Shanghaiist: 50 most influential foreigners in China's recent history

x

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 02:14:11 +0800

Shanghaiist would also qualify, don't you thnk?

peijin

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 19:53:13 +0800

yes, it's hard to say what direct affect these people if any, had on Chinese life. On the other hand, you could argue that these giants have had so much influence that they *must* have had (in)direct influence of China. Take Freud, in what place has psychology *not* been affectd by his work? On other hand, this list is kind of meaningless in the end, since there is really no way to measur this kind of influence -- how do you compare Tagore to jordan? More people want to be like Mike than want to write poetry. Stalin was influential in a large sense, some of the diplomats and ambassadors were part of historical episodes or events that had far reaching ramifications but were not themselves too famous. In any case, some of these people had to be on there because China would have looked stupid if they had *not* been included on there.

TW

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:54:07 +0800

I suppose that should have been 'his doctrine of individualism wouldn't have gone down well here... until very recently'

TW

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 16:52:06 +0800

What actual influence have they had on the country? I mean, I can see that Rousseau might have contributed to the French Revolution, which might have a tenuous link with the Chinese one, but his doctrine of individualism and anti-authoritarianism wouldn't go down very well here. Neither would his habit of exposing himself to little girls, I suppose. And Freud...?

scott

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 14:01:16 +0800

oops, People's Daily. the snarkiness loses its effect when you make your own factual mistake!

scott

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 13:58:06 +0800

I really enjoy the fact that the hyperlink on Michael Jordan's last name in the China Daily list takes you to a country profile of Jordan!

nanheyangrouchuan

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 13:18:41 +0800

The commies all got comparatively low rankings. It would be more interesting to consider whose influence on China is considered positive or negative.