Wow folks. Okay, so it’s literally been an eternity since I last posted, but for some reason I’ve been unable to log back in for a while now, but now that I’ve found my way back into the site, you can bet your buttons that there will be more to come. Once again, sorry for the absurdly long delay!
Verbally spoken, the characters above are pronounced “Dong Ya Bing Fu” and carry a very significant meaning to ethnic Chinese who know its origin and meaning. But although the idiom may be forgotten amongst the modern generations, the spirit behind these words lives on in the common place subconscious assumptions of average, everyday people. Unfortunately, to the chagrin and resentment of many, it is the Chinese themselves who continually perpetuate this idea. So what then is the meaning behind these four mysterious words? Directly translated, it means “Sick man of Asia”. It doesn’t really make much sense until the history and context of where this came from is understood. At the turn of the 20th century, China was economically, politically and culturally on her knees. These were the final days of the Manchurian dynasty and China found herself dominated by 12 different imperialist nations: England, France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Austria-Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Russia, the United States and Japan. Because of China’s vast size and resources, it was an economic jackpot that all of these countries exploited, and because of how weak China had become, her national interests went straight down the shitter. Naturally, because China commanded such low respect, people of different nations thought very lowly of not only the country, but also of the people as well. For how could people of any significant standing allow their country to reach such a pathetic situation? The fact that Chinese men were building the transcontinental railroad like animals didn’t help the situation either. Chinese men, abroad and at home, were the short, scrawny, weak, cringing and timid fools that kowtowed to their rightfully superior European counterparts. This is the context that gave rise to the idiom “Sick man of Asia” because we, the Chinese people, were the pathetic loser of the orient. So, how does this apply today? Now we are considered human beings, for which we can thank the civil rights movements (which the Chinese can take zero credit for). However, the idea of Dong Ya Bing Fu still resides in the subconscious of modern day people. Whether people admit it or not, the bottom line is that Chinese men are undesirable. I am not going to “bash the white man”, because our “superiors” are more than just the Saxons. The blacks, mestizos, and every male from virtually every other ethnic group is more desirable than a Chinese man.
So why is this the case? I would say the reason is twofold. A huge chunk of the reason is that it’s our own damn faults. We are major culprits in perpetuating the stereotype of “Sick man of Asia”. I don’t know what it is, but there is something about the Han people that makes them so timid, which in turn makes this susceptible to being bullied. It’s the reason why China has a history of tyranny that span for countless centuries. Have you ever wondered why Chinese people always gravitate toward each other? It’s because of this universal disposition to disengage from outsiders or any remote shadow of conflict or tension and band together for security in numbers. We don’t interact with the outside world. We are content to stay in our own little bubbles, and so long as we can earn our money undisturbed, the rest of the world can go to Hell for all we care (don’t expect the Chinese to help the poor or underprivileged, you’ll be sorely disappointed). This mindset applies to all Chinese, home and abroad, past and present (I am speaking of non-bananas of course. People who are Chinese only because their faces aren’t actually Chinese and none of what I’m saying applies). So while we may “dress better” and have a few marketable attributes, let’s face up to the facts. Academic success is valued above all else. Beyond that, we can all play violin or piano (and are typically devoid of any knowledge of music theory, so you’d be hard pressed to actually call us musicians) but that’s about it. Most Chinese guys are nerdy and don’t interact well with people who are “different”. The impressions they project are typically a far cry from impressive – as ironic as that sounds. The only social events we go to are usually within our own Asian spheres and a lot of Chinese sure as Hell can’t dance either (Although I must admit, this stereotype is quickly on its way out the window with a swiftly growing number of dance crews like Kabba Modern being formed and gaining prominence). The extreme emphasis on academic pursuits is usually at the expense of anything else that would contribute to a well rounded individual. So what usually results is someone who is a total brain and not very physically capable or striking.
The second reason is media exposure. Whether we like it or not, people think about what is given to them. What’s on the minds of the people is what’s on the media, and the bottom line is that the Chinese male has very little positive media exposure. The Japanese have created a dedicated non-Asian (primarily European) following through anime and J-pop music. The Koreans have developed TV dramas and popular music as well but in these regards, the tribes of China fall behind. American audiences are far more interested in anime and K-pop than going to see the latest Zhang Yi Mo film. So what results is that girls outside the Chinese bubble don’t think about Chinese men at all, or when they do, it’s through the lens of the calculator toting undesirable nerd with a small penis. All this to say, simply because the words “Sick man of Asia” has faded with time, the subconscious disposition toward Chinese men has endured into the modern society.
So I’ve decided that I probably need to get more media on this place to actually get some activity going. I’m considering doing vlogs so it’ll be easier on the eyes, but I’m still wrestling with the issue of being anonymous (although I know that’s pretty much fading out by this point). So yeah, let me know what ya’ll think. If you want me to do vlogs instead of text, drop a line in the comment box and we’ll see what happens!
oh yeah, and I know I was gonna do a 2nd part to the series I started a while back, but as I started thinking about the topic and doing research, I realized that it’s a massively huge topic that I would probably have to address in a format other than text. But aside from that, peace, ya’ll.
I think movies like these really speak to men on a fundamental level. There is something innate inside of all men (or at least it should be) that drives them to some form of conflict. To the ladies who are reading this, this might confuse you, but like it or not, men are designed to fight in some way shape or form. If not physically, then intellectually, spiritually, whatever it is, we as men are meant to fight. That’s one of the reasons why Fightclub is such a potent movie/book because it shows man reduced down to his primal/primitive state. I think I may have a new article with that subject……but without further to do, enjoy yourselves.
Here’s a minor interlude before the next installment on the aforementioned 2-part series that I’m working on, but it something that I’ve been thinking about and have come to several conclusions on (either that, or I’ve thoroughly deluded myself into thinking that my personal ramblings make coherent sense, but as the catch-phrase goes, “It makes sense to me!).
That being said, I believe that the worry that so many parents harbor as they send out their children into the world as they go off to college and other similar emancipating experiences and consequently falling into unbound amounts of debauchery that so characterizes youth is, in many ways, very unfounded. What many people fail to realize is that “drugs, sex and rock n’ roll” is not exactly easy to come by, figuratively speaking. Drugs, for the most part, go unseen to the eye. If you really wanted to get involved with drugs, you would have to have an entire network of connections in order to procure these items, otherwise you would have no access to them. Alcohol is a little bit easier, but still not exactly easy to come by. You would need an established proxy to buy the drink and the facilities to consume it in, which usually just results in people underage drinking in their own homes which a.) destroys a large chunk of the entire point of social drinking and b.) is technically allowed by law (the law being that underage persons are allowed to consume alcohol under the conditions of ceremonial purposes or in the privacy of their own homes). But above all, I believe that parents don’t truly understand just how hard sex is to come by. Unless you have some mysterious charm that is capable of attracting female attention like flies to shit (which usually doesn’t describe oriental men), you’ll be hard pressed to find sex at all, even if you look for it. The bottom line is that girls these days won’t look at you twice, let alone actually let you stick your schlong into her (at least that’s how it is with me). To further confound matters, it isn’t like a video game where you can “progress” by “leveling up your stats”. In my own experience, at best, girls are willing to entertain good conversation with me, and that’s about where it ends. I’m 6 foot even, I wouldn’t say my face exactly horrifically disfigured, I have a semi-tanned/dark complexion and weigh upwards of about 150 lbs with a 6% body fat index, which means that I’m pretty much all lean muscle (although I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not exactly the hulk either). I’ve studied music for the majority of my life, I play classical and jazz piano along with writing music in both symphonic/orchestral and electric/techno genres. I dance in roughly 7 different styles and kick-box as well but no matter what I do to improve myself, it is of little importance to the opposite gender. What is it about some guys who seemingly have very little going for them that gets them all the female attention? It is in this way that I can begin to see the basis for the complaints of the Chinese male, which was further illustrated before my own eyes just a few nights ago.
It was a Friday night and I was itching to go out dancing (I think I’m one of the few guys in all existence that will go out dancing purely for the sake of dancing, but I’ll address that in just a moment). So I dragged my roommate away from his books and made a few calls (most of which either went unanswered or were turned down) and assembled a small crew of friends to go out for the evening. There were four of us in total: me, my roommate (Eric), a girl (Kris) and another guy (Clark) from my great books course. Just to give you a quick rundown of the demographics of this group, Eric is a Chinese national that came to the States a little over two years ago. Kris is a Korean girl from Oregon and Clark’s from Pennsylvania and was the novel white guy of our group for the evening. To cut a long story short, within 10 minutes of us walking in the door, Clark had two girls thrusting their boobs and pelvises into him. This is not an exaggeration either. Before the night was out, Clark had entertained the interests of 4 or 5 different girls while Eric, Kris and myself were pretty much ignored by everyone else the entire evening (except that one time when this old guy that looked like a pedophile tried to grind against Kris but was saved by throwing herself into a sandwich between Eric and me). Let me give you a little background on this. Clark before going in decided to fake that he was from the United Kingdom and put on an English accent. And being from the East Coast, his clothes and overall appearance fit the bill, being very far from the typical blonde surfer Californian beach bum. Ladies and gentlemen, I tell you, it worked wonders for him. Being a white guy, he had absolutely no dance moves…..at all. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a dear friend and a great guy that I hold in high esteem, but as a person who’s been involved in formal dance training for the better part of 5 years, his dance moves were abysmal. All this to say that it is not the best “qualities” that girls look for. You might wonder why I didn’t try putting on an accent. Well, my physical appearances being very oriental in nature, I doubt the English accent would have had the same effect. And I highly doubt that a Chinese accent would have the same charm. Suffice to say, I was snubbed by every girl I tried to approach that evening, which comes as no surprise.
I’ve taken it as a general rule of thumb that a nightclub is the last place to try to meet a girl, let alone to actually try to entertain her interests, but this is no deterrent for me to go. As I mentioned earlier, I love to dance. It’s fun, it’s a great source of enjoyment and I’ve been training in it for several years. For those of you who listen to Dane Cook, you probably have heard him talk about “Guys never go ‘fuck chicks! I just wanna express myself through the art of dance. Fuck chicks!’”. Well…..though I never say no to a cute girl, I would go to a nightclub for the sole purpose of dancing, which is what I do most of the time in actuality. I guess that doesn’t put me in a very good light according to Dane Cook. But going back to the theme of this musing, I believe that as a rule of thumb with nightclubs, if you want girl flesh for the evening, you gotta bring your own because you ain’t gonna find it there. It’s just not easy to come by at all. Sex these days is nearly impossible to find, so all you guys out there, especially to my Chinese brothers, keep your dicks in your pants because girls these days have no desire for it whatsoever. And if you do go clubbing (which I highly encourage), don’t go with the expectation of getting laid, you’re only setting yourself up or disappointment. Go with a bunch of friends, bring a “date”, that way you have somebody’s waist to wrap your hands around and for Heaven’s sake, learn a few dance moves before you go so you don’t embarrass yourself and the rest of our people. The last thing we need is to perpetuate the stereotype of “Chinaman can’t dance”. Otherwise, ask a girl out to go down to the club one of these weekends, and I assure you, you’ll have a good time.
Keep the pimp hand strong. Peace.
Preface to the text: I apologize for the long hiatus. These past few months have been extremely hectic and the 2 part series I started working on was a bit larger than I originally anticipate, and I am proud to present the first portion. I know it’s not the best of writing and that I commit several stylistic fallacies but hey, this isn’t school and for once I get to write whatever I damn please in whenever way I wish. So I hope you all enjoy this piece. If you have any comments or disagreements, leave them in the comment box! Have fun, yall.
There is virtually no dispute amongst modern scholars that the Americas were originally inhabited by the people who crossed the great land-bridge when Alaska and Russia were still connected. If then, the American Indian nations did come from East Asia, the logical conclusion would then be that the Amerindians are descendents of the oriental peoples. This is not a new idea, for soon after the Spaniards arrived in the new word, “a learned Jesuit, Father Jose de Acosta, read the scanty evidence available 400 years ago and announced that the American Indian must be of Asiatic origin. Scholars have agreed with him ever since. But the good padre did not know how the immigrants came; ‘by shipwreck and tempest of weather’ he guessed. Now we know better: They merely walked across the Bering Strait” (National Geographic, The World of the American Indian, 29). Fast forward to the 1800’s, James Fenimoore Cooper made several keen observations in the forward of the book that immortalized him, The Last of the Mohicans:
It is generally believed that the Aborigines of the American continent have an Asiatic origin. There are many physical as well as moral fact which corroborate this opinion, and some few that would seem to weigh against it. The color of the Indian, the writer believes [Cooper], is peculiar to himself, and while his cheek-bones have a very striking indication of a Tartar origin, his eyes have not. Climate may have had great influence on the former, but it is difficult to see how it can have produced the substantial difference which exists in the latter. The imagery of the Indian, both in his poetry and in his oratory, is oriental; chastened, and perhaps improved, by the limited range of his practical knowledge. He draws his metaphors from the clouds, the seasons, the birds, the beasts, and the vegetable world. In this, perhaps, he does no more than any other energetic and imaginative race would do, being compelled to set bound to fancy by experience; but the North American Indian clothes his ideas in a dress which is different from that of the African, and is oriental in itself. His language has the richness and sententious fullness of the Chinese. He will express a phrase in a word, and he will qualify the meaning of an entire sentence by a syllable; he will even convey different significations by the simplest inflections of the voice. (Cooper 9-10)
The observations that Cooper makes are of two types: linguistic and cultural. As a mixed individual of Chinese and Amerindian ancestry I can testify that Cooper’s assertions are accurate. Chinese, unlike most other languages, is tonetic and the meaning of a word can change drastically by a mere inflection of the voice. The very nature of the language itself is heavily rooted in naturalistic origins. The names of people are directly taken from the natural world or reflect some form of philosophical ideal (or often times a blend of the two). It is the same with the Amerindians with names like “Sitting Bull”, “Crazy Horse”, etc.
Culturally speaking, the Chinese and the Amerindians are more similar than one would initially expect. Both cultures are highly concerned with the idea of unifying the individual with the higher natural order. Russell Means states in his autobiographical work, “Where White Men Fear to Tread”:
Grandpa John also taught me to feel things, to instill wisdom instead of merely knowledge. In that way, during my childhood, I came to feel the Indian’s love for our grandmother earth. In the linear, mathematical way of the Eurocentric male society that has dominated America for so long, you are expected to know things, to believe things. Knowing and believing are all in your head – there is nothing in your heart (means 14).
Similarly, this view is held very strongly in classical Chinese thought, as is exemplified in the Dao De Jing, Lao zi’s magnum opus and the foundation of Daoist philosophy. It praises self-knowledge and criticizes rational understanding. “Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, And the people will be benefited a hundredfold (chap. 33, tr. Waley). Knowledge, like desire, should be diminished:
Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self requires strength;
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present. (chap. 33, tr. Feng and English).
The emphasis on the beginnings of society and philosophical vacuity lends itself greatly to the cultural similarities between the Chinese and the Amerindians. Just as Indians were taught that if the green things or the four legged-creatures or the winged creatures or the creatures that swim or crawl were taken from the earth, there would be no life, but if man were taken away, life would flourish; so the Chinese were taught to seek the natural state of man and to unify oneself with the Dao. In general, the way in which the Chinese and Amerindians approach life are extremely similar, ranging from philosophical beliefs to firm family ties. To oversimplify, the Chinese developed and expounded upon what the Indians intuitively knew, which is why there is very little contradiction between the two cultures.
Depending on how much currency is given to the Menzies theory, one could perhaps argue the connection between the Chinese and American Indians is even closer. For those who are unfamiliar with Gavin Menzies and his work, he is a British scholar who wrote a book called “1421: The Year China Discovered America”. The rudimentary thrust of the theory is that all the European explorers who discovered the new world had maps of where they were going. That being said, who then wrote the maps? The only viable candidate during that era were the Chinese, who were during that time sending out the great expedition fleets under the Ming dynasty banner. There are significant pieces of archeological evidence that seem to support the theory that the Chinese fleets founded several colonies in the new world due to various maritime mishaps. Over time, when the fleets never returned to bring the colonists home, the Chinese settlers integrated with the local Indian tribes, thereby establishing an even closer connection between the Indian nations and the Chinese civilization.
But even in complete disregard of the Menzies theory, one has but to look at the American Indians to see that they are of Oriental origin. With the understanding that one does not have to be of the Han tribe in order to be Chinese (which will be discussed in the next article), the claim that the Indians are in fact Chinese is not wholly unfounded.
The following is a picture of a man of the Sioux nations
The physical similarities between this man and the following are undeniable.
This man below is a member of the Chinese Han tribe.
And this man is a member of the Chinese Tibetian tribe.
In conclusion, it is hereby evident that the American Indians are indeed of oriental origin and in fact are ethnically and culturally the same as (although not wholly identical) the Chinese.
There has been much confusion over my usage of the word “Saxon” and seeing as it is a term that I will be frequently using, it is necessary that it be clearly defined. The term “white” (and the term “Caucasian” by extension) to refer to an ethnic group is highly distasteful to me. The word is so loosely defined it virtually has no definition at all. Swinging to both ends of the spectrum, the term “white” can mean anywhere from people who have light eyes, skin and hair to people who descend from the Germanic tribes of Europe, with any of these definitions having very different implications. The most common response I encounter when I ask someone to define “white”, they almost irrevocably respond “European”. I would then beg the question: are ethnic Greeks and Slavs to be considered “white” as well? Too often I have seen the people I have asked this question hastily correction their definition to “Western European”. But this too becomes problematic when I ask “so are ethnic Sicilians, Spaniards and Portuguese also ‘white’?”. The most precise definition of “white” most people can draw up is “north-western European”, but in doing so, they’ve lumped the Celts, the mainlanders and the Scandinavians all together, which are in actuality three very distinct ethnic identities. But the iron of the situation is that by and large one is deemed “white” solely on appearance (namely, having light attributes). But under this definition, there is no distinction between German, Ukrainian or even Turk, as there are people within all the aforementioned groups who have fair appearances (to say nothing of the so called “white” people who have darker attributes). For all practical purposes, the term in question can at best be used to refer to people who have a certain appearance (much like the word “rubio/a” is used in Spanish) but it is impossible to use the word “white” to refer to a certain ethnicity. But if this word is obsolete, then what else are people who are ambiguously known as “white” to be called? It is here that I use the word “Saxon”. This term doesn’t refer to the old tribes who inhabited old world England and Gaul at the fall of Western Rome nor the modern peoples of the contemporary European nations (they are known as Germans, Swiss, French, etc.) but rather the descendents of the Germanic tribes that now inhabit the North American continent. The Celtic populations are still fairly identifiable, seeing as there are still many people who call themselves Irish and/or Scottish. But for those people who descend from the Britons and the Gauls (and in some cases the Scandinavians) I attribute the word “Saxon” to refer to their ethnicity.
Life is ruled by the golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. There is no freedom without this. College students, let us not delude ourselves with regard to our supposed freedom. We are just as much under our parents’ rule as ever before. Who provides for the food we eat? Who pays for the clothes on our backs? who are the very people who are responsible for us even being in college? A single toe out of line and all they have to do is ripe the very means of sustenance from under us and we will find ourselves back in our rooms, trapped, just like high school. Eighteen is no magic number. “Adulthood” means nothing. Until we have our own homes, our own food, our own clothes, until we live because of only ourselves, there will be no freedom.
That which started out as a minor brushfire last night turned into a massive firestorm that has lasted for the better part of today and is technically still going on. Even as I write this, I can still hear the choppers flying overhead carrying their payloads of water to drop on the places that are still in flames. The day began early this morning just as the sun was about to peak its head over the horizon. Being a weekend day, I had expected to be able to sleep in, but fate apparently had other plans in mind. I was sound asleep to the distant howling of the winds outside when suddenly there came a violent pounding on my door, the kind where you know that something is definitely wrong. The first thing I noticed as I rose to consciousness was the acrid smell. Something was burning. My roommate was still snoring so I leaped out of bed and toed my way across the mess that we had left on the floor last night to the door. It was Ben, one of the guys who shared my quad on the other side of the living room.
“We gotta go, now” there was a lot of tension in his voice, “there’s a fire headed our direction fast”
All the other guys were already awake, darting in and out of the bathroom that we all shared while trying to haphazardly get dressed in the dark. Apparently the power was out too. I told Daniel, my roommate, to wake up as I grabbed my jeans up off the floor and my toothbrush from on top of the dresser. The two of us were in and out of the bathroom in minutes. We slipped on our shoes, grabbed our jackets and headed out of the building to the cafeteria. I didn’t realize how violent the winds were until I got outside. It wasn’t until later that I would learn that the wind speeds were up to 90 mph.
To add to the burning smell of ash that filled my nostrils every time I inhaled, I looked up and saw that the entire sky was painted red from the flames that were literally over the crest of the hill I lived on.
As Daniel and I walked to the cafeteria - the place where everyone was being evacuated to - the air quality literally degraded exponentially by the second. Everything was covered in smoke and by the looks of things, some of the teaching facilities were already catching fire.
Luckily, we made it to the evacuation point before conditions became too hazardous as more and more people slowly crowded into the facility like a herd of refugees, gathered around T.V.’s watching the news while others gazed outside the windows as the air became more and more opaque from the ash and smoke.
Eventually, food was brought and everyone was fed though still kept inside for the better part of eight hours. At the end, we were all allowed to go back to our residences with the announcement that classes will not be held tomorrow and to remain on alert, as the situation is still, as far as I have been told, still highly volatile due to the high winds that persist even now. Wish me luck, my dear readers. It’s been an experience that truly gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “trial by fire”.
Before proceeding to read this article, I must ask my audience to direct their attention to the following two link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRDpXQYNQGo
After watching this special, my heart was wrenched, as I am sure many of yours are. How could a young girl of such stunning beauty degrade herself in such a way? Of course, my opponents would naturally ask, “What is so degrading? It’s her choice, her life, her decision”. People of the audience, let us be frank with ourselves, a woman’s body is arguably the most desired treasure in existence. How many thousands of years has this treasure been sought after? Need we remind ourselves of “The face to launch a thousand ships”? (for those of us who have read the Illiad). When a woman gives herself in sex to someone, is she not giving something that is sacred? Something that should be respected? If, however, there are those of you who do not believe that there are certain things that are intrinsically sacred, my only words to you are that you would probably urinate on a crucifix and not think twice and therefore have no part in what I am about to say (it is here I direct the audience to That Hideous Strength written by C.S. Lewis in the chapter regarding the “objective room”).
But to those of you who do believe in the respect of the sacred, it is you I now address. I ask a simple question, is it not because of the sanctity of a woman’s body precisely the reason why this video is so heartbreaking? Aeschylus did not write the Oresteia because he was making a killing, and Da Vinci did not paint the Mona Lisa because of money either. Sasha Grey’s work in adult film is not a work she does because it is intrinsically purposeful work. She admitted herself she is doing this for monetary gain. It brings the image to mind of the young girls in Germany after Berlin fell to the Allied Forces prostituting themselves to the soldiers for a little as a cigarette in order to sell for pennies to get a scrap of food.
This seems to engender questions on the pornography industry as a whole. Why do we watch these things? Why do we take part? Is not Sasha Grey just one example in thousands of young girls doing this? For what? To the members of the audience I pose one simple challenge. The next time you turn one a good porn flick, look at that gorgeous, moaning figure on the screen, and remember that that is somebody’s sister, and possibly even somebody’s girlfriend or wife, and even more…somebody’s little girl. Those aren’t sex toys. They’re human beings.
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