(If you are inside China, your may want the same version hosted on Tudou).
This is 张燕 (Zhang Yan) performing “夜来香,” a modern Chinese classic. I can’t quite put my finger on why I think this video is really good – perhaps the confidence projected by 张燕. In English, “夜来香” means “evening primrose,” a flower that opens in the evening. The Chinese characters literally mean “fragrance of the night.” By the backdrop, many of you will recognize this is early 1900′s music – of the same variety in Shanghai nightclubs that time. The microphone is a big give-away. “夜来香” was actually first performed in the 1940′s by Yoshiko Yamaguchi. (Click here for the original.) Read more…
Human can accomplish incredible feats. Here is one of a pilot for JAL landing a Boeing 747 in 1998 in extreme crosswind conditions at the Hong Kong Kai Tak airport (source: AIRBOYD). The airport has been closed (obvious reason being the crosswind conditions). The technology to detect the crosswinds, the training that goes into making this kind of maneuvers with such a big plane, and of course, the plane itself are all feats.
I think this is a responsible move on Japan’s part. It is a step forward in reconciliation. Some people argue unless the Japanese take full responsibility for their past atrocities, warming of relations with Japan should not be allowed. That is backwards. I have always said in the past, the warming of relations gives confidence and actually allows both parties to face a difficult past. This is more in tuned with human nature. Of course, this does not mean the past ought to be forgotten.
For the Chinese people, they in fact have shown incredible forbearance. The ultimate lesson of this recent history for us all is to not let it repeat. That should be a goal our generation work towards. If we do not, we are in fact likely sewing the seeds for our future generations to repeat the past. The Chinese government is expanding relations with Japan despite this unresolved history. That is responsible, wise, and admirable. Read more…
My high school political science teacher said once, that the political spectrum is not linear, but rather circular. If one go far enough toward one extreme, one circle back from the other extreme.
So it is with the polarity of Western Individualism and Eastern Collectivism. Where the West has often maintained a tradition of individualistic accomplishments and thoughts, the weight and size of Western society has forced the evolution of Western Individualism toward Western Collectivism, and the ultimate convergence of both the East and the West toward a singular form of collectivism.
Henry David Thoreau's Cabin Site next to Walden Pond
What’s common between Mohatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr? Henry David Thoreau. That’s because Gandhi’s successful non-violent struggle for Indian independence from the British and King’s successful non-violent civil rights struggle to free African Americans were deeply influenced by Thoreau, especially his essay, “Civil Disobedience.”
(How does this relate to China? Don’t worry. I’ll get to it soon enough.)
“Civil Disobedience,” published in 1849, “argues that people should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that people have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War.” (Wikipedia.org) Read more…
In the midst of the concrete and steel jungle that is the Shanghai World Expo, stands the Indian Pavilion, the ‘greenest’ of them all, built entirely of environment-friendly materials, showcasing India’s unique brand of Culture, History and Soft Power and offering an unprecedented opportunity to further improve Sino-Indian relations and India’s Soft Power in China.
The Expo has finally come to China. A largely forgotten event in most parts of the world, it has been rejuvenated, on a scale in which no other country could even dream of. A record number of 192 countries and 50 organizations have registered, the highest in the Expo’s history. Most people hadn’t even heard of the expo before it came to China.
The verdict is clear – The Expo needed China as much as China needed the Expo.
While the South Korean government announced on May 20 that it has overwhelming evidence that one of its warships was sunk by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine, there is, in fact, no direct link between North Korea and the sunken ship. And it seems very unlikely that North Korea had anything to do with it.
That’s not my conclusion. It’s the conclusion of Won See-hoon, director of South Korea’s National Intelligence. Won told a South Korean parliamentary committee in early April, less than two weeks after the South Korean warship, the Cheonan, sank in waters off Baengnyeong Island, that there was no evidence linking North Korea to the Cheonan’s sinking. (1)
South Korea’s Defense Minister Kim Tae-young backed him up, pointing out that the Cheonan’s crew had not detected a torpedo (2), while Lee Ki-sik, head of the marine operations office at the South Korean joint chiefs of staff agreed that “No North Korean warships have been detected…(in) the waters where the accident took place.” (3)
Recently I visited Japan on business, and on my way to the airport, I heard some comments that gave me some real pause for thought. There were three of us sharing the airport shuttle; a Canadian woman of European decent who works for Siemens in R&D, an African American man who is a sales executive, and myself. Upon learning the woman was from Canada, the African American man tells her that he traveled to Canada frequently, and he was in Toronto a lot to fix a “mess.” In a nutshell, he had to force a sales manager who was originally from Hong Kong into early retirement, because the company was struggling in their sales numbers. He faulted the fact that the sales force based in Japan were reporting into the Toronto based sales manager. The Canadian woman blurted out, “they (the Chinese) hate the Japanese.”
If there is a music that can make one’s soul weep, 二泉映月 (Moon Reflected on Second Spring) is it. It was composed and played by 华彦钧 (Huà Yànjūn), more commonly known as 阿炳 (“Blind” Abing), who lived during one of the most tumultuous periods of modern Chinese history. Only with the most miserable human condition could someone make this music. Famous Japanese conductor, Seiji Ozawa was quoted in Chinese, “此曲只应跪听” which means this piece should be heard while kneeling down. Read more…
The West has a framework / paradigm / perspective of its own. For a long time, the West treats its framework / paradigm / perspective as the standard and as the point of reference. Now the Chinese are telling the West, that theirs is equally valid and it is time that their voice be heard as well. (Jane)
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