Today’s China Bytes provide background to the recent drama in China over the escape from house arrest in Shandong Province of the blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng: a historical overview of China’s “Legal System” by the late William Jones from a collection of essays* honoring Jerome A. Cohen, whose oped “The Chen Guangcheng Saga: Heavy on Diplomacy – and Luck” was published today in the Washington Post, and a fascinating short article on “Shandong Province” by David Buck. Here, too, is a photograph from the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, showing Jerry Cohen and Owen Nye teaching in Beijing around 1980.

Photo credit: Jerome A. Cohen Esq. and Owen Nee Esq. teaching at the Beijing City Glass Institute. 1979–1981. Photo by Joan Lebold Cohen.

Shandong Province

By David D. BUCK, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee , Berkshire Encyclopedia of China

Shandong Province is located on the country’s northern coast, across the Yellow Sea from the Koreas, and is home to China’s second-largest provincial population (after Guangdong Province on the south coast). Shandong is home to a large portion of the Huang (Yellow) River and once was home to many Neolithic cultures and ancient philosophers such as Confucius. It is now known for its production of wheat, cotton, and sorghum.
Legal System— History

By William C. JONES (deceased), Washington University in St. Louis, Berkshire Encyclopedia of China

Since the third century, China has always consisted of a strong central government. The emperor’s decrees were law, changing only with dynasties, until 1912’s revolution. Throughout the modern era, one concept has remained: the government as a centralized bureaucratic autocracy.

These are just two of the 800 articles you’ll find in the 5-volume, 2,800-page Encyclopedia of China, which we’ve packed with hundreds of valuable background articles for use in teaching and research. The big print set is available at US$675 (discounts may apply). Digital editions are also available through major library vendors. For teachers and other individuals, Berkshire has created ChinaConnectU.com, which contains the entire encyclopedia plus much more.

My success as a publisher of thousands of academic writers is that I am a notorious last-minute author myself. I know all the tricks, excuses, and distractions that keep a writer from buckling down and finishing the job. This awareness hasn’t improved my own behavior (oh do I have some great excuses) it has enabled me to get other people to write faster than most publishers believe possible. I’ve been told that I “twist arms.” I had a scholar look at me quizzically when we met at a conference, “I still don’t know how you talked me into that.” But with a project like the Encyclopedia of Sustainability, with almost 1,000 authors, all kinds of problems arise. Some of them were weather-related. Others had to do with infectious disease. Here are a few memorable examples, culled by Bill Siever:

Dewald van Niekerk, director of the African Centre for Disaster Studies in South Africa, author of “Disaster Management” in Afro-Eurasia: Assessing Sustainability, had to deliver his article a few days late because, he said:

“I have been struggling to stick to many deadlines the past two months. We had massive wild fires and my centre assisted our provincial government in assessing the damage and handling claims from 1,600 farmers. It has been a bit hectic. I have not made as much progress on the chapter as hoped. There are still too many loose ends. Is it possible to ask for an extension on the due date (I sound like one of my students now!).”

…which sounds like a reasonable reason for delay to me!

Volume 7, China, India, and East and Southeast Asia: Assessing Sustainability, has had two authors who were stricken with typhoid fever. Editor Anne Marie Liu had to deliver a review of an article over the phone because she was on doctor’s orders to stay away from computers after being poked in the eye so hard by her baby son that she had to go to the emergency room. She’s been told there will be no lasting damage, though, which is good news. Her son was born just before Hurricane Irene hit the US – he sounds like he’s going to be trouble!

Bill Siever, our amazing project coordinator for the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, a beast of a project if there ever was one, wrote this:

1. I started here thinking that I knew a lot about the world – I was in store for an awakening. I learn at least five new things pretty much every day on everything from nanotechnology to environmental law in India.

2. I have regular correspondence with authors from over 50 countries as project coordinator for the Encyclopedia of Sustainability.

3. I can’t guarantee this for you when you’re first starting out, but I never EVER run out of things to do, and the days fly by. (A bit too much sometimes.)

4. Berkshire’s a small company, so if you want to make a suggestion for how to improve something (anything), people listen.

5. Baked goods!

6. A cat!

7. Friendly co-workers!

8. Great Barrington and its surroundings are great, especially if you like to hike, bike, etc. Lots of culture in the area. Nice walkable downtown. I can walk to work. GB was recently named the best small town in US by Smithsonian magazine this month.

9. At least in my job, I have the chance to edit and review a lot of articles, give authors feedback (diplomatically!) etc.

10. We cover topics that are interesting and important: China, the environment, community, etc. It’s good for morale when you feel that you’re contributing in some way to the greater good.

11. You will undoubtedly be asked to do all kinds of things that you have no idea how to do, but we’re a small company and help is always at hand.

As we prepare to publish volume seven of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability, and in conjunction with our Earth Day Special for both that set and the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, I went back to my introduction to the “Greening China” issue of Guanxi: The China Letter. Here’s a fresh version with some startling and fascinating details from volume seven, which is entitled China, India, and East and Southeast Asia: Assessing Sustainability.

The people of China are aware that they face big environmental challenges. Their leaders are keenly aware that they must find a way to harmonize (as the Chinese put it) economic development and environmental protection. And they know that the rest of the world is watching.

Experts point out the handicaps China operates under. Although China is sixth in the world in terms of total freshwater resources, its large population of 1.3 billion means that the water available to each citizen, on average, is only one-quarter what is available to individuals worldwide. In a classic example of “water insecurity,” China faces flooding as well as water shortages. Proponents of the controversial Three Gorges Dam claim that the huge dam will tame the famously flood-prone Yangzi River; critics counter that in the long run it will have the opposite effect. China faces similar hardship in terms of arable land: much of the nation is steep mountains, deserts, or dry grasslands.

Here are some statistics to consider.

1. China has an overwhelming monopoly on rare earth metals, which are vital to the manufacture of smart phones and other electronics. It became apparent to the global economy that additional sources of rare earth metals were necessary after China, which supplies 95 percent of the world’s rare earth metals, withheld shipments to Japan after a 2010 dispute over shipping. (See “Rare Earth Metals” in Volume 4, Natural Resources and Sustainability.)
2. China has the largest “mega-region”: Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Dongguan-Guangzhou in southern China. According to the 2010–2011 UN-Habitat biannual report State of World Cities, this mega-region had 120 million residents in 2011. (See “Cities—Overview” in Volume 7, China, India, and East and Southeast Asia: Assessing Sustainability.)
3. China has the largest generator of electricity of any kind on Earth: the controversial Three Gorges Dam, in China’s Hubei Province, generates 20 times the electricity-generating power of the Hoover Dam in the United States. (See “Three Gorges Dam” in Volume 7.)
4. China has the most Internet users: China had an estimated 420 million Internet users in 2010, representing roughly 23 percent of the world’s Internet users. (See “Information and Communications Technologies” in Volume 7.)
5. China has some of the world’s worst air, according to the 2011 Environmental Performance Index (EPI). India was at the bottom of the list (number 132), followed by Nepal (131), Bangladesh (130), Pakistan (129), and China (128). (See “Beijing” in Volume 7.)
6. China has had the first and second deadliest floods of all time: the Yangzi in 1931 and the Huang (Yellow) River in 1887, respectively. (See “China” in Volume 7.)
7. China and India have had the largest economies in the world for most of the last 2,000 years, and only in the last century or so have they lost their dominance. (See http://www.economist.com/node/16834943)

As we consider the way forward, we would do well to remember this Chinese saying: The best time to plant a tree was a hundred years ago; the second-best time is today.

Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability
Tables of Contents, lists of contributing authors, and sample articles:
1/10: The Spirit of Sustainability
2/10: The Business of Sustainability
3/10: The Law and Politics of Sustainability 
4/10: Natural Resources and Sustainability
5/10: Ecosystem Management and Sustainability
6/10: Measurements, Indicators, and Research Methods for Sustainability
7/10: China, India, and East and Southeast Asia: Assessing Sustainability 
8/10: The Americas and Oceania: Assessing Sustainability
9/10: Afro-Eurasia: Assessing Sustainability
10/10: The Future of Sustainability 

Great Barrington, Massachusetts—While construction slows in China, new opportunities for foreign investment and international cooperation beckon. The Northeastern Friendship Construction and Heavy Industry Transportation and Advertising Company (NFCHITAC), a division of National Pacific Patriotic People’s Southern Construction, Investing, Securities, and Commercial Services Group (NPPPSCISCSG), has been selected for the construction of what is expected to be the largest human-made object on the planet: a twenty-first-century “Great Wall” between the United States and Mexico. Berkshire Publishing Group will produce a trilingual television series, Facebook apps, mobile games, educational videos, and other high-quality content across many platforms to raise awareness and create engagement.

China’s Great Wall (Chángchéng) known as La Gran Muralla in Spanish, stretches across China and was built in pieces over the course of centuries, starting as early as the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). The Berkshire Encyclopedia of China article explains that, “these walls played a role in defending China from incursion by northern steppe peoples, particularly the Mongols.” The Ming-dynasty portion is estimated at 8851 kilometers (5,500 miles), making it more than twice the length of the new Friendship Wall (Yuyìchéng ). One of the project’s most enthusiastic proponents has been presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who in a statement said, “I look forward to being able to see the Friendship Wall from the President Gingrich Lunar Base in 2018.”

The building of a “Great Wall” between the United States and Mexico is supported by anti-immigration activists and politicians, but the awarding of the project to a Chinese firm has introduced a new controversy to current discussions of immigration policy. Some argue that instead of providing jobs for US construction workers many of the jobs are likely to go to Chinese laborers. The project plans call for recruitment from the United States and Mexico, and US government representatives insist that the bid from NFCHITAC was unassailable. The total project cost will be financed by Chinese backers, and the Friendship Wall will be complete in five years. The project includes a significant tourist component, with “commune” villages for camping similar to those along China’s Great Wall, and the wall itself will be designed as a long-distance walking route.

The preliminary design, say architects, is highly reminiscent of Maya Lin’s design for the Vietnam Memorial, while for some observers it evokes a horizontal version of the monolith in 2001: a Space Odyssey. Alamo-style stucco was, however, deemed impractical.

As another part of the revisioning of this part of North America, the Rio Grande (Great River) will be renamed at the opening ceremonies as the People’s River (Rénmínjing ). A swimming event echoing Mao Zedong’s famous 1966 crossing of the Yangzi River is also being discussed. The initial plan calls for participation by leaders from the United States, Mexico, and China, and other countries may be invited to join. The governor of Texas is expected to take a major role. Former president George W. Bush, who was governor of Texas and whose father was chief of the Liaison Office to the People’s Republic of China, has already signaled his willingness to join the swim. For more information on this monumental project go to NFCHITAC’s official project website.

Berkshire Publishing Group and Berkshire Patriotic Committee for Press, Publications, and Futuristic Media Projects
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Happy April Fool’s Day! And RT @LettersOfNote “This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred & sixty-four.” – Mark Twain

I love the case studies we included in the Encyclopedia of Leadership, which Berkshire published with Sage Reference in 2004. Today is 100 years since the death of Robert F. Scott, a famous British explorer. @LettersofNote features the letter he wrote, over the course of his final days, addressed to his “widow” http://bit.ly/gvYrXW. Here is our case study of “The Race to the South Pole” from the Encyclopedia of Leadership, contributed by Dennis N. T. Perkins et al.:

The contest to become the first human to set foot on the geographic South Pole is an exciting and controversial chapter in the history of leadership under adversity. Set in the most hostile environment on Earth, the race to the South Pole shows how leadership style, personality, strategy, and openness to innovation interact to determine success or failure. This historic quest demonstrates how the best leaders are able to extend their reach by bringing out the best in others. Finally, it illustrates that perceptions of leadership are altered by the changing lenses of culture and popular sentiment.

The Course

It is difficult to understand the nature of the competition to reach the South Pole without some knowledge of the extreme conditions of Antarctica. For most of the year, central Antarctica is enveloped in total darkness or total daylight. Ice<M>up to 4,500 meters thick<M>covers more than 99 percent of the continent’s land mass. But the most formidable obstacles are neither darkness nor ice. Those who dream of reaching the Pole must contend with bitter cold, relentless wind and snow, and high altitude.

The coldest temperature ever measured on Earth’s surface<M>minus 89.2 degrees C<M>was recorded in Antarctica. Even during the warmest months, temperatures in the interior can reach minus 70 degrees C, and the mean annual temperature at the South Pole is minus 49 degrees C.

In addition to the frigid temperatures, there is the wind. Dense cold air rushing down from the polar plateau can achieve speeds of almost 320 kilometers per hour. And then there are the storms. The ferocious Antarctic winds blow snow across the surface, resulting in blizzards that make travel nearly impossible. In these blinding conditions, explorers have died only a few yards from their shelters.

Finally, there is the altitude. The South Pole is located at an elevation of over 2,700 meters above the sea, and the pressure altitude that affects human physiology is even higher. Because of Earth’s rotation, the air is denser over the Equator and thinner over the Pole. As a result, the effective altitude of the Pole is almost 4,200 meters. Taken together, the elements of cold, wind, snow, and altitude played a crucial role in the race to the South Pole.

Preparing for the Race

In 1820, Fabian von Bellingshausen (1778<N>1852), a captain in the Russian Imperial Navy, was the first to sight the continent of Antarctica. A year later, sealers from the United States and Britain landed on the Antarctic Peninsula. Other expeditions designed to explore the unknown continent soon followed. Each effort increased the understanding of Antarctica and helped in the development of strategies for dealing with the harsh polar environment.

In March of 1898, a Belgian expedition led by Adrian de Gerlache (1866<N>1934) became trapped by the pack ice near the Antarctic Peninsula. Imprisoned aboard the Belgica for more than a year, the crew members suffered from depression, disease, and disorientation resulting from living in total darkness. But they were the first to winter south of the Antarctic Circle, and a young Norwegian named Roald Amundsen (1872<N>1928)<M>one of the ship’s officers<M>absorbed the lessons of this experience.

The same year, Carsten Borchgrevink (1864<N>1934) sailed on the Southern Cross as a leader of what was called the British Antarctic expedition. The expedition, funded by a wealthy British publisher, was hardly British: Twenty-eight of the thirty-one members were Norwegian, and the Southern Cross was a converted Norwegian sealer. Landing at Cape Adare, ten of the explorers erected two wooden huts and set out to prove that humans could survive ashore in the cold, dark, Antarctic winter. The expedition also produced maps of the Ross Sea region, and it expanded the store of knowledge and skills needed to survive in the extreme Antarctic environment.

The British Contestants

At the International Geographical Congress held in London in 1895, the English geographer Clements Markham (1830<N>1916) called for further scientific and geographical exploration of Antarctica. Markham later helped organize the British National Antarctic Expedition, in 1899 choosing the explorer Robert Falcon Scott (1868<N>1912) as its leader.

Markham believed in youth over experience. He thought older men lacked not only energy and a capacity to deal with emergencies, but also openness to new ideas. “How can novel forms of effort,” he wrote, “be expected from still old organisms hampered by experience” (Thomson 2002, 10). Scott had no prior experience in polar exploration, but Markham had been impressed by Scott’s intelligence and charm. Markham believed the thirty-one-year-old naval officer to be the right age and temperament to lead an Antarctic expedition.

On the recommendation of an expedition benefactor, Markham also selected an officer of the Merchant Navy<M>Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874<N>1922)<M>as one of Scott’s sub-lieutenants. The two officers, both of whom became important figures in the race to the South Pole, had sharply contrasting backgrounds and personalities.

Scott was born to a well-to-do family in Plymouth, England. At the age of thirteen, he entered the Royal Navy as a cadet aboard the training ship Britannia. Although Scott could be charming, he could also be detached and temperamental. With his reserved and shy personality, Scott had trouble mixing with others. He was most comfortable in the traditional, regulated, and hierarchical caste system of the Royal Navy. These personal characteristics limited his effectiveness as a leader, but Scott brought strengths as well. He genuinely appreciated science and possessed the physical stamina essential for polar exploration. In addition, his skill at vivid, descriptive writing provided a clear account of his expeditions and his role in the race.

Ernest Shackleton, by contrast, was an Anglo-Irishman born in County Kildare, Ireland. Shackleton’s father, unable to afford the cost of the Royal Navy’s Britannia, sent Ernest to sea on a ship of the Merchant Navy. Aboard the Hoghton Tower Shackleton “learned the ropes,” and he also learned something more. Although status distinctions in the Mercantile Marine were less rigid than they were in the Royal Navy, sanctions still existed against mixing with social inferiors. But Shackleton’s outgoing personality and lack of pretension enabled him to make friends at all levels<M>with officers, engineers, and apprentices alike. This ability served him well in his journeys to the Antarctic.

The First Run toward the Pole

In August of 1901, Scott and Shackleton sailed for Antarctica aboard the Discovery, the first ship designed and built in Britain specifically for polar exploration. By mid-February of 1902, the expedition had established winter quarters ashore. In November, Scott finally set out to explore the route to the Pole with Shackleton and scientific officer Edward A. Wilson (1872<N>1912).

Scott and his team were ill prepared for their first southern foray. They were poor skiers, and inept at handling dogs. The dogs were underfed and the sleds were overloaded. Suffering from scurvy and lack of food, the party turned back more than 800 kilometers from the South Pole.

On the journey home, the three tied their remaining dogs behind the sleds, which they “man hauled” back to their camp at Hut Point. Strangely, Scott seemed drawn to this grueling practice of man hauling. He wrote that “no journey ever made with dogs can approach the height realized. . . .when a party of men go forth to face hardships, dangers, and difficulties with their own unaided efforts” (McGonigal and Woodworth 2001, 428).

The strain of the trip, combined with clashes between Scott and Shackleton, undermined the cohesion of the southern party. At one point, Scott referred to Shackleton as a “bloody fool.” This clash<M>and the underlying competition between the two men<M>created a rift that was never closed.

When the party reached Hut Point, all three men were suffering from scurvy. Scott, with medical advice, declared Shackleton unfit for duty and sent him home on a relief ship. Shackleton reportedly wept as he sailed away.

Shackleton’s Second Attempt

Although Shackleton had been ordered home from the Discovery expedition, he returned to England a hero of the expedition. He began organizing another attempt, and in 1907 sailed for Antarctica aboard the Nimrod as the leader of a second British Antarctic expedition.

At the end of October 1908, Shackleton and three companions set out for the South Pole. Shackleton brought no dogs for the final assault, relying instead on Siberian ponies for transport. The ponies were ill suited for the terrain, and once more the British resorted to man hauling. By 9 January 1909, they were 179 kilometers shy of the South Pole and desperately short of rations. In a typical act of generosity, Shackleton gave one of his last biscuits to a companion, Frank Wild, and then made the painful decision to turn around. He later explained to his wife: “I thought you’d prefer a live donkey to a dead lion” (Rubin 2000, 39).

They had failed to reach the South Pole, but the British Antarctic expedition had accomplished other goals. They had uncovered coal and other fossils. They had discovered a new mountain range and traversed the high polar plateau, and they held the record for penetrating the furthest south. In addition, they pioneered a path up the Beardmore Glacier, the same route that Scott would take on his next expedition.

The expedition also gave Shackleton a chance to demonstrate his exceptional leadership skills. He had faced danger with humor and good cheer, developing a reputation for being cool in a crisis. Although called “the Boss” by his men, Shackleton established the norm of discussing problems openly and valuing the opinions of others, regardless of their position in the formal hierarchy.

The Norwegian Challenger

Roald Amundsen, born before Norway separated from Sweden, learned to ski as a schoolboy and had a keen interest in adventure. As a teenager, Amundsen read the account of Sir John Franklin (1786<N>1847), a British explorer who died mysteriously in the Arctic. Enamored of polar exploration, Amundsen honed his skills in long-distance skiing as he prepared for his “great adventure.”

Despite the challenges he encountered as a member of the Belgian Antarctic expedition in 1898, Amundsen continued his polar exploration. He was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage aboard one vessel, and he spent three winters in the Arctic. He lived with the Eskimos, learning about cold-weather clothing, dog handling, and travel<M>the foundational skills of polar exploration. Among explorers, he developed a reputation as a meticulous planner who was expert at traveling over snow and ice.

Amundsen had always dreamed of being the first to the North Pole. In 1909, as he was planning his northbound expedition, Amundsen received word that the Americans Frederick A. Cook (1865<N>1940), a shipmate from Belgica, and Robert E. Peary (1856<N>1920) had both claimed that prize. Amundsen quickly changed his goal from north to south. After his expedition had departed from Norway<M>ostensibly for the Arctic<M>Amundsen sent Scott a terse telegram: “Beg leave to inform you. . . proceeding Antarctic” (Rubin 2000, 40).

Meanwhile, Scott, who had sailed aboard the Terra Nova on 10 June 1910, had left London with the expectation that the South Pole was his prize to claim. When the Terra Nova reached Melbourne in October 1910, the news of Amundsen’s altered goal came as a shock to Scott. The race was on.

The Last Lap

Scott reached Ross Island on 4 January 1911 and was soon laying depots south from his base at Cape Evans. Amundsen arrived in Antarctica shortly thereafter and established his camp on the ice shelf at the Bay of Whales.

Amundsen departed for the Pole on 8 September but was forced to retreat in disarray by the bitter cold. On 19 October Amundsen set out once more for the Pole with four companions and four sleds, each pulled by thirteen dogs. With their exceptional skiing and dog-handling ability, the Norwegians moved across the terrain with relative ease. They traveled only six hours a day, reserving the remainder for sleep and rest. Thanks to their carefully planned diet and well-marked depots, food was never an issue.

Amundsen and his men arrived at the South Pole on 14 December 1911. Because all five had risked their lives on this adventure as a team, Amundsen insisted that they plant the Norwegian flag together. The men erected a tent with a Norwegian flag on top. Expecting that Scott was still to reach the Pole, they left him a letter and another to deliver to King Haakon in case they failed to return.

By 25 January 1912, Amundsen and his party had returned to base camp with eleven remaining dogs, only ninety-nine days after their departure. They were as well-nourished and fit as when they had left. Because of their meticulous planning and efficient travel, the Norwegians had made it look easy.

While Amundsen basked in the warmth of his victory, Scott and his party still struggled southward, unaware that they had already lost the race. Scott had begun his journey almost 112 kilometers farther from the Pole than Amundsen had, and his decision to use ponies as well as dogs had created a further delay. As a result, they established their last food depot, “One Ton Camp,” approximately 66 kilometers short of their goal. This shortfall, along with poor weather and a number of errors and miscalculations, was to prove fatal for Scott and his polar party.

On 3 January 1912, Scott made a late decision. Although plans for the polar assault had been based on a team of four, Scott inexplicably announced that he would take one extra man on the final leg of the journey. The sleds were only equipped with supplies for four men and the tents were designed to accommodate four, so this change complicated their movement. They had also brought only four sets of skis, so the entire polar party was restricted to a walking pace.

Scott and his men arrived at the South Pole on 17 January 1912<M>thirty-five days after Amundsen. Finding the Norwegian tent, Scott wrote: “Great God! This is an awful place, and terrible enough for us to have labored to it without the reward of priority. . . . Now for the run home and a desperate struggle. I wonder if we can do it” (Neider 2000, 288).

They could not. One member died a month later after sinking into a coma. The next month, a second man<M>Titus Oates<M>stepped out into a blizzard never to return. Suffering from severe frostbite, Oates apparently sacrificed his life rather than continue to delay his comrades.

On 19 March a blizzard again enveloped the surviving three members of the polar party. Imprisoned just over 19 kilometers from One Ton Depot, they had only enough food for two days. Scott’s last entry, on 29 March, reads: “We shall stick it out to the end. . . and the end cannot be far. . . . For God’s sake look after our people” (Neider 2000, 267).

Eight months later, expedition survivors came upon the tent of the polar party. When Scott and his two companions were eventually found, their sledge had included 14 kilograms of geological specimens. The weight of these specimens, confirming Scott’s dedication to science, was not the main cause of his tragic death. But the stones, although of scientific importance, symbolize the inherent contradiction of trying to finish a race while carrying rocks.

Back in Britain, Scott was hailed as a hero who had died for his country, while Shackleton, who had turned back on his attempt at the Pole, was criticized by some as being unpatriotic: His failure to sacrifice his life and the lives of his men enabled a foreigner to win the race.

Leadership Lessons from the Race to the Pole

Fascination with the race continues to the present day. For most of the twentieth century, Scott was considered a heroic figure. Toward the end of the century, some historians began to question his leadership. Instead of a hero, Scott was cast as a bungler whose errors in judgment had cost him not only the conquest of the Pole but also the lives of his men. Today, another contrarian view has emerged. His failure was simply bad luck: unusually cold weather was a major contributor to Scott’s tragic end. And Amundsen, the winner of the race, has been criticized for his single-minded determination and perceived duplicity in “stealing the prize.”

In view of Scott’s flawed record as a leader, it is difficult to attribute his failure simply to an unexpected cold snap. But debating Scott’s culpability is less important than understanding the broader leadership lessons provided by the race to the South Pole.

Effective Leadership Requires a Clear Strategic Focus

Amundsen’s ambition was to stand first at the North Pole. When Cook and Peary claimed that prize, Amundsen immediately shifted his attention to winning the race to the South Pole. This new goal became the sole focus of his expedition. With single-minded determination, Amundsen set his plans and priorities. This uncompromising clarity contributed to his success in reaching the Pole and to his ability to bring his men safely home.

Scott, in contrast, lacked such focus. To support his scientific goals, he assembled the most capable scientists and the best-equipped expedition ever to explore Antarctica. Yet he had also stated that one of the major objects of the expedition was to reach the South Pole, securing the honor of that achievement for the British empire. Striving for both goals, Scott failed to win the race, and his grueling march to an arbitrary geographic point was inconsistent with the pursuit of scientific research.

Successful Leaders are Open to New Ideas

A second lesson from the race concerns the leader’s critical role in fostering innovation. The process of innovation depends on an openness to new ideas, coupled with the ability to learn from experience. On this dimension of leadership, there were striking differences between Amundsen and both Scott and Shackleton.

The Norwegians owed much of their success to the use of sophisticated technology for polar travel<M>skis, dogs, clothing, and diet. It is true that skiing was an integral part of their culture, while the British knew relatively little of the art. But Amundsen continued to refine his skills throughout his life. He learned from his earliest experiences on the Belgica, he imported ideas from the Eskimos, and he systematically developed an integrated set of competencies for polar life and travel. Consequently, his trip to the pole was remarkably routine, and he was able to avoid the extreme weather that Scott had to endure.

Scott and Shackleton, by contrast, were surprisingly resistant to the use of these superior methods. It is easy to understand their failure to use the best technology on their first journey toward the Pole in 1902<M>although Scott’s admission that none of their equipment had been tested is still surprising. In later expeditions, however, their persistent reliance on unproven or inferior methods is difficult to understand.

Scott believed that he had learned from earlier mistakes, but the evidence suggests otherwise. On later expeditions, both Shackleton and Scott experimented unsuccessfully with motor sledges and ponies but neither made effective use of dogs and skis. Ultimately, both relied on the slow, exhausting technique of man hauling.

In the end, Scott proved Markham wrong. Though he possessed youth and inexperience, Scott often failed to display either openness to new ideas or the ability to learn from mistakes. In his final “Message to the Public,” Scott attributes the cause of the tragedy simply to “misfortune.” Scott’s lengthy journey did subject his party to the misfortune of particularly cold weather<M>conditions that Amundsen escaped through a rapid assault on the Pole.

Leaders Need to Draw on the Collective Wisdom of the Team

As a leader, Scott believed it was his unique responsibility to analyze situations and draw conclusions. His decisions were closely held and sometimes revealed at the last minute<M>witness his decision to take a fifth man to the Pole. One consequence of Scott’s decision-making style was that he often failed to use the opinions of others to find the best possible course of action. In addition, because they were not involved in the process, members of his expedition had only a limited understanding of the rationale behind his decisions.

In sharp contrast to Scott, both Amundsen and Shackleton made a point of soliciting the ideas of their team members. As a result, their actions were better informed, and the process itself<M>because it gave people a sense of control<M>resulted in greater ownership and commitment.

The Best Leaders Forge Strong Team Bonds

The contest to be first at the Pole shows that teams under the best leaders form cohesive bonds that enable everyone to work together in the face of daunting adversity. On this point, Scott again stands apart from Shackleton and Amundsen. Scott did inspire loyalty among some key members of his team, and his doomed polar party stayed together until the very end. But Scott’s detachment, his emphasis on hierarchy, and his unilateral decision-making style created barriers to team cohesion.

Neither Shackleton nor Amundsen led perfectly harmonious expeditions, but both leaders demonstrated the crucial skills needed to maintain a unified team. Although their personalities were different, the leadership practices of the ebullient Shackleton and the understated Amundsen were remarkably similar. They were both acutely sensitive to the emotions of their men and consciously intervened when morale dropped. They were skilled at managing conflict and winning over potential troublemakers. They placed greater emphasis on individual ability than on rank or social status. And they participated in the most menial camp chores, never isolating themselves from other members of the expedition. These behaviors, both practical and symbolic, reinforced the message of unity.

Reflecting on the abilities of these three leaders, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, a member of Scott’s second expedition, made the following observation: “For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organisation, give me Scott. . . for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time” (Wheeler 1999, 87).

Looking back over the history of the race, these words ring true. And yet, despite their differences, Amundsen, Scott, and Shackleton did share some important characteristics. All were able to endure extraordinary hardship through exceptional perseverance, determination, and courage. Those qualities are crucial for any leader<M>no matter what race must be run.

Dennis N. T. Perkins, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy

ENDS

News from China has been interesting this week, indeed, which lead to a discussion of the supposed Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” We have a small collection of what I think of as “apocryphal” Chinese sayings. Chinese proverbs are so extensive and varied that it seems awfully easy (and convenient) just to make one up to suit the occasion, and so many people have. Of course these sayings get picked up by others, and before you know it they’re everywhere, like invasive species. President Kennedy and his speechwriters seem to have been lively propagators of made-up Chinese sayings, at least according to the sources I’ve found online. I offer these two extracts, from The Phrase Finder and from Wikipedia with several grains of salt (an English phrase that no doubt would lead me down yet another trail).

The phrase was introduced in the 20th century in the form ‘interesting age’ rather than ‘interesting times’ and appears that way in the opening remarks made by Frederic R. Coudert at the Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science, 1939:

Some years ago, in 1936, I had to write to a very dear and honored friend of mine, who has since died, Sir Austen Chamberlain, brother of the present Prime Minister, and I concluded my letter with a rather banal remark, “that we were living in an interesting age.” Evidently he read the whole letter, because by return mail he wrote to me and concluded as follows: “Many years ago, I learned from one of our diplomats in China that one of the principal Chinese curses heaped upon an enemy is, ‘May you live in an interesting age.’” “Surely”, he said, “no age has been more fraught with insecurity than our own present time.” That was three years ago.

This citation has to be treated with caution as Chamberlain didn’t speak Chinese and never visited China, although he was in contact with diplomats stationed there during his time as British Foreign Secretary, that is, 1924-1929. We have the 1939 citation in print, so the ‘interesting age’ form must be at least that old. If we are to believe Coulson’s assertion, the phrase dates from before 1936 and, if we trust in Chamberlain’s recollection, we can push the origin back to pre-1929.

As to the currently used ‘interesting times’ version, we can only date that to post WWII. No one is sure who introduced the term but the person who did most to bring it to the public’s attention was Robert Kennedy. In a speech in Cape Town in June 1966, Kennedy said:

There is a Chinese curse which says ‘May he live in interesting times.’ Like it or not we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also more open to the creative energy of men than any other time in history.

The Phrase Finder via May you live in interesting times.

And from Wikipedia:

No known user of the English phrase has supplied the purported Chinese language original, and the Chinese language origin of the phrase, if it exists, has not been found, making its authenticity, at least in its present form, very doubtful. One theory is that it may be related to the Chinese proverb, “It’s better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period” (???????????; pinyin: níng wéi tàipíng qu?n, bú zuò luànshì rén).[citation needed] Other cultures, such as Polish, attribute the saying to either Chinese or Jewish origin.[1]

The saying has also been attributed to the fictional Chinese storyteller Kai Lung invented by the English Edwardian author Ernest Bramah,[2] who wrote many pieces of fiction involving the character between 1896 and his death in 1942, but its appearance in any of his stories has not been documented.

The Yale Book of Quotations quotes the phrase “May you live in interesting times” as cited to “American Society of International Law Proceedings vol. 33 (1939).” The Yale Book of Quotations also states that “No authentic Chinese saying to this effect has ever been found.”[3]

via May you live in interesting times – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

On a more practical note, here are two articles about the interesting events of the week in China: @karenchristenze RT @adamminter “…the bats of rumor take flight” http://bit.ly/GJEyng & the FT http://ow.ly/9OlUG on developing drama (maybe) in Beijing.

The part of the ChinaConnectU.com designed for students in China who are thinking of coming abroad to study is called  ??? – Zouchuqu, or “Going Out.” This is the beginning of Berkshire’s new focus on international education – Berkshire Education or – and perhaps I’ll add those characters for “education” to  ???- Zouchuqu. But I kind of like the bigger meaning, because education is only part of the new flow of people and investment from China to the United States and the rest of the world.

Of course there are many challenges, on both sides, and we could talk all night about the risks and resistances. These are all topics that Berkshire will be covering, not only at ChinaConnectU but in our books, in the Berkshire Dictionary of Chinese Biography, and in a new edition of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China.

Here’s a little background on use of the term “zouchuqu” in various Chinese Five-Year Plans, from a report produced recently by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR):

Meanwhile, Chinese foreign direct investments totalled US$2,500 billion, and the number of people leaving China annually rose above 50 million, according to Jin Canrong. Jin says that while the Tenth Five-Year Plan referred to the goal of “actively and steadily going out” (???????, jiji wentuo de zouchuqu), and the Eleventh referred to “going further outwards” (??????, jinyibu zouchuqu), the current Twelfth plan calls for “accelerating the implementation of the strategy for going out” (??????????, jiakuai shishi zouchuqu de zhanlüe). So, over the last decade, China’s policy of outward movement has consistently increased in economic and political significance. China_Analysis_Facing_the_Risks_of_the_Going_Out_Strategy_January2012.pdf

The book I brought to read at night and on the drive to and from Toronto (when Amy takes the wheel) has nothing to do with Asia, or China. It’s The Writer’s Chapbook, a collection of pieces drawn from Paris Review interviews, with an introduction by the editor, George Plimpton. I opened it to a wonderful passage from an interview with Jorge Luis Borges that gives me a new vision for the encyclopedias I create at Berkshire – a vision that is completely 21-st century, you’ll be relieved to hear. Certainly my children will be pleased to hear that I’m not proposing that we go back to index cards in the quest for quality and authenticity. Here’s what Borges has to say (do note his mention of Mormons – I liked this because we’ve just published The Little Book of Mormon, created from Berkshire encyclopedia articles):

I remember a time when I used to come here to read. I was a very young man, and I was far too timid to ask for a book. Then I was rather, I won’t say poor, but I wasn’t too wealthy in those days—so I used to come every night here and pick out a volume of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the old edition.

INTERVIEWER

The eleventh?

BORGES

The eleventh or twelfth because those editions are far above the new ones. They were meant to be read. Now they are merely reference books. While in the eleventh or twelfth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, you had long articles by Macaulay, by Coleridge; no, not by Coleridge by . . .

INTERVIEWER

By De Quincey?

BORGES

Yes, by De Quincey, and so on. So that I used to take any volume from the shelves—there was no need to ask for them: They were reference books—and then I opened the book till I found an article that interested me, for example, about the Mormons or about any particular writer. I sat down and read it because those articles were really monographs, really books or short books. The same goes for the German encyclopedias—Brockhaus or Meyers. When we got the new copy, I thought that was what they call the The Baby Brockhaus, but it wasn’t. It was explained to me that because people live in small flats there is no longer room for books in thirty volumes. Encyclopedias have suffered greatly; they have been packed in.

From the Paris Review.

An article in the New York Times today, “After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses,” has got everyone excited because they think this is news. But Britannica has been giving up print for as long as I’ve been in the reference business, over 15 years. There was a time in the ’90s when the buzz was that there would not be another print EB, but on and on it went, with new owners and new strategies. I have heard more stories about EB than I’ll ever have time to recount – one of Berkshire’s nearest and dearest colleagues was for years on its board – but will certainly try to get some of them into print (or at least into prose). The story of EB in China is one I want to investigate, too.

I’m getting ready for the Asian Studies conference in Toronto and there’s a neighborhood gathering at the Castle Street Cafe, so I’ll just paste here an essay I wrote for Library Journal a couple years ago, explaining the value of encyclopedias. Please keep in mind that EB is an encyclopedia of a type – massively “everything about everything.” There are other kinds of encyclopedia, which have different uses.

Publisher Backtalk: Let’s Circulate Knowledge

By Karen Christensen — Library Journal, 11/15/2009

I’m an encyclopedia publisher who hasn’t always loved encyclopedias. But in an era when information is everywhere yet understanding and wisdom are hard to find, I’ve come to realize how valuable they can be.

“People still buy encyclopedias?” is a question I am often asked at dinner parties. “Doesn’t Wikipedia make all that obsolete?” The people who ask me that buy serious books by serious writers and read Foreign Affairs. They have children in private schools that have strict rules about information sources. They work in companies or at think tanks that buy expensive specialist information and subscribe to pricey online databases. But they use nothing they recognize as an encyclopedia in the course of their lives.

I’m not like some of our editors who adore the endless detail work involved in bringing a top-notch reference publication to press. It’s the big ideas that energize me and the chance to chart new academic fields. I love the opportunity to get to know exceptional scholars. The relationships are warm—they appreciate a publisher who throws herself into their world—and they express amazement at the way I manage to get so many people to write on time and to get huge publications out quickly.

No room for compromise

Nevertheless, the skepticism I have begun to encounter from people I consider smart has made me wonder if published encyclopedias haven’t just seen better days. Perhaps they are becoming obsolete. In some cases, quality has dropped, as some publishers, faced with budget pressures, have taken too many shortcuts.

Then I started working on the Encyclopedia of China and found out just what encyclopedias can do when one is facing a subject that is a whole world in itself. An encyclopedia ought to provide a terrain you can get to know, filled with familiar landmarks and faces. It should give you a sense of confidence from the first steps you take, as you see that you have a guide you can trust.

In fact, I’ve come to see the encyclopedia as the Greeks did: “a complete course of instruction in all parts of knowledge” (Britannica, 1911 ed.), providing crisp short-form content that is perfect for our fast-paced world and for students who want information at a touch. The ideas of the classical world, it seems, find new life in this uniquely challenging time in human history.

It’s perfect synchronicity that my newfound passion comes out of working on the Encyclopedia of China, since the Chinese created both the oldest and largest encyclopedias in the world. The Yongle Dadian (Great Compendium of the Yongle Reign), for example, was an 11,095-volume work, with 22,877 chapters and a 60-chapter-long table of contents. It was put together by a staff of compilers, editors, and scribes during a five-year period and was finally completed in 1408.

Coming full circle

“Knowledge is power,” said Francis Bacon, and an encyclopedia can offer the combined knowledge and wisdom of hundreds of people who have devoted their careers to research and teaching. A publisher needs to manage people and ideas creatively, given all the financial pressures we face today, in order to develop the works that 21st-century libraries need to serve their increasingly varied clientele.

Over the past year, I have found myself thinking of an encyclopedia as a circle of knowledge that rises from the interconnected networks with which we work. The other day I noticed that the covers of all our new publications include a circular shape, an image of opening. On the Encyclopedia of China there is an opening fan. On the Encyclopedia of Sustainability there are unfurling fern fronds. For the new edition of the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History, we superimposed a nautilus shell spiral over the first edition’s “cave art” cover (which includes skateboarders and people in business suits).

This was not conscious planning, but it has confirmed that my role as an encyclopedia publisher is to build circles of knowledge that are ever-opening but also bound in ways that make them both useful and beautiful. This does not just apply to Berkshire; it is a shared endeavor, for publishers and librarians, authors and teachers. It depends on new forms of networking as well as on the best traditions of scholarly and information management. It can exist harmoniously with Google and Wikipedia, which are exciting, untamed bazaars full of wonderful things as well as dross.

Our job in this new century is to create something like the traditional Chinese teahouse of antiquity, a haven of calm within a wild world. A haven where readers and researchers can find sustenance, inspiration, and community, too.

This email is too good not to share with international friends. It comes from our friend Erik Hoffner at Orion magazine, which has offices on Main Street in Great Barrington, only an eight-minute walk from the offices of Berkshire Publishing. A peeper, for those of you who have not lived in New England, is a tiny frog that makes a great deal of noise. They are the sound of springtime here – until the birds arrive, of course. So far, only geese, not flocks of chattering birds. The fact that they are not here yet suggests that there may be cold weather coming – or that they are fixed in their migratory patterns, climate change or not.

From: berkshires-bounces@lists.orionsociety.org [mailto:berkshires-bounces@lists.orionsociety.org] On Behalf Of Erik Hoffner
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2012 5:58 PM
To: berkshires
Subject: [Berkshire Grassroots] We have singing spring peepers! And poetry

We have spring peepers singing in Great Barrington! The first verified report was filed by Luke Pryjma last night, March 11^th, on the very same day that Cynthia Grippaldi predicted.

So that means that Cynthia has won the 2012 Spring Peeper Stampede! She was nearly flawless in her prediction, saying that the first peeps would be heard on March 11 at 6:30 pm (this is 20 days earlier than last year, for those keeping track of global weirding). Salamanders must therefore be sallying forth as well. Watch out on any upcoming warm, wet nights we get.

Both she and Luke will get free subscriptions to Orion for their observation/prediction. Plus bragging rights, of course.

If we can’t have winter, then on with spring,  Erik

And a PS: Tuesday night, a poetry reading by Orion’s Poetry Editor, Hannah Fries: Women’s Interfaith Institute,  Church on the Hill Chapel,  55 Main Street,  Lenox., Potluck 6-7 p.m.; program 7:15 – 8:30 p.m.  Part of the Berkshire Festival of Women Writers. Details here.

Today is International Women’s Day and we are celebrating at Berkshire Publishing by taking a long walk in the beautiful spring weather later this afternoon. The Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article with a little bit of history and an overview of how International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world.

“International Women’s Day has served for more than a century now as a day to honor the achievements of women globally. Observed on March 8, the kaleidoscope of IWD celebrations share a common thread of celebrating progress. IWD was first celebrated in 1911 in four European countries, which held rallies drawing thousands of supporters. Until the 1970s, the day was largely recognized in Europe, but the significance of the day began expanding after 1975, when the United Nations made March 8 the official date. “  You can read the entire article here.

We have for years celebrating the British holiday called Pancake Day, which was one of the big discoveries of my first spring in England. I’d gone to live there with my father and stepmother after he got a job with the then state-run computer company ICL. My intention was to explore Europe and study for the Oxbridge entrance exams. I was at a supermarket and saw a huge pile of lemons with a sign reading, “FOR PANCAKE DAY.” I came from California and this was completely baffling: lemons and pancakes?

We learned that Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday that is better known as Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” is celebrated in England with a supper consisting of eggy, buttery crepes sprinkled with caster (fine white) sugar made syrupy with squeezings of fresh lemon. This is a holiday that easily becomes a fixture on the calendar, and my kids, who were born in London, have always celebrated Pancake Day. And Berkshire Publishing has a significant British component. Not only are there Tom and Rachel Christensen, who are Londoners by birth, and who work from our Beijing and Great Barrington offices, but Molly McFall and I, who both lived in the UK from 1981 till the early 1990s. Molly still has her Texas accent but like me she has half-British children. Then there’s Trevor Young, our IT maven, who comes from Lincolnshire.

Here’s an office email exchange from this morning that highlights some other ways of celebrating the day. I wrote:

Happy Pancake Day! I didn’t realize till last night that this important holiday is already upon us, and I’ve already booked supper with Bill McNeill. But there will be a few pancakes at 5pm, anyhow. Pancakes, as Molly will know, are vegetarian but not vegan.

Molly, who is our Outreach Coordinator, responded:

Doesn’t this just tell you everything you need to know about the British-French: Mardi Gras (lots of booze, people getting nekkid, throwing beads; Brazilians: Carnival (even more people getting more nekkid, parades, samba); … British: pancakes.

Trevor jumped in:

Molly, I guess I must be British. Given the three choices of celebrating this day, pancakes wins hands down.

Note: Trevor is indeed British, born and brought up in Lincolnshire. In fact, he’s the only 100% Brit among us. He suggests squeezing fresh oranges over brown sugar as a variation. I keep meaning to try this but am so enamored of the lemon variety I always fill up before getting to the orange segments.

Finally, Bill Siever’s comment:

Subject: The British are indeed a strange folk

And then there’s the cheese rolling ….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzMYYk9OIwU

I’ve walked under that hill and it is STEEP.

-Bill

A small stone such as this sitting in the middle of a prairie stream becomes a microhabitat. With a dry surface above the water it may serve as a resting site for flying insects. When it is underwater, it disturbs the flow and may help add oxygen to the water downstream. At this time of year, its dark surface heats up melting the surrounding ice and increasing the water flow beneath the ice, which may be important for over-wintering insect larvae. It all seems very insignificant unless you are an active member of the stream’s community of living critters.

It always surprises people to find out just how popular some Western holidays are in China. I was stunned the first time I saw a Christmas tree and heard “White Christmas” playing. Anyone who stays in Chinese hotels during December will come home ready to break dishes if they hear “Frosty the Snowman” one more time. Valentine’s Day is another popular holiday in China, in spite of the fact that there is a traditional Chinese date for celebrating love (click here to read an article about this from Berkshire’s Guanxi: The China Letter, March 2008), and the Chinese awareness of February 14th is about to influence international relations.

While President Obama knows that February 14th is Valentine’s Day, we Americans do not see much significance in the date on which meetings take place. We are alert to certain anniversaries – of 9/11, for example, but otherwise we don’t worry too much about popular holidays or numbers when planning events. But dates are very important in China. I knew a young man launching an online business who consulted a relative skilled in numerology about the most propitious date for the beta release. The Olympics began at 8.08 pm on the 8th day of the 8th month of 2008. (Yes, the number eight (X, ba) is considered lucky, because “ba” sounds like “bao,” which means wealth.)

Imagine the surprise of an American expert being interviewed about the visit this week of Xi Jinping, current vice president and soon-to-be president of the People’s Republic of China, when asked by a Chinese reporter about the significance of President Obama’s arranging their meeting on Valentine’s day. “What does this mean about US intentions?” asked the reporter.

“You have got to be kidding,” said the American expert. But the reporter wasn’t kidding, and the question came again. And again, in another interview. “The president has a very busy schedule,” the American explained.

The Chinese, however, see significance in dates. In this case, there’s a special incentive: the hope that the US government is signaling a desire for a better relationship, for more love between the world’s two most powerful countries. While the choice of Valentine’s Day was an accident, let’s consider it a happy accident.

Here is Stephen Orlins, President of the National Committee on US-China Relations, interviewed by Bloomberg News today about the upcoming Valentine’s Day visit:

Anything that promotes goodwill between our countries and our leaders is a benefit to all of us and to the world at large. And I’m hoping that the White House will at least make sure that Xi Jinping is presented with a sampling of Sweethearts, Valentine’s Day cards, and lots and lots of chocolate. If the president and vice president somehow neglect to do this, I am happy to make up for it by adding (at Molly McFall’s emphatic suggestion) the following “deeply romantic video from someone who brings the entire world together, Justin Bieber” (I quote Molly because I had never heard Justin Bieber sing until today):