Ahhhh summer “vacation”. I am buried in my studio finishing up the next book. Though close to the end, there are still many miles to travel before I can put this thing to bed. July will be a welcome month of travel as I rinse my mind and eyes a bit after having been in the same coffee…work… mode for so long. In early July I am planning on heading up to Maine with Deb Taylor to visit Ashley Bryan and The Ashley Bryan Center. It should be a nice road trip and I am hoping to bring my mom along for the ride. She and I haven’t had an adventure together in a long while and though we live separate lives hundreds of miles away from one another, I try to give her a glimpse at the magic in the life she helped me create whenever I can.
After that, I am planning to head to Seoul for a couple of weeks. I will be working on sketches and ideas for a new project by then and am thrilled to do so in the studio of my dear friend Taeeun. While in Seoul, I am also looking forward to meeting with Tantani Media, the publisher of my first Korean language book, The Dancing Shoeshine Boy, which has now been published in Chinese and Xhosa (pronounced Kosa) language. In August I will be planning for the new semester and organizing ideas and business plans for Jump-In Studio, Inc. I am officially recognized by the government as a business entity now, so I should probably do something with it along with book making and teaching. I have some ideas brewing. My family wants me to come home for a bit, but after spending so much on travel in July, that trip may have to wait.
On Saturday I had a small book signing at The Children’s Book Store here in Baltimore. The turnout was pretty small, but it was great to spend time with my family and my best friend. Other families that did show up spent time learning the wax resist technique I used to make many of the pictures in Please, Louise. Today, I received the nicest e-mail from one of the attendees that made my day.
It was so great to meet you on Saturday at the Children’s Bookstore. I really enjoyed hearing about how you produced your beautiful drawings in Please, Louise. And drawings aside, your lovely manner and enthusiasm are infectious. You outshine them!
I wanted to tell you that I took your book today to my local library, Little Falls Library. I am friends with the manager there. I showed him your book, which is not yet in the Montgomery County system. He really liked it and is going to try to acquire it for the County. In addition to being a beautiful book, it has a great message and he liked that you are a local Maryland illustrator. As a patron of the library, I also will put in a request for the County to obtain your book, but I am confident that Mr. Lewis will be able to make the necessary arrangements for Montgomery County to purchase your book and distribute it to their libraries.
When I went to purchase your book at the bookstore on Saturday, the bookstore owner said your sister had purchased it and had said to give it to the next buyer. It was very kind of her. As a sister myself and a mother of girls, I know how strong that bond between sisters is and how we want the very best for one another. Would you kindly tell your sister that I said thank you. I have tried to share the gift she gave me. Who knows where it will lead, but I am hoping that many children will enjoy your book as a result.
Thank you also for the poster, which is delightful.
The woman that she mistook for my sister was actually my best friend of twenty-three years. I had no idea that she did this, but it was one of those moments that made me realize how important that relationship is to me. I try to hold on, or “collect” as my friends sometimes accuse me of doing, people who I really like and see something reflected back at me or an opportunity for growth on both sides. As I get older though, I’ve learned that sometimes one should just appreciate brief meetings along the journey and leave it at that.
"ta-da!" (as the waitress at the coffee shop I go to always says when she brings the food)
Usually I do things with a white background.
I guess I felt I had something to prove.
This is 8 x 8 inches (20 x 20 cm), Prismacolors and Polychromos on Stonehenge paper.
Phew. What made me decide to do this, I can't remember.
This is about 4,000 layers of Polychromos and Prismacolors.
Its a Chinese floral design. The original reference is darker and more "contrast-y", but I muted it some so it would 'stay back'.
This is what it looked like before I added the dark. Its pretty, but spotty. It needed the dark to tie it all together, to make a unified background that won't fight with the main subject matter.
Now its onto the stars of the show.
It all began in November of 2010 when the military regime decided to release opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi who, since 1989, had been on house arrest under charges of attempting to divide the military. A few months later in the March of 2011, former Prime Minister and military hero Thein Sein was sworn in as President of the rapidly changing government. Among the numerous bold moves President Sein has made since assuming his new role in the fragile nation, arguably the most shocking has been the discontinuation of the controversial $3.6 billion Myitsone dam, a project funded by eager Chinese investors to generate electricity for millions of Chinese. What’s more, the West, most notably the United States, has seen this move by President Sein as a clear sign that his countries relations with the Chinese are turning sour. This is one of the reasons the Americans recently sent Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, the first American official to visit the country in fifty years, to speak with President Sein about a host of issues ranging from the severing of ties with North Korea to prolonged relief on economic sanctions girding the people of Burma. As America embarks on a new season of brinkmanship with the Burmese government, it is eminently important to understand the reasons why we are now so eager to embrace the new government while also studying the global implications of Burma turning a shoulder to their neighbors from the East, the Chinese.
Below is an excerpt from author David Steinberg’s book, Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know. Here, Steinberg details the economic and strategic interests China desires in Burma. – Nick, OUP USA
Although we can only speculate on Chinese motivation for the close relationship with the Myanmar authorities, strategic and economic issues seem paramount. Chinese influence in Myanmar is potentially helpful in any rivalry that might again develop with India, although Sino-Indian relations now are quite cordial. As China expands its regional influence and develops a blue-water navy, Myanmar provides access to the Bay of Bengal and supplements other available port facilities for the Chinese in the Indian Ocean in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka – called a “string of [Chinese] pearls.” Although the southern reaches of Myanmar are at the extreme western end of the Straits of Malacca, the free use of these straits are critical strategic concerns to China, Japan, Korea, and the United States. Some Chinese sources consider continued access to the straits to be a critical policy objective, and a close relationship with Myanmar is a potential advantage. Eighty percent of imported Chinese oil passes through these straits. To the extent that pipelines for oil and gas cross Myanmar and relieve Chinese dependence on the vulnerable Straits of Malacca, this is clearly in China’s strategic interests.
Access to energy sources is both a strategic and economic concern. Diversification of the supply of oil, natural gas, and hydroelectric power is an issue in which Myanmar looms large. The exploitation of offshore natural gas fields in Myanmar is important, as is the ability to transport that gas, as well as Middle Eastern crude oil, to China avoiding the Straits of Malacca, which is a strategic plus for China. China is helping construct some thirty dams, most of which will supply electricity to Yunnan Province as well as power and irrigation water to parts of Myanmar.
Under the SLORC/SPDC,
Chinese Werewolves? Really?
A bit about myself before I start rambling away: I am from Singapore (born and grown-up), a medieval history major and a gardening fanatic. Likewise, I have two girls and I herd cats. I write SFF under my normal name and urban fantasy under a pseudonym. So, yes, I am a SFF writer from Singapore.
Why Chinese werewolves? Uhm, why not?
There are many urban fantasy series out there in the publishing world. Fantastic series, by the way – I love Charles de Lint’s complex worlds as well as grimmer ones like Jim Butcher’s and Simon Green’s. Yet, I found myself wanting more: a world I could resonate with and understand.
Cue 2009. I was pregnant with my second girl and brimming with ideas. I was already toying (and building a world!) with the concept of Chinese werewolves, set in Singapore. The main character would be a woman. She would be a mother with children. Her pack was central in her life. The wolves (Lang – Mandarin Chinese for ‘wolf’) followed the Chinese calendar, as much as their human counterparts. Twist: she was an ex-teenage vigilante. I have always wondered how Buffy would turn out, when she became an adult. What happens to heroines when they are past their ‘hero’ days?
So, come Nanowrimo 2009 – I was writing that novel.
I tried a few publishers before Wolf At The Door finally found a home at Lyrical Press. Then I started writing Obsidian Moon, Obsidian Eye – and suddenly, I have a series!
Southeast Asia is a perfect region for urban fantasy (and epic fantasy, by the way). Singapore is an island-state who prides herself as a cosmopolitan city with many races and cultures converging there for commerce and for personal reasons. Each race has its own unique mythology and legends – great source material for an urban fantasy different from the usual North American or British ones.
Take a walk on the wild side, Singapore-style. Mingle with the Myriad. Who knows, you might be walking beside a Lang.
Joyce Chng can be found at A Wolf’s Tale: http://awolfstale.wordpress.com where she blogs about things SFF, writing, YA and urban fantasy.
Her alter ego – J. Damask – has her author page at: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=authors&authors_id=165&zenid=andqadld2v33eskrbb45mgc9s3
Her SFF and YA stories are easily downloadable from Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jolantru
She tweets at @jolantru
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No, it's not a delicious frozen treat for when you settle in with a good book.
I'm talking about Giovanni Gelati. Maybe you've heard of him? Trestle Press front man, anchor of the Author's Lab collaboration series, social media and internet marketing whiz. I wrote "A Prince in Trenton, Seriously?" with the guy. Yeah, that's him.
He has also started a series on his own about...............Bocce?
It actually sounds fun and could easily be played in the backyard, the community park, the beach, or most anywhere.
Gelati (the man, not the ice cream) has taken Bocce to the next level. He has created larger than life characters and thrust them into outrageous situations. In "I Have Chrome Balls, Don't You?", he introduces us to two members his team: Giovanni "The G-Man" Gelati and Dan "Big Balls" Cannoli (he gets his name due to the maximum size of his regulation Bocce equipment). The two friends are pitted in a duel against each other to determine the greatest Bocce player in the world.
In "Holy Chrome Bocce Balls on Fire", things go global. Giovanni and Dan are whisked away to an international tournament in Djibouti of all places. There, they face off against the Chinese and Russian teams. Things quickly escalate into an outlandish competition, and of course, flaming Bocce balls.
I love that the outcome of these stories is a foregone conclusion. The G-Man is always the unquestionable winner. Like all good stories, you know the "good guy" is going to win, but you relish seeing how it goes down. The humor is sharp and the puns are thick.
I look forward to the next adventure, which will be part of Trestle's Harbinger of Horror Halloween Month: "Holy Chrome Bocce Ball Beach Bloodbath - A Zombedy"
Oh yes, if you buy either of these (or any of my Trestle Press stories), Trestle is currently offering a Buy One Get One deal. Be sure to email me your proof of purchase (
[email protected]) and I will get you a FREE story!
This Day in World History - Few people in history can justly claim the impact of Kongfuzi (often called Confucius), whose teachings have influenced hundreds of millions of people across Asia. Like so many important figures in the world of ideas, the historical Kongfuzi is an elusive figure. While precise date of the sage’s birth is unknown, the Chinese have long celebrated September 28, and to this day, members of the Kong family still live in the family compound in Qufu, China.
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee (Dee Goong An) (Detective Stories) trans. Robert Van Gulik
Judge Dee is a classic character in Chinese lit. Based on a real magistrate, the cases he solved and the legend surround him grew over the years. Think Sherlock Holmes, Perry Mason, and Law and Order all rolled into one guy.
In this book, Robert Van Gulik takes some Judge Dee stories that he thinks are the most accessible to Western audiences (so, no calling household objects as witnesses, which does happen in Chinese mysteries) and translates them. There's extensive introductory notes and footnotes, too. Van Gulik did this translation during WWII, when the war prevented him from doing his more academic research. I like that he found a way to
Van Gulik really wanted Judge Dee to find a Western audience. The original Chinese tales didn't take off as well as he hoped, so he wrote a bunch of new ones with Judge Dee as the main character. This, however, is an original Chinese one.
There are three murder mysteries in this book. I like how when he's working on one, another one pops up, so even though the mysteries aren't related, he's solving all of them at once.
In addition to the glimpses of Tang Dynasty life, and the traditional Chinese court system (detectives are judges, torturing a confession out is totally legit, etc) they're just intriguing mysteries with ingenious solutions.
Highly recommended to fans of Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and other older, classic mysteries.
I own most of the Judge Dee mysteries and can't wait to work my way through them.
Book Provided by... my bookshelf. Somewhere along the line I acquired used copies of most of Van Gulik's Judge Dee books.
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By Rana Mitter
This week, the foreign ministers of Japan and China shook hands in public in Beijing, pledging better relations in the years to come. It was a reminder to westerners that we still don’t know nearly enough about the relationship between the world’s second and third biggest economies (Japan and China having recently switched places, so that Beijing now holds the no. 2 spot, riding hard on the heels of the US). Relations between China and Japan have been rocky over the past few decades, with an incident over the arrest of the captain of a Chinese fishing vessel by the Japanese authorities causing ructions just last autumn. And of course for many Chinese, the relationship is shaped by memories of the horrific war with Japan between 1937 and 1945 in which some 15 million Chinese died. But China and Japan are also profoundly linked economically and culturally. Japanese companies invest in China; Chinese goods flow into Japan. And the two countries share aspects of culture, particularly writing systems and religious practice, that come from centuries of shared interaction. In the twentieth century, Japan was the dominant member of the duo. But as the century to come seems to be China’s , what does that mean for its closest neighbour, sometime enemy, and now wary partner?
The key player in this diplomatic minuet is the US, still, of course, the world’s biggest economy and a cultural powerhouse. It may be in relative decline, but it looms large in every region of the world, including the Pacific. And of course, the continuing security arrangements between the US and Japan are one of the factors that exercise minds in Beijing. The Chinese see the Pacific as the site of a new regional hegemony: not territorial, but in terms of influence, both military and economic. Having the United States, with its powerful naval presence, in the Pacific, is a constant reminder that there is a check on their ambitions in the region and that not everyone in that region welcomes every aspect of China’s “peaceful rise.” And Japan is still a key US ally. After World War II, Japan was disarmed precisely so that it could never again invade and occupy Asia. But as a result, Japan’s defence was taken care of by the United States, leaving Japan free to grow its economy (remember, until the 1990s, “Asian economic miracle” meant Japan, not China). Ironically, the China of today might have preferred it if China had been left to develop its own forces without US assistance in the postwar era, since it would be easier for Beijing to face down an independent military in Tokyo than to do so a force backed by Washington. The rivalry is not just about arms: both China and Japan compete for influence in the region and beyond with foreign aid and investment. So the mistrust remains – but also the realization that the relationship will inevitably change as China becomes richer and Japan becomes older (Japan is one of the faster-ageing societies in the world – although so will China be from the 2020s on, because the children of the one-child policy are getting older).
Rana Mitter is Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China at the University of Oxford and the author of Modern China: A Very Short Introduction and A Bitter Revolution: China’s Struggle with the Modern World. The Sino-Japanese relationship is just one area that will be explored at a forum
As this is women’s history month, I want to draw attention to the contributions of Pearl Buck, an American author much read during her lifetime but largely forgotten in recent decades. I found reading one of her biographies, Pearl Buck in China: Journey to the Good Earth, by Hilary Spurling, very worthwhile.
An Unbelievably Interesting Life. Born in 1892 in America as Pearl Sydenstricker, she spent most of her childhood in China because her parents were Christian missionaries there. As a little girl, she played with Chinese peasant children and was more fluent in Chinese than in English. She loved to attend Chinese funerals because there was always a party afterward where she could eat treats and listen to the other guests talk and have fun. She spent much time with her Chinese nurse, hearing traditional Chinese stories as well as village gossip. She liked to overhear conversations among poor Chinese women complaining about their hard lives and how they were mistreated by men.
Pearl learned at an early age about foot-binding and female infanticide. She worried that she would never be married because her feet were not bound. Frequently, the young Pearl found human bones on the ground, the residue of dead female infants left outside for the dogs. She would gather their bones, sticking some in existing graves and digging small graves for the others. The Chinese neighbors thought that she was crazy for doing that.
1 Comments on Pearl Buck in China, last added: 3/22/2011
By: Lauren,
on 2/3/2011
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This year, the Chinese New Year begins today, February 3rd, and people all around the world will be ringing in the year of the Rabbit. Oxford Chinese Dictionary editor Julie Kleeman shares some insight into the traditions associated with the Chinese New Year celebrations.
The Spring Festival
Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (春节 chunjie) is a fifteen-day celebration beginning on the second new moon after the winter solstice and ending on the full moon fifteen days later.
Sounds complicated? That’s because when marking traditional holidays the Chinese still use a lunisolar calendar, a system that incorporates elements of the lunar calendar with those of the solar calendar.
The Oxford Chinese Dictionary boasts a centre section that contains, among a host of useful lists including those containing Chinese measure words, kinship terms, ethnic groups, SMS abbreviations and a chronology of Chinese historical and cultural events, a page dedicated to Chinese festivals and holidays, featuring brief descriptions of each event and its corresponding date in the lunar calendar.
The list kicks off with 正月初 – the first of the first lunar month, i.e. the New Year, or 春节 chunjie. If the information provided here whets your appetite for more, you can always look up the term itself, and just below the entry for 春节 chunjie you’ll find a handy culture panel on this, the most important of Chinese festivals.
Food
According to the boxed note, 春节 chunjie is a time for families to reunite for a celebratory meal. The main New Year celebrations take place on New Year’s Eve or 除夕 chuxi. This is the biggest of all New Year’s spreads and the dinner is likely to include a veritable feast of delicacies. Chief among them is fish, because 鱼 or yu (the Chinese word for ‘fish’) sounds a lot like 余 or yu (the Chinese word for ‘abundance’).
In northern China no New Year’s Eve is complete without 饺子 (jiaozi), the dumplings, boiled in water, for which northern cuisine is famous. The Oxford Chinese Dictionary contains a culture box dedicated to the popular snack, explaining how it is made and why it is such a staple of the New Year’s feast.
Greetings
One of the most popular greetings at this time of year is 恭喜发财 gongxi facai or ‘may you be prosperous!’ Look up 恭喜 gongxi in the dictionary and you will find 恭喜发财 gongxi facai listed as an example. You will also find a cross-reference to a usage box on popular Chinese greetings or 问候 wenhou that contains other ways of wishing a happy New Year to your Chinese friends.
Spring Festival couplets
Having the dictionary to hand during the Chinese Spring Festival might also help you to decipher 春联 chunlian or ‘Spring Festival couplets’, the black Chinese characters on bright red paper that are pasted up and hung on doorways and storefronts in the run-up to the Chinese New Year.
There are a huge variety of Spring Festival couplets to suit the scenario. Stores generally use couplets that make references to their line of trade, summoning in good fortune in businesses, or a good reputation. At family homes, couplets usually contain messages that invite good luck and happiness for the coming year.
Each couplet is made up of two lines of verse called the “head” and “tail”, which correspond with one other phonologically and syntactically word-for-word and phrase-for-phrase. The “head” is posted on the right side of the front door and the “tail
A Chinese hand drawn animated film Xiong Mao Zong Dong Yuan (“Panda Story”) is scheduled to be released in January 2011, supposedly in 3D, according to the website CRI-English.com. They are reporting that the film is a co-production by the China Film Group and a German company ORB Filmproduktion GmbH, has been six years in [...]
A film that answers the eternal question: “Will you still love me the same as before if I was a fatty?”
This Chinese student-made short, a blend of chalk-drawing animation, 2D and stop-motion is beautifully made, and a heck of a lot of fun. The interactions of the 2D characters with the “real world” props is very good. He Weifeng is a soon-to-be graduate of Guangzhou’s Academy of Art.
(Thanks, Russ Handelman)
Happy Belly, Happy Smile by Rachel Isadora
Every Friday night, Louie has dinner at his Grandpa Sam’s restaurant in Chinatown. He watches the fish in the tank, visits with the chefs in the kitchen, and listens to the waiters calling to each other. Then it is time to eat. Louie and his grandfather use chopsticks to eat their rice, dumplings, egg rolls, and chow mein. The dinner finishes with a fortune cookie.
Children of all races and ages will see some of their favorite things about eating out at a Chinese restaurant. They will also be thrilled to glimpse the hidden, steamy world of the kitchen. Isadora tells a simple story in only a few words on each page. The book is very visual with her illustrations in collage and oils. Her interesting use of lines and texture are most impressive when dinner is served. The paper becomes mouthwateringly edible.
Recommended for story times on food, this book will have everyone sharing their own favorite Chinese meal. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
Reviewed from library copy.
Also reviewed by TheHappyNappyBookseller.
The History of the West Wing
Sun Jiayu and Guo Guo
Yen Press
2009
Reviewer: Ana
The History of the West Wing is a graphic novel based on a traditional Chinese story of the same title. It closely retells a play by thirteenth century dramatist Wang Shifu, which was in its turn based on a ninth century story by Yuan Zhen.
It’s the story of a romance between a young wanderer and the daughter of a government official. Their love is initially forbidden because the young woman, Pianpian, is engaged to another man. But it’s easy to tell from the very beginning that the two will end up together after all. So yes, the plot is simple and more than a little predictable, but there’s a reason why The History of the West Wing is still a charming and very satisfying book: Guo Guo’s stunning art.
The setting and cultural details were what interested me the most about this book, and the artwork conveys them perfectly: the interior of buildings, the scenery, the character’s wardrobes, and even their mannerisms, the way they move, and what this implies in terms of social structure and power dynamics – this regardless of the fact that we never actually see them move. But Guo Guo’s art brings eight century China to life so beautifully that we almost believe we do.
Because the story is not only set in the eight century, but also originally from around that period, I was expecting to do some major eye-rolling when it came to gender roles. However, things weren’t quite as bad as I feared: Pianpian doesn’t do much, but she’s not helpless either. Furthermore, and much to my satisfaction, the romance was actually believable.
There was a beautiful scene early in the story that made it more than the tale of a man who sees a beautiful woman and decides that he has to have her: we see Pianpian and Yuqing, the hero, sitting and talking together while taking shelter from a rainstorm The scene is completely wordless, but it conveys so much: the art shows them talking and laughing; we get the sense that quite a few hours have passed in this manner, and we see changes in the way they look at each other. Guo Guo’s beautiful drawings convey this better than I could possibly explain.
This one little scene makes the story rise above yet another tale of star-crossed lovers who have never exchanged two words – a kind of tale of which I’ve never been a fan.
Still, I wouldn’t advise going into The History of the West Wing expecting something highly emotional or very complex, one of the reasons being the fact that this is such a short book. But if you’d like a glimpse into another time and place as well as some eye candy, then by all means read this.
_____________________________________________________
Ana is a twenty-something reader, recent graduate and future librarian from Portugal. Read more of Ana's reviews at things mean a lot.
By: Megan,
on 8/11/2009
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Megan Branch, Intern
The only foods that I can think of as being as “American as apple pie” are recipes that have 
been lifted from other countries: pizza, sushi and, of course, Chinese food. College in New York has meant that I eat a lot of Chinese food. In his new book, Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States, Andrew Coe chronicles Chinese food’s journey across the ocean and into the hearts of Americans everywhere. Below, I’ve excerpted a passage from Chop Suey in which Coe details the earliest written account of an American’s experience eating Chinese food for the first time almost 200 years ago.
Nevertheless, the first account we have of Americans eating Chinese food does not appear until 1819, thirty-five years after Shaw’s visit. It was written by Bryant Parrott Tilden, a young trader from Salem who acted as supercargo on a number of Asia voyages. In Guangzhou, he was befriended by Paunkeiqua, a leading merchant who cultivated good relations with many American firms. Just before Tilden’s ship was set to sail home, Paunkeiqua invited the American merchants to spend the day at this mansion on Honam island. Tilden’s account of that visit, which was capped by a magnificent feast, is not unlike the descriptions Shaw or even William Hickey wrote a half century earlier. First, he tours Paunkeiqua’s traditional Chinese garden and encounters some of the merchant’s children yelling “Fankwae! Fankwae!” (“Foreign devil! Foreign devil!”). Then Paunkeiqua shows him his library, including “some curious looking old Chinese maps of the world as these ‘celestials’ suppose it to be, with their Empire occupying three quarters of it, surrounded by ‘nameless islands & seas bounded only by the edges of the maps.” Finally, his host tells him: “Now my flinde, Tillen, you must go long my for catche chow chow tiffin.” In other words, dinner was served in a spacious dining hall, where the guests were seated at small tables.
“Soon after,” Tilden writes, “a train of servants came in bringing a most splendid service of fancy colored, painted and gilt large tureens & bowls, containing soups, among them the celebrated bird nest soup, as also a variety of stewed messes, and plenty of boiled rice, & same style of smaller bowls, but alas! No plates and knives and forks.” (By “messes,” Tilden probably meant prepared dishes, not unsavory jumbles.)
The Americans attempted to eat with chopsticks, with very poor results: “Monkies [sic] with knitting needles would not have looked more ludicrous than some of us did.” Finally, their host put an end to their discomfort by ordering western-style plates, knives, forks, and spoons. Then the main portion of the meal began:
Twenty separate courses were placed on the table during three hours in as many different services of elegant china ware, the messes consisting of soups, gelatinous food, a variety of stewed hashes, made up of all sorts of chopped meats, small birds cock’s-combs, a favorite dish, some fish & all sorts of vegetables, rice, and pickles, of which the Chinese are very fond. Ginger and pepper are used plentifully in most of their cookery. Not a joint of meat or a whole fowl or bird were placed on the table. Between the changing of the courses, we freely conversed and partook of Madeira & other European wines—and costly teas.”
After fruits, pastries, and more wine, the dinner finally came to an end. Tilden and his friends left glowing with happiness (and alcohol) at the honor Paunkeiqua had shown them with his lavish meal. Nowhere, however, does Tilden tell us whether the Americans actually enjoyed these “messes” and “hashes.”
Welcome to Poetry Friday! It's my first time hosting, but I think after some initial scufflawing in the sandbox, Mr. Linky and I are now friends...
So... first some poetry and then the round-up!
There's this story that says during the Ming Dynasty, the scholar-official Zhao Mengfu wanted to take a concubine and wrote a poem to gauge his wife's reaction:
I'm a scholar-official
and you are the official wife.
Haven't you ever heard that scholar-official Wang had Peach Leaf and Peach Root,
Scholar-official Su had Morning Clouds and Evening Clouds?
Even if I marry a few beauties from Wu and Yue--it wouldn't be too much
since you're already over forty.
You'll still control Spring in the Jade Hall.
Zhao's wife, Guan Daosheng, wrote this poem in response:
You and I
have too much passion.
Where the passion is, is hot like fire
I knead a piece of clay into a you
and a me
then smash them
and mix them with water.
Again I knew it into a you
then a me.
There is you in my clay,
and me in your clay.
I'll share your quilt while we live
and your coffin after death.
He didn't take a concubine.
Both poems are from The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry: From Ancient to Contemporary, The Full 3000-Year Tradition ed. Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping
Leave your Poetry Friday links below!
First things first-- did you hear these guys on Morning Edition yesterday? Yes, I am that dorky that I get music recs from NPR. SHUT UP. I want that CD. Well, it's cheaper if I buy it in MP3 form... anyway...
ALSO! Reasons it is hard to be at work today:
1. It is sunny and nice out. Not too hot. We may even turn off the AC and open the windows tonight!
2. Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince is on my doorstep. RIGHT NOW. Too bad my doorstep is a federal district and 1 state away.
And now, a story.
Setting: A dorm room in Nanjing, December 2000
Lauren, an American college student has just gotten a package of Christmas presents from her parents. Several American and Chinese students have just finished decorating the mini-Christmas tree that was included. Lauren is now opening her presents. She opens up a Chinese take out box full of colored fortune cookies from a Van Gogh exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Xiao Mao: Oooo! These are really tasty! Wait! There's paper in here! What is this?
Jennie: Oh. It's a quotation from Van Gogh. Usually they're kinda brown and they have a fortune or a quotation from Confucius.
Xiao Mao: Why on earth are your desserts quoting Confucius?!
Jennie: Well, you get them for dessert at Chinese restaurants.
Xiao Mao: THESE AREN'T CHINESE!!!
Jennie: They were invented in Chinatown. That box [the goldfish takeaway box] is what you get Chinese or other Asian food in.
Xiao Mao: Really?! What does Italian food come in?
Jennie: Um... a styrofoam container like you get from Aiye's [what we called the restaurant next door]
What's really cool is, at the time, that conversation took place in Chinese, which I couldn't do now.
Anyway, that's all windup to my review of the most wonderful
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food Jennifer 8. Lee
Before you read this book, make sure you have the phone number of your local Chinese delivery place handy. TRUST ME.
In this book, Lee explores 3 major things: the history of fortune cookies (actually, they're
Japanese and internment had a big role in making them a Chinese restaurant favorite), the phenomenon that is Chinese-American food (as opposed to authentic Chinese food), and how Chinese-American food shapes the Chinese immigrant experience and vice versa.
Very readable and fascinating, Lee's journey starts with what happened when an unexpectedly large amount of people got 5 out of 6 numbers right on the Powerball lottery. Turns out they were playing fortune cookie numbers.
Lee traces Chinese restaurants around the world, sometimes following the cookies, sometimes the workers, sometimes the food. She has essays on the evolution of Chop Suey and General Tso's chicken (both very American dishes, while Kung Pao chicken is "authentic" Chinese.) She talks about the advent of delivery and the quest to find the greatest Chinese restaurant in the WORLD. She delves into crimes committed on Chinese deliverymen in New York, and how most Chinese restaurants in the states are staffed from an agency under the Manhattan Bridge. Plus, a great examination on why Jewish people love Chinese food and the story of the Great Kosher Duck Scandal in 1989.
Random things I learned:
There are 2 Chinese restaurants for every McDonald's in the US
Almost all fortunes are written by just 2 guys
Cheap Chinese restaurants in South America are called
chifa (chee-fah) which is derived from the Chinese words
chi fan (chir fan) which means "to eat food"
Almost all of those little soy sauce packets are made by 1 company and don't have soy in them.
The writing is engaging and accessible, but well-researched. I highly recommend it, but just plan on having Chinese for dinner.
Written for adults, but teens will like it too. As long as you feed them.
To experience some of the joy of this holiday, read When the Circus came to Town by Laurence Yep.
This article from HALFWAY DOWN THE DANUBE is interesting to ponder as it discusses the assimilation of Chinese in the Philippines. We have an increasingly diverse population, with more Koreans and Chinese calling the CNMI home than ever before. So it makes sense to look at how our neighbors have assimilated foreign-born residents. We're not the only ones with waves of migrants.
On a similar note: While in Hawaii a few years ago, I went to the public library, which had a whole series of pamphlets in the children's section, entitled things like "Japanese in Hawaii" and "Chinese in Hawaii" and "Portuguese in Hawaii." These each told the story of migration of people from a foreign country into Hawaii, where they came from, the circumstances at the times of migration, and their contributions to Hawaiian life.
I'd like to see our Humanities Council undertake a similar project for the CNMI.
To which we disapprove. Heartily. Wired disapproves as well, for that matter. I still like me my cartoons now and then, but give me the New Yorker Anti-Caption Contest any day of the week over oddly embarrassing animated shorts.
Thanks to the Powell's Blog for the link.
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Never would have guessed.
Love it !!
Beautiful!!
So beautiful...the tablecloth background was an inspired idea!
Thanks, all of you!