitions and material for China and fought against Japanese invaders. From 1941 to 1943, the Flying Tigers shot down 193 Japanese aircrafts and destroyed 75, hence an important force supporting China's war of resistance against Japan.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Let's commemorate those who fought with us against enemies. We won't forget our true friends, the American comrades.

[ Last edited by northwest at 2007-2-3 01:28 AM ]

Image Attachment: Flying_tigers_in_Kunming.jpg (2007-2-3 01:27 AM, 28.6 K)

2007-2-3 01:27 AM

#20

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