UBC Press Blog

The American Association for Chinese Studies (AACS), founded in 1959, is the only academic society in America devoted exclusively to the general area of Chinese studies. The purposes of the Association are to:

1) Encourage the study of subjects related to China, especially in American educational institutions;
2) Advance such study and teaching through the exchange of information and scholarship across disciplinary lines;
3) Promote understanding and communication between Western and Eastern scholars involved in Chinese studies.

Chinese Intellectuals and the Achievement of Orderly Life

Erika Evasdottir, 2004, Chapter 5, p.163-66.

‘The most important thing to remember,’ said Cai one day while we were discussing my soon-to-be-reoriented perception of the rigid nature of archeological lives, is that ‘a person is never simply an archeologist. One is only an archeologist at certain times and for certain reasons.’ Cai then proceeded to tell me how his calculated combination of his different roles and duties in relation to the event of his son’s birth catapulted him to the exalted position of vice director of his provincial institute at the age of thirty-two.

When Cai arrived at his danwei, just after graduation from university, he was already engaged to be married. He lived with his wife a few days after their marriage but otherwise spent his first two years in the field excavating (save for returning briefly at New Year’s). This lengthy stint in the field is believed appropriate for young archeologists because they need training and experience. And, in any case, there was no place ready for the couple to live together, so he lived at the field site, while she continued to live with her parents. Eventually, her danwei, the railway danwei (much better financed than the archeologists), managed to get her a flat, and Cai returned and moved in for a few months, during which time she became pregnant. Continue reading…