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Historian Susan Mann of UC Davis has been awarded this year’s Fairbank Prize for her book The Talented Women of the Zhang Family. (Read a review here.) It’s a brilliant book and the award couldn’t be more deserved. Her previous book Precious Records received the Levenson Prize in 1997. The prize is awarded by the American Historical Association for the best book on the post-1800 East Asian history. Congratulations to Professor Mann and a nudge to readers to check out the book. Puyi (The Xuantong Emperor) Most people know that yesterday marked 200 years since the births of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin…but it was also the 96th anniversary of the end of Manchu rule. The text below is a section from one of two edicts which officially ended imperial rule. The first turned over the reins of government to Yuan Shikai and the new Republic of China. The second requested that the Republican Army for not disturbing the Imperial ancestral tombs and temples, and to protect the title and person of the young emperor and his family. “We have respectfully received the following Imperial Edict from Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Dowager Longyu: As a consequenceof the uprising of the Rebublican Army, to which the different provinces immediately resonded, the Empire seethed like a boiling caudrong and the people were plunged into utter misery. Yuan Shikai wsa, therefore, especially commanded some time ago to dispatch commissioners to confer with representatives of the Republican Army on the general situation and to discuss matters pertaining to the convening of a National Assembly for the deciding a suitable mode of settlement. Separated as the South and the North are by great distances, the Couple of quick notes from across the sea…today is National Foundation Day in Japan. Calculations derived from the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki date the beginning of the Japanese imperial line and the founding of the Japanese nation to February 13, 661 B.C.E., with the Emperor Jimmu getting the credit for both occasions. While the early chapters of these two texts are generally considered mythological…what the heck, I’m in no position to argue. It’s like dating 5000 years of Chinese history back to the Yellow Emperor, if people believe it, that’s great, more power to ‘em. The lunar calendar dates in the Kojiki were ‘confirmed’ by the Emperor Kammu in the 8th Century C.E. and after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when the Japanese government switched calendars, scholars fussed about and decided on the gregorian calendar date of February 11. During the Meiji era, the day was proclaimed “Empire Day” in 1872, as a celebration of national unity and homage to the imperial line. Notably, the Japanese government also chose this date in 1889 to promulgate the Meiji Constitution. The annual celebration of empire (with not so subtle overtones of imperialism at key moments in history) was scuttled after World So our landlord invited us to a community celebration on Sunday. She’s a very sweet women, always good to us, who also happens to be head of the local neighborhood committee. It was a festive little get together to make tangyuanr, have a go at the riddles strung along the courtyard, and to meet the neighbors. I invited a few friends, YJ invited her boss, and our landlord invited the press. It was actually a pretty good time, though the cameras were a little disconcerting. I learned how to “bao tangyuanr ” (easier than jiaozi), wrote some calligraphy (being left-handed and having poor penmanship in my native script doesn’t help that endeavor), and even managed to suss out a few of the riddles (though not the one mentioned in the article).* And sure enough, Xinhua has a brief story with accompanying photos up today. Update: YJ informs me that the article, plus a picture of me doing my best “Geico Caveman” impersonation is in today’s People’s Daily. Yikes. ————- * In the article, the riddle is: Q: 十五天打一个字? A: 胖. The actual riddle was:Ｑ：有面无口，有脚无手，听你讲话， 陪你吃酒？Ａ：桌子． |
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Copyright © 2012 Jottings from the Granite Studio - All Rights Reserved
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Brief Comment: Τibetan regions “stable,” but just in case…
Irrepressible Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, whose grip on reality would give Syd Barrett circa 1967 a run for his money,* called the situation in the Τibetαn regions of China “stable” on the same day that the government declared giant swathes of western China off-limits to foreign travelers.
I must be in a classic rock mood today.
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*I’m kidding. We love Jiang Yu here at the Granite Studio. She seems pretty sharp, so much so that I sometimes wonder if she ever gets handed the more bizarre talking points and simply asks: “Really? Really? You’re kidding? You’re NOT kidding? Really?” then pulls a flask out from beneath her desk and starts drinking heavily.