I found this from something I wrote and half finished a while ago, 2009/2010. But I liked the idea and wanted to finish. So I apologize if it comes off a little disjointed or rambling...
A Country of Fences
A
fence is defined by dictionary.com as “a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of
posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a
boundary” and by Merriam-Webster online as “a: a barrier intended
to prevent escape or intrusion or to mark a boundary; especially: such a
barrier made of posts and wire or boards b: an
immaterial barrier or boundary line <on the other side of the fence in the
argument>”. China is a country of fences. Physical boundaries enclose almost
every cluster of dwellings, blocking every path and mental boundaries block out
new or challenging ideas. And now
they have found a way to add electronic boundaries as well.
Every school is surrounded by a fence with
a guarded gate. Today (2009, bird
flu is disease de jour) they are only armed with electronic temperature readers
to keep the sick at bay, but they keep out far more than that. I have always thought of schools as
places where learning, of all things, was encouraged. I love to debate and argue. A person cannot argue against something that they don’t
understand, their arguments will be one-sided and half-formed. Only by
understanding that which you don’t understand and disagree with can you make a
complete argument against it.
As a nation of fences China has a most
distinguished history. Home of the
largest fence in the world, the Great Wall, designed to keep the Mongols out
(yet failed to prevent the Manchu’s from conquering China). Now the enclosed courtyard is an
integral part of Chinese architecture.
A home or grouping of dwellings designed around a central courtyard,
enclosed and sectioned off from the surrounding areas. Today it seems that fences lock people
in as often as they keep the undesired out. China is a country of massive population and in many areas
rampant over-crowding. Carving out
an area of privacy and seclusion can be very difficult to do. In many cities a private or
semi-private shared courtyard can give the occupants that sense of privacy that
is so hard to find in today’s China.
But many gates and fences are arbitrary boundaries that do not stop any
one from crossing. The gate around
my residential complex is manned 24 hours a day. From about 6 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. the gate is open. As far as I can tell anyone can enter,
no questions asked. Cars are
provided with an I.D. badge, but nothing is required to get it, other than
rolling down your window. Upon
arrival a driver is given a card, when they leave the driver returns the card
to the guard. This is to ensure
that the driver of the car leaving is the same person who drove it in (a car
was stolen and this policy was put in place soon after). It takes 2-4 people to guard this
ultra-important location from the undesirables. The only function I can see is to prevent cars from being stolen
from inside the compound. As far
as privacy or seclusion goes, the courtyard is packed everyday with people,
just as much as any of the public parks in the area, if not more so. Many places at night the gates are
locked and there is no person on-site to operate the gate. People who live inside are in for the
night, released in the morning.
But I have realized they do far more than
just restrict or permit access.
The guards are there to monitor everyone. They note who comes and goes, when and with whom. They don’t stop or question the
foreigners coming in going because they know who we are. Its obvious, I don’t need an ID when
there are 4 white people working and living in entire compound. Students have access restricted all the
time. Curfews in place with strict
locked-door policies (Most of the doors are actually physically chained
shut. At first I thought about
fire safety, but have come to realize that with everything made of solid
concrete and brick, there is nothing to burn). During times of public unrest students will be restricted
from leaving campus without formal written documentation. Several times I have realized this is
happening and was completely unaware of the events causing the lockdown; things
seemed normal to me. And they
were, partly because all the students who may have gathered were restricted
from leaving their dormitories.
One time I became acutely aware of the
process was back in 2009 when I was living with my girlfriend (Chinese) in a
school provided campus apartment.
Foreigners were not subject to the same lockdown restrictions as the
students, but being white it was pretty easy for the guards to tell we were not
students. As well as not being
allowed to leave, non-authorized Chinese were not allowed to enter either. On returning to the school, the
security guard (who I came to realize later specifically did not like foreigners,
or maybe just me) bypassed me and directly confronted my girlfriend (standing
hand in hand at my side). He did
not address, did not even look at me.
At this time my Chinese was not very good and I had trouble with the
speed and the accent, but I knew immediately the general content of the
conversation. The campus access
was being restricted, where was her ID?
The situation became very tense, very fast. I tried to explain who she was and that regardless foreign
teachers were allowed to move freely and with guests, so it didn’t matter and
he needed to piss off. Whether
that was misunderstood or he didn’t care, both equally likely, I didn’t make
any headway. Step two in the
process, ignore the security guard and go on about your business like they
don’t exist, usually a successful option.
He moved to block our path and as we kept going he somewhat roughly
grabbed my girlfriend’s arm and pulled her back toward the gate. I did not take kindly to that action
and slapped his hand off my girlfriend and pushed him back. Now this was a pretty big loss of face
for the security guard and the situation was escalating quickly. I was pretty sure that he wouldn’t attack
me, that would be very serious and even if he did, that wasn’t something I was
concerned about. The bigger
problem would have been was that I was living with my girlfriend and she needed
to be able to come and go without me walking her through the gate every
time. The security guards could
make that difficult, as this was the only gate in or out of the school. Fortunately as things were beginning to
look not good, the vice-president of my department came down (I tried calling
her when the incident began to have her come and explain to the guard) and
began to berate the security guard.
It was fun to watch. I
didn’t really have problems after that, but it was clear that he would not be
coming to my aid if I ever needed help.
The security checkpoints at the schools
never really seemed to impede me, but foreigners exist with a dual-status. Often allowed to do many things that
their Chinese counterparts cannot, but also severely disliked (perhaps for the
same reason) by many. I could not
imagine the influence these arbitrary controls would have on me as a student
growing up in this system. So
endemic and complete it is not imposed upon you, but merely the way it is. It doesn’t really get questioned
because it is a fact of life.
These fences persist into mental
boundaries as well. Replacing the
Great Wall as the biggest physical barrier, the Chinese now have the Great
Firewall; I imagine the greatest electronic barrier to information. Even now as I write this I will not be
able to post it easily and may simply wait a couple weeks until I leave China. A constant monitor on what you say and
who you say it to, the Chinese censorship system is awesome in its
control. And it is another
accepted fact of life. By blocking
information, it restricts the thoughts of so many. A tiny minority of Chinese rulers have had a monopoly on
government for almost the entirety of their 4,000 year history, only punctuated
by periods of anarchy; emperors and ruling families compete for ownership of
the country. Warlords warring for
control with each other. And now
the Communist Party leading the country for the good of the people. Each new dynasty taking control from a
stagnating government. Monopolies
are great in the beginning and yet over time without competition they stagnate,
lose focus and all the elements that made them great become impediments to future
growth.
With the firewall, this newest dynasty is doing its best to
maintain a monopoly on thought as well.
In the electronic age with the growth of technology and the ever
increasing speed of communication, it is the probably the only way the Communist
Party can continue to maintain control.
After a horrific start (1949-1978), they have recovered and China has
grown by amazing leaps and bounds.
An economic growth rate near 10% a year is impressive, maintaining that
for 30 years, China stands alone. Yet, so many monopolies seem to start with
something amazing only to languish.
I sit around with my fellow laowai
(foreigners) and we seem to be constantly amazed that China can grow so much
with so much dysfunction. The rate
of growth, new construction and wealth creation is amazing. I can only imagine how much greater the
growth would be if you didn’t have to constantly negotiate around a maze of
fences.
