海角大神

Born in Philadelphia, reared in a Houston suburb, Stanford- and Columbia-educated, journalist Lenora Chu has a resume that 鈥� at first glance 鈥� looks very American. But her 鈥渃onnection to China came by birthright鈥�: she鈥檚 鈥渁 direct descendant of the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty.鈥� Chu鈥檚 parents鈥� families fled China鈥檚 Cultural Revolution, with her mother and father separately arriving in the United States as 鈥測oungsters.鈥� Both earned Ivy League PhDs and raised their two daughters 鈥渦nder the invisible hand of ancestral expectation鈥� that assumed academic achievement.

A half-century since the most learned Chinese citizens suffered (and died) during Mao's anti-intellectual purges, the irony is that contemporary China 鈥� at least in its urban centers 鈥� now sits at the pinnacle of academic achievement. In 2010, 鈥淪hanghai teenagers scored tops in the world in math, reading, and science,鈥� according to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), a global student assessment test; US students were firmly 鈥渕iddle of the pack."

Four months before the stellar results hit international newsfeeds, Chu had moved to Shanghai from Los Angeles with her husband, NPR鈥檚 Shanghai correspondent Rob Schmitz, and their toddler son Rainey. 鈥淲hat I was reading in the newspapers didn鈥檛 exactly sync with my experiences,鈥� Chu noted.

Her 鈥渏ournalistic curiosity鈥� 鈥� developed as a reporter in New York, Minnesota, and California 鈥� 鈥渒icked in.鈥� The result is her debut, Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve. Her status as 鈥渁 special kind of foreigner鈥� 鈥� one who speaks Mandarin, albeit with a Texas drawl, who鈥檚 鈥渞eturned to the bosom of the motherland鈥� 鈥� gave Chu privileged access, further enhanced by Rainey鈥檚 admission into one of Shanghai鈥檚 most prestigious kindergartens 鈥� 鈥�the school, as far as posh Chinese urbanites were concerned.鈥�

The apprehensions Chu and her husband would come to feel about Rainey鈥檚 education began almost immediately. He鈥檚 rewarded not for outstanding performance but for sitting absolutely still. He parrots Communist Party songs. He asks for silence during dinner because his school lunchtimes don鈥檛 allow talking.

The 鈥渢roubling signs鈥� multiply. Rainey is force-fed eggs, publicly shamed, threatened with lies, and even blatantly brainwashed, all to the end of creating 鈥渓ittle soldiers.鈥� And yet Rainey also gains resilience and responsibility beyond his years, not to mention his early facility in math and language (first- and second-graders, for example, recognize 1,600 characters; full literacy requires 3,500 characters). The East/West divide proves vast, but Chu recognizes the need for flexibility: 鈥淚f we opened our minds, we just might reap the benefits of rearing our child in a second culture, and educating him the Chinese way (while hopefully retaining our Western sense of individuality).鈥�

Beyond documenting her family鈥檚 hybrid experiences, Chu takes 鈥減en and paper everywhere,鈥� visiting classrooms in China and the US, meeting other Chinese students, following education-seeking Chinese families. Her research culminates in three major areas: 鈥淭he System,鈥� highlighting Chinese educational practices, including education as 鈥渁 family affair鈥� in which a child can often have six adult overseers with two parents and four grandparents; 鈥淐hange,鈥� which examines the 鈥渉igh price鈥� of a test-based system, the government鈥檚 attempts at system overhauls, the immense discrepancy between urban and rural educations (the high school dropout-rate outside cities is almost 50 percent!), and rampant cheating and bribery; and 鈥淐hinese Lessons鈥� which considers the many activities supporting stellar achievement, including rote memorization, which can actually enable and encourage deeper thinking and unrestrained creativity.

Undoubtedly revealing, fascinating, and filled with "aha" moments, 鈥淟ittle Soldiers鈥� is not without pitfalls. One extremely pertinent experience that seems surprisingly elided is Chu鈥檚 volunteer-teaching in Shanghai, merely mentioned a few times with minimal explication. Also clumsily presented is the appearance of a second son, initially alluded to when introducing Chinese naming customs: the character for Rainey鈥檚 Chinese name is 鈥淸s]tone times three鈥� meaning 鈥渙pen鈥� and 鈥渉onest鈥�; Landon鈥檚 is 鈥淸g]old times three鈥� meaning 鈥減rofit鈥� and 鈥減rosperity.鈥� Little else is revealed about Landon until his rejection at age 2 from Rainey鈥檚 elite kindergarten.

While Rainey is admittedly a clever, charming subject, Chu鈥檚 narrative overall would have been strengthened by giving more attention to the students she meets, especially those she encounters in her exploratory rural jaunts, as well as further scrutiny of the challenges facing a migrant couple and their struggling son 鈥� and additional families like them.

鈥淲hen the negatives outweigh the positives, we will alter course,鈥� Chu muses about her family鈥檚 decision to keep Rainey in the Chinese school system as he transitions to primary school. Her eventual hope/demand/call for 鈥渢hat exact middle鈥� of both East and West educational systems feels like an abrupt, too-easy ending at best. Pressing questions about education and achievement remain; Chu鈥檚 explorations here will surely inspire savvy readers to keep seeking answers, long after the final page.聽

Terry Hong writes , a book blog for the .