China, Japan, Indiana

Eastern and Midwestern Cultures Mingle

Even though Indiana is far from the Middle Kingdom, there are plenty of opporunities for Hoosiers to learn more about doing business with China. Law firms and business schools regularly sponsor lectures and symposia about how your business can benefit from breaking into China. For instance: On January 24-25 Indiana State University's Networks Financial Institute will host an excellent event. The first day in particular focuses on business relations between Indiana and China. Lots of top-notch and experienced experts from outside the state as well as some of Indiana's most influential policymakers and experts.

The FNI conference incorporates a new twist on previous conferences by asking how Indiana can attract Chinese investors to the state. Most conferences explain how US businesses can benefit by investing in China to take advantage of the infinite pool of cheap labor, or how US businesses can get rich by selling stuff to increasingly prosperous Chinese consumers. This is one of the first conferences around here to discuss in depth how to tap into the enormous surplus of dollars that Chinese companies have been accumulating during the country's unprecedented economic boom. So Indiana is joining the other Midwest states, and all the countries of Africa and Latin America, in enticing Chinese and their money.

Hoosiers may feel a sense of déjà vu all over again … it sounds like the 1980s search for Japanese investment to the state led by then Governor Bob Orr. These days, when communities and states desperately claw one another in a frantic effort to snare Japanese auto parts manufacturing plants, we forget how controversial Japanese investment was twenty years ago. The jobs were non-union, and workers feared they’d have to sing the zaibatsu hymn every morning before robotic work. It went smoothly in part because Japan was (and is) a democracy, our closest ally and after decades of military occupation of the US had a thorough understanding of American culture.

It will be different with China. The cultural, social, and political distance is much greater, the controversies will be greater. So attend a conference like NFI’s in large part to start acculturating yourself to some of the challenges ahead.

But be aware of the limits. If we are fortunate, in the years to come we will see a lot more Chinese and Japanese people around Indiana, not just Chinese and Japanese dollars. Learning more about these cultures will be essential, and not just in the aspects of business culture and protocol that are often discussed at conferences (e.g., the differences between how Japanese and Chinese exchange business cards, or the strategic targeting of large quantities of alcohol in the two cultures). We need to pay more attention to all aspects of Japanese and Chinese cultures.

Central Indiana has some surprisingly rich Asian cultural resources at its disposal. Consider the excellent collections of Chinese and Japanese art at IMA. More remarkable is the gallery of Master Au Ho-nien in the basement of the student center at University of Indianapolis. Master Au may be the greatest living traditional Chinese artist, no one should miss touring his marvelous paintings.

We could think instrumentally about these unique chinese and Japanese cultural assets: after exchanging business cards and before imbibing in large quantities of alcohol, take your potential investor to IMA or the Master Au gallery. A Chinese businessperson will have few chances to see the work of a Master as masterful as Au. It will be a token of cultural respect and a subtle demonstration that Indiana will be a welcoming environment offering enclaves of high culture.

But here is a better way to treat these collections of art: they make us better people. All of us. We don't preserve them in museums as curiosities or only to impress outsiders with our global sophistication. They are opportunities for cultural cross-fertilization, not just sheltered bubbles within which our visitors can find a piece of a world they left behind. They are what allows us to select and integrate the best of all cultures. Art is important, but it is only part of the aspects of cultures form which we should seek to learn. We need better ways to think about trust, family, faith, the future. We should restlessly and relentlessly try to make ourselves better.

In this spirit of creative synthesis, everyone should leap at a unique event on Valentine's Day at the University of Indianapolis: a collaboration of Master Au, singers from Indianapolis Opera and Shanghai, musicians from the faculty of UIndy, all exploring various aspects of Chinese and Western views of love. It is a remarkable experience, watching Master Au paint: grace and economy combine with wit and humor to remind one of the fact that he is a representative of a 3000-year-old civilization.

In fact, this idea of synthesis and creativity is sure to be discussed by Jane Hirshfield on March 27. In addition to being one of this country's most renowned poets, her translations of Japanese poetry have won many awards ... despite not knowing Japanese (she works with Japanese speakers, of course). I have been repeatedly stopped dead in my proverbial tracks, reading her book of essays about poetry, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry. It has forced me to rethink about my ideal of selecting the best of all cultures, and her talk should be excellent.

We have other chances to immerse ourselves in Chinese and Japanese culture. As so often is the case, IMA is the place to be. They will have a special presentation of Chinese and Nigerian wedding practices February 1. IMA also is showing two classics of Japanese cinema with “Gion Bayashi” January 18 and "Kaidan" April 28. That will be in the middle of the Indianapolis International Film Festival, which is sure to offer gems from Japan and China.

If you want more information about China's investment around the world, including Indiana, check out the Financial Times special report "China Goes Global." You can get more information about Midwest states' courting of Chinese investment from the MidWest US-China Association. Ploughshares has published a fascinating profile of Jane Hirshfield. For more information about Master Au Ho-nien, look at the museum catalogue. (This link is just to the text, you need to buy the full book for the images ... it's worth it!) Needless to say, the images in this posting are Master Au's.