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Photography
Mountains, seas, and official reading materialPosted by Joel Martinsen, May 28, 2007 6:42 PM
In early February, Wen Jiabao took a trip to two cities in Jilin Province, where he toured businesses, villages, schools, and hospitals. In this Xinhua photo, the premier laughs with students in the library of Northeast Normal University in Changchun. Oddly, the cover of the book in the lower left corner has been blurred. It's a copy of The Classic of Mountains and Seas (this edition), an ancient mythical geography. Why was it blurred? Is the Classic unscientific claptrap detrimental to the harmonious society? Is it a generous face-saving gesture to the student in the front row who was reading mythology when he ought to have been studying engineering? Was Xinhua afraid that the fabulous mythological beasts would upstage the premier? And why blur it only half-way with the title still decipherable? We bring this up at such a late date only because the photo was reprinted this week as part of an Oriental Outlook cover feature on the reading habits of Chinese officials:
The survey collected the responses of 100 officials - mostly ranging from departmental to divisional officials, with a few sectional officials included - from Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Chongqing, Guangdong, and Shaanxi. Some notable results:
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Comments on Mountains, seas, and official reading material
Is it possible the picture was not blurred, and what we're seeing instead is a type of translucent covering?
I suppose that's possible, Inst, but it doesn't really look like a cover in the print version of the photo.