China’s Fighting Singing Crickets

September 4, 2010

The first time I read about China’s singing crickets was in “Empress Orchid” by Anchee Min.  Retired concubines spent time carving gourds where these crickets lived to entertain empresses, emperors and princes.

I learned about China’s fighting critics from a comment on this Blog and there was a link included.  

While writing this post, I Googled the subject. In Gardening4us.com, Catherine Dougherty tells us, “cricket culture in China dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618 – 906 AD).” 

She says, “It was during this time the crickets first became respected for their powerful ability to ‘sing’ and a cult formed to capture and cage them. And in the Sung Dynasty (960 – 1276 AD)… cricket fighting became popular.”

In TrueUp.net, Kim says, “The Chinese consider the cricket to be a metaphor for summer and courage…”

We learn from Pacific Pest Inc. that, “Crickets are popular pets and are considered good luck in some countries; in China, crickets are sometimes kept in cages, and various species of crickets are a part of people’s diets … and are considered delicacies of high cuisine in places like Mexico and China.”

From Home Made in China, we learn in a comment from Gogovivi, who is based in Qingdao, North China that, “Summer used to mean picking berries in the yard and making jam, canning green beans, going to the farmer’s market, BBQs, lawn mowing, hiking, swimming. Now my whole family looks forward to the arrival of singing crickets.”

See A Stylish Assault Against Pornography

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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2 Comments | China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, cultural differences, history | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Chinese Brush Painting – Gongbi Style (flower and bird painting)

September 3, 2010

Chinese brush painting developed over a period of more than six thousand years.

Figure Painting developed beyond religious themes during the Song Dynasty (960-1127 AD), and landscape painting was established by the 4th century.

Another style is flower-and-bird painting, which became independent of other Chinese brush art around the 9th century then gradually developed into two different styles. Source: Asia Art.net

One famous 20th century Chinese brush-painting artist was Chen Zhifo (1895 – 1963)

Chen was born into an educated family.  At 23, he went to Japan to learn patterns that later influenced his painting style.

Chen would become a renowned painter in the early 20th century.

His artistic career started in design, patterns and other arts. When he started Gongbi style flower-and-bird painting, he was nearly 40, and he revived the declining tradition of Gongbi style Chinese brush painting.

When he started painting, he usually sketched his subjects then went through many drafts modifying them before applying colors.

Chen focused on the design of branches, leaves and birds to portray his subjects.

See Caressing Nature with Chinese Calligraphy

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

The Distribution of Wealth

September 3, 2010

Howard Steven Friedman writes in the Huffington Post about the incredible economic growth in China and the high degree of income inequality between the haves and have nots—a growing problem in America too (but Friedman doesn’t mention that).

Friedman concludes by saying, “For China to continue its growth rate, it will need to address inequality systematically and aggressively.” He mentioned large numbers of men with limited social mobility and few job or family prospects and warns that this inequality could lead to political instability and discontent.

Friedman also doesn’t mention that in the 1930s, there was a huge gap between lifestyles in urban America and the rural U.S. since only 10% of farm families had central station electricity in the mid 1930s. 

It took America forty-five years to establish a power grid in one state, Pennsylvania.  China has accomplished this feat for all of its cities in less time. Source: America Electrified — China’s Road Map

In fact, Friedman points out [without knowing it] the solution that will soften the threat of political instability when he writes, “the Chinese government is trying to modernize the countryside in an effort to quell discontent.”

China may have learned how to deal with this potential threat from the U.S. by providing the same liquid and virtual drugs.

In America, watching TV is the leisure activity that occupied the most time (almost 3 hours a day). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Like many Americans at the low end of the economic ladder, guzzling beer and staring at TV sooths discontent. There is no reason that won’t work in China too.

America ranks 14th globally in beer consumption and the Chinese 36th—an area that needs improvement to numb the have-nots. Source: List of countries by beer consumption per capita

However, for those who do not calm down, there is always prison and America has the largest prison population on the planet—another role model for China to study.

See China’s Stick People

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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The Human Rights of Individualism

September 3, 2010

The Guardian.co.uk reported that China moves to reduce number of crimes punishable by death.  Considering that in 1980, China had no legal system much has been accomplished and more is yet to come.

I agree that some of the crimes that warrant the death penalty in China are unfair for the crime committed, but China is not a Western country and the history of China prior to Communism shows that convicted criminals were often executed for a long list of nonviolent crimes.

Call me an Old Testament man. I believe if someone is convicted with overwhelming evidence of a brutal crime, he or she should face punishment equal to or worse than the crime they committed.

A trial for first-degree murder should end in a swift execution.

Face it, there are convicted criminals who cannot be allowed out of prison. Instead of locking them up for decades at a high cost to honest hardworking taxpayers, the criminals should be executed.

The Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says, “Recognition of inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world.”  Source: Human Rights Here and Now

I disagree with the term “all members” of the human family. Some criminals forfeit that right due to the nature of his or her crimes.

In forty-six American states and the District of Columbia, convicted criminal offenders are denied the right to vote while serving a sentence in prison. Thirty-nine states also disenfranchise felons on parole and twenty-nine disenfranchise those on probation.

In fourteen states, even ex-offenders who have served their sentences remain barred for life from voting. Source: The Sentencing Project

However, there is pressure on the United States to go easier on ex-offenders and allow them to have the right to vote again.

In fact, almost every country is changing due to pressure from human rights groups.  I don’t oppose what the human rights groups are doing yet slavery didn’t end during the American Civil War. Why isn’t more being done to end slavery?

Today, more than 27 million men, women and children endure brutal working conditions for no money and under the constant threat of beatings, torture and rape. Source: iAbolish.org

All a slaver has to do is make sure he or she lives in a country that, at worst, will lock him or her up for life and provide free shelter, free food and free medical—something that China doesn’t do for these types of crimes.

Do you believe pampering hard-core criminals is going to change them? Maybe theWest should consider what “human rights” looks like in a collective culture as opposed to individualism.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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5 Comments | America, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese history, crime, cultural differences | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Shanghai’s History & Culture

September 2, 2010

For centuries, Shanghai was a fishing village. It didn’t grow into a town until the 13th century during the Southern Song Dynasty (1260 – 1274), when it became an important port and commercial center.

During the Ming Dynasty (1364 – 1644), Shanghai slowly became a national textile and handicraft center.

After the Opium War in 1840, Shanghai was “forced” by the British and French to serve as a major trading port and became an international colony with foreign concessions.

The British built their concession in 1842—the same year an American neighborhood called the  International Settlement was opened.  The  French arrived in 1847.  Source: Facts and Details

The Russians and Germans arrived later and a Japanese enclave was established in 1895.

The video provides a quick overview of Shanghai’s history and culture.

Today, Shanghai’s population is about 21 million making it one of the largest  metropolitan areas in the world.

Shanghai has developed into a leading international center of business, culture and design with an abundant and diverse offering for dining, shopping and nightlife.

Geographically, the Huangpu River divides the city into two areas—Pushi and Pudong. Pushi is the older part of Shanghai.

Twenty years ago, Pudong was rural and green and had little to offer in housing and shopping.  Much has changed since the sleepy fishing village of the 12th century.

See:
Shanghai

Shanghai Huxinting Teahouse

Shanghai Huangpu River Tour

Eating Gourmet in Shanghai

Chinese Pavilion, Shanghai World Expo

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

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Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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