4 ms·

Tangential question: > It seems to me high time to rouse ourselves to consciousness, and to cast a critical eye upon this decidedly grotesque tendency. Other n

Tangential question: > It seems to me high time to rouse ourselves to consciousness, and to cast a critical eye upon this decidedly grotesque tendency. Other nations suffer terribly from the Mandarin disease. Does anyone know what this use of "Mandarin" is supposed to suggest? It sounds like a sort of Orientalist fear of exotic diseases, but seems like it could refer to something more specific. Just curious.

ihm 10y ago
See here: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mandarin http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mandarin The relevant definitions are 1. (in the Chinese Empire) a member of any of the nine ranks of public officials, each distinguished by a particular kind of button worn on the cap. 6. an influential or powerful government official or bureaucrat. It connotes a kind of bureaucratic meritocracy.
knome 10y ago
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin&allowed_in_frame=0 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin&allowed_in... Judging by the etymology presented here, meaning officials, "mandarin chinese" being then "chinese as spoken by officials", I would take it as simply a rewording of his condemnation of the tendency for admiration of title in place of admiration of the title holder, which he otherwise goes on about. A disease of officiality. I don't know if an overtone suggesting a cultural judgement over some perceived chinese tendency for admiration of title is intended or not.
- eudox 10y ago
  Mandarin as in Mandarinate, not as in the language.
zamfi 10y ago
I believe it's meant to disparage a bureaucratic, technocratic academy, in the sense of "you must jump through these hoops and pass these examinations to join the leadership / professoriate, regardless of your actual abilities." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(bureaucrat) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(bureaucrat)
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
danielvf 10y ago
The Chinese Imperial Examinations system determined who could hold which rank of government office based on grueling study and testing on Chinese literature. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination The comparison the article is making is that the selection process is entirely orthagonal to the job, and the hoops that needed to be jumped through precluded any actual study of the things that mattered. This was regarded at the time of the article as a really bad idea both within and outside China, and ended two years later after 1,700 years of use.
- tomrod 10y ago
  That is the current state of academia, IMHO.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

ihm 10y ago

See here: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mandarin http://www.dictionary.com/browse/mandarin The relevant definitions are 1. (in the Chinese Empire) a member of any of the nine ranks of public officials, each distinguished by a particular kind of button worn on the cap. 6. an influential or powerful government official or bureaucrat. It connotes a kind of bureaucratic meritocracy.

knome 10y ago

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin&allowed_in_frame=0 http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mandarin&allowed_in... Judging by the etymology presented here, meaning officials, "mandarin chinese" being then "chinese as spoken by officials", I would take it as simply a rewording of his condemnation of the tendency for admiration of title in place of admiration of the title holder, which he otherwise goes on about. A disease of officiality. I don't know if an overtone suggesting a cultural judgement over some perceived chinese tendency for admiration of title is intended or not.

eudox 10y ago
Mandarin as in Mandarinate, not as in the language.

zamfi 10y ago

I believe it's meant to disparage a bureaucratic, technocratic academy, in the sense of "you must jump through these hoops and pass these examinations to join the leadership / professoriate, regardless of your actual abilities." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(bureaucrat) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_(bureaucrat)

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

danielvf 10y ago

The Chinese Imperial Examinations system determined who could hold which rank of government office based on grueling study and testing on Chinese literature. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_examination The comparison the article is making is that the selection process is entirely orthagonal to the job, and the hoops that needed to be jumped through precluded any actual study of the things that mattered. This was regarded at the time of the article as a really bad idea both within and outside China, and ended two years later after 1,700 years of use.

tomrod 10y ago
That is the current state of academia, IMHO.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]