Tag: ancient

What ‘Chinese New Year’ Looks Like in South London! (22.1.2023)

It is the Year of the ‘White’ Rabbit and the traditional year in China is ‘4721’ since the reign of the Yellow Emperor! This surprises many people, as all they have known throughout their lives is the Judeo-Christian calendar. As this calendar became ‘secularised’ due to the rise of the rich merchants (Bourgeoisie), the industralisation of society and the development of capitalism – many ‘Socialist’ countries have adopted its use as an expedient device designed to aid international relations – and China is no exception. Of course, we are effectively discussing comparative mythology, but my point is that China currently represents the ‘oldest’, ‘continuous’ and ‘unbroken’ culture in the world – and not the ‘West’. Today, the temperature is 3 – Celsius in Sutton, South London, and I do not think any sane rabbit would be hopping about amongst the crisp frost! Whilst the family still slumbers – I thought I would share a video and some photographs whilst hoping the Revolution will come sooner rather than later – and that all the unjust suffering humanity is experiencing due to the capitalist system will be brought to an end! We can live in hope!

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China: History Classic (Shujing) and the Concept of ‘Time’! (22.9.2022)

Seldom does the West Treat non-Westerners with respect. Since 1945 and the rise of US dominance, this anti-intellectual approach has become far more prevalent, powerful and normalised! Racism is an ever threatening ogre lurking in the darkness – but in this short extract (in 1971) – Clae Williams ‘revitalises’ the ground breaking translation work of James Legge, who began the translation of the Chinese ‘Five Classic’ texts in the mid to late 1800s! Although both cultures (the West and East) are still learning about one another, Legge was able to ‘see beyond’ his own socio-economic and cultural conditioning, and ‘see into’ or profoundly ‘glimpse’ how the ancient Chinese people developed a distinct cultural view of the world! The following extract is an ‘Introduction’ written by the American ‘Clae Williams’ in 1969, his modernisation of the work of James Legge, with much of its content deriving from the ample notes left behind in the James Legge Library. The ‘Shujing’ (書經) or ‘Document Classic’ is often referred to in China as the ‘Book of History’ as the ‘Documents’ concerned are ‘Historical’ in nature recording Chinese history from around 2205 – 771 BCE. It is an interesting attempt by non-Chinese people to contextualise the Chinese cultural perception of the world!

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Dozens of Relics Discovered in South China Sea Shipwrecks! (6.9.2022)

The submersible is capable of using sonar to locate objects as small as a grain of rice and can cover an area of around 100 square kilometers a day. 

Manned deep dives were also carried out for the underwater identification and extraction of relics after the unmanned submersible located possible relic sites.  

After the excavation of the 66 relics, researchers have continued carrying out further investigations using technologies such as image data extraction and three-dimensional laser scanning. 

“A complete work flow for deep sea archaeological investigations has been established,” Deng Qijiang, deputy director of the Institute of Underwater Archaeology of State Administration of Cultural Heritage, told media. 

As the ancient Maritime Silk Road passed through its waters, the South China Sea holds an abundance of historical treasures beneath its surface.

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Longevity: 107-year-old Covid Patient Discharged from Hospital in Hainan! (25.8.2022)

An important part of this body of Chinese cultural identity is ancient and premised upon the idea of ‘longevity’ – (or ‘living for a long-time’) – which is central to all Chinese systems of exercise, diet and medicine, etc. Due to various racist approaches adopted by the West – many very old people living in China are viewed as being a figment of the Chinese imagination – whilst obviously ‘fake’ elderly people emerging from ‘White’ countries are accepted to a fanfare of support despite no evidence whatsoever!

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Sichuan: Drought Exposes Full Extent of Ancient Buddhist Artefact! (23.8.2022)

Although Buddhist philosophy must be distinguished from the religious urges which have often surrounded ‘Buddhism’ (Marx, Engels and Mao possessed a healthy respect for Early Buddhist dialectics), within ancient China and elsewhere, thousands upon thousands of individuals have been motivated to stop seeking-out their daily living, the sustenance of others and/or the means to change and transform human society for the betterment of all! Instead, what a modern humanity is left with today is the often impressive and awe-inspiring physical structures of the human populations of the past, which instead of communicating with a ‘hidden realm’ (as intended) are actually communicating with exactly the same humanity, simply a humanity occupying a different space and time from them!

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Ancient Greece: How Amazon Women Altered Their Bodies to Prepare for War! (26.7.2022)

An obvious etymology of their name, “breastless,” suggested the belief that they used to burn off the right breast that they might the better draw the bow. In the Iliad Priam tells how he fought against their army in Phrygia; and one of the perilous tasks which set to Bellerophon is to march against the Amazons. In a later Homeric poem, the Amazon Penthesilea appears as a dreaded adversary of the Greeks at Troy. To win the girdle of the Amazon Queen was one of the labours of Heracles. All these adventures happened in Asia Minor; and, though this female folk was located in various places, its original and proper home was ultimately placed on the river Thermodon near the Greek colony of Amisus. But Amazons attacked Greece itself. It was told that Theseus carried off their Queen Antiope, and so they came and invaded Attica. There was a terrible battle in the town of Athens, and the invaders were defeated after a long struggle. At the feast of Theseus the Athenians used to sacrifice to the Amazons; there was a building called the Amazoneion in the western quarter of the city; and the episode was believed by such men as Isocrates and Plato to be as truly an historical fact as the Trojan war itself. The battle of the Greeks with Amazons were a favourite subject of Grecian sculptors; and, like the Trojan war and the adventure of the golden fleece, the Amazon story fitted into the conception of an ancient and long strife between Greece and Asia.’

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