Today I am taking up the Weekly Photo Challenge of the Daily Post. The word ‘Illumination’ reminds me of the Chinese Lantern, which plays an important role in the culture I grew up in. It symbolizes the brilliant culture of China that was brought along by the early Chinese migrants to Penang.
In ancient China, floating sky lanterns were strategically used as ‘blimps’ in wars as early as the 3rd century BC. Then lanterns made of oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame with small candles were used to light up entrance-ways and as portable lighting when walking around at night.
Uniquely designed lanterns are further embellished with exquisite calligraphy. These objects of artistic expression not only illuminate the darkest corners of a room, but also stand out as decorative ornaments, such as the ones we encountered at the Khoo Kongsi in Penang.
The Chinese Year of the Dragon was in 2012 and the next time the dragon will come around is 2024.
In the West, the dragon has wings, spouts flames, eats women and young children and is often killed by knights in shining armor. Even in Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the dragon is a monster that terrorizes, kills and hoards gold.
Not in China where dragons are seldom depicted as evil. To most Chinese, the dragon may be fearsome and powerful but the creature is often considered just, benevolent and the bringer of wealth and good fortune. Dragons also appear in ancient Chinese literature.
Nine Dragons in Beijing
Instead of flying, Chinese dragons are seen as water creatures that live in lakes, rivers and oceans. One quarter of the sky is called the Palace of the Green Dragon and the dragon constellation is said to predict rain. The dragon is also the fifth sign of the Chinese zodiac.
When Buddhism arrived in China, dragon symbolism was added to that religion, and in Beijing, there is the famous Nine Dragon Screen.
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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An expatriate living in China sent me a copy of The Australian’sGoodwill Offers a Rich Yield by Greg Rudd. The commentary was published in that newspaper back in May 2009.
However, what Greg Rudd says is just as important today as it was then regardless of the few negative voices that left comments.
I find it interesting that the negative comments from such as “lao de lao ren” and “RN of Canberra” may be from ignorant individuals that do not realize that the US Founding Fathers despised “democracies” and built a “republic” where only white male property owners (excluding Jews) could vote—about 10% of the 3.9 million people counted in the first U.S. Census of 1790, and 90% were farmers. That number included almost 700,000 slaves in the land of the free. That means about 320,000 may have been eligible to vote.
“RN of Canberra” even compared China to Hitler’s Nazi Germany, which isn’t even close. There is no comparison. Today’s China is a much safer place to live than Nazi Germany was and there are no signs that China plans to go out and wage war against the rest of the world or set up gas chambers and start killing people as the Nazis did.
Both “lao de lao ren” and “RN of Canberra” express that China should become a democracy. Well, the CCP has about 80 million members and they do vote in addition to the 600 million rural Chinese that vote in elections for village political posts such as mayor. That’s more than 10% of the population.
In fact, the first time the US was officially called a democracy was by President Woodrow Wilson more than a century after the US was founded. Why, after the Civil War, veterans were known as the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)—not the Grand Army of a Democracy.
Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both said democracy was no better than mob rule, which explains why the Founding Fathers created the Electoral College to select presidents and why George W Bush lost the popular vote to Al Gore but became president anyway.
Greg Rudd offers some advice about China in his commentary.
He says, “My mother taught me when you walk into someone’s house you shouldn’t be rude. You may not like what you see sometimes, and advice and suggestions can be given in the right spirit and in the right atmosphere, but always remember it is not your house.
“When we are in China’s house we should show respect and when they are in our house they should show respect.”
Greg Rudd is managing director of GPR Asia, based in Beijing. GPR advises on investment and joint ventures.
GPR Asia works with Asian companies who wish to invest/joint venture/merge or acquire companies in Australia and/or with Australian companies that wish to invest/joint venture/ merge or acquire companies within the Asian region.
Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of The Concubine Saga. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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Over the past few months several corrupt officials have been exposed in the online media. A few have been caught by party mechanisms, and by other means. Now with the official Party crackdown on corruption advanced by Xi Jinping, it is time to offer some advice to cadre who either are dishonest, or intend to be dishonest.
In the interest of promoting harmony between the governed and the government, here are a few things corrupt government officials might consider.
1. Be careful of your watches, cigarettes, and clothing. This is the number one rule because it seems that being photographed or videoed wearing expensive accessories is the way many investigations begin. Remember, this is the age when everyone has a camera phone. Once your picture wearing a 150,000 RMB watch is taken, it is just a matter of seconds before it’s spread all over the internet.
Well, as China-crazy as I am I do realize that many people think very badly – especially in environmental terms – of China. Which is partly true (remember, I‘m in the 3rd to 5th most polluted city of China) but as so often there‘s more to it than just meets the eye.
So let me tell you a bit about an aspect of China where Germany isn‘t nearly as good: bike sharing. I know Germany has it as well but only in very few places while it represents here a larger trend. Admittedly it‘s also way more dangerous (should do a post about Chinese driving in the future) but I think a really nice way of getting people to not use cars. The way it works here is that you can purchase an IC card (with which you can also ride the bus) where you put money on and it…
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