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Recently, by chance, I caught Jia Zhang-ke’s award-winning film, ‘A Touch of Sin’ , on TV. My first thought was, how did it avoid been banned by the Chinese government?  It describes four incidents, based on real life events, in which ‘ordinary’ people were driven to shocking atrocities.  What brought such violence out in them? The English title could be seen as blaming the evil or sin within all humans but the original name, ’Tian Zhu Ding,’ can be interpreted as ‘everything has a reason.’ It vividly recreates the deteriorating social background in China which led to the violence.

It shows a different China from the progressive image the government likes to portray, yet it was allowed to be screened nationally.

The common theme in the movie is the new ‘cultural revolution’ of money worship that creates poisonous envy in those who cannot obtain it. Perhaps it is because the film does not implicitly blame the Chinese government for this that the censors allowed it to be screened. The film can also be seen as describing a phenomenon wider than that in China – the sudden and seemingly unexplainable violent acts of individuals in countries around the world.

Jia’s film puts the causes down to boredom, loss of meaning, injustices and violence suffered personally.

In Ireland we are only beginning to witness similar cases of inexplicable fury.  Ireland, like China, is losing the religious and cultural values which gave meaning and purpose to people’s lives and the only solutions are either to find a new source of hope and resilience or revive what previously provided that positivity but is now in need of updating.

Sometimes, looking at the situation in China helps us understand ourselves better.

Over 100 member of the Dublin Catholic Chinese Community traveled to Portlaoise to join in the ordination celebrations of Fr Joseph Yang. For over a year Joseph has served as a pastoral work in the parish and become very popular.

Fortunately his father and brother were able to come from China for the occasion.

After the ceremony about 200 people gathered in a nearby Chinese restaurant to complete the celebration.

 

The opportunity to experience and learn from another culture can come at any stage in life and should be seized immediately. The new volunteer teachers for China at the Aitece orientation day in Dublin on 8 July enthusiastically agreed. They were excited about the idea of sharing their life experience and acquired skills with young people in China and looked forward to widening their own views on values and beliefs in the Orient at a time when Ireland is becoming increasingly narrow-minded and inward-looking.

The new teachers will depart at the end of August to do a three-day orientation in Hong Kong before joining other Aitece teachers on the mainland.

On 1 July, to celebrate the 20^th Anniversary of China’s regaining Hong Kong, President Xi visited the city though he knew he would get a hostile reception from the large pro-democracy movement there seeking greater independence from the mainland.

He gave a calm and measured public address though he was probably unhappy, if not angry, at the demonstrators.  In his view, they showed little gratitude for Beijing’s efforts to prop up Hong Kong’s economy or appreciation for China’s need to operate as a single unit.

President Trump, in a similar situation, would probably have shown less restraint.  In Western, and especially American, culture it is OK, if not recommended, to express your negative feelings in public with strong language.

Western volunteers going to China are warned about this cultural difference. In China, the common good comes first. People restrain their emotions so they can get on with others and life. However, Americans in particular, when they have a problem with their accommodations think the best solution is to find the person in charge and complain. If there is no immediate response, they feel they should show their anger to get results.

I advise them that would be counter-productive. Most Chinese are not used to dealing with angry people, they regard them as uncivilized and respond with passive resistance or flight.

Up to recently Irish people shared the oriental approach, preferring to show respect for others and public harmony by finding indirect ways of expressing their displeasure. However Irish media now regards such an attitude as old-fashioned and favour conflictive language.

Political values aside, which is the more civilized – President Xi’s or President Trump’s?

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(The picture is of the Qianlong Emperor out hunting, by the Jesuit painter Guiseppe Castiglione)

The first Irish missionary to live and die in China was Robert Hanna (1762-1797) of Newry. He was a member of the group of Vincentians planning to take over from the Jesuits as the Qianlong Emperor’s Western astronomers, painters and scientists in Beijing.

Robert joined the Vincentians while a student in Paris and set out for China in 1788. After a five month journey he arrived in Macao where he spent five years teaching philosophy as he waited for an invitation to Beijing. During that time he joined the British Envoy, George Macartney (a fellow Ulsterman), at the start of his 1793 famous visit to the court of the Emperor Qianlong. Robert’s hope was to get to Beijing as part of the entourage but was not allow off the ship and had to return to Macao.

He finally got to Beijing in June 1794. Unlike foreign diplomats, the Jesuits and Vincentians were treated well. According to a report, ‘The missionaries (in Beijing) are answerable to only one mandarin and are reasonably free. They have a house in the city and one in the country; they can leave and return to Beijing whenever they wish. They maintain a large household for, including the Chinese, they are as many as one hundred and sixty. They have mules and carriages. They make extremely good bread but have difficulty in producing wine.’

However, Robert did not have an opportunity to get take up a post in the court. Within three years he died from a ‘chest ailment’ caused by ‘studying too hard.’

Alice O’Sullivan from Clonmel was not only the first Irish woman Catholic missionary in China, she was also among the first modern martyrs there.

She joined the Daughters of Charity in Paris and arrived in China in 1863 at the height of national and religious tensions. The Catholic Church was associated with the French who were involved in imposing the ‘Unequal Treaties’ on China, giving Westerners free access to the country. From Shanghai she went to Beijing, Jiangxi (a Vincentian Vicariate) and finally Tianjin were the Sisters ran an infirmary and orphanage.  It the middle of a cholera epidemic and extreme poverty the Sister took in sick and abandoned babies, main girls. Many died in their care.

In the tense anti-Western atmosphere, a rumour spread that the Sisters were kidnapping children and extracting their organs to make medicines. There was talk of digging up the children’s graves to find proof. A mob attacked the orphanage on 21 June, 1870 and killed all ten Sisters in the community. In the ensuing riots the Cathedral and four British and American churches were burned. In all 60 people were killed.

Today Tianjin has a fast-grow Catholic diocese but monuments stand as reminders of that tragic incident. In Ireland today there seems to be little awareness of the sacrifices of Sr Alice and her companions as popular media accuse Religious Sisters of misusing the institutes they established to help the weakest in society and talk of digging up children’s graves to prove their suspicions.

The first Irishman, and Irish missionary, to have visited China would seem to be the Friar known as ‘James of Ireland’ who accompanied his fellow Franciscan,  Odoric of Pordenone (1286-1331), on his travels around the world.

Odoric set out for China in 1318 and went via Constantinople, Armenia, Persia, Baghdad and India. Whether James was with him from the start or joined him along the way, we do not know, but James was with Oderic when he left India for China by way of Sumatra. They landed at Guangzhou and went on to Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Beijing where they spent three years. They were not the first Franciscans there and were able to stay in houses of their Order along the way. They returned to Italy in 1329 and the story of their travels attracted widespread attention. James outlived Odoric and probably had many good stories to tell.

Where he came from in Ireland, how he got to Italy and what he felt in China, we do not know though his willingness to travel and be part of an adventure are typical of the Irish tradition. If anyone can shed further light on James, please come forward!

 ‘Human Rights in China’ is a much debated, and disputed, issue.

In April 2016, the Irish Foreign Minister stated, “The position taken by Ireland (is) wholly consistent with EU policy in relation to China as set out in a letter by EU Ambassadors on 24th February 2016. It is consistent also with our national position on global human rights issues articulated repeatedly at the UN.’

The letter mentioned expressed concern about new laws on counter-terrorism, cyber security and management of NGOs, seen by many as too confining. The Chinese politely replied that the steps had been taken to protect its citizen from the world-wide terrorist threat. The discussion ended on that note. Not only were delicate matters of trade and global cooperation involved, but also because basis attitudes to human rights diverge.

There are 30 ‘rights’ listed in the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The first 21 focus on personal rights, those highly regarded in the West, such as equality under the law and freedom of expression.  The remainder are more economic and social: the right to work, to rest and leisure, health care, education and housing.

These latter are the ones that China, and some other developing countries, list as their priority. Once the majority of people are well fed and housed, they claim, more freedom can be given in what they individually chose to say and do.

 

According to official statistics, there are only 527 Koreans living in Ireland (though many Korean students come for English in the summer). Only 122 of them stated they are ‘South Korean,’  the other 405 did not indicate whether they are from North or South. It seems some at least are from the North.

Despite the seemingly low number of Koreans in Ireland, on 26 May the Korean Society of Ireland held its AGM in Dublin and elected new trustees as it moves to becoming a charitable organisation.  For a number of years the Society has arranged cultural events not only for Koreans in Ireland but for Irish interested in Korea and offered legal assistance to Koreans with legal difficulties.

The President is Prof. Kenneth Mok of Trinity College.

There is an equal, if not greater, number of Irish in Korea as language teachers, church communities or in business. They have their own Irish-Korean Society.

There are approx. 60,000 Chinese living in Ireland and many of them feel isolated from the general population because of language and cultural differences.

The number of Catholics among them is small but last Sunday representatives of the Chinese Catholic Community in Dublin gathered with like-minded locals to see what could be done to ease the difficulties of the newcomers, both short-term and long-term.

A number of possibilities emerged that will be followed up in the weeks ahead.

After the formal meeting the conversation continued during a bbq, which the recent dry and sunny spell kindly facilitated. It was a good omen.