Reflections on Chongqing, China
By Father Rob Carbonneau, C.P.
Many of you know that on August 23, 2007, I will be going to Chongqing, China to teach from September 2007-July 2008. I have been thinking of doing this for many years. The Passionist leadership of St. Paul of the Cross Province and the Passionist community in Baltimore, Maryland and, most important, my family and friends agree that the time is right to fulfill this longtime dream.
After describing my first impression of Chongqing, China in 1993, the second part of this essay explains where and what I will teach in China. The third part tells of two Passionists who lived in Chongqing during the 1940s. The fourth part summarizes basic information on the Catholic Church in Chongqing. The last section explains the ongoing operations of the Passionist Historical Archives while I am away and how you can support me while I am in China. —the editor
I felt I was in a Chinese movie. In October 1993 I disembarked from my Yangzi River cruise ship to walk up the serpentine steps of the Chongqing, Sichuan city docks. Some wanted my small entourage and me to buy food, others wanted to carry our luggage. Still others just wanted us to alleviate their poverty and give them money. Speaking back to them in basic Chinese, I respectfully but forcefully declined all the offers.
The Yangzi River cruise had taken three days from Wuhan, Hubei province to Chongqing. By the time it ended I felt Chinese history had come alive. The boat ride showed me terrain as majestic as a Chinese painting where it always seems that mountains are closer to the heavens than the people who farmed the steep river mountains or continued to fish in the wake of the large cruise ship. Also, the opportunity to see the Three Gorges Dam of the Yangzi River, which was under construction, made me conscious that I was also a witness to China of the future.
At the top of the many steps, my group of fellow United States archivists was met by officials from the local Chinese government archives. Both delegations were part of the People to People Program for cross-cultural exchange and understanding. Within an hour all of us were sitting over a cauldron of bubbling hot oil in which simmered fish, hot peppers, meats and vegetables complete with noodles or rice. Tea, beer or soda quenched our thirst and cooled our mouths as we ate the spicy Sichuanese cuisine. As I sat there sweating, I felt that the moment was similar to a scene from the movie The Sand Pebbles or a Pearl Buck novel. Chongqing was polluted and crowded, but it had a lot of character and energy. Though I only spent two days there, I got a glimpse into its history by way of a meeting with the local Chinese archivists. It did not take much for me to imagine the area as home to the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, when it was known as Chungking.
I will teach at Sichuan International Studies University (SISU) in Chongqing. I got the position by sending my resume to the AITECE Teachers Program. AITECE (Association for International Teaching Educational and Curriculum Exchange) is an association for placing Catholic teachers in Chinese universities. AITECE made contact with SISU. (The SISU English language website is www.en.sisu.edu.cn).
SISU has asked me to teach 14 hours of classes. I will teach in English. The courses will be about American history, language, culture or literature. This might mean teaching topics such as multi-culture communication, international relationships or American culture and literature, which are connected with history. While the Chinese students will know English, it is my job to improve their language skills. I expect the teaching to be demanding. I know I must be flexible as the exact details of what I will teach won't be finalized until I arrive in Chongqing in early September. SISU will pay me a basic salary and provide me with an apartment. There will be an option if all goes well to teach a second year.
As many of you know, increased luggage restrictions prevent me from bringing books on American history and culture. While I might have some of these materials sent later, I am hoping to make use of a collection of some 1,000 historical pamphlets that I have collected from famous American historic sites such as national parks, museums, or historic homes. Several years ago I started collecting these brochures as I thought they might be perfect for classroom use if I was presented with the opportunity to teach. Specifically, I hope that the students assigned to my class will have fun thinking of themselves as tour guides through the United States. I hope they will be able to read and actually use their English skills to explain the important points from any historic brochure. From there, my hope is that, in time, they will have developed suitable language skills in English to provide a summary sweep of how that particular brochure might be situated in the timeline of United States history. With some adaptation, I hope the same approach will succeed in my teaching of American literature. Again, time and patience will tell.
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