Ke-tchup, Ge-tchup, and Kue-chiap

I’ll be honest. I was not looking forward to doing this week’s assigned reading. So, I was relieved when I found out I got to read about ketchup instead. I happen to love ketchup. I was studying in the library with a friend when I read the article. I accidentally misread “Fujianese,” and briefly thought out loud, “People from Fiji speak Fujianese?” My friend looked up in surprise and asked to see what I was reading. She smiled, and gently pointed out my error. I’ll blame that error on not enough sleep this past week because of writing end of term papers. My friend told me that a mutual friend of ours is part Fujianese, which I thought was kind of cool.

Anyway, I was mildly grossed out to find out that ketchup was mainly made from fermented walnuts or fermented mushrooms from 1750 to 1850. I knew that the Chinese were already credited with inventing many things such as gun powder, but I was definitely surprised to find out that the origins of ketchup could be traced back to the Chinese too.

Here’s how to use a paper ketchup cup properly:

Make Love




I thought of this news article when reading about the Sikhs in Chapter 20.

I first learned of Waris Ahluwalia when I saw him in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. He is not only an actor, but a talented designer too. His company, House of Waris, has collaborated with many fashion heavyweights including A.P.C., Colette, and Illesteva Eyewear.

Cantor Museum visit 11/16/13

On Saturday the 16th of November, I visited the Cantor Museum in Palo Alto.

To my surprise there was a large collection of Asian area artifacts! If you've been paying attention in class, the collection is VERY relevant to what we've been studying this semester.

I urge if you get the chance, make a visit! Admission is free and parking is free on weekends it's a great experience.

 I thought these snuff bottles were really interesting, I recall my grandmother having a small collection of these.

The Chairman





Reading about Mao Tse-tung this week made me realize that I wanted research more about him for the paper we have to write for this class.

Here are some fun facts about Mao:

a. He was married four times and had ten children.


b. He was especially afraid of airplanes.


c. He and Trotsky are the only two notable Marxists who wrote autobiographies.


d. His Chinese Zodiac Sign is the Snake.


e. Like many of his countrymen, he refused to brush his teeth, choosing instead to rinse with tea and chew the leaves.

Somehow, I don’t think any of these facts will make it into my essay.

Typhoon Watch
Typhoon Haiyan has just been upgraded to a Super Typhoon: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/super-typhoon-haiyan_n_4232240.html

I keep hearing different news agencies trying to predict the extent of the damage Super Typhoon Haiyan will cause. Unfortunately, I think it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. This makes me think of the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. To get a better idea of what might happen because of Super Typhoon Haiyan, I looked up some facts about Hurricane Katrina:

a. Hurricane Katrina was the largest and third strongest hurricane ever recorded to make landfall in the U.S.
b. In New Orleans, the levees were designed for Category 3, but Katrina peaked at a Category 5 hurricane, with winds up to 175 miles per hour.
c. The storm surge from Katrina was 20-feet (six meters) high.
d. Hurricane Katrina affected over 15 million people in different factors such as economy, evacuations, gas prices or drinking water.
e. An estimated 80 percent of New Orleans was under water, up to 20 feet deep in places.

Pink

After the Vietnam War, large numbers of refugees from countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos moved to the Tenderloin. Some of these refugees and their families were the authors of a book I read for my Streetwise Sociology class called, Stories of Survival: Three Generations of Southeast Asians Share Their Lives. Originally published in 2002, Stories of Survival is a compilation of oral histories by Southeast Asian residents living in two Eddy Street apartment buildings owned by the Indochinese Housing Development Corporation (IDHC). The stories span three generations: immigrant parents, their American-born children and the "1.5 generation," young people who were born in an Asian country, but grew up in the United States. The 10th Anniversary Edition includes an update on the original participants as well as a bonus story. I liked reading about the mass immigration of Chinese to parts of Southeast Asia in Chapter 15 because it helped me realize why many of the contributors to Stories of Survival were ethnically Chinese, but were also nationals of other Southeast Asian countries.

Bunny Wave 

One of my friends really loves ukiyo-e art and the Japanese woodblock printmaker, Hokusai. She’s also a fan of the kozyndan version of Hokusai’s “The Great Wave” so I thought I’d include a picture of both for comparison. I liked that this week’s reading including more information about Hokusai. I did not know that was not his real name and that his real name is unknown. In my Modern Times class, we learned about French Impressionism. So, I found it interesting that after his death, his work influenced French impressionists. I like that Meiji Japan and the West effected each other simultaneously.

I also thought it was interesting that the woodblock papers were used in order to PACKAGE exports! It reminds me of when I use Bay Area newspaper to pack and ship car parts I sell.

The Manchurians from...

Manchu.

The Manchurians formed the Qing dynasty. One of the most recognizable and probably the last dynasty before "modern 19th century China." 

The Manchurians thrived, almost doubling the population of the Chinese. However, this same civic pride that the Manchurians had for their accomplishments would soon drive them into a plateau that they could not come out of. The Manchurians had found a way to double food production, following the increase in food production, naturally the population increased due to the abundance of resources.

The Manchurians were a proud people and did not allow intermarriage with the Han Chinese, in order to maintain their bloodline. This pride grew with their success with their success as the Qing and their pride grew in tandem. They believed they were the best civilization in the world and that no one could top them. Not visiting embassies from the west, nor any other culture that came into contact with them to trade or offer their wares.

This pride hurt them. As the population grew their food production slowed. It plateaued as the population growth swelled. When they finally met at their top of production the population stagnated and eventually their food cultivation only allowed for meager portions of food. This created a poor economy, banditry and like all other dynasties this lead to rebellions. 

Hongwu

Reading the short section in our textbook about Hongwu was a great read for me. I never think of myself as a rooting for the underdog kinda guy, but Hongwu sounded like a great leader for China when they were in dire need.

The book just jumped him from rebel leader to king so I read up a little more on him on Wikipedia.

Reading about his meager beginnings really helps to understand how he became such a great leader. It also outlines to me how important it is to have a leader that came from nothing. Because the leaders that aren't born into royalty know how hard it is to earn to succeed instead of having the world handed to them on a silver platter.

Hongwu was orphaned raised in a monastery until it burned down. Then he was a beggar, then joined a rebel band. This is where he rose through the ranks to become the leader of the rebel group and then the emperor.

It said that through the joining of other groups while trying to overthrow the Yuan dynasty, Zhu eventually joined a subfaction called the Ming (Ming dynasty). By establishing himself as the leader of the Ming group and building up resources and a larger force he eventually was able to over throw the Yuan. Becoming the first emperor of the "Ming Dynasty"

Japan and Korea

I always knew that Japan and Korea were related in ways more than China to Japan. I however did NOT know that the Japanese and Koreans descended from the same group.

My friends always told me that the Japanese and the Koreans harbored some negative feelings for each other. I would say more similar to the British and the colonists shortly after the American's established their independence.

The most interesting part of the chapter I took away was how amazing how unsupported the Japanese islands were when it comes to cultivating and sustaining early life. The Japanese islands are highly mountainous, have acidic, thin, infertile soil, and swift current streams do not sound like a place anyone would want to try to create a new place to live. But somehow the Japanese did it.

The introduction even tells of more interesting facts like, despite having one of the smallest regions to grow rice in, the Japanese have the highest rice yields in the world. More interesting than that is their success is thanks to their ability to adapt and their perseverance.

I've always been into Japanese culture and history and learning this about early Japan makes them remarkable to say the least.

(I meant to post about this when I made my first blog entry but it slipped my mind. After reading about the southeast Asian countries this week it rejogged my memory.)

 Military & Defense More: Vietnam Father And Son Who Fled Vietnam War Bombs Emerge From Jungle After 40 Years

A 42 year old man and his 2 year old ran into the forest when their village was bombed during the Vietnam war. They hadn't been seen and thought dead until they were found and brought back to society. Naturally the 2 year old, now  the same age as his father when they fled is accustomed to forest life and is under close watch, because he wants to return to what he has known as home for the past 40 years.



It's really interesting to me that people can still live almost like indigenous people after a traumatic event like the beginning of a war. The length of time they spent living in the forest to me is amazing and I wonder what we can learn from the man and his son.

A month later, unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any follow up articles about the man and his son.

For this week, in preparation of class I actually made a study guide that corresponded with the questions asked on NDNU Asian Studies 2013

The study guide was an effective tool for me because I didn't know much about south east Asia, except for it's hot, and Thailand is there.

I learned that Myanmar and Burma are the same place. Thailand restaurants are called Little Siam sometimes because Siam was it's name until 1932.

Kinda funny because one of my favorite Thai Restaurants in San Jose is called "Siam"

I thought it was interesting that the people of almost ALL of southeast Asia came from China as well. It's interesting to see what a change in regions can change the way a race of people to suit their locale.

The volcanoes on Java made the island fertile. I never thought of a volcano as a land cultivation technique, a natural one at that!

I always thought Thailand shared a lot of their design, dance, and other cultural aspects from India, but the book confirmed that for me.

I found the importance of trade to Southeast Asia really fascinating as well. Because of trade the Islamic traders were almost like missionaries spreading their religion into south east Asia.

The only thing that didn't transfer was the practice of “purdah” or women not being allowed to be seen by men outside of the family and to cover themselves completely while out of the house was not practiced in Southeast Asia. Mainly because the function of a woman in south east Asia is far more dominant than in other Asian countries.

Indian Civilization 1

One of the things that I definitely thought was interesting about chapter 6 was the influence on India. Not only Islam but of the other Asian groups had a direct influence on India as they mingled.

Like their traditional beliefs like Hinduism and Buddhism which originated in India and spread to other countries, Islam came to India, but not spread in a peaceful way. It was brought over by a conqueror group, the Persians. The Persians however did not go to India to spread Islamic beliefs but rather to rob them of their resources. This mostly happened in Northern India.

I did not know that the Persians had enslaved the Indians or that they killed them if they did not convert to Islam. Eventually they just made them pay taxes on not converting instead of killing them. Essentially the Persians indebted them into becoming slaves for not changing their religion.

The presence of slavery was very apparent in the 13th through history it would appear and Asia was no different. Lots of slaves from the Indians enslaved by the Persians, to the Turkish youth enslaved by their own people. Some slaves did undesirable hard labor like American slaves while others were forced into war (the Mamluks).

Ancient India

Reading this section on Ancient India was quite an interesting read. I'm a huge fan of Indian culture, especially the food. So reading about the ancient cultures was an eye opener.

The ancient culture of the Indus in some ways were more advanced than the current Indian culture residing there now. They had a planned layout for their cities and they had mostly even sized homes. Meaning unlike today, they didn't have large difference in class or variation in equality based on status like they do now, with the caste system.

Most interesting to me, was the private per home waste system. Each home had a water fed waste disposal system. Something that is not in place in India today! Western civilizations didn't have this technology until the 19th century. They were over 2000 years ahead of their time. 

Reading about religions I have heard of, but am not quite familiar with is always interesting. I was surprised to learn that most/all religions originated in Asia.

My favorite part was reading about Hinduism and Buddhism and how their culture and ideals have meaning in today's modern culture. Dharma, the duties one has while on earth, has most meaning for those familiar with yoga classes, which excludes most modern Americans. However anyone familiar with today's media is familiar with the basic understanding of Karma. If you do good duties for your "dharma" you accumulate good karma, alternatively if you do bad dharma you accumulate bad karma. I never knew the appropriate term for dharma, I would call karma, brownie points you accrue while living on earth.