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China's Summer Palace to mark looting anniversary

That's right. We had our "Century of humiliation" (bai nian guo chi) at the hands of foreign powers.

China never became a full colony, but it didn't need to. Qing China was so weak, that it essentially became a tributary state, to the West and to Japan.

Quite right, the west helped the Qing put down the Taiping rebellion precisely because they felt they could leech off of China more efficiently with a corrupt Qing administration.

Hey CardSharp,
May be i'm an "old monkey" (chronologically compared to you), but i do feel that i'd like to focus on what i'm doing and and where i'd intend to go. As for perceptions of "pride", "defiance" "bellicosity" and so on, they are only perceptions. In Indian philosophy we have a (apt) word for it "Maya" which loosely translates as "imaginary, make-believe, unreal" but real enough to be able to hold you in to its clutches.
i am happy being a "patient old monkey". If the path is clear the destination will have to be reached.

How does it matter what the West (or anybody else) thinks.

agreed
 
In Indian philosophy we have a (apt) word for it "Maya" which loosely translates as "imaginary, make-believe, unreal, perception" but real enough to be able to hold you in to its clutches.

That's interesting, does Maya essentially translate into "perception"?

Or a "mental cage" perhaps?
 
That's interesting, does Maya essentially translate into "perception"?

Or a "mental cage" perhaps?

Maya is in fact perception but its effect is (as you correctly opined) a mental cage which can only be confining in its effects.

i will try to give you a small (and stupid) example- i see that you are a Chinese, (therefore) i see you as being inimical or harmful to me.
(of course we both know that it is not true, but i am afraid to accept it to myself and my countrymen, and so on....)
Actually the complete philosophical concept is "Maya-Jaal"- or the net (cage) created by Maya/perception.

Hope i am not sounding off big and pompous. Never would like to do that with you!:cheers:
 
For example, I saw a picture in a newspaper... it was a sculpture of an Ox, that was made completely out of Jade.

An example here, not jade, but one I like.

Ox-Headed Agate Cup Inlaid with Gold. Tang Dynasty artifacts

famous_agate_carving_craftsa97fa850d6630e255890.jpg


8a1c3a54325c03b02897b7cf6e47a8ea.jpg


I first saw it in an archaeology book, it looks better in the book.
 
Maya is in fact perception but its effect is (as you correctly opined) a mental cage which can only be confining in its effects.

i will try to give you a small (and stupid) example- i see that you are a Chinese, (therefore) i see you as being inimical or harmful to me.
(of course we both know that it is not true, but i am afraid to accept it to myself and my countrymen, and so on....)
Actually the complete philosophical concept is "Maya-Jaal"- or the net (cage) created by Maya/perception.

Hope i am not sounding off big and pompous. Never would like to do that with you!:cheers:

Of course there is also the 'sci-fi' (my favorite) interpretation that the entire concept of an 'individual' and the 'material world' is an illusion (sab moh Maya hai) .
 
Maya is in fact perception but its effect is (as you correctly opined) a mental cage which can only be confining in its effects.

i will try to give you a small (and stupid) example- i see that you are a Chinese, (therefore) i see you as being inimical or harmful to me.
(of course we both know that it is not true, but i am afraid to accept it to myself and my countrymen, and so on....)
Actually the complete philosophical concept is "Maya-Jaal"- or the net (cage) created by Maya/perception.

Hope i am not sounding off big and pompous. Never would like to do that with you!:cheers:

Thanks for the explanation buddy. :cheers:

It sounds like a really useful word. For example, if someone is always constantly saying that "I'll never be successful" etc. then they have essentially formed a "mental prison" for themselves.

I.e. They have trapped themselves in a Maya-Jaal. Is that right?

This one?

Ox-Headed Agate Cup Inlaid with Gold. Tang Dynasty artifacts

The one I saw was a full-bodied Ox, made out of bright green Jade.

Thanks for the effort though. :tup:
 
Thanks for the explanation. :cheers:

It sounds like a really useful word. For example, if someone is always constantly saying that "I'll never be successful" etc. then they have essentially formed a "mental prison" for themselves.

I.e. They have trapped themselves in a Maya-Jaal. Is that right?

i could not have said it better than you have said it.
:cheers:
 
Oh undoubtedly so, but the language barrier may not be there for long. I confidently predict English will become the unofficial second language of China if it isn't already. Mothers in China are fanatical about their children learning English and it is already the language by which academia and business functions.

As for Chinese mannerisms and clothing, I don't think anyone in China is asking the world for that, seeing as the west has the same impact there as places like India.

I find it disgusting to be honest. Scientists and engineers have no need to learn english, and universities have already started to reverse their mistakes. Zhejiang University cancelled the CET4 test as a graduation requirement in 2003, Huazhong University of Science/Technology cancelled it 2007, etc.

Many exceptional scientists and engineers get shut down by 1 english test. An aerospace student could be the best missile designer in the world, and if he cannot pass an English class, he might not be able to contribute and instead would be assembling cell phones or something. It is not even necessary. With modern free translation software English is no barrier. Schools have recognized this, and many employers have as well. Some sciences need more English than others. Biology is one of them, unfortunately. But Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, etc. need no english. At least we have real Chinese terms for many physics and chemistry terms, unlike Taiwan which directly use the English words stacked inside Chinese.

My cousin worked in a Japanese company for a few months. He knew no japanese, written or spoken, and his english was hardly better, failed CET4 test, and luckily, he graduated the year it got cancelled as a requirement. All internal documents were either Japanese, or English. Amazingly, he was hired. He had no problems at all, because he just used translator software and guessed the meaning of words.
 
I find it disgusting to be honest. Scientists and engineers have no need to learn english, and universities have already started to reverse their mistakes. Zhejiang University cancelled the CET4 test as a graduation requirement in 2003, Huazhong University of Science/Technology cancelled it 2007, etc.

Many exceptional scientists and engineers get shut down by 1 english test. An aerospace student could be the best missile designer in the world, and if he cannot pass an English class, he might not be able to contribute and instead would be assembling cell phones or something. It is not even necessary. With modern free translation software English is no barrier. Schools have recognized this, and many employers have as well. Some sciences need more English than others. Biology is one of them, unfortunately. But Aerospace, Electrical Engineering, etc. need no english. At least we have real Chinese terms for many physics and chemistry terms, unlike Taiwan which directly use the English words stacked inside Chinese.

My cousin worked in a Japanese company for a few months. He knew no japanese, written or spoken, and his english was hardly better, failed CET4 test, and luckily, he graduated the year it got cancelled as a requirement. All internal documents were either Japanese, or English. Amazingly, he was hired. He had no problems at all, because he just used translator software and guessed the meaning of words.

No need to get riled. I was speaking in reference to publications in journals not aerospace or engineer. English is used just as a convenient common language. It's not a case of China being forced to use English but a case of everyone just uses English because it's easier.


I mean should we refuse to learn the metric system because it is French and go back to using traditional measurement of length?
 
publications are in english, yes. there's lots of research that's never published but patented instead, and you don't need english for that. there are publication oriented labs and there are patent oriented ones. aerospace is not publication oriented, no english required. biology is, english required.

people were indeed being FORCED to learn english or you won't be able to graduate 5 years ago. even chinese history majors were forced to learn english.
 
My two cents on Maya-Jaal is the movie 'Inception'..the dream sequence is the like the maya-jaal.

On another note, I feel all scientific progress of last 200 yrs took place in Europe and lot of it in English so the dictionary of science is pretty english oriented...

I know maths is language neutral but chemistry & physics..? Wont the top scientists want to read the journals on their own?..Im not in support of english but its pretty dominant right now
 
publications are in english, yes. there's lots of research that's never published but patented instead, and you don't need english for that. there are publication oriented labs and there are patent oriented ones. aerospace is not publication oriented, no english required. biology is, english required.

people were indeed being FORCED to learn english or you won't be able to graduate 5 years ago. even chinese history majors were forced to learn english.

That's pretty unreasonable. Why do Chinese history majors need to learn English?
 
That's pretty unreasonable. Why do Chinese history majors need to learn English?

because it was a graduation requirement for most schools 5 years ago. now it isn't for some schools, in the terms of having to pass a test, but it is still a "general education" requirement. you can still learn no english, but you have to sit in the class.
 
It is a Sikha or Hindu temple in between Wanchai and Causeway Bay ,And what is point of when it was built matter ? Please enlighten me

I know which temple it is. What I want to know is that when, how and why this temple was built in Hong Kong.

You said Hong Kong used to be a British colony. Now, don't say Anglo Saxons worship in such temples. I am 100% sure, Chinese don't worship in such temples either.

Then who built it? Why? When? How?

Great Mystery... no?
 
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